281: The Murder of Janet Chandler

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In the dead of winter, 1979, a man called his local police station with concerns. He’d been staying at the Blue Mill Inn and had just been on the phone with the motel’s desk clerk when he’d heard something unusual. It sounded as if someone had gotten into the office. Perhaps the person had been intent on robbing the motel? The caller heard the desk clerk, Janet Chandler, say “don’t take it all, sir.” When police arrived at the motel, they discovered money missing from the register. Janet Chandler was nowhere to be found.

A day later, a snowplow driver discovered Janet’s body by the side of the road. The murder of 22-year-old Janet Chandler shocked the small community of Holland, Michigan. Who had murdered Janet? And why? For decades, those questions went unanswered.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Gang rape, murder and justice in a small town,” by Shaun Assael for Glamour
“Conspiracy of silence,” by Victoria Corderi for NBC News
“Second man convicted in Janet Chandler murder case dies in prison,” by Peg McNichol for WHTC
“Witness provides graphic details of final hours,” by John Tunison for Michigan Live
“State court rejects appeals of Chandler killers,” by Megan Schmidt for the Holland Sentinel
“Chandlers can’t forgive killers showing no remorse,” by Lee Lup for The Muskegon Chronicle
“Witness: Guards plotted to ‘teach’ victim a lesson,” by John Tunison for Michigan Live
“Swank: ‘No excuse’ for role in Chandler death,” by John Tunison for Michigan Live
“Witness: I did not plan rival’s death,” the Press Enterprise
“Where are Jim and Glenna Chandler now?” by Sounak Sengupta for The Cinemaholic

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