163: Ewell Family Murders & April Kauffman

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Brandi starts us off with a very Brandi case. It was Easter weekend, 1992, and Dana Ewell was concerned. He was spending time with his girlfriend’s family and couldn’t get a hold of his parents. When investigators arrived at the Ewell home, they discovered a chilling scene. Dana’s sister Tiffany had been shot. So had his father, Dale. His mother, Glee, had been shot four times. The killer had taken their time with the murders. They left no DNA. No prints. No shell casings. The home appeared to have been ransacked, but little -- if anything -- was taken.

Then Kristin tells us about the murder of talk radio show host April Kauffman. In what would later turn out to be April’s last day on the air at WIBG, The Talk of South Jersey, she told her listeners that she “felt like she was on borrowed time.” She said that if she were to be “taken out” and sent to “see our creator,” she could take comfort knowing that she’d raised her daughter, Kimberly with the right values. April’s co-host didn’t look too deeply into what April said. But April seemed to know she was in danger. The next day, she was dead.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Family Secrets” Episode of 2020
“Freddy Augello, ‘hands dripping red with the blood of April Kauffman,’ convicted of her murder,” by Amy Rosenberg for The Philadelphia Inquirer
“EHT man to be sentenced for witness tampering in April Kauffman murder trial,” by Molly Bilinksi for the Press of Atlantic City
“Husband of slain radio host paid man to kill his wife 5 years ago, authorities say,” by Chris Franklin for New Jersey.com
“‘I can breathe,’ says daughter of slain radio host after murder charges filed,” by Chris Franklin for New Jersey.com
“‘I feel like I’m on borrowed time,’ April Kauffman said on radio before her killing,” by Claire Lowe for The Press of Atlantic City
“Pagans guitar maker Freddy Augello sentenced to life plus 30 years in April Kauffman murder at Shore,” by Amy Rosenberg for The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Ferdinand Augello sentenced to life in prison, +30 years for murder of April Kauffman,” Office of the Atlantic County Prosecutor
“Atlantic County Prosecutor accused of mortgage, criminal investigation corruption,” by Dan Alexander WPG Talk Radio

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Two in a Million” episode Forensic Files
“The Ewell Family Murders” by Lori Johnston, medium.com
“Pure Greed” by Mark Gribben. The Malefactor’s Register
“'Odd Couple' College Students Murder One's California Family For Inheritance” by Ethan Harfenist, oxygen.com
“Dana Ewell” wikipedia.org
“Dana Ewell” murderpedia.org

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