Shane Cheetham: A Family’s Quest For The Truth

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the little known case of Mary Cowan, who arguably is Maine's first serial killer. We also touch base on her connections to Lewiston. Mary A. Cowan, known as The Borgia of Maine, was an American serial killer who poisoned two husbands (Willis W. Bean, and George H. Taylor), and four children between 1884 and 1894 (Gracie, Alice and Mabel Bean - as well as stepson Willis Cowan), and attempted to murder a third husband (Elias Cowan). Convicted of killing her step-son in September 1894, Cowan was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent off to the Maine State Prison, then in Thomaston, for the following two years. In 1898, her examining physician turned to then-governor Llewellyn Powers with the request of pardoning Mary, as she was in failing health and wished to die peacefully in her Dixmont home. Despite her ailment, Mary gave birth to a child while in prison (an unnamed baby girl - referred to as Mary's final victim), but it, along with herself, died soon after. Cowan, by then dubbed 'The Borgia of Maine' by the press, was first interned at Etna, where her parents lived, but her body was then moved to the Sawyer Cemetery in her birthplace of Plymouth, where she was buried on the family plot with her murder victims. This week's episode is sponsored by Podcorn: https://podcorn.com/ Burial Plots of Mary and her Victims: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82040802/mary-bean-cowan Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #podcast #documentary #truecrime

29 Juni 202035min

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the tragic death of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. The body of Elisa Lam was recovered from a water tank atop the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on February 19, 2013. She had been reported missing at the beginning of the month. A maintenance worker at the hotel discovered the body when investigating guest complaints of problems with the water supply. The person who found her soon left the country due to mysterious circumstances. Her disappearance had been widely reported; interest had increased five days prior to her body's discovery when the Los Angeles Police Department released video of the last time she was known to have been seen, on the day of her disappearance, by an elevator security camera. In the footage, Lam is seen exiting and re-entering the elevator, talking and gesturing in the hallway outside, and sometimes seeming to hide within the elevator, which itself appears to be malfunctioning. The video went viral on the Internet, with many viewers reporting that they found it unsettling. Explanations ranged from claims of paranormal involvement to bipolar disorder, from which Lam suffered; it has also been argued that the video was altered prior to release. The circumstances of Lam's death, once she was found, also raised questions, especially in light of the Cecil's history in relation to other notable deaths and murders. Her body was naked with most of her clothes and personal effects floating in the water near her. It took the Los Angeles County Coroner's office four months, after repeated delays, to release the autopsy report, which reports no evidence of physical trauma and states that the manner of death was accidental. Guests at the Cecil, now re-branded as Stay on Main, sued the hotel over the incident, and Lam's parents filed a separate suit later that year; the latter was dismissed in 2015. Some of the early Internet interest noted what were considered to be unusual similarities between Lam's death and the 2005 horror film Dark Water. The case has since been referenced in international popular culture. LordanARTS BrainScratch YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeekenDorx Twist YouTube Conspiracy Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ckLZsNdkRY&t Elevator Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZJCADL83X0 Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast #podcast #documentary #truecrime

22 Juni 202049min

In honor of Pride month, this week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the tragic case of Charlie Howard, a young gay man that was murdered in Bangor, ME in 1984, who never really received justice due to his sexual orientation.  As Howard and his boyfriend, Roy Ogden, were walking down the street, three teenagers, Shawn Mabry, James Baines, and Daniel Ness, harassed, assaulted, and murdered Howard for being gay. The youths chased the pair, yelling homophobic epithets, until they caught Howard and threw him over the State Street Bridge into the Kenduskeag Stream, despite his pleas that he could not swim. He drowned, but his boyfriend escaped and pulled a fire alarm. Charlie Howard's body was found by rescue workers several hours later. The boys were sent to the Hancock County Jail and later released into their parents' custody. They were tried as juveniles and sentenced on 1 October 1984 to the Maine Youth Center not to exceed their 21st birthdays, however all parties served less than 24 months. This event galvanized the Bangor community in ways similar to the killing of Matthew Shepard, although the case never attained the same level of national notoriety. This incident inspired a similar scene near the beginning of Stephen King's novel It, in which three homophobic teenagers throw an openly gay man, Adrian Mellon, over a bridge and into the Kenduskeag, where he was set upon and murdered by the monster It in the form of Pennywise. Today, a short distance from the site of Howard's death, a memorial has been erected; engraved on the stone are the words: “May we, the citizens of Bangor, continue to change the world around us until hatred becomes peacemaking and ignorance becomes understanding.” July 7, Howard's death date, is now Diversity Day in Bangor. Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast #podcast #documentary #truecrime

8 Juni 202037min

This week, Drewby and Yergy cover the tragic story of Sylvia Likens. We draw comparisons to her case and that of Junko Furuta, and discuss the phenomena of bystander apathy, why no one in power stepped in to assist, why neighbors were apathetic despite numerous instances of public child abuse, and why neighborhood kids considered the ordeal to be some sort of funny sideshow or game, despite there being dozens of witnesses to her torture. The murder of Sylvia Likens was a child murder which occurred in Indianapolis, Indiana in October 1965. Likens, aged 16, was held captive and subjected to increasing levels of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and torture, and neighborhood children were allowed to do the same if they paid an admission fee, which many did. These inhuman crimes were committed over a period of almost three months—by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and countless other neighborhood children, before ultimately succumbing to her injuries on October 26. Despite the ages of some of the perpetrators being in their late teens, none were tried as adults, and all got incredibly light sentences for their crimes, including Gertrude Baniszewski who was paroled after only 14 years in prison, despite receiving a life sentence, overall contributing to the data that women get lighter sentences compared to men for all crimes involving abuse towards children, no matter how heinous. Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast  #podcast #documentary #truecrime

1 Juni 20201h 1min

This week, Yergy and Drewby tackle another listener suggestion (thank you, Amir!) - the unsolved disappearance of Randy Leach. We discuss the hard facts, and ponder whether or not the combination of the 1980's "Satanic Panic" phenomena and shoddy police work rendered his case unsolvable.   Randy was a senior at Linwood High School (Linwood, Kansas) in 1988. He left his home at 6:30 p.m. to attend a friend's pre-graduation party which took place on a farm owned by Annie Erwin, the mother of one of the graduating teens, on April 15, 1988. Randy did not arrive at the party until between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. He was driving his mother's gray four-door 1985 Dodge sedan with the Kansas plate number LVJ8721, and carried about $50 or $60 in cash. There were between 70 and 150 guests at the party and there was considerable drug and alcohol use by the mostly teenaged guests. Some witnesses reported Randy was acting drunk, however there were conflicting accounts on this, and it's unclear whether he actually took any substances. He may have left the party between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m., but some witnesses reported seeing him there as late as 2:15, and no one actually saw him leave. Randy never returned home and has not been heard from again. Randy was reported missing by his parents on April 16, 1988. Randy's parents then contacted police. Investigators went to the site of the party Randy had attended, but it had already been cleaned up and there was no evidence to be found. The farm burned down soon thereafter due to mysterious circumstances. Authorities do not believe Randy left of his own accord, since he left behind the 1966 Ford Mustang he was restoring and his friends and family say he had no plans to leave home. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do after graduating high school, but he was thinking of enrolling in trade school. The house where the party was held was destroyed by a fire shortly after Randy's disappearance. Rumors circulated that Randy was abducted and killed by a Satanic cult that was supposedly active in the Linwood area, however this was never proven. Many people were harassed by local police, as well as wrongfully arrested due to the narrative that Randy's disappearance was due to a cult sacrifice.  Several people have come forward about Randy's disappearance and those people have since disappeared or died in mysterious ways. His case remains unsolved to this day.   Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast  #podcast #documentary #truecrime

25 Maj 202032min

This week, Yergy and Drewby conclude the case of James Rodney Hicks, arguably Maine's only known serial killer - and speculate as to why Hicks got away with his crimes for so long. On 1 November 2000, Maine's Penobscot County grand jury formally charged confessed killer James Hicks, 49, with the murders of Jerilyn Towers and Lynn Willette. Hicks served six years of a 10-year prison sentence for killing his first wife, 23-year-old Jennie Hicks, who disappeared from the couple's Carmel home in 1977. Hicks was not arrested for her murder until 1983 and was convicted in 1984. Before his arrest, Towers, 34, of Newport, disappeared after leaving a Newport bar with Hicks. In fact the police investigation into Towers' disappearance prompted the re-examination Jennie Hicks' disappearance and subsequently the charging Hicks with her murder. At the time he was not charged with Towers' death because police lacked adequate evidence. After his release from prison in 1990, Hicks met 40-year-old Willette of Orrington with whom he worked at the Twin City Motel in Brewer. The two eventually lived together at a South Main Street apartment where Hicks now claims he killed Willette on May 26th 1996. Though also suspected in her disappearance, Hicks was never charged with her death because of lack of evidence. That is until he was handed a 55-year sentence in Lubbock, Texas, and confessed to the three killings and led authorities to their bodies. Hicks was convicted in Texas of holding a gun to the head of a 67-year-old woman, forcing here to write a check to him and sign over the title to her car, and then write a suicide note. He planned to drug and drown the woman to make it look like a suicide, but she somehow managed to escaped. When he was convicted to 55 years in prison Hicks asked to cut a deal with authorities in Maine whereby he agreed to direct them to the bodies of the three missing in exchange for serving his time in Maine instead of Texas. Back in Maine Hicks located the remains of his three victims after two days of digging around his former home in Etna and at several roadside sites in Aroostook County, Maine. The remains of his former wife and Towers were found 100 feet apart next to the home where he grew up. Willette's remains were found in concrete buckets buried next to the road in Aroostook County. Apparently all the bodies were dismembered and some parts he allegedly tossed in a nearby river. Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast #truecrime #podcast #mystery

4 Maj 202038min

We hope you're all staying safe in quarantine out there! This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the case of Mona Fandey - a failed pop singer later turned shaman and murderer from Malaysia. Fandey was executed at the age of 45, after being convicted of the murder of a politician, Mazlan Idris in 1993, who had solicited Fandey to perform a "witchcraft ritual" to help his position within his political party. Ending Song: "Ratapan Anek" By Mona Fandey Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast #truecrime #podcast #mystery #documentary

20 Apr 202033min

This week, Yergy and Drewby discuss the crimes of James Rodney Hicks, arguably Maine's only known serial killer.  On 1 November 2000, Maine's Penobscot County grand jury formally charged confessed killer James Hicks, 49, with the murders of Jerilyn Towers and Lynn Willette. Hicks served six years of a 10-year prison sentence for killing his first wife, 23-year-old Jennie Hicks, who disappeared from the couple's Carmel home in 1977.  Hicks was not arrested for her murder until 1983 and was convicted in 1984. Before his arrest, Towers, 34, of Newport, disappeared after leaving a Newport bar with Hicks. In fact the police investigation into Towers' disappearance prompted the re-examination Jennie Hicks' disappearance and subsequently the charging Hicks with her murder. At the time he was not charged with Towers' death because police lacked adequate evidence. After his release from prison in 1990, Hicks met 40-year-old Willette of Orrington with whom he worked at the Twin City Motel in Brewer. The two eventually lived together at a South Main Street apartment where Hicks now claims he killed Willette 26 May 1996. Though also suspected in her disappearance, Hicks was never charged with her death because of lack of evidence. That is until he was handed a 55-year sentence in Lubbock, Texas, and confessed to the three killings and led authorities to their bodies. Hicks was convicted in Texas of holding a gun to the head of a 67-year-old woman, forcing here to write a check to him and sign over the title to her car, and then write a suicide note. He planned to drug and drown the woman to make it look like a suicide, but she somehow managed to escaped. When he was convicted to 55 years in prison Hicks asked to cut a deal with authorities in Maine whereby he agreed to direct them to the bodies of the three missing in exchange for serving his time in Maine instead of Texas. Back in Maine Hicks located the remains of his three victims after two days of digging around his former home in Etna and at several roadside sites in Aroostook County, Maine. The remains of his former wife and Towers were found 100 feet apart next to the home where he grew up. Willette's remains were found in concrete buckets buried next to the road in Aroostook County. Apparently all the bodies were dismembered and some parts he allegedly tossed in a nearby river. Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast #truecrime #podcast #mystery #documentary

20 Apr 202039min