Appalachian Mysteria
A crime journalism podcast series focused on unusual horrors in the hills and hollers of Appalachia. Created and hosted by Kendall Perkinson and Sarah James McLaughlin. Season 1 - Mared & Karen: The WVU Coed MurdersSeason 2 - Big Savage: The Death Of Alexander StevensSeason 3 - OutlandishSeason 4 - Listener Suggestions
Episodes
Updates: New Season! / No More Ads / Facebook Deleted / Big Savage on YouTube
Four big updates from the Mysteria Crew.Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available on Amazon) Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube) Kromatic Media
Away in a Hangar: A Christmas Special
This short Christmas special tells the story of a Pennsylvania Santa Claus (and his chauffeur) who definitely ended up on the naughty list in 1983. Taking listeners from the top of the tallest skyscraper in Pittsburgh to a backwoods hangar …
Wild Updates: Cases Solved! Suspect Killed! Gravestone Stolen!
In one month, the killers of Julie Williams, Lollie Winans and at least two victims of the Colonial Parkway murders are identified. Bill Thomas joins us to discuss the details, and why there are still so many questions unanswered. Meanwhile…
The Sunnyside Rapist, Part 2 | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep 6
In the second of this 2-part series, Jack Edward Hawkins is put on trial without physical evidence for three assaults committed by the Sunnyside rapist, but prosecutors refuse to claim he is a suspect in any others. Neighbors of the Hawkins…
The Sunnyside Rapist, Part 1 | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep5
Fifteen years after the events of Season 1 (The WVU Coed Murders), Morgantown women are faced with a new predator: a rapist so meticulous and organized that he vanishes through police checkpoints and neighborhood lockdowns every summer.In t…
Hell’s Square Mile, Part 3 | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep 4
In the last of this 3-part series, we examine Mabel’s top suspects in the murder of Walter Curnutte. Years later, Tim and Becky discover an entirely new motive connected to a forged document, a federal racketeering case, South American coca…
Hell’s Square Mile, Part 2 | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep 3
After Walter Curnutte’s murder, his sister Mabel takes on the case, recording interviews, writing letters to powerful officials, and hiring a private detective. The community’s war on Walter comes to light – from protests to arson to civil …
Hell’s Square Mile, Part 1 | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep 2
This is the beginning of a 3-part story about one square mile of the West Virginia mountains. The story winds its way through a savage war between Indians and settlers, a poor boy adopted into wealth for his ruthlessness, more than one murd…
Burning Questions | Season 4: Listener Suggestions, Ep 1
A WVU alum working for the state prosecutor’s office suddenly finds herself on the scene of a very personal tragedy that could be much more sinister. Much to her dismay, her forensic investigation training is not being employed by authoriti…
Unattended Death, Part 2
Arthur's phone is tracked down, and we listen to audio of a Morgantown detective interviewing three students who headed out on the town with Arthur the night he died. Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available on Amazon) Kend…
Unattended Death, Part 1
This two-part special introduces the life and death of Arthur Bagenda, an international student at WVU who drowned in a ditch within sight of the Morgantown Police station. In this first episode, we visit the Walnut Street bridge, where a l…
Bonus Story: Cradle Will Rock
A child's grave explodes after 63 years underground. As Morgantown police and reporters gather around the coffin, they are shocked to find that his corpse is strangely well-preserved. Cradle Will Rock is the story of the life, death, and di…
Extra: Oubliette | Outlandish
In this episode, we take a step back in time to the week Cathy Thomas and Becky Dowski were murdered in the first of several Colonial Parkway murders. As the crime scene tape still hangs from Becky Dowski’s doorway at William & Mary College…
LIVE EVENT! THURSDAY OCTOBER 13!
We're going to be giving a presentation on Season 3, Outlandish, this Thursday night at the Samuels Library in Front Royal Virginia. This is the northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park, where Yvonna Malbasha was accosted and Julie an…
Update: Trailed | Outlandish
As Appalachian Mysteria finished covering the story of Julie and Lollie, author Kathryn Miles completed her own book about the murders. In this episode, Kathryn uses her total access to Dierdre Enright's evidence to bring to light new infor…
Abandoned Summit | Outlandish, Ep 11
Darrell Rice is released from prison, but the publicity of his indictments makes a normal life elusive. The FBI plans a summit to examine other possible murders by Evonitz, but it falls by the wayside. Two decades later, we give it a shot.R…
Strategic Reasons | Outlandish, Ep 10
Forensic evidence throws the upcoming trial of Darrell Rice into upheaval, and an unexpected conclusion leads to yet another indictment. Several of our guests openly disagree on the final results. Resources: Witness Points Out Suspect as Ab…
All Wrong, All the Time? | Outlandish, Ep 9
We examine key evidence in the pre-trial hearings of Darrell Rice: jailhouse informants, the audio recording that gave rise to hate crime charges, a shifting timeline, and a phone call that Rice’s defense attorney calls “a bizarre piece of …
Survival Mode | Outlandish, Ep 8
Kara Robinson makes an escape, putting all the information she memorized to good use. Evonitz goes on the run. Kara talks to us about the complex ethics of telling stories like hers in the true crime genre, and explains what “trauma-informe…
Death Notice | Outlandish, Ep 7
The Attorney General of the United States announces the indictment of Darrell Rice. We review the life story of the serial killer responsible for the deaths of Sofia Silva and the Lisk sisters, and interview his final victim about her abduc…
Kindness and Fear | Outlandish, Ep 6
As murders and abductions haunt Lignum, Rt 29, and Shenandoah National Park, three children are taken from their front yards less than 30 miles away. The girls are the first known victims of a serial killer who will become an important part…
Once Upon a Time in the West | Outlandish, Ep 5
We investigate claims that the Park Service has a history of transferring troubled rangers. An NPS whistleblower explains a coverup culture within the agency, and shares the story of a ranger who investigated both the Shenandoah and Colonia…
Exploring Substantial Similarities | Outlandish, Ep 4
Eight Years Earlier: The Navy undertakes “purges” of lesbians from its ranks. The first of Virginia’s Colonial Parkway murders looks eerily familiar. A southern con-man helps find the killer — and defrauds the victims’ families. Resources a…
1996 | Outlandish, Ep 3
Someone is pulling over dozens of women on a road just 15 miles from Skyline Drive. Alicia Reynolds disappears. At least three bodies turn up in a small hamlet nearby. The Innocence Project fights to free a man convicted of murder.Resources…
It Felt Like The World Exploded | Outlandish, Ep 2
A massive hunt for Julie & Lollie's killer begins. Some demand a hate crime investigation, drawing parallels to the attack of another lesbian couple hiking the Appalachian Trail. A lesbian defense lawyer finds herself arguing for the prosec…
Raveling Out | Outlandish, Ep 1
The unsolved murder of a young couple in Shenandoah National Park shakes the gay and lesbian communities. One year later, a bicyclist is assaulted in the same area, and authorities begin to suspect him of serial murder.Resources and Links: …
Season Three Trailer | Outlandish
A lesbian couple is found brutally murdered near the Appalachian Trail. As authorities build the first federal hate crime prosecution in the nation's history, a web of horrific crimes creeps down the Blue Ridge mountains into the heart of V…
Testing Truth | Fitting the Crime, Ep 2
The conviction of Glen Woodall begins to look suspicious as a rookie lawyer ushers West Virginia into a new era of DNA testing. Prosecutors fight the new forensic method tooth and nail, but the results will uncover a trail of crime unpreced…
A Town On Edge | Fitting the Crime, Ep 1
As ice storms sweep over Huntington, WV, a masked rapist is stalking the mall. After two abductions, suspicion falls on a nearby grave-digger with a checkered past. As evidence begins piling up, a forensic science superstar helps set the st…
Meet the Minds Behind Appalachian Mysteria Part 2
In a special two-part episode, the president of Jam Street Media, Matty Staudt, sits down with creators of Appalachian Mysteria, Kendall Perkinson, and Sarah James McLaughlin, to talk about their journey creating the first two seasons. Part…
Meet the Minds Behind Appalachian Mysteria Part 1
In a special two-part episode, the president of Jam Street Media, Matty Staudt, sits down with the creators of Appalachian Mysteria, Kendall Perkinson, and Sarah James McLaughlin, to talk about their journey creating the first two seasons. …
Yelling in my Car: A Specialist Critique | Big Savage
After the Mysteria crew receives a concerned email from a professional working on sexual assault issues, we invite her on the show to critique Season 2, Big Savage. What follows is a discussion of Megan Shaffer’s poor defense, the biologica…
Sad and Strange Updates | Big Savage
A lot has happened since the season finale of Big Savage, including Megan Shaffer’s appeals, the unfortunate death of Alexander’s father, and a scandal involving the judge who presided over Megan's trial.Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU C…
Closure is the Cruelest Word | Big Savage, Ep 8
A stranger approaches Teresa as the jury deliberates. The verdict is finally delivered, and we speak with two jurors about the discussion and debate that went on behind closed doors.Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available …
Manner of Death | Big Savage, Ep 7
Two medical examiners take the stand. Megan finally takes the stand to testify about the entire ordeal, closing out the trial.Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available on Amazon) Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Cha…
Unanswered, Unasked | Big Savage, Ep 6
Kromatic Media sets legal precedent in Maryland by obtaining Megan's 911 call from the morning Alex was found dead. Jay and Tristan – Alex's father and sister – take the stand. Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available on Am…
Personal Revelations | Big Savage, Ep 5
Sarah and Kendall get personal, Alex's therapist takes the stand, and a stranger testifies about finding Alex on her doorstep one week before High Rock. Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders(available on Amazon) Kendall's Appalach…
The Third Interview | Big Savage, Ep 4
Three defense witnesses all make a claim that could swing the jury's opinion. But is there any evidence? One of those witnesses helps to arrange a third police interview with Megan, only 48 hours after Alex is found dead. Megan's story has …
A Trial Begins | Big Savage, Ep 3
The trial of Megan Shaffer begins with testimony from Steven Moon. We examine Megan's slightly shifting story of what happened that night. Sarah, Kendall and Teresa each make a visit to High Rock -- bringing a realization to all that only…
Folie à Deux? | Big Savage, Ep 2
In this episode, we try to find out who Alex & Megan really were. The second case file discovered by reporters makes the whole situation even more confusing. Pretrial hearings set the stage for an unusual prosecution. Sarah & Geoff's book a…