A Simpler Time True Crime
I’m Megan, your host, and each week I revisit unsolved cases from decades past—stories that have too often been forgotten or overlooked. Together, we examine the facts, question the myths of “the good old days,” and ask whether a simpler time was ever really a safer one. This podcast honors the people at the heart of each case—focusing not on sensationalism, but on the lives affected and the justice still waiting to be served. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-simpler-time-true-crime--6665681/support.
Episodes
A Killer At The Door: The Unsolved Murder of Virginia State Trooper Johnny Bowman
In the early morning hours of August 19, 1984, a Virginia State Trooper answered his front door and was ambushed. In an attack lasting no more than three minutes, he was fatally stabbed more than 40 times in front of his wife, brother, and …
Lover's Lane: The Murder of Cathy Britt
In May 1983, a young couple parked near the Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County, Maryland, was suddenly ambushed when gunfire shattered the quiet night. Just four weeks earlier, another couple had been shot in a similar lovers’ lane at…
A Mountain Town's Code of Silence: The Murders of Earl and Clarissa Gonzales
High in the mountains of northern New Mexico, overlooking the village of Questa, a father and his young daughter lived in the dream home he built with his own hands. Friends and neighbors knew him as the kind of man who always offered help …
Disappeared from the Dorms: The Unsolved Case of Michael Negrete
It was the end of the semester at UCLA. Students were finishing exams, celebrating, and preparing to head home for the holidays. A freshman named Michael joined friends at a dorm party before winding down with a late-night computer game wit…
Abducted From The Playground: The Kidnapping of Megan Garner
In the spring of 1991, a three-year-old girl was playing outside with her siblings and cousins while her mother and aunt were inside. She knew the rules her mom had set—especially not to cross the parking lot alone. That simple rule left he…
Nothing Is What It Seems: The Unsolved Murder of Donna Emmel
If you look up this case online, you’ll see one version of events repeated over and over: A young girl leaves a hangout spot to walk home, takes a cut-through trail, and never makes it back. Her body is later found in a nearby ditch, and a …
I'll Be Right Back: The Unsolved Murder of Sharon Thor
Sharon was a talented high school dancer with a bright future in ballet. One afternoon, a phone call pulled her from the safety of home. She told her mom she’d be right back, then stepped outside and into a waiting vehicle. She was never se…
House of Horrors: The Disappearance of Martha Martinez Maxwell
A 41-year-old Texas woman is trapped in a violent marriage. After barely surviving a previous attack, she gains distance and the hope of a fresh start. But slowly he lures her back into his web. And then one day, she vanishes. Her family re…
A Frightening Chain of Events: The Unsolved Murders of Julie and Terry Dade
In scary movies, there’s always that moment—the chase, the panic, the victim just steps away from help when they’re suddenly pulled back into danger. It’s a trope meant to shock us and keep us on the edge of our seats. But in 1970, in a qui…
He Walked Into The Night and Vanished: The Disappearance of Ellis Faison Sr.
People in the midst of a mental health crisis are at a much higher risk of going missing. In the late summer of 1989, a 64-year-old man from North Carolina became part of that troubling reality. That evening, police had been called to his h…
An Empty Bed and Unending Mystery: The Unsolved Disappearance of Zachary Bernhardt
An 8-year-old boy in Clearwater, Florida spends the evening with his mother and asks if he can sleep in her bed. After putting him to sleep, his mother struggles to fall asleep due to typically working the overnight shift. As the hours tick…
The Classified Ad: The Murder of Linda Sue Dearth
It was late January of 1973. Across the country, people were mourning the passing of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. His funeral was set to be broadcast on national television, and schools across the U.S. closed for the day so families …
The Answering Machine Message: The Unsolved Murder of Jennifer Clemmings
A beautiful and vivacious 32-year-old woman had hit a sweet-spot of success in her life. She was a high-ranking sales consultant for the beauty company Mary Kay and on pace to be one of the top ranks in the company. But one evening in 2002,…
Darkness of the St Charles Trails: The Disappearance of Scott Kleeschulte
It was the last day of school, and 9-year-old Scott from St. Charles, Missouri, was ready to dive into summer. He started the season like so many other kids—riding his bike and exploring a nearby wooded area popular with local children. But…
Mystery at the Lake Superior Shoreline: The Unsolved Murder of Dale Wheeler
Send us a textOn an unseasonably beautiful fall day in Duluth, Minnesota, a 33-year-old mother decides to take time for herself to bike the beautiful scenic Highway 61 along the shoreline of Lake Superior. After pulling off to take a breath…
Trailer: A Simpler Time True Crime
The Fishing Trip: The Unsolved Disappearance of Walter "Greg" Fowler
Send us a textOn this podcast, I often share cases filled with mystery — where there are multiple suspects, possible outcomes, and unanswered questions about what happened or who was responsible. But for every one of those cases, there are …
Lured Away At The Park: The Abduction of Hattie Jackson
Send us a textFriday July 21st, 1961 was ranked the fourth hottest day in Washington DC that year, coming in at 93 degrees. And so, the children on their summer school break were trying to keep cool. Amongst those was a young girl named Hat…
While The Children Played Outside: The Unsolved Murder of Leota Camp
Send us a textIt was a Monday afternoon in July. Leota, a mother of three, was home with her kids, doing the most ordinary of tasks — hanging laundry on the clothesline. But while she was outside, someone is believed to have slipped into h…
The Punctured Tire: The Unsolved Cases of Arrilla Vaul and Dodie Gay
Send us a textIn 1979, a woman drops her husband off to his shift at K-Mart in a shopping plaza in Shreveport, Louisiana. She doesn’t make it too far back towards home when she realizes her tire is flat. She pulls over to the side of the ro…
Abducted While She Slept: The Murder of Dannarriah Finley
Send us a textThere is something so eerie about a case like the one I’m about to tell you about today. I think its because, sleeping in your bed in the comfort of your home is where you’re supposed to feel most safe. Ironically, its often t…
Last Seen Alive With A Serial Predator: The Unsolved Disappearance of Robin Murphy
Send us a textIf you’ve found this episode, you may have been pulled in by the title. And if you’ve listened to my show for a while, you know I try to avoid dramatic headlines and writing. But the fact of the matter is, no matter how many t…
The Favorite Teacher: The Unsolved Murder of Cliff Nelson
Send us a textThe Montana Teacher of the Year was known for his words of wisdom, volunteering his time, coaching, mentoring, helping students in need, and leaving lasting impact on everyone he taught. So when he was gunned down in the early…
The Cards Stacked Against Her: The Unsolved Disappearance of Deanna Merryfield
Send us a textIts summer of 1990, a thirteen-year-old Texas girl named Deanna is doing her best, living in a difficult situation but also trying to just be a regular teenage girl. One night, she sneaks out of the house to visit her twin sis…
Corruption, Cover-Up, and The Blue Wall: The Suspicious Death of Keith Warren
Send us a textJuly 1986 - Silver Spring, Maryland. – A nineteen-year-old black man named Keith Warren heads out for an evening and never returns home. Two days later, he is found hanging from a tree in a wooded area behind a townhome comple…
The Birthday Murder: The Unsolved Homicide of Tracey Neilson
Send us a textIn January of 1981, an Oklahoma woman is celebrating her 21st birthday. She kisses her husband goodbye that morning as he heads to school, and she tells him that she plans to run errands, have lunch with a friend, and have a q…
She Is Not In The Confines Of This Park: The Bizarre Disappearance of Gloria White Moore
Send us a textOn an ordinary winter day in January of 2001, a sixty-eight year old woman set off on a hike with three others. Shortly into the trail, she decided she wasn’t up for the hike and turned around to go back to the park’s lodge ar…
Did A Threat Become Reality? The Kidnapping of Louis Mackerley
Send us a textTW: Mention of sexual abuse towards a minor If you walked around the Jordan Heights Neighborhood of Allentown, PA in early 1984, you might bump into a cute little seven-year-old boy. If you did, the 44 lb elementary school stu…
Vanished in the Woods: The Strange Disappearance of Christopher Thompkins
Send us a textIn January of 2002, a group of four land surveyors were working in a lightly wooded area in Harris County Georgia. According to the crew, they were all walking in the same direction about 50 feet apart and carrying on conversa…
A Tiny Witness: The Unsolved Murder of Elena Sanchez Hawkins
Send us a textOn an early Wednesday morning in 1992, a husband and father called home to check in on his family. His wife was typically on her own in the morning, managing the routine of caring for their preschooler while getting their elem…
So Close I Can Feel It: The Unsolved Murder of Wilma June Nissen
Send us a textIt was an ordinary October day in 1978, and a utility worker named Steve was laying cable on a remote highway in Lyon County, Iowa. Just a short distance off the road he spotted what he thought was a mannequin. But as he got c…
Chasing the Ice Cream Truck: The Abductions of Equilla Hodrick and Mikelle Biggs
Send us a textTwo young girls, opposite sides of the country, thirteen years apart, with one thing in common: they chased after the ice cream truck and vanished without a trace. Join me as I discuss the cases of Equilla Hodrick, an 8-year-o…
The Boy Scout Campout Murder: The Case of Terrence Bowers Jr.
Send us a textOn a spring weekend in 1970, a group of boy scouts went camping on a church property in Pennsylvania and spent the weekend having fun and doing typical outdoor activities. But on the morning they were to leave, the scouts woul…
35th Anniversary: The Unsolved Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre
Send us a text The release of this episode, on February 10th, 2025 will mark a devastating milestone. The 35th Anniversary of possibly the most horrific crime the state of New Mexico has ever seen. Early on a Saturday morning, the community…
Murdered at Work: The Unsolved Case of Lisa Wallace Geise
Send us a textA computer programmer is running month end inventory at an empty office park on her day off. At least, she thought it was empty.The next morning her colleagues reported to work and found the building flooded and signs that a f…
The Unsolved Murder of Renee Welka
Send us a textAnn Arbor Michigan, 1994. College junior Renee Welka and a friend are returning home to her apartment complex after a night out. Shortly after parking her car, a man emerges from the shadows and pulls a gun, shooting Renee onc…
The Disappearance of Kurt Newton
Send us a textA family of four is camping with their friends at a remote campground in Maine near the Canadian border. On a Sunday morning after a hearty camping breakfast next to the fire, the moms went to the boathouse to wash dirty shoes…
The Abduction and Murder of Gracie Nash
Send us a textAustin Texas, 1983. A close-knit family is experiencing a wave of terror and domestic violence connected to a recent break-up. By the time everything played out, there would be burglary, threats, stalking, arson, false allegat…
The Disappearance of Mary, Fannie, and Jessie Stuart
Send us a textA young family living off the grid in a rugged part of Northern California in late 1977. The mother and her two toddlers set out to do a host of errands never to return. Nobody in the city of Eureka saw the family complete the…
A Deadly Secret Admirer? The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Jarosz
Send us a textJust three days after Christmas of 1964, in the quiet town of Garfield Heights, Ohio a sixteen-year-old girl was getting ready to meet up with friends. When her friend shows up at their agreed upon time, she does not answer th…