In 1996, Bobie and Marilyn Blewer, professional food vendors from Missouri, set up their trailer at the Iowa State Fair. It was – and is – one of the biggest fairs in the country and had been a regular stop for the Blewers for twenty years. Then, one sunny afternoon, as thousands of people enjoyed […]
Episode 111: Dark Day at the Fair: The Murder of Bobie and Marilyn Blewer Read More »
Standing in the hot Florida sun, Jerimy realized that he was finished. The money was gone, and his name was in papers across the country. He had run, had tried to be clever, but now he realized that it had all been pointless. Jerimy took a deep breath and lowered his head. Besides, he was
Dark Day at the Fair: The Murder of Bobie and Marilyn Blewer Read More »
In January of 1926, Ed Rinebold was driving his normal newspaper deliver route in western Illinois when he had a strange feeling. The car at the railroad crossing had just been in an accident. He hadn’t heard or seen anything, but just knew that’s what happened. When he went back, the flaming ruins of the
Ed Rinebold drove his delivery truck carefully down the icy roads toward the railroad tracks at Poppy Crossing, about twelve miles from Moline, Illinois. He had driven that route dozens of times as a driver for the Daily Times, a local newspaper. But he wasn’t taking any chances. The last thing that he wanted to
On the night of October 9, 1896, the town of Corning, Iowa was awakened by an alarm bell. A fire had broken out near the railroad tracks on the south side of town. As firemen and citizens fought the blaze, little did they know that an even bigger disaster was about to happen right behind
Episode 105: What Caused the Great Corning, Iowa Fire of 1896? Read More »
Fall had settled into the rolling hills of Adams County in southwest Iowa. Harvest had begun in the largely rural region, and farmers and their families toiled in the fields as the temperatures began to drop and the leaves slowly changed their color. In the city of Corning, the county seat, and the largest city
What caused the Great Corning, Iowa Fire of 1896? Read More »
No one had seen Percy Smith since he had gone to buy cattle from a man near Council Bluffs, Iowa. When police were called, their search led to Corliss Bruntlett, a man with a hidden past. They soon discovered that he was concealing an even darker secret that would shock their community. Sources Haws,
Episode 104: Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.” Read More »
Eulalia Smith had been worried about her husband since that Lundgreen man had called her. There was just something not right about that phone call. Looking out the window of their home in Council Bluffs, Iowa, an anxious look crossed Eulalia’s face. Lundgreen – whoever he was – had told her that Percy wanted
Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.” Read More »
In 2007, a woman contacted the press with a startling revelation: her father, Donald Studey, was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of as many as 70 young women at his home in Green Hollow, Iowa. As the story began to make headlines across the nation, the case began to make many twists and
Episode 102: Donald Studey: The Monster of Green Hollow? Read More »
Some say that there was a monster in Green Hollow. Located in the rural hills of Southwestern Iowa, Green Hollow is a thickly wooded area full of deep ravines. For several years, the only road that accessed the area was so narrow that it could barely accommodate two cars at the same time. The
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