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Listener warning: this case is extremely disturbing.  It is our final day of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. In May 1981, on the outskirts of Chicago, a hotel maid went to work like she did every day. For the most part, the day was uneventful, except when she noticed a horrible smell. The Moonlit Hotel wasn’t exactly a five-star place to stay. It was known as a place for drug deals and quick sex. Even so, the maid had never noticed a smell like this before. This was something new. And all day long, she tried to find the source of the stench but never found it. She returned to work the next day, and the smell was even worse.  It is a medical fact that women have a better sense of smell than men. They are also better at identifying a specific odor. And what the maid smelled that day was death. Her gut told her that something was dead on the hotel premises, but no matter how much she looked for the source, she couldn’t find it. The stench was making it almost impossible to work. Finally, she went to the hotel manager, who said that, yeah, now that she mentioned it, he smelled something, too. She told him that she’d already checked all the rooms, so the manager began to search the grounds. The manager came upon a gruesome discovery in an empty field behind the hotel. This would not be the final victim, but the biggest shock was yet to come.  Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled ‘The Personification of Evil: The Chicago Ripper Crew.’ A huge thank you to Sleep Creme for sponsoring this episode. Order your bottle today at sleepcreme.com. Use the code OTCPODCAST at checkout to save twenty bucks on the first order!  Thank you to our team: Written and researched by Lauretta Allen Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint Sources: https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-ripper-crew-satanic-murderers-thomas-kokoraleis [https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-ripper-crew-satanic-murderers-thomas-kokoraleis] https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1989/65229-7.html [https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1989/65229-7.html] https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ripper_Crew [https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ripper_Crew] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/29/ripper-crew-killer-thomas-kokoraleis-paroled-after-37-years-prison/3308889002/ [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/29/ripper-crew-killer-thomas-kokoraleis-paroled-after-37-years-prison/3308889002/] https://www.cracked.com/article_35559_the-ripper-crew-the-scariest-cult-youve-never-heard-of.html [https://www.cracked.com/article_35559_the-ripper-crew-the-scariest-cult-youve-never-heard-of.html] https://mail.murderpedia.org/male.G/g/gecht-robin.htm [https://mail.murderpedia.org/male.G/g/gecht-robin.htm] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387761257/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387761257/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816419/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816419/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816597/ [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816597/] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387752260/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387752260/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/388105253/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/388105253/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387746495/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387746495/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387887372/?match=1&terms=%22Lorry%20Borowski%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387887372/?match=1&terms=%22Lorry%20Borowski%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/388083689/ [https://www.newspapers.com/image/388083689/] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387753721/ [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387753721/] (plus page 2) https://www.newspapers.com/image/387880426/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387880426/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387743330/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387743330/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22]  https://www.newspapers.com/image/388109876/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/388109876/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22] (how suspect was arrested) https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/73489679/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/73489679/?match=1&terms=%22Sandra%20Delaware%22] match=1&terms=%22Sandra%20Delaware%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/73489679/?match=1&terms=%22Sandra%20Delaware%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/919587870/?match=1&terms=%22Rose%20Beck%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/919587870/?match=1&terms=%22Rose%20Beck%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22] https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-first-appellate-district/2008/1063487.html [https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-first-appellate-district/2008/1063487.html]

Here is day 11 of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. After the American Civil War, the U.S. government decided it would be delightful to shuffle the Osage Indians from Labette County, Kansas, to what would soon be the state of Oklahoma—because who doesn’t love a good game of human chess? As they cleared the land, they rolled out the red carpet for homesteaders, luring them in with shiny promises of opportunity. By October 1870, five families of spiritualists—because obviously, that’s who you want on the frontier—decided to stake their claim on this “untamed paradise.” As noted by the proclamation issued on May 17, 1873, this was far from paradise for many travelers. Several atrocious murders have been recently committed in Labette County, Kansas. Join Jen and Cam on this episode entitled ‘Trail of Terror: The Bloody Benders and Their House of Death.’ Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS All music by our executive producer and editor @theinkypawprint Sources: https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/10/bloody-benders/ https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/bloody-benders https://www.kctv5.com/2024/07/04/kansas-bloody-benders-digging-clues-century-old-murders/ https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/ https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/ku-researchers-dig-deeper-into-the-bloody-benders-site/ https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/true-crime-in-kansas-the-mystery-of-the-benders https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sale-kansas-land-where-bloody-benders-committed-their-crimes-180974121/ https://open.spotify.com/episode/13godpkiaP4Ile72PYAIL5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders

We are on day ten of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On a freezing cold night in December of 1977, two women in their mid-thirties were leaving the Forker’s Café at 64 Union Street in Newark, Ohio. At 2:30 a.m., Joyce Vermillion, a barmaid at the café, and Karen Dodrill (dod-rill), a patron and friend of Joyce’s, were preparing to call it a night. Karen had been out celebrating her birthday and had offered to give her friend Joyce a ride home. Since it was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, Karen went out to warm up her car first and was headed back into the bar when she was gunned down by a person waiting in the bushes.  Since there was a homemade silencer on the gun, Joyce had no warning of any danger and walked out of the building and was shot and killed as well. (Some sources say they were walking across the parking lot when they were gunned down.) When Joyce failed to return home from work, her husband notified the police. No one knew that there was not just one killer at work; there were two, and they were related. Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast as we discuss ‘Ohio's 22 Caliber Killers: The Lewingdon Brothers.’ Thank you to our team: Written and researched by Lauretta Allen Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_and_Thaddeus_Lewingdon [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_and_Thaddeus_Lewingdon] https://mail.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/partners/lewingdon_bros/4.html [https://mail.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/partners/lewingdon_bros/4.html] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325368/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325368/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325794/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325794/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288326901/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288326901/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288331767/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288331767/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill] https://www.newspapers.com/image/989648304/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/989648304/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/601876460/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/601876460/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/844598598/?match=1&terms=Robert%20Mickey%20McCann [https://www.newspapers.com/image/844598598/?match=1&terms=Robert%20Mickey%20McCann] https://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Jones [https://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Jones] https://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Jones [https://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Jones] https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5054b15de4b02b42cb2ebd87/t/58aef25a17bffc1271928016/1487860323271/HistTimes201401.pdf [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5054b15de4b02b42cb2ebd87/t/58aef25a17bffc1271928016/1487860323271/HistTimes201401.pdf] http://wiki.lickingcountylibrary.info/Murders_and_Homicides [http://wiki.lickingcountylibrary.info/Murders_and_Homicides] https://www.newspapers.com/image/863804609/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/863804609/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22] match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/863804609/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/825445876/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20confessed [https://www.newspapers.com/image/825445876/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20confessed] https://www.newspapers.com/image/903090856/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/903090856/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/297373789/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/297373789/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288468878/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288468878/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/296336484/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Martha [https://www.newspapers.com/image/296336484/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Martha] https://www.newspapers.com/image/288494235/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Martha [https://www.newspapers.com/image/288494235/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Martha] https://www.newspapers.com/image/287438136/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/287438136/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/157391755/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/157391755/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/295929917/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/295929917/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/287557372/?match=1&terms=Lewingdon%20organized%20crime [https://www.newspapers.com/image/287557372/?match=1&terms=Lewingdon%20organized%20crime] https://www.newspapers.com/image/296705157/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/296705157/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20charges] match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20charges [https://www.newspapers.com/image/296705157/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20charges] https://www.newspapers.com/image/1065476941/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20charges [https://www.newspapers.com/image/1065476941/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20charges] https://www.newspapers.com/image/719952673/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdman [https://www.newspapers.com/image/719952673/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdman] https://www.newspapers.com/image/406056639/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdman [https://www.newspapers.com/image/406056639/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdman] https://www.newspapers.com/image/395561556/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20obituar [https://www.newspapers.com/image/395561556/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20obituary]y [https://www.newspapers.com/image/395561556/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20obituary]

It is day 9 of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On a sweltering June 26, 1957, Margaret Harold, a vibrant young woman, and her boyfriend, a U.S. Army sergeant, were enjoying a rare weekend getaway. As they were making their way, a green Chrysler came barreling toward them. Without warning, the car swerved, forcing them off the road. The driver, a tall, dark-haired man, stepped out with a sinister calmness. He approached their vehicle with a wicked look in his eyes. The stranger demanded that they roll down their window as he brandished a nickel-plated .38 revolver. At first, the man demanded money and then cigarettes. When the couple did not have anything to give him, he shot Margaret point-blank in the face. The horrified soldier, paralyzed by shock, fled the scene, racing through the rural fields that surrounded him. Finally, he reached a farmhouse, where he managed to call the police, relaying the horror he had just witnessed. The sergeant provided a clear description of the man who had attacked them—a man with an average build and somewhat tall stature, marked by dark hair and a clean-shaven face. Before police could find the stranger, he would do a lot more damage.  Join Cam and Jen on this episode entitled “The Sex Beast: Melvin Rees.” Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS All music is by our executive producer and editor @theinkypawprint Sources: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-serial-killer-preys-upon-a-woman-out-for-a-drive https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/193/849/1733703/ https://www.facebook.com/baileysarian1/videos/the-chilling-story-of-melvin-rees/1122503025475063/ https://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rees-melvin.htm https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/melvin_rees/13.html https://www.sharda.ac.in/apply/ed/4c000655-Ay9X2VWw1xs.html https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/melvin_rees/12.html https://www.tamucc.edu/online/video/video-kMVK9ybIbWB.html

It is day eight of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. At 5:45 a.m. on May 12, 2005, Michael Ross woke up and got out of bed as usual. It was a partly cloudy morning in Somers, Connecticut, and the day would be warm and pleasant. At 6:00 a.m., Michael had oatmeal for breakfast, then watched television and read the newspaper. After reading for a while, he received communion from a Catholic priest. The day was going well—pretty typical for him, actually. He visited with family and friends in the afternoon for a few hours. The only thing unusual about Michael’s dinner of turkey a la king, rice, fruit, mixed vegetables, and white bread was that it would be his last because, a few hours later, Michael Ross was executed by the state of Connecticut. It was the first execution in the state of Connecticut since Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky was electrocuted in 1960.  Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled 'The Roadside Strangler: Michael Bruce Ross.' Thank you to our team: Written and researched by Lauretta Allen Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAMXqN0Eaw [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAMXqN0Eaw] (If you watch or listen to one thing on Michael Ross, watch this one. It's the one Jen spoke about.) https://murderpedia.org/male.R/r1/ross-michael.htm [https://murderpedia.org/male.R/r1/ross-michael.htm] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bruce_Ross [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bruce_Ross] https://www.newspapers.com/image/972592729/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/972592729/?match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20] match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/972592729/?match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/254927798/?match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/254927798/?match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20] https://web.archive.org/web/20050616003937/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20050616003937/http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html] http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20050616003937/http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7144278/ [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7144278/] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175726038/dzung-ngoc-tu [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175726038/dzung-ngoc-tu]https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/my-name-is-michael-ross/ [https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/my-name-is-michael-ross/] (in his own words) https://www.newspapers.com/image/490184513/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/490184513/?match=1&terms=%22Paula%20Perrera%22] match=1&terms=%22Paula%20Perrera%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/490184513/?match=1&terms=%22Paula%20Perrera%22] https://www.newspapers.com/image/242556358/?match=1&terms=%22Tammy%20Williams%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/242556358/?match=1&terms=%22Tammy%20Williams%22] https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/michael_ross/index.html [https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/michael_ross/index.html] https://www.newspapers.com/image/242699683/? [https://www.newspapers.com/image/242699683/?match=1&terms=%22Debra%20Smith%20Taylor%22%20] match=1&terms=%22Debra%20Smith%20Taylor%22%20 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/242699683/?match=1&terms=%22Debra%20Smith%20Taylor%22%20] https://www.newspapers.com/image/970513270/?match=1&terms=%22Robin%20Dawn%20Stavinsky%22 [https://www.newspapers.com/image/970513270/?match=1&terms=%22Robin%20Dawn%20Stavinsky%22] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138698281/wendy-lynn-baribeault [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138698281/wendy-lynn-baribeault] https://www.newspapers.com/image/369000327/?match=1&terms=Wendy%20Baribeault [https://www.newspapers.com/image/369000327/?match=1&terms=Wendy%20Baribeault] https://www.newspapers.com/image/970460283/?match=1&terms=Wendy%20Baribeault [https://www.newspapers.com/image/970460283/?match=1&terms=Wendy%20Baribeault] https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/crime/2016/05/21/detective-who-stopped-serial-killer/29175692007/ [https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/crime/2016/05/21/detective-who-stopped-serial-killer/29175692007/]