Under the Pines: Stories From New England & Beyond

John Gordon and the Murder of Amasa Sprague | Rhode Island’s Last Execution, 1843–1845 | 030

John Gordon. Amasa Sprague. Rhode Island’s last execution. This episode takes you back to Cranston and Providence in 1843, where wealthy industrialist Amasa Sprague was found murdered on a winter road and suspicion quickly settled on Irish immigrant John Gordon. What followed became one of the most controversial murder cases in Rhode Island history: a circumstantial prosecution, anti-Irish prejudice, Gordon’s 1845 hanging as the last execution ever carried out by the state, and a 2011 pardon that forced Rhode Island to confront how badly this case may have gone wrong. This is a fact-based historical true crime story about class, power, immigrant bias, wrongful conviction, wrongful execution, and the long shadow of a murder that history never fully settled. If you’ve been searching for John Gordon, Amasa Sprague, Rhode Island wrongful conviction, Rhode Island death penalty history, Irish immigrant history, or one of New England’s most haunting historical murder cases, this episode sits right at that crossroads. Sources:Governor Lincoln D. Chafee Pardons John Gordon — https://www.ri.gov/press/view/14182 [https://www.ri.gov/press/view/14182?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Personal papers of 19th century judge shed light on last R.I. trial to end in execution — https://www.uri.edu/news/2008/06/personal-papers-of-19th-century-judge-shed-light-on-last-r-i-trial-to-end-in-execution/ [https://www.uri.edu/news/2008/06/personal-papers-of-19th-century-judge-shed-light-on-last-r-i-trial-to-end-in-execution/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Trial of John Gordon and William Gordon — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-The-Trial-of-John-Gordon-and-William-Gordon.pdf [https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-The-Trial-of-John-Gordon-and-William-Gordon.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com] State v. John Gordon, 1 R.I. 179 (R.I. 1844) — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-John-Gordon_s-Appeal-September-1844.pdf [https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-John-Gordon_s-Appeal-September-1844.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Who Killed Amasa Sprague? — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/stories/who-killed-amasa-sprague/ [https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/stories/who-killed-amasa-sprague/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Rhode Island Historical Society — https://www.rihs.org/ [https://www.rihs.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] #JohnGordon #AmasaSprague #RhodeIslandHistory #TrueCrimePodcast #HistoricalTrueCrime #WrongfulConviction #WrongfulExecution #IrishImmigrantHistory #Cranston #Providence #NewEnglandHistory

Sarah Maria Cornell Murder (1832) | Ephraim Avery, Fall River, Tiverton, Rhode Island | 029 (U09:19AM)

Sarah Maria Cornell, a Fall River mill worker, was found hanging in Tiverton, Rhode Island, in December 1832. Her note named Methodist minister Ephraim Avery, the postmortem raised deeper suspicion, and the case became one of New England’s most notorious 19th-century murder trials — a story of Fall River, Tiverton, religion, class, gender, and the brutal distance between suspicion and proof. This episode follows the Sarah Maria Cornell case from her life in the early mill world through the discovery of her body, the investigation, Avery’s trial, the not guilty verdict, and the theories that still cling to the case. Sources: Brown University Library exhibit on Sarah Cornell and Ephraim Avery: https://library.brown.edu/exhibits/archive/RLCexhibit/avery/averyms.html [https://library.brown.edu/exhibits/archive/RLCexhibit/avery/averyms.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com] National Library of Medicine digital trial material: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm%3Anlmuid-101648970-bk [https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm%3Anlmuid-101648970-bk?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Cornell Law Library Trial Pamphlets, Fall River, an authentic narrative: https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/satkf06 [https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/satkf06?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Cornell Law Library Trial Pamphlets, Avery trial report: https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sat3901 [https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sat3901?utm_source=chatgpt.com] American Heritage, The Minister and the Mill Girl: https://www.americanheritage.com/minister-and-mill-girl [https://www.americanheritage.com/minister-and-mill-girl?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Ocean State Media on Kate Winkler Dawson’s research: https://www.oceanstatemedia.org/history/a-minister-was-acquitted-of-a-brutal-1832-fall-river-murder-a-new-book-revisits-the-case [https://www.oceanstatemedia.org/history/a-minister-was-acquitted-of-a-brutal-1832-fall-river-murder-a-new-book-revisits-the-case?utm_source=chatgpt.com] #SarahMariaCornell #EphraimAvery #FallRiver #Tiverton #RhodeIslandHistory #MassachusettsHistory #MillGirl #TrueCrimePodcast

The Murder of Josie Langmaid (1875): The Suncook Town Tragedy, Joseph LaPage, and Pembroke, New Hampshire | 028

Josie Langmaid was 17 when she left for school in Pembroke, New Hampshire, on October 4, 1875, and never arrived. In this episode of Under the Pines, we follow the documented murder of Josie Langmaid, the investigation that led to Joseph LaPage, the trials that followed, the confession before the hanging, and the way this crime survived in New England memory through a monument and the ballad “The Suncook Town Tragedy.” This episode contains factual reporting on the murder of a teenage girl, including sexual violence and postmortem mutilation. It stays with the historical record first, then clearly separates what belongs to later memory, local interpretation, and theory. If you value careful true crime storytelling rooted in documented history, follow the show and share this episode with someone who cares about memory handled with restraint. Sources: New Hampshire Historical Society — Josie Langmaid https://www.nhhistory.org/object/258463/langmaid-josie-1857-1875 Library of Congress — The Suncook Town Tragedy https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SuncookTragedy.pdf New Hampshire Magazine — Taking the Tour of the Josie Langmaid Murder https://www.nhmagazine.com/taking-the-tour-of-the-josie-langmaid-murder/ Concord Monitor — Murder of Pembroke schoolgirl stunned community https://www.concordmonitor.com/2017/10/27/murder-pembroke-schoolgirl-stuns-12935441/ CaseMine — State v. Lapage https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cf67add7b04934821796 Mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.” #JosieLangmaid #SuncookTownTragedy #PembrokeNH #NewHampshireTrueCrime #JosephLaPage #UnderThePines #TrueCrimePodcast #NewEnglandHistory

The Shoe Box Murder Mystery: Wallingford, Connecticut’s 1886 Unsolved Cold Case | 027

In this episode of Under the Pines, we investigate The Shoe Box Murder Mystery, an 1886 Wallingford, Connecticut unsolved murder and cold case in which a man’s torso was found packed inside a wooden shoe box, with arsenic later found in his stomach. It remains one of the strangest and most enduring unsolved true crime cases in Connecticut history. This is a story about murder, dismemberment, and erasure. The victim was never definitively identified. The killer was never caught. Investigators traced the box from Wallingford to Fall River and then to Chicago, followed false leads, found more remains, and still could not close the distance between evidence and certainty. We also look at the rumor that grew around the silence: local fire theories, whispers of a Haymarket connection, the well story, Mabel Gage, Shoebox Road, and the way an old unsolved case can drift from record into folklore when time refuses to let it rest. This episode contains discussion of homicide, dismemberment, and poisoning. Listener discretion is advised. Sources:The Shoe Box Murder Mystery — Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project — https://connecticuthistory.org/the-shoebox-murder-mystery/ [https://connecticuthistory.org/the-shoebox-murder-mystery/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] August 8: The Shoe Box Murder of 1886 — Today in Connecticut History — https://todayincthistory.com/2018/08/08/august-8-the-shoebox-murder-of-1886/ [https://todayincthistory.com/2018/08/08/august-8-the-shoebox-murder-of-1886/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Mystery of the Wallingford Shoebox Murder — New England Historical Society — https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-mystery-of-the-wallingford-shoebox-murder/ [https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-mystery-of-the-wallingford-shoebox-murder/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Wallingford’s 'Shoebox Murder' to be Featured on New Ghost-Hunting TV Show — Wallingford, CT Patch — https://patch.com/connecticut/wallingford/wallingford-s-shoebox-murder-be-featured-new-ghost-hunting-tv-show [https://patch.com/connecticut/wallingford/wallingford-s-shoebox-murder-be-featured-new-ghost-hunting-tv-show?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Haymarket Affair | History, Aftermath, & Influence — Britannica — https://www.britannica.com/event/Haymarket-Riot [https://www.britannica.com/event/Haymarket-Riot?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Anarchists and the Haymarket Square Incident — American Experience | Official Site | PBS — https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-anarchists-and-haymarket-square-incident/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-anarchists-and-haymarket-square-incident/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] #ShoeBoxMurder #WallingfordCT #ConnecticutColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #HistoricalTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #UnderThePines #ConnecticutHistory

The “Devil Made Me Do It” Case (1981) — Alan Bono Murder | Arne Cheyenne Johnson Manslaughter Trial (Brookfield, Connecticut) | 025

Alan Bono’s killing in Brookfield, Connecticut became the kind of case people don’t just follow—they project onto. On February 16, 1981, Bono was fatally stabbed, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was arrested the next day, and the courtroom that followed drew a hard line between belief and proof. Episode 23 stays inside the verified record first: the day’s events as described in contemporary reporting (including Wanda Johnson’s account), the rapid, witness-driven investigation, and the evidentiary fight over whether “demonic possession” could even be presented to a jury—followed by the pivot to conventional arguments and the manslaughter conviction with a 10–20 year sentence and release after roughly five years. Where sources collide, I don’t sand it down—I name it. Even basic details like the number of stab wounds are reported differently across reputable summaries and later courtroom recollections; this episode treats that discrepancy as a warning about how fast “record truth” can get replaced by “story truth.” Then, and only then, we step into “Outside the Record”—the Warrens, the “transfer” claim, the rumors, and the media machine—because that layer is part of why this case still won’t stay quiet. But it stays clearly separated from what can be proven. If you’re on Spotify, tap Follow. Anywhere else you listen, follow the show there too—so you don’t miss the next one. Thank you to Yoza—“Broken Wings” is used with permission. SOURCES (as used for this episode; URLs kept intact): University of Virginia Law Library (Dengrove) — “Arne Cheyenne Johnson” https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/arne-cheyenne-johnson [https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/arne-cheyenne-johnson?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The Washington Post (Lynn Darling, 1981) — “By Demons Possessed” https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/13/by-demons-possessed/3479fa6b-eee3-4233-a2fc-b9defa403504/ [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/13/by-demons-possessed/3479fa6b-eee3-4233-a2fc-b9defa403504/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] UPI Archives (Oct 28, 1981) — Judge throws out the “demon defense” https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/28/A-judge-Wednesday-threw-out-the-demon-defense-of/2826373093200/ [https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/28/A-judge-Wednesday-threw-out-the-demon-defense-of/2826373093200/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] The News-Times (Oct 31, 2023) — Local reporting/courtroom recollection and wound-count detail https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/devil-on-trial-netflix-doc-mike-allen-18447345.php [https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/devil-on-trial-netflix-doc-mike-allen-18447345.php?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Associated Press — Arne Cheyenne Johnson release; arrest date context; “model prisoner” language https://apnews.com/article/c758c33ba4756f757e1dfec4f0abd39e [https://apnews.com/article/c758c33ba4756f757e1dfec4f0abd39e?utm_source=chatgpt.com] TIME (Oct 2023) — Competing perspectives around Netflix’s “The Devil on Trial” https://time.com/6325498/the-devil-on-trial-netflix-true-story/ [https://time.com/6325498/the-devil-on-trial-netflix-true-story/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Netflix Tudum — “The Devil on Trial” contextual piece https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/devil-on-trial-release-date-trailer-news [https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/devil-on-trial-release-date-trailer-news?utm_source=chatgpt.com] People (Feb 16, 2026) — Later-life/update-style summary reporting https://people.com/where-is-arne-johnson-now-devil-made-me-do-it-11763765 [https://people.com/where-is-arne-johnson-now-devil-made-me-do-it-11763765?utm_source=chatgpt.com] #DevilMadeMeDoIt #AlanBono #ArneCheyenneJohnson #BrookfieldConnecticut #ConnecticutTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #ManslaughterTrial #CourtroomEvidence #DemonicPossessionDefense #EdAndLorraineWarren #ParanormalHistory #1981Case #NetflixDocumentary #OutsideTheRecord #CriminalJustice