Death in the West

It was our pleasure to perform an episode of Death in the West in front of a live audience at the Missoula Public Library as part of the NEA’s Big Read Festival on Oct. 11, 2023. This time around we present a standalone episode, turning back the clock to the late 1800s to explore a bizarre and gruesome tale from our home town of Missoula, Montana. It’s a story that is still shrouded in mystery to this day. We hope you enjoy “The Murder of Maurice Higgins.”

Some cool news for our Montana listeners: Death in the West will be performing a LIVE standalone podcast episode on Oct. 11, 2023 at the Missoula Public Library from 6-8 p.m. It's FREE and open to the public. We'll be presenting a mystifying and gruesome tale from Missoula's past. It's all part of the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read program. Come join us. There will be live music, drinks and snacks and US! Plus a live Q&A with the whole DITW team after the show. We'd love to see you there.

As season two reaches its final destination, we separate the fact from fiction in the West's sometimes problematic obsession with noble outlaws. We also reveal what we discovered about the surprsing life of Karen Burns-McCoy following the traumatic aftermath of her husband's 1972 skyjacking. Before it's time to say goodbye for this season, we make one more pass through the DB Cooper vortex, ask an expert about the future of the investigation and give our best guess about the true identity of the legendary mystery man.

After 50 years of complete silence, Richard McCoy's family suddenly starts talking -- and the story they tell puts a new spin on the theory that McCoy could secretly have been the mysterious DB Cooper. But does the family's opinion substantively change anything? We'll go through the evidence pointing AWAY from McCoy pulling off the Cooper crime. Plus, we look at some of the newsest evidence in the Cooper investigation, including theorist Eric Ullis' efforts to turn up new suspects.

On episode seven, Richard McCoy has his final encounter with law enforcement. Unfortunately, the end of his story leaves more questions than answers. Though he is often dismissed as a copycat, this week we entertain the theory that McCoy may actually have been the original man of mystery himself: DB Cooper.