Tag Archives: True Crime

Miranda Barbour, Serial Killer or Pathological Liar?

Episode, , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:32 — 23.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Miranda Barbour

In December 2013, after police arrested Miranda Barbour, 19, for the murder of Troy LaFerrara in Pennsylvania, Miranda told a news reporter she had murdered between 22 and 100 people. She said she killed a few in North Carolina, Texas, and California, but she claimed most of the murders occurred in her home state of Alaska. Her statement startled law enforcement officials across the country, but they soon began to question her declarations. Was her claim of serial murders real, a cry for attention, or was she attempting to lay the foundation for an insanity defense? After the brutal killing of LaFerrara, though, few investigators doubted Miranda could have killed before, and most believed if she hadn’t been stopped, she would have killed again. What should we think, then? Is Miranda Barbour a serial murderer, a pathological liar, or both?

Elytte Barbour

Sources:

BBC Miranda Barbour, Serial Killer or Liar https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6w80lb

Miranda Barbour. Murderpedia https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/barbour-miranda.htm

Wenner, David.2-21-2014. North Carolina town copes with connection to couple accused of Craigslist killing. Penn Live Patriot News https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2014/02/miranda_barbour_craigslist_sat.html

Lysiak, Matthew. 4-28-14. Exclusive: Craigslist Killer Miranda Barbour Tells How and Why She Killed. Newsweek Magazine. https://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/09/exclusive-craigslist-killer-miranda-barbour-tells-how-and-why-she-killed-248670.html

Scarcella, Francis. 12-7-2013. Pal: Newlyweds Sat, Watched Investigators Comb Murder Scene. The Daily Item. https://www.dailyitem.com/news/pal-newlyweds-sat-watched-investigators-comb-murder-scene/article_751c6fcb-9a43-5be0-a64e-2090305ef9e0.html

Burke, Jill.3-16-2014/ Accused Craigslist killer Miranda Barbour had traumatic start to life. Anchorage Daily News. https://www.adn.com/crime-justice/article/accused-craigslist-killer-miranda-barbour-had-traumatic-start-life/2014/03/17/

Associated Press. 9-18-2014. ‘Craigslist Killers’ Miranda and Elytte Barbour Sentenced to Life in Prison. People.com https://people.com/crime/craigslisit-killers-miranda-and-elytte-barbour-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/

__________________________________________________________________________________

If you would like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier available only for club members.
· Behind the scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska
· Merchandise or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry. Become a Patron!

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Check out the store: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier merchandise.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to my free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.
Join me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out my books at Author Masterminds

NEW BOOK RELEASE

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

 

Murder on the banks of the Yukon

Episode, , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:00 — 23.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

When someone brutally murdered the postmistress of Ruby, Alaska, a small village on the Yukon River, the Alaska State Troopers believed they had a ‘locked-room” mystery on their hands. They suspected one of the villagers of killing Agnes Wright. After all, there are only two ways into and out of Ruby: either by boat on the Yukon River or by air travel on a small bush plane. Neither method of transportation is inconspicuous to or from a village where everyone knows everyone else, and a stranger’s presence warrants stares and whispers. Since the troopers heard no credible accounts of a stranger in town on the day of the murder, they began with the premise that one of the villagers committed the crime. But who in this small village hated Agnes Wright enough to beat her savagely and then shoot her?

Sources:

Historic Ruby

 1996 Postmaster. Behind the Badge. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Smithsonian U.S. Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-assaults-and-murders/1996-postmaster

Murphy, Kim. 8-2-1996. Murder in a Town Full of Suspects. Los Angeles Times.                             https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-02-mn-30531-story.html

More Details Emerge in Killing of Postmaster. 7-19-1996. Daily Sitka Senitinel. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10310101/more-details-emerge-in-killing-of/

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

NEW BOOK RELEASE

 

Watch the trailer to learn more about this non-fiction wildlife book.

 

____________________________________________________________________________

Join me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out my books at Author Masterminds

______________________________________________________________________________________
Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

 

 

 

The Search for Bethany

Episode, , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:52 — 22.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Talkeetna, Alaska, is considered the gateway to Mt. Denali (McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. In the summer, tourists, including mountain climbers, hikers, flight-seers, and those who just want to view the majestic mountain, flock to Talkeetna. In the winter, though, the tourists leave, and the 800 residents who remain settle down to quiet lives, watching magnificent displays of the northern lights, playing in the deep snow, raising their children, and gathering for social events to help them forget the cold, dark winter. Talkeetna is a small town where nearly everyone knows everyone else, and when Bethany Correira disappeared, residents immediately responded to search for one of their own.

Billy and Linda Correira moved to Talkeetna in the 1970s. They built a log cabin near a pond and raised two sons and two daughters. Linda home-schooled her kids, taught them to be independent, and told them they could accomplish anything they wanted in life. Bethany, the second oldest child, was sweet and self-sufficient. Before she was twenty years old, Bethany had gone to Nepal as a Christian missionary, sailed in the South Pacific while working as a nanny for a doctor’s family, and worked in base camps with climbers at the base of Mt. Denali. She sewed patches on her favorite backpack from all the places she had traveled. Bethany was athletic, smart, beautiful, and knew how to take care of herself.

Bethany Correira
Glen Klinkhart

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Lawson (center)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Klinkhart, Glen. 2014. Finding Bethany. A True Crime Memoir. SecurusMedia.

James, David. 2014. ‘Finding Bethany’ details detective’s quest to solve horrific murder
https://www.adn.com/books/article/finding-bethany-details-detectives-quest-solve-horrific-murder/2014/07/20/

Mystery at Bootlegger’s Cove. Dateline. NBC.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/24831943/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/t/mystery-bootleggers-cove/#.XwJv8ShKgeE

Johnson, Greg. 2-2008. Lawson draws 99 years. MatSu Valley Frontiersman.
https://www.frontiersman.com/news/lawson-draws-99-years/article_d21b98e0-cace-5983-aeea-f5eea9a06570.html

___________________________________________________________________________
If you would like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier available only for club members.
· Behind the scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska
· Merchandise or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry
Become a Patron!

____________________________________________________________________________

Check out the store: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier merchandise.

 

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to my free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Join me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn

Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

Check out my books at Author Masterminds

_____________________________________________________________________________

Do you enjoy reading? The Reader’s and Writer’s Book Club received a facelift and has a new home. Be sure to take a look.

Readers and Writers Book Club Member Benefits Includes:
Save money on books—Fifty Percent Discount.
Access to Author Masterminds author podcasts.
Exclusive, free access to the author’s finest short, timely articles.
Participate in the Battle Of The Books.
Participate in monthly book club meetings.
Participate in raffles and prizes.
Participate in Monthly Book Club Discussion with Authors
Receive new and upcoming book club benefits.

Join the club!

 

____________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

The Seductress

Episode, , , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:03 — 33.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

As troopers investigated the death of Kent Leppink, they uncovered a complex web of lies, seduction, and betrayal, with Mechele Hughes at the center of it all. Mechele was only 23 years old when someone murdered Kent Leppink on a remote trail, but the beautiful young woman already had accumulated three fiancés who lavished her with furs, jewels, and money.

Mechele Hughes Linehan
Kent Leppink

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Carlin III
Great Alaskan Bush Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Brennan, Tom. 2015. Dead Man’s Dancer. Epicenter Press.
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mans-Dancer-Mechele-Linehan/dp/1935347160/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Dead+Man%27s+Dancer%2C+Tom+Brennan&qid=1591316098&s=books&sr=1-1

Death of Kent Leppink. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kent_Leppink

Mechele K. Linehan. Murderpedia.
https://murderpedia.org/female.L/l/linehan-mechele.htm

Former Olympia mom wins appeal in Alaska murder case.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/former-olympia-mom-wins-appeal-in-alaska-murder-case/

Love and Death in Alaska. 48 Hours. CBS News.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-love-and-death-in-alaska-leppink-murder/

Holland, Megan. 5-15-2010. Freed from prison, Linehan sets up a new life. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/freed-from-prison-linehan-sets-up-a-new-life/article_50e3b67c-53e4-50cf-9255-9f115c89adaa.html

_____________________________________________________________________
Would you like to help support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier available only for club members.
· Behind the scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska
· Merchandise or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry

I am celebrating the grand opening of the Last Frontier Club until the end of June. The names of everyone who joins before then will be placed in a drawing to win Last Frontier Club merchandise, autographed copies of my books, handmade glass jewelry, and more.

Follow the link and join the club now!
Become a Patron!
___________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to my free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Join me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

______________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

The Newman Family Murders

Episode, , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:28 — 17.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

This episode covers the 1987 murders of a mother and her two daughters. This crime angered and terrified Anchorage residents, and they wondered who could commit such a brutal act, and would he strike again?

For More Information about the Newman murders:

                  

 

Join me on:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

 

The Murder of Sophie Sergie

Uncategorized, , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:55 — 22.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

In the early morning hours of Monday, April 26, 1993, someone brutally raped, stabbed and shot Sophie Sergie in a college dorm on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks. Several hours later, a janitor discovered Sophie’s body stuffed in a bathtub in a second-floor bathroom in the dorm. No one saw or heard anything. Sophie’s case soon went cold and remained cold for the next 18 years. Would her murder ever be solved?

Sources include:

25 Years After Sophie Sergie Was Found Dead in a UAF Bathtub, Maine Man Charged with Murder: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/02/16/25-years-after-a-woman-was-found-dead-in-a-uaf-bathtub-alaska-state-troopers-make-an-arrest/

Death in Bartlett Hall: http://www.uafjournalism.com/extreme/index.php/sophie-sergie-murder/46-investigatorrevisitssophie-sergiemurderrder-of-sophiesophie-sergiemurder

26 Years After Woman Found Dead in College Dorm Bathtub, Police Arrest Suspected Killer: https://pressfrom.info/us/news/crime/-246837-26-years-after-woman-found-dead-in-college-dorm-bathtub-police-arrest-suspected-killer.html

Budget Cuts Would Eliminate Alaska Cold Case Unit: https://www.adn.com/crime-justice/article/ast-cold-case-investigation-unit-be-cut-current-state-budget/2015/04/09/

Join me on:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter.