The fire horn rang out in Ossipee, New Hampshire around 10 p.m. on September 28, 1916. The blaze at Frederick and Florence Small's cottage on the lake burned fast, even, and hot. The fire department could do nothing to save the structure or anyone who might remain inside. Frederick was out of town, seen leaving on a train towards Boston that afternoon, but Florence was unaccounted for. It was a suspicious fire that left a homicide case in its smoldering rubble. Frederick Small was arrested and c...
May 02, 2022•38 min
When Albert Flick was released from his first prison sentence for killing his wife, he restarted his pattern of threatening and victimizing women. But he’d age out of it, wouldn’t he? Statistics said so. His drooping, wrinkled face and frail body did not look like that of a brazen killer. He’d be in his mid-70s by the time he was free again, surely the threat he posed to society would fade. Sadly, that would not be the case. The stories of these three women, and the unnamed women also victimized...
Apr 25, 2022•27 min
NEWPORT, MAINE 1975: Ellen Choate was ready to start her new job. So ready, that she hopped a train from Philadelphia to Boston just hours after she graduated to get a jump start on her journey to Maine. It was midnight when Ellen took her seat on that train heading north, hoping that once in Massachusetts, she’d find a ride to Bangor, where her house, car, and new role as a Montessori teacher was waiting for her. That was June 1, 1975. The last time anyone saw Ellen Choate alive. If you have in...
Apr 18, 2022•29 min
It was just before 4 a.m. on June 20, 1975 in Newport, Maine. The sky was just warming with hints of dawn and the air was quiet save for the buzz of the ice cooler and Coca Cola vending machine sitting in the dim glow of the gas station lights. The fishermen waiting in their car for gasoline noticed a light on inside McNally’s Texaco, but no one came to greet them outside at the pump. Anxious to get their day started, the driver stepped out of the car to see what was the hold up. As he opened th...
Apr 11, 2022•26 min
It was described as one of Vermont’s most frustrating cold cases. A dedicated mother and beloved school teacher disappeared in November of 1979, with nothing but a smashed up vehicle and a strange hand-written note left behind. When her ex-boyfriend disappeared a month later, too, authorities had two people to track down – one they presumed to be dead, and the other they suspected of causing her death. The search for the suspect would become a cross-country event, tracking aliases and addresses ...
Apr 04, 2022•36 min
VERMONT, 1979: When the vehicle of Judith Leo-Coneys turned up at a junkyard in Roxbury, Vermont, it was the first big clue in the disappearance of the beloved school teacher and young mother. The case would spiral into an investigation spanning a decade and stretching across the United States, but before investigators would uncover any answers for Judy, they’d have to find a second missing person. The primary person of interest disappeared, too. This is Part 1 of Judith Leo-Coneys story. View s...
Mar 28, 2022•32 min
Semper Memento. Always Remember. Those words guide the work of the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit. In this special release episode, I peel back the curtain on the Unsolved Homicide Unit and reveal what goes into re-examining and investigating long standing homicide cases in the state of Maine and how a team of experts collaborates in pursuit of one common goal – to find answers. Each of the individuals you’re about to meet would agree with me here: The most important story to tell is ...
Mar 21, 2022•38 min
STOCKTON SPRINGS, 1984: Nearly four decades is a long time to wait for justice. In the case of Dorthea "Dot" Burke, time proved to be exactly what detectives needed to secure that justice, bringing key witnesses forward to tell their story. You might assume DNA is the key to closing out cold cases, but more often than not, it’s all about getting people talking. It was a 36-year long investigation into Dot’s death. I'll walk you through it. In collaboration with the Maine State Police Unsolved Ho...
Mar 14, 2022•45 min
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1978: When State Police investigators started digging in March of 1988, it had been 10 years since anyone had seen Russell Bean. An investigation followed his disappearance, but foul play wasn’t suspected. Not until a deathbed confession and shocking accusation sent investigators to the site of an old pig pen on the property of Marlow, New Hampshire’s Police Chief, Robert Chambers Sr. If you have information regarding this case, contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at (603) 27...
Mar 07, 2022•31 min
In April 1979, the lives of two teenagers from two very different parts of the country were inextricably linked by murder. In Brewer, Maine, 17-year old Amy Banks awoke one night to learn that her father, Dr. Ronald Banks, had been murdered in New Orleans, Louisiana. One month later, authorities in New Orleans arrested 16-year old Isaac Knapper and charged him with the killing of Amy’s father. But Isaac didn’t commit the murder. This is the story of a wrongful conviction, a young Black man railr...
Feb 28, 2022•51 min
MASARDIS, MAINE 1977: The impact that murder has on a family and a community is profound and far-reaching. When a murder goes unsolved, grief is partnered with lasting fear. In a small town like Masardis, Maine, the shock that came after the killing of Lila Drew still reverberates these 45 years later. Who chose to end the life of a 78-year old woman for seemingly no reason? How could this person pass through a town as small as Masardis unnoticed and carry out a brutal attack without detection? ...
Feb 21, 2022•25 min
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: After more than two decades of searching for answers in the unsolved homicide of 20-year old Sophie Sergie, DNA evidence led detectives from Alaska to the doorstep of Steven Downs in Auburn, Maine. On Thursday, February 10, 2022, the jury found Steven Downs guilty on the charges of murder and sexual assault. I covered Sophie Sergie’s case in two parts on Dark Downeast. Sophie Sergie: Part 1 Sophie Sergie: Part 2 This special release episode contains updates and notable mo...
Feb 21, 2022•16 min
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS 1996: 6-year old Jesus De La Cruz was out playing with a friend on September 28, 1996 when a man approached the two young boys. His friend later told police that Jesus was lured away by that man who promised him a new bike. It was the last time anyone saw Jesus. Despite suspicions surrounding a man in the neighborhood, rumors of drug debt retaliation, accusations cast on the boy’s own mother, and FBI involvement, Jesus’s case remains unsolved. Some wonder if maybe he could be...
Feb 14, 2022•27 min
DEDHAM, MAINE 1983: For nearly three decades, the family of Kitty Collins Wardwell hoped that the whereabouts of their daughter, sister, and mother would be revealed and the secret of what happened to the smart, beautiful Kitty would come out into the light. But they wouldn’t learn the truth about Kitty until someone else passed away 28 years later. You won’t find her name on the Maine State Police Unsolved case list anymore, as cases like Kitty’s are excluded when there is evidence establishing...
Feb 07, 2022•27 min
RHODE ISLAND, 2006: Was it a seizure or did somebody murder Shawn O'Brien? His daughter, Natalia St. Louis, just wants to know the truth, but the details of that July afternoon in 2006 don’t make any sense. It was labeled a medical call, an apparent seizure, but the autopsy report and blood evidence at the scene point to something much more violent than that. Over 15 years later, Shawn O’Brien’s case is still labeled a suspicious death. She’s been told to keep quiet, but if she’s not asking ques...
Jan 31, 2022•41 min
26 years is a long time to wait for answers in an unsolved homicide, but in 2019 the family of 20-year old Sophie Sergie finally had a glimmer of hope that closure was possible. Familial DNA evidence led cold case investigators from Alaska all the way to Auburn, Maine and to the doorstep of the man now charged with the murder of Sophie Sergie. The trial of Steven H. Downs began in January 2022 and continues as we speak. If you haven’t tuned into part I of Sophie Sergie’s story, please pause here...
Jan 24, 2022•32 min
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: Sophie Sergie was a first generation college student from a small village in rural Alaska who set her eyes on building a better future for herself and her family. In April of 1993, someone cut that future short. This case played out on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks over 4000 miles from New England and nearly three decades in the past, but the long arm of justice knows no limits of distance or time. DNA evidence reached across the farthest corners of the...
Jan 17, 2022•32 min
WALDOBORO, MAINE 1983: Who killed well-known Waldoboro figure Douglas J. Parent? And why? His case has been on the Maine Unsolved Homicide list for decades, and one rumor about what happened the night of October 2, 1983 has circulated nearly as long. In this special episode of Dark Downeast, you’ll get to know Doug Parent through his own words and voice and we’ll dig into the whispered theory that even some inside the law enforcement community believe could hold pieces of the truth, if only they...
Jan 10, 2022•36 min
CORNISH, MAINE 1991: Sean Conway's family has been waiting 31 years to learn what happened to their brother and son on January 16, 1991. This long-standing case is still considered an open and active homicide investigation, though it’s been years since any new developments have come to light. Nim is on Dark Downeast to share her brother’s story in hopes that it will reach the person or persons who know exactly what happened at that motorcycle supply shop in Cornish, Maine one January afternoon. ...
Jan 03, 2022•36 min
RHODE ISLAND, 1990: They were sitting in their car eating clam chowder when another vehicle smashed into their rear bumper and took off. Adam Emery pursued the apparent hit and run driver. The ensuing confrontation escalated to homicide -- Adam stabbed and killed 20-year old Jason Bass. Though Adam Emery was found guilty of murder and awaited sentencing, he and his wife Elena Emery had other plans. To this day, state police, the FBI, and even international law enforcement continue searching for ...
Dec 27, 2021•27 min
WATERVILLE, MAINE 1971: Katherine Murphy was a freshman at Colby College, continuing her family legacy at Maine's mini-Ivy liberal arts school, when someone stole her life. This is the still unsolved homicide of Katherine Murphy. This episode was co-written by Natalie Jones. View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/katherinemurphy Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram , Facebook , and TikTok To suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case Dark Downeast is an audiochu...
Dec 20, 2021•24 min
PORTLAND, 1930: The early morning had been foggy and dark, and the high tide came in at 3:17 a.m. It was the perfect storm for a successful offloading of alcohol—if nobody noticed or got in the way. Had Officer Connolly found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or did he know something was going to happen on the waterfront that morning? Had he tried to stop it? Like the waters of Casco Bay, the mystery and the uncertainty surrounding the death of patrolman Michael T. Connolly in the ea...
Dec 13, 2021•33 min
ORONO, MAINE 2018: A young woman in a college town was found dead in the snow. From the first minutes of the investigation, police assumed she must’ve had too much to drink, fell down, and didn’t get back up in the sub-zero temperatures. Her death was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident. But the family of Alexie Adams and the private investigator they’ve hired aren’t convinced they have the entire truth about what happened to Alexie that night. We’ll dig into the investigation of Alexie Ada...
Dec 06, 2021•50 min
OGUNQUIT, 1990: When York Police Detectives found the body of John “Jack” Bevins on his bathroom floor surrounded by blood and shell casings, it was obvious they were dealing with a homicide. But what unfolded from that April afternoon was a complex criminal case and a defense never-before seen at trial in the State of Maine. Are there exceptions to murder? That’s what the defense was prepared to argue for their client, the victim’s wife, Jacqueline Bevins. This is the Jack and Jackie Bevins Cas...
Nov 29, 2021•31 min
OGUNQUIT, 1990: This case will challenge you. It will raise questions in your mind about consequence and justice, and what happens when an individual decides, or maybe, is forced to take those things into their own hands. The Jack and Jackie Bevins Case, Part 1. View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/bevins1 Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram , Facebook , and TikTok To suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media pr...
Nov 22, 2021•26 min
SACO, 1993: Thomas Napier did not have an easy life. His childhood years were plagued with pain and trauma, and then as a teenager his choices landed him in trouble with the law. But by the time he turned 22-years old, Thomas was on a better path. He had a job, a stable home life, and a new car he loved. Things were looking up. Sadly, the progress Thomas was making in his life would never reach its full potential. One weekend in October of 1993 changed everything, and his family still asks the s...
Nov 15, 2021•22 min
MASSACHUSETTS, 1933: When Captain William Costello was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor, the responding doctor assumed he suffered a heart attack. No sooner was the last flower laid at his tomb did the rumors begin to swirl. It seemed no one believed the Fire Captain died of anything natural. All eyes were on his wife, Mrs. Jessie Costello, who seemed to love the attention. This is the story of William Costello and his wife, Jessie Costello. View source material and photos for this episo...
Nov 08, 2021•35 min
On July 4, 1949, the villages of Flagstaff and Dead River came together, with current residents and past, for a celebration that they called Old Home Days. They knew a celebration like this would never happen again, because the little villages of Flagstaff and Dead River were about to die. Years of methodical planning and legislative action, of deconstruction and relocation and clear cutting, of door-knockings from lawyers, of man-made fires and packed trucks filled with personal possessions fin...
Nov 01, 2021•28 min
QUESTIONABLE, 1953: Sally Maynard Moran left for a walk to the far side of Monhegan Island on the evening of July 9, 1953. That side of the island is known for the tallest oceanside cliffs on the Maine coastline. It’s among those cliffs this story unfolds. Was it a truly tragic accident? Was it a choice? Or could it have possibly been murder? View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/sallymoran Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram , Facebook , and TikTok To suggest a case...
Oct 25, 2021•28 min
UNDETERMINED, 1980: She was one day shy of her 15th birthday when Wanda Mitchell ran away from home. Less than a year later, her remains were recovered from the woods in Poland, Maine. To this day, her death is considered undetermined -- not a homicide, not an accident, not a single clear answer as to what happened to the teenage girl or who, if anyone, is responsible. The search for answers has gone on for over 40 years. Wanda’s mother is keeping her story alive. This is the story of Wanda Jean...
Oct 18, 2021•33 min
