Send us a text The relationship between a 15-year-old boy and his “self-awareness” class teacher took a dark turn in 1990, when the young, married woman took an unhealthy interest in the creative teen. Before long, she seduced him and convinced the boy to not only keep quiet about their illicit affair but also to kill her husband. Pamela Smart, whose arrest and trial inspired the movie “To Die For,” wants her lifetime prison sentence reduced for conspiring to commit the murder. Join us for the l...
Jan 24, 2024•27 min•Season 3Ep. 51
Send us a text Secret deals, cash bribes, and a body under a house. Pensacola has a scandalous past when it comes to political corruption. Florida's westernmost county, Escambia, made headlines in 2004 when a state investigation revealed multiple county leaders were meeting in secret and making million dollar deals at the taxpayers' expense. One commissioner even accepted a cash bribe in a collard greens pot. He was later found dead under a house from an apparent suicide. Their corruption was ex...
Jan 17, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Send us a text Why go under a house to die? That’s the question many people in Pensacola, Florida have been asking since Willie Junior, the first Black man elected to the Escambia County Commission in recent history, turned up dead under a house in 2004. The coroner ruled his death a suicide. Junior had reason to be stressed, his role in a government corruption scandal cost him his job and lavish lifestyle and was about to send him to prison, along with another powerful politician. Junior, the m...
Jan 17, 2024•31 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Send us a text Murder in the movies is something you only expect to see onscreen. At a Tampa movie theatre in 2014, the real drama was in the audience. Retired police SWAT captain Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson, a Gulf War veteran and father of a young daughter. In fact, Oulson was texting with the babysitter during the movie previews when Reeves told him to turn off his phone and complained about it to theater staff. The two men exchanged words and Oulson tossed popcorn in the older ...
Jan 09, 2024•21 min•Season 3Ep. 43
Send us a text It's not unusual for friends to cut loose when they visit Pensacola Beach. Whether people come for work or play, it's fun to party in paradise and Oklahoma police chief Lucky Miller and detective Mike Nealey were no different. What is unusual is that only one of the men left alive. In 2019, the lawmen were staying on Pensacola Beach for a conference on death investigations and soon became the focus of one. An alcohol fueled fight between the long-time friends was so violent the co...
Jan 03, 2024•22 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Send us a text On Christmas Eve in 2013, on one of the most sacred holidays of the Christian calendar, 17-year-old Brandon Aydelott hacked, beat, and stomped his mother to death in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze, Florida home without warning. He left the popular middle school science teacher in a pool of her own blood with two knife blades embedded in her skull, among other gruesome injuries. The teen was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the crime and his mother's family thought he wou...
Dec 27, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Send us a text Achoo!! Grab a tissue because it turns out "Affluenza" isn't even a real psychiatric illness, but it spread like a virus, when a Texas teenager used it to defend killing four people and injuring nine others while driving drunk. Ethan Couch, now 26, claimed he didn't know right from wrong due to his family's wealth and is scheduled to finish probation this month, for the 2013 deadly accident. From running to Mexico to making a psuedo-science term mainstream, join us for more on the...
Dec 20, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Send us a text Parents send their children to school for an education and trust that they are in safe hands with the people who are teaching them. One young boy caught the eye of his pretty, blonde teacher when he was only in the second grade. Fast forward a few years later, and the married mother of four was convinced she had an "instantaneous bond" with the child, even though he was not quite 13 years old. She pursued him like a lover and the special attention she gave the boy turned their rel...
Dec 13, 2023•41 min
Send us a text One would never think a little nip/tuck would kill you. After all, it is just a minor procedure. Or is it? Not so fast, there. Medication and sedation are part of the process. You’re still going under the knife, or laser, or needle, with trained and licensed staff. What could go wrong? Not to be tongue in cheek, but it turns out plenty. An investigation is now underway into the death of a Gulf Breeze plastic surgeon’s wife, who according to family and police reports went into card...
Dec 09, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Send us a text When retired beautician Lynn Hernan turned up dead in her living room chair, surrounded by her medications, a close friend's story that she likely committed suicide didn't seem impossible. The older woman had been down and her health had been declining. Even when tests showed Hernan was poisoned by eyedrops, few people batted an eye because she sometimes put eyedrops in her drink to help with other health issues. The murderous betrayal might have gone unnoticed but for another fri...
Nov 29, 2023•32 min
Send us a text It’s one thing for a man to cheat on his wife, but one husband and father murdered his whole family rather than give up his girlfriend and their fitness-focused way of life. In 2018, pregnant mother and devoted wife, Shanann Watts returned home late from a work trip, ready to say goodnight to her 3 and 4-year-old daughters and enjoy a romantic night with her husband, Chris Watts. However, Chris Watts had other plans. When the young mother and their two girls disappeared, friends s...
Nov 21, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text Sometimes lending a helping hand can be deadly. A reporter in Pensacola, Florida with a generous heart and a lucrative hobby put his cards on the table with people who were playing for higher stakes. The Cormier brothers were down on their luck when they connected with Sean Dugas over a mutual hobby - fantasy trading cards. Sean's collection was the envy of the most avid collector and it turns out, the most avarice ones, as well. Known for his wide smile and free spirit, Dugas nev...
Nov 15, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Send us a text Pensacola crimes have been making headlines, some for what happened years ago, others just weeks ago. In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Inmate Update: Where are they now?” we’re revisiting the case of car and cocaine dealer Ron Samuels who was convicted of hiring hitmen to kill his ex-wife, Heather. His failed attempts may have left her paralyzed, but it turns out she has outlived him. We’ve also got the latest on Pam’s nephew, Brandon Aydelott. It has been almost ten y...
Nov 07, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text A boy, a boat, and a birthday party. What should have been a celebration of life ended in a child’s death and a case that took years to surface. Join my co-host Pam Hill and me, investigative journalist Mollye Barrows, for “No Lifeguard on Duty,” a conversation about the first case I covered on Gulf Coast Confidential called, “Sink or Swim.” In this episode, we discuss the tragic drowning of 12-year-old Dondre Lewis in 2016, a fun-loving Pensacola middle schooler who died swimming...
Nov 01, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Send us a text As far as get-away-plans go, former financial advisor Marcus Schrenker plotted one that looked like a scene out of an action movie. In 2009, the 39-year-old Indiana man attempted to fake his own death with a mid-air May Day call and phony plane problems, a stashed motorcycle with saddlebags full of cash, and an eye on hiding out in Florida. The failed pseudocide, (fancy word for a faked death, I had to look it up), was his plan to escape from personal, financial, and legal problem...
Oct 25, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Send us a text In 1996, an inmate on a work crew found the remains of a woman in the woods near the small Gulf Coast town of Holt in the Florida Panhandle. Investigators had no idea who the woman was or who raped and choked her to death, until now. I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam...
Oct 18, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Send us a text Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her own son on Christmas Eve 2013, and Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. This episode, “Murder on the Clock: It’s Killing Time,” is in respon...
Oct 11, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Send us a text Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her own son on Christmas Eve 2013, and Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. In this episode, “The Bad Nurse,” we’re talking about the case of Cha...
Oct 03, 2023•40 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Send us a text Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her son in a brutal not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity and she has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. In this episode, "Ted Bundy wuz here: He fooled aro...
Sep 26, 2023•48 min
Send us a text Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her son in a brutal not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity and she has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. In this episode, “Making Killer Deals” we’re talkin...
Sep 19, 2023•42 min
Send us a text Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. This episode of Gulf Coast Confidential spans the 1980’s and 1990’s and includes what you might expect from that time – cool cars, cocaine, and hired hit men. But this is not an episode of Miami Vice, it’s the true story of what happened when a ric...
Sep 12, 2023•24 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Send us a text The Labor Day holiday is one that will always hold special memories for Gulf Coast Confidential co-host, Pam Hill. On Labor Day, 1995, Hill and her pregnant sister were arguing about where to eat lunch outside their Pensacola townhome when Pam Hill heard a noise coming from a nearby dumpster. They discovered a perfectly healthy baby girl, except for the garbage bags wrapped tightly around her body, which made it difficult for her to breathe. Join us as Pam recalls the Labor Day wh...
Sep 04, 2023•24 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Send us a text Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows and welcome to my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential. From murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico. My co-host is Pam Hill. Pam’s sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013. As a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and pharmacist, Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gu...
Aug 29, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Send us a text Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief...
Aug 22, 2023•36 min
Send us a text Hero worship is alive and well in the sports world and the coaches who call the shots can be revered as much as the players. From the Super Bowl and college playoffs to a Little League game, coaches are assumed to be trustworthy, whether or not they've actually earned that trust. In this third and final case in the "Lambs to the Slaughter" series, we dive into the arrest of Camilo Campos. A "popular," trusted soccer coach who investigators say had a horrific secret. His secret was...
Aug 15, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text Back to school is such a fun and exciting time for most of us, but for some families it's a lesson they never wanted and one they'll never forget. Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelo...
Aug 08, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Send us a text Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief...
Aug 03, 2023•30 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Send us a text “Death to Pigs,” those are the words murderous followers of convicted killer Charles Manson wrote in their victim's blood at one of their infamous crime scenes. Now one of those faithful followers, is out of prison on parole. Leslie Van Houten once faced the death penalty. Now she's learning how to use a smart phone and make a life for herself in the modern world, after more than 50 years behind bars. In this episode of "Death to Pigs, " join my co-host Pam Hill and me for more on...
Jul 26, 2023•37 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Send us a text Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential. My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief...
Jul 20, 2023•31 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Send us a text How do some sex offenders manage to escape notice? That is, until something awful happens. In this case, a child paid the price. In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, Pam Hill and I talk about the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old Pensacola girl by a registered sex offender. How did he go unnoticed? Because Robert Howard thumbed his nose at the justice system. The Alabama man moved in part-time with his girlfriend across the state line in Florida, where no one was the wi...
Jul 12, 2023•42 min•Season 2Ep. 3
