Episode description

June 27, 1994. Tacoma, Washington. 25-year old Michael Johnston and 19-year old Rochelle Robinson leave a get-together at a friend’s house. Later that morning, Michael is found shot to death outside Rochelle’s vehicle with his throat slashed. Rochelle is soon found stabbed to death on a remote road with her own throat slashed. Even though Michael was married, it turned out the two victims had been carrying on a secret affair. While police are inclined to think the killer was an unidentified stalker who was targeting Rochelle, a psychic expresses her belief that the murders are connected to Michael’s alleged involvement with black magic and the occult.

September 8, 1984. San Francisco, California. 17-year old Kurt McFall leaves his home to spend the night with Gabriel “Caradoc” Carrillo, a friend who runs a group which teaches Paganism. Kurt never returns home and two days later, his body is discovered on a remote beach beneath a cliff. According to Caradoc, Kurt had left his apartment in the middle of the night to go swimming and the police believe that Kurt’s death was the result of an accidental fall off the cliff. However, when Kurt’s father hears allegations that Caradoc’s group functioned like a Satanic cult and Kurt was trying to escape from them, he starts to believe his son was the victim of foul play.

This week, we will be presenting a special double feature episode of “The Trail Went Cold” about two “Unsolved Mysteries” cases which contained moral panics about Satanism and the occult. Special thanks to listener Austina Cronk for providing the opening narration on today’s episode.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/michael-johnston-rochelle-robinson/

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940628&slug=1917909

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951208&slug=2156699

https://unsolved.com/gallery/kurt-mcfall/

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kurt_McFall

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“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing alongside other true crime podcasts at a “A Canadian Crime Podcast Event” on July 22 at The Hideout in Toronto. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets for only $10, please visit here.

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.