My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 180

Episode Date: June 22, 2020

This week’s hometowns include the Cowee Tunnel disaster and a body in the back seat.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We at Wondery live, breathe and downright obsess over true crime and now we're launching the ultimate true crime fan experience, Exhibit C. Join now by following Wondery, Exhibit C on Facebook and listen to true crime on Wondery and Amazon Music. Exhibit C. It's truly criminal. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hi. And welcome. To my favorite murder. The mini-soad. It's mini and cute. It's so pocket-sized, you wouldn't believe how transportable it is. Tiny. Is that a real word? Transportable? Is it transportable? Okay, this is where we redo your stuff. Do you want to go first, Karen? Sure. The subject line of this first one is the Cowie Tunnel Disaster.

Hey, y'all. I'm going to go to school in the Great Smoky Mountains at West Carolina University. There are hundreds of ghost stories due to our rich Appalachian history, but the Cowie Tunnel Disaster is one of the most notable in our area and is shared often throughout our student body. I was going to do this when we were in North Carolina. I think this was one of the stories that came up for the area and it's rough. In 1883, a group of prisoners set out on the Takaseji River to begin their day's work, which was often in grueling conditions. It's not mentioned here, but just for everyone's information, it's 19 prisoners. All of them are black. It was common in this time to lay miles and miles of railroad track through the treacherous

mountains of Western North Carolina as punishment for their crimes. 30 men stayed chained together day and night working, eating, and sleeping with shackles on their ankles. On the morning of December 30th, icy slush had accumulated in the bottom of the men's boat that was used to get across the river to the work site, but the guards forced them forward anyway. However, everyone on board quickly began to panic as the slush melted and slushed around, forcing the men to one side of the boat. Only 10 feet from the riverbank, the boat capsized and the first man went overboard. But because they were shackled together, 19 men were pulled into the water one by one after the man who went before him.

None stood a chance against the raging icy waters and 19 men perished. The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad now runs from Dillsboro, North Carolina to Bryson City, North Carolina, and goes through the Cowey Tunnel where the men had been laying down track. Tourists often take the train as a sightseeing trip when visiting the area. When going through the infamous Cowey Tunnel, the conductors say, ladies and gentlemen, there are 19 prisoners buried on top of this tunnel and the moisture you see coming down the walls are the tears of those poor men. SSDGM, and you bet your ass that tunnel is haunted as fuck, Kendall. So I remembered this story and I just, I went and read an article really quick to double check from what I remembered

and because this detail that Kendall may not have known this. And so this is from the Smoky Mountain News. It's an article written by a writer named Garrett Woodward. First of all, one of those inmates who died one of the 19 was a 15-year-old boy named Charles Eason who had been sent to jail for stealing something very small. He was on a chain gang with grown men. So this is a portion of that article from the Smoky Mountain News. It said, in a February 1963 article by the Asheville Citizen Times, well-known silver writer John Parris spoke of the legendary heroics of convict Anderson Drake who climbed out of the river only to dive back in and rescue prison guard Fleet Foster. So, quote, Drake helped foster

up the steep bank, knelt a moment by the gasping guard and then stood up and turned to look back at the Foaming River. There was no sign of the other 19 convicts. They called Drake a hero. They said he would surely go free, but Drake didn't go free. Back in his quarters, following the incident, Foster found his wallet and pistol missing and upon ordering a search of the prison camp, the wallet containing $30 was found in Drake's belongings. That night, instead of thanking Drake and giving him a feast, the camp foreman ordered him into the yard, bared his back, and gave a dose of cat and nine tails a multi-tailed whip. After the lashings, Parris reported that Drake was sentenced to 30 years hard labor and immediately put back to work on the cowy tunnel. Wow. And I

questioned the idea that that guy who was drowning in a river who saved this guard then robbed him of his wallet and gun. Right. It makes no sense. Smuddle it back to the prison. Back into prison where he couldn't have spent it. Right. So, basically, it's like he did this thing and everyone thought, oh, that he'll get freed. He will finally be free. And instead, he went in for 30 more years. I thought that was an important detail that we should add in, because when I was reading this story for one of the live shows, it was awful and it's just like that. And then it's this haunted tunnel where people hear all kinds of horrible sounds and the walls drip with moisture all year long and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. This one's called,

My Great Grandfather's Body was stolen from his grave. This... Dear Karen and Georgia, I love you guys and your voices have accompanied me through many hours of various boring jobs, many car rides, and many late night insomnia struggles. There with you. Thanks for everything you do. Anyway, let's jump in. In October 1989, the body of a 22-year-old named Jeffers Kimbrell was found in a field in Columbia County, Florida. He was the victim of a stabbing, but here's the problem. This was the second time his body had been found. He had already been buried and someone had dug him up and left him in a field. Oh my God. Then two months later, in December 1989, a 20-year-old named Stephen Morgan took his own life in the same North Florida

County. Shortly after he was buried, it was discovered that his body was missing from his grave. Here's where I come in. My great grandfather died of a heart attack in November 1989 and was buried in neighboring Union County. Several months later, the ground appeared to be caving in around his grave, so county officials obtained an order to exhume his body. You know, just to make sure everything was cool. It was not cool. They soon discovered that his casket was empty and had been broken into and opened in exactly the same way as the two others in Columbia County had been. I found all of this out from an article that I found while doing some genealogy research. That's a fucking big surprise. Yeah, it is. Probably. Just kind of scrolling one night all

by yourself. I wasn't born until 1998, so I never knew my great-grandfather. All my dad said about it when I asked him is that the body was never recovered and the whole thing was very upsetting. But here's the best part. The article that I read says that five men who were, quote, fanatics of the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons had been arrested in nearby Lake City for body snatching. No. As far as I can figure, that's where the trail stops, both in the media and for my family. But being able to say, my great-grandfather's body was stolen from his grave in North Florida, most likely by some guys playing D&D, makes me really fun to have at parties. Stay sexy and find grandpa Max's body, Ellie. What? Okay. That's crazy that it's guys that

play Dungeons & Dragons, because most of the people that I know that are super into Dungeons & Dragons are nothing like in a realm of that, even slightly. That doesn't add up. I feel like there's more to the story. And I bet someone listening has like the other half of the story. Please. And so please. If you've got the Dungeons & Dragons half of that story, we want to hear it. Put five small alarm emojis up in the subject line and let us know. For sure. Okay. I'm not going to read you the subject line of this. Okay. Hello, friends. I've been binging the podcast since June, just caught up. It is June. Oh. Wow. June of last year. It's been a busy month, I think, for you. Yeah, really. You're both wonderful and I love knowing that I'm not alone

in my obsession with true crime. Quite the opposite. You're nowhere near alone. Okay, enough of that. Let's do this. In the mid 1960s, my uncle Bob was a paper boy and was out one summer afternoon collecting money from the people on his paper route. He was jumped by some older boys who robbed him. And when he put up a fight, they stabbed him several times. They took off and my uncle, who had been stabbed in the back and sides, proceeded to walk this seven blocks to my great-grandparent's house. Oh my God. Yeah. He stumbled up the front steps, knocked on the door and my great-grandmother answered. And upon seeing that he was dripping blood, told him, walk around the back to the kitchen. I'll never get this carpet cleaned if you bleed on it.

What's of the past? Why is the past so terrible? It was tough and people were fucking tough. This poor man had walked several blocks in the summer heat only to be told to walk a little more. My great-grandparents were very old at this point and didn't drive anymore, so they called my grandfather to get Bob and drive him to the hospital. My grandfather got there, put Bob in the back seat, and according to my father and uncle, grandpa religiously followed all the rules of the road. No speeding, no running traffic lights. They eventually got to the hospital where the doctors told my grandparents that Bob wasn't too far from bleeding out and they made it just in time. Thank God there wasn't one more red light or Bob would have been done for. Everything turned

out okay. Bob made a full recovery. My favorite part of the story though is that my daddy was several years younger than my uncle was in the front seat while they were taking Bob to the hospital. The family was supposed to leave for vacation the next day and that obviously wasn't going to happen now. My six or seven-year-old father turned to Bob in the back seat and started to cry and told his brother who could have died, you ruin everything because they wouldn't be able to go on their trip. Dad and Bob were close once they grew up and died only a couple months apart in 2006. They're missed but this story and dozens of others keep them close. Stay sexy and for God's sake if someone is bleeding out don't worry about the damn carpet Rachel. That's all that's

just to prove how bad the past was and that siblings are just there's no there's no sympathy with siblings. The damage that siblings do to each other as children is should be studied. Perhaps it is. You know I have like one friend who's an only child and is like I wish I had siblings all the time and it's like you psychologically I am fucked and I love them and I'm still I love my sister I still want to sue her every time I scare. She still owes me for therapy. Looking for a better cooking routine? With meal planning, shopping and prepping handled HelloFresh has you covered. HelloFresh makes home cooking easy and affordable so you can stay on track and on budget in the new year. HelloFresh meals are convenient, seasonal and

delicious. Stay cozy all winter long with classic comfort foods available weekly. While I stop with just dinner now you can enjoy HelloFresh's expanded menu of quick lunch solutions, weekend brunch, simple side dishes and amazing desserts. Karen January is going to be my month for HelloFresh. I am so sick of takeout. I miss cooking so much I haven't lifted a knife or a pan since like early fall so I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and HelloFresh makes it so easy and also makes it so that my food tastes good which is hard to do on my own. It gives you everything, everything you need. So get up to 20 free meals with purchase plus free shipping on your first box at hellofresh.ca slash murder20 with code

murder20. That's up to 20 free meals plus free shipping on your first box when you go to hellofresh.ca slash murder20 and use code murder20. Goodbye. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candice DeLong and on my new podcast Killer Psyche Daily I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds, psychopaths and cold-blooded killers you hear about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent and criminal profiler. On Killer Psyche Daily I'll give you insight into cases like Ryan Grantham and the newly arrested Stockton serial killer. I'll also bring on expert guests to dive deeper into the details, share what it's

like to work with a behavioral assessment unit at Quantico, answer some killer trivia and even host virtual Q&As where I'll answer your burning questions. Hey Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast Killer Psyche Daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. This is called Grandma Ghost but still lighthearted. Hi everyone. I love you all. Here we go. In the world? Probably. That's nice. I think that's good. I don't remember this but my mom has told me the story many, many times and this sounds like a story that I swear like every mom probably has. When I was around four years old I was swinging on a rickety swing set in our backyard while my mother watched me from the kitchen window. I was kicking my little legs and getting some air but

at the top of the arc I leaned back too far and my hand slipped off the chains. My mother bolted from the kitchen and ran across the yard expecting the worst. However when she got near she saw that I was just standing beside the swing unharmed. This happened in the spring and there was a mud puddle under the swing set but I didn't have a drop of water or dirt on me. My mother frantically checked me over and asked me if I was hurt anywhere. I'm okay I said Loretta caught me. Loretta is the perfect ghost name right? Yeah it really is. Loretta is the name of my dad's mother who died of cancer when I was just six months old. My mom said I was very calm and matter of fact about it and insisted it happen when she asked me again. Nothing like that ever

happened again that I remember so maybe she knew that I only needed her that one time or she's been around this whole time catching me more often than I know. Either way it's really comforting to me. Thank you for everything you do. Things can feel really dark these days and your podcast is always something I look forward to. Stay sexy and stay off swings. C. PS Georgia you said that you wanted psychic stories. I went to one well on vacay in Florida and he told me I'd meet someone in 30 days exactly 30 days later back home in Canada a guy in the bus asked for my number. We just celebrated two years. No. Yes. That's a psychic oh I was and that's not really a coincidence that's more of it that's psychic fateful. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. Cute. Cute. Cute. I love that who

C is tapped into a different plane. Yeah. There's something going on. That may have been the work of Loretta speaking through the psychic again showing up. I love that so much. I bet you can't find a not bad ass Loretta in the fucking world for real. Let's bring that name back for people. Enough of the Madison's and the Mackenzie's. Brooklyn no more Brooklyn. Brooklyn it's fine. It's been done. Yeah. You know what that made me think of too is one time I was with Nora across the street when she was two because she started walking when she was really little and she used to love to go to the playground that's nearby my sister's house and we were standing there and she was walking across this funny little kind of bridge. She was like showing me that she could

walk across this bridge on the play structure and as she went to walk she picked her foot up really high and then just started falling backwards but I had already gone to the other side of this bridge so that I would be there because I thought she'd be falling forward if any direction. Yeah. And so she was falling backwards off of probably a five foot drop and I moved from one side of the one side of that play structure over to where she was. I don't know how I did it but I got over there and caught her by the head and then just tipped her back up and then she just kept walking like for her nothing happened. Just like for her back on head. Yep. I just kind of like I caught her and then bounced her back up and then she just kept going in that toddlery way where like

it's all kind of random. Yeah. Gravity is magic. But I honestly in terms of how many steps it took and how quickly I moved which I rarely do it was like I don't know how I did it and it still like chills me to this day because it was all on me in that one moment and then somehow I got there in time. I have a similar story with my nephew when he was two but I didn't save him. Some dad who had dad instincts at the bottom of a big kid's slide that I guess I didn't know was a big kid's slide. What do I fucking know from big and little kid's slide? Sure. Catches my nephew one-handed as he's like flying off the slide and about and everyone, all the parents turned and looked at me and I just went I'm the aunt. I know I just fucked and then I took off. That's right. You can never

go back there. That's so perfect. That's so perfect. It was so close. It was so close. Well, okay, you know on the same on the same plane pattern. Thank you of these beautiful and inspiring stories. We've got this one. The drive-by flasher light hearted. Hello guys, gals and non-binary pals. Love it. Well done. It's so catchy. I moved to Cleveland to get my master's in school counseling in 2017 but spent the first 22 years of my life in St. Louis, Missouri, which is filled with a lot of bummer crimes to say the least. While searching for a light hearted story to send in, I found an article that was very similar to the shitty papers that I used to write in high school, which were filled with useless adjectives in order to set a minimum

word count. We've all done it. Once in October 2012 and another time in January 2013, 34-year-old Joseph Hough of St. Louis drove into a Target parking lot, pulled up next to a woman, opened his car door, exposed himself, and then sped away. While the story itself is kind of gross, it's the words used to describe Hough that made it so memorable. The article states, quote, Now the authorities believe they've found this frequent flasher, this shlong showman, Pervy Peter Presenter, double-drive by Dick Dangler. If that isn't quality journalism, I don't know what is. The article continued with, quote, In case you weren't sure how a female might react to a strange man pulling out his twig and berries in a parking lot, the probable

cause statement contains the sentence, quote, Both female victims were alarmed by the defendant's conduct. And on the next line of the article, the reporter just wrote, Well, yes. Hough was eventually caught and charged with two misdemeanor accounts of sexual misconduct. And I hope that reporter got a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. I've been listening to the podcast since the beginning. And although my life has been pretty lonely in the last few years, I've never felt truly alone because I know I can always turn on my favorite murder and have it feel like I'm with my two best friends. Stay sexy and get a job where you can get paid to call someone a shlong showman, Sabrina. Sabrina. Great job. Sabrina. Like five levels to that. Yeah. It was like beautifully done.

It was a pervert, a hometown flasher, but also about the, it was great. It was, it was, we had everything. Okay. This one is called, Hey, buddy, got a light. Hello, Stephen Ray Morris and associates. Oh. Inflammatory. Inflammatory. I'm firing myself. Thank you. That's right. I'm too firing. Good call, Stephen. Good call. This is a funny story that doesn't involve a murder, at least as far as I know, but it does have a dead body. This was back in the fifties or sixties. My dad worked at GE in Philadelphia. When he got to work one Monday morning, a coworker came in with his leg in a cast. Of course, my dad may a concerned coworker or more likely being nosy. My dad asked him what happened. He told my dad that his son, who was an undertaker, asked him to help him transport a body. It

involved driving overnight to Western Pennsylvania. The sun drove first while his dad slept. At one point, the sun pulled over to pick up a hitchhiker because stuff like this was totally normal back then, pre-stranger danger, especially while driving through rural Pennsylvania in the middle of the night. Then it says, I roll. There was no room up front, but the sun told the hitchhiker he could sit in the back with the casket. Later, the dad woke up to drive while his son slept. Then it says, you may see where this is going. Of course, the sun failed to mention all caps that there was a hitchhiker in the back. Then it says, your dad spent all that money and effort to raise you, and this is how you repay him. Dad is driving. Everything is going normally, considering it's

probably 3 a.m. and they haven't seen another car in 100 miles until suddenly, dad gets a tap on the shoulder from the back of the car. Hey, buddy, got a light? You can guess the rest. He drove into a ditch and hence the broken leg. How amazing is that? I love your podcast. I've always loved true crime and crime fiction even before it was cool, and my Murderino Daughter introduced me to you all. Stay sexy and make sure to let others know when there's a live person sitting in the back of the corpse so that they don't freak out and think a dead person is asking for a light. Susan of North Carolina. Susan. Yay, Susan. Tell your daughter, OG Murderino. That's right. Nice. That's amazing. Wow. Nice batch. Yeah, guys. Good job. Really good job. Please send your

stories to my favorite Murder at Gmail or you can do it on the website, myfavoritemurder.com. You can do it in the fan cult. There's a whole fan cult forum where people share their stories with each other. Just fucking send us anything at this point, right? Do it. We're into all of it. You know a good story when you hear one. That's right. Just let us know. That's right. Can you do better? In the meantime, beat that. Beat that batch is what we always say. And in the meantime, stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?