transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Hi everyone, I'm Delia D'Ambra, an investigative journalist, avid park enthusiast, and host of Park Predators, a weekly podcast that explores the dark underbelly of beautiful landscapes we all know and love. Each week, I guide you through national parks and forests across the globe and share stories that highlight how the most beautiful landscapes can be equally as dark and sinister. So whether you're a park enthusiast or are always diving into true crime stories, Park Predators is your next listen. Listen to Park Predators every Tuesday, anywhere you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2:
[00:33] For over a week, jurors listened as prosecutors laid out their case against Aileen Wuornos. According to state attorney John Tanner, Aileen was not a woman acting in fear. She was a predator, someone who targeted men along Florida's highways, robbed them of their money and their cars, and then killed them so there would be no witnesses left behind. But when it came time for the defense to present their version of what happened, they made a surprising choice. They called only one witness, Aileen Wuornos. And when she took the stand, she told a very different story. According to Aileen, the night she met 52-year-old Richard Mallory was not the start of a robbery. It was the beginning of a nightmare. Over the course of nearly 10 hours of testimony in January of 1992, Aileen described what she said really happened that night. Her account was graphic, disturbing and deeply unsettling. She claimed Richard had violently attacked her, that he raped her, and that she shot him because she believed she was about to be murdered herself. The question was whether the jury would believe her. Before this trial was over, the jury would have to decide, was she a cold-blooded killer, or was she fighting to survive? The prosecution says she is a calculating murderer who targeted her victims. The defense says she was a traumatized woman who was pushed too far. But it's the jurors who have the final say. This is the 13th Juror Podcast, where we break down real court cases and put you in the jurors seat. Two sides, the same evidence. You decide what to believe. I'm your host, Brandi Churchwell. Today's episode is Florida vs. Aileen Wuornos. Part two, the defense. This episode contains discussion of sexual assault and violence that some listeners may find distressing. Listener discretion is advised. According to The Defense, when Aileen Wuornos got into the car with Richard Mallory on that rainy night in December of 1989, she had no idea that the ride she was about to take would one day bring her into a courtroom, fighting for her life. Aileen Wuornos' life may have been many things, but Easy was never one of them. She was born in Michigan in 1956. Her father was convicted of child sexual assault and later died by suicide while in prison. Not long after that, her mother abandoned Aileen and her brother, and the two children were left to be raised by their maternal grandparents. By the time Aileen was 14 years old, she was living on the streets, and before long, she began supporting herself the only way she believed she could, through sex work. Life on the streets in Michigan was harsh, and according to Aileen, she eventually decided to leave it behind. Around the age of 16, she hitchhiked her way to Florida, hoping to start over in the Sunshine State. But the life she found there was not much different. As she hitchhiked from place to place, men who picked her up often asked if she wanted to make some money. Selling sex, she told the jury, became the only way she knew how to survive. Over time, she developed a routine. She worked what she called exit to exit. Aileen would hitch a ride, proposition the driver, and if he wasn't interested, she would simply get out at the next highway exit and try again. She said she worked three to seven days a week, sometimes seeing three to eight men in a single day. The money she earned went toward motel rooms, sometimes rented for a night, sometimes for a week if she had enough saved. It was a transient life, moving from exit to exit along Florida's highways. Then in 1986, a chance meeting at a bar changed everything. That night, Aileen met a 24-year-old woman named Tyra Moore. According to Aileen, the two fell in love almost immediately. She told the jury they became inseparable, rarely leaving each other's side unless it was for work. At the time, Tyra had a job earning about $150 a week. Aileen said she could make that much in a single day working the highway. About a month into their relationship, Tyra quit her job, and Aileen began supporting both of them. At first, Aileen said Tyra was completely supportive of the work she was doing. In fact, Aileen described her as almost a cheerleader, encouraging her to go out and make more money, sometimes even pushing her to work more often to support the lifestyle they were building together. But according to Aileen, there was one rule in their relationship. Tyra didn't want to hear about what happened on the road. Aileen said that on multiple occasions, she tried to talk about things that had happened while she was working, things that had scared her or hurt her. But she told the jury that Tyra didn't want to listen. She didn't want to hear the details. So, for years, Aileen continued working the highways alone, hitchhiking from exit to exit, getting into cars with strangers, and doing what she believed she had to do to survive. Most of those encounters ended with Aileen getting out at the next exit and moving on to the next ride. But according to her testimony, one encounter was different. One encounter changed everything. The ride she took with Richard Mallory. According to the evidence and testimony they presented, this is the defense's story. According to Aileen Wuornos, she first encountered Richard Mallory at the end of November 1989, while hitchhiking along Interstate 75 in Florida. She had been traveling from Fort Myers on the west coast of the state, and was trying to get back home to Daytona Beach on the east coast. It was raining that night, and Aileen told the jury she was standing under an overpass along the interstate trying to stay dry when a car pulled over. She walked up to the window. The driver asked where she was headed. She told him, Daytona. And according to Aileen, the man smiled and said, Well, this is your lucky day. I'm going all the way to Daytona too. The driver was Richard Mallory. Aileen testified that months earlier, she had started carrying a pistol for protection while working the highways. She said she had experienced violence before and wanted something to protect herself. So when she got into Richard's car that night, the gun was already in her bag. As they drove east across Florida, Aileen said the two talked casually. Richard offered her a drink of vodka and she accepted. At one point, they pulled over so he could mix the drink for her. He also offered her marijuana, but she said she declined. According to Aileen, Richard told her he owned a video store and was heading to Daytona Beach to visit some topless bars. At one point, he asked if she knew anyone who might be interested in appearing in adult films, but she said she didn't. Eventually, they stopped in Orlando. Richard bought gas and a six pack of beer before continuing the drive. Aileen told the jury that during the trip, Richard talked about problems in his life, issues with a wife or ex-wife, and concerns about losing his video store and his house. She said she mostly listened. At that point, Aileen testified that she had not propositioned Richard for sex. She said she already had enough money and was exhausted after hitchhiking all day. All she wanted was to get home. But at some point, Richard suggested they stop and talk for a while. Aileen said she told him she would really wanted to get back to Daytona because she had been traveling for hours. But he asked if they could just stop for a little while, maybe an hour before finishing the drive. Eventually, she agreed. They pulled off the highway near a gas station and sat talking in the car. According to Aileen, they had already been driving together for about two and a half hours by that point. Richard continued drinking and smoking marijuana while they talked. And after sitting there for nearly an hour and a half, Aileen finally told him the truth about what she did for a living. She told him she was a sex worker. Richard responded that he had suspected they might eventually end up having sex. But once he knew she charged money for it, he assumed she wouldn't do it for free. So he asked her what her rate was. Aileen said she told him $100 an hour. Richard then asked if that meant they could spend a couple hours together if he paid her. And Aileen said yes. By then it was already late and she was planning to wait until dawn before going back to the motel where she lived with Tyra. She didn't want to wake the motel manager by knocking on the door in the middle of the night. So they agreed to drive somewhere more secluded. Aileen said they eventually pulled into a wooded area near a campground where cars could park off the road. It was dark and they stayed relatively close to the roadside. Once parked, Richard asked them both to get undressed. According to Aileen, he said he wanted to make sure she wouldn't rob him and run away. Richard told her he was going to get a condom and a blanket from the trunk while she got undressed. Aileen said she began taking off her clothes. By the time she finished removing her jeans, Richard had returned. She told him it wasn't fair that she was undressed while he still had his clothes on and asked him to undress as well. Richard began pretending to unzip his pants. Then according to Aileen, he suddenly asked her a question. What if I told you I didn't have enough money? She asked how much he had. He told her just enough for gas and breakfast. Aileen testified that she immediately told him the deal was off. If he didn't have the money that they had agreed on, then nothing was going to happen. She reached behind her to grab her clothes, and that's when she said everything changed. According to Aileen, before she could react, Richard lunged toward her and wrapped a cord around her neck. She said he pulled her toward him and began choking her. She told the jury that Richard then threatened her, saying she was going to do everything he told her to do, or he would kill her. She testified that he said he had done this to other women before, and that her body would still be warm for him, even if she was dead. Aileen said she was terrified. She nodded her head to indicate that she would do whatever he said. She said she was crying during the assault, and that Richard told her hearing her cry excited him. She testified that he bruised her ribs and other parts of her body during the attack. After the assault, Aileen said Richard got dressed and went back to the trunk. He returned carrying a red cooler inside a blue tote bag. Inside the bag, she said, were items like towels, soap, a toothbrush, rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of Vizin. Aileen testified that Richard used water and alcohol to clean blood off of himself. Then, according to her testimony, he began pouring the rubbing alcohol on her. She believed at that point he was preparing to kill her. Richard then returned the items to the trunk and set on the hood of the car listening to a radio, drinking and smoking. Meanwhile, Aileen remained tied to the steering wheel, naked and freezing inside the car. She said she tried to work herself loose from the cord, but Richard yelled that he could feel the car moving and warned her not to try to escape. Eventually, she said he came back. He told her the cold weather had gotten to him and that he was getting back inside. He untied her hands but kept the cord around her neck like a leash. He told her she better behave or he would kill her. Aileen said she was drunk and terrified and struggling to remember exactly what was said next. But she told the jury that Richard claimed he had killed other women before and she believed she was going to be next. According to Aileen, Richard then tried to assault her again. This time, she fought back. She said she spit in his face. Richard became enraged and called her a dead woman. And in that moment, Aileen said she reached into her bag, pulled out the pistol she had been carrying for protection, and fired two shots as quickly as she could. She jumped out of the car and ran around to the driver's side door. She told him not to come toward her. But according to her testimony, he began moving toward her anyway, and she fired again. Richard collapsed. Aileen said she stood there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Then she dragged Richard's body away from the car, searched his pockets for the keys, and backed the car up. She saw a piece of carpet nearby and pulled it over his body before driving away. Aileen told the jury she didn't take anything from Richard except the car keys. As she drove away, she was still nude, so she eventually pulled over to try to get herself together. She got dressed and tried to clean herself. She noticed blood on her body and used items from the bag in the trunk to wash up. Aileen said she was exhausted, injured, and terrified that someone would find Richard's body and blame her. She took all the items she had and put them on the front seat, then sat there drinking a beer from the six pack Richard had bought at the store while she tried to figure out what to do. She decided that nobody would believe her if she told them what had happened. In her mind, she was already discredited, a sex worker with a criminal record. Aileen had been arrested in multiple states for various petty offenses, and after she held up a convenience store, she was convicted of armed robbery, making her a felon in possession of a firearm. From her perspective, there was no way the police would believe that she had just acted in response to an attack. So Aileen said she decided to cover it up. She had discovered his wallet under the seat of the car. Inside was about $40, which she kept. She drove Richard's car and threw the rest of his belongings out in the woods, then returned home. It was about 6:30 a.m. Aileen's plan was to wash Richard's car and abandon it somewhere, but when she got back to the hotel room where she and Tyra had been living, her plan changed. Aileen said that her dog had torn up the chair and curtains in the room while she was gone. And she was worried that the manager would see that and call the police. She knew she couldn't be there with Richard's car if the police showed up. So she decided it was best to leave the motel immediately. Aileen told Tyra that she had borrowed the car from a guy for a few hours so that they could move all of their belongings out. So Tyra helped her load everything into the car. They had already been planning to leave the motel and had found a small room over a garage to rent. So they headed there. Aileen said that Tyra saw bruises on her neck and asked if they were hickies. But she knew Tyra didn't want to hear about what happened on the road. So she didn't tell her anything about what had just happened. At least not at that point. Once they were all moved, Aileen took the car to the car wash to clean it off and wipe her prints. Then dumped the car through the keys and went home. Investigators were eventually able to connect Aileen Wuornos to Richard Mallory through pawn shop records and fingerprint evidence after she sold some of his personal belongings. But according to the defense, the real turning point in the investigation came when police brought Tyra Moore into the picture. Once Tyra began cooperating with investigators, they were finally able to move the case forward. However, the defense argued that the case the state ultimately built rested on shaky ground. They claimed law enforcement deliberately exploited Aileen's relationship with Tyra in order to obtain a confession. Leaning on that emotional bond and using Tyra's influence to pressure Aileen into saying things she might not have otherwise said on her own. Prosecutors argued that Aileen never told Tyra about what she later said happened with Richard Mallory, only that she had killed him. But according to the defense, Aileen did tell Tyra. And at first, Tyra was supportive of Aileen about the situation. She told her that she should take care of herself and defend herself, and she shouldn't be traded like that. It wasn't until the composite sketches of Aileen and Tyra were released to the public that Tyra changed her mind about the situation. As investigators began linking the killings together, she grew increasingly worried that she could be tied to multiple murders and face serious prison time. Suddenly, she was more than willing to work with law enforcement in exchange for immunity. The defense told the jury that Tyra had fled Florida and was back in Pennsylvania with her family. Law enforcement officers located Tyra and brought her back down to Florida so that she could help them catch Aileen. They placed her in a hotel room, paid for all of her expenses, and gave her everything she wanted, from food to beer to cigarettes. They had her make repeated recorded phone calls to Aileen over the course of several days, calls that were monitored and directed by law enforcement. For three or four days, Tyra continued calling Aileen while detectives listened and recorded the conversations, hoping she would eventually say something that could be used against her. The defense argued that during those early calls, Aileen resisted admitting anything. But according to their account, that changed when Tyra became emotional on the phone. At one point, Tyra began crying and told Aileen she was terrified, that police were threatening her and her family, and that she believed she was going to prison for something she didn't do. She told Aileen she didn't know how much more she could handle. And the defense argued it was only after those emotional pleas, after Tyra told Aileen how scared and desperate she was, that Aileen finally broke down and took responsibility. Not just for the killing of Richard Mallory, but for the other murders police were linking together as well. The defense claimed this was evidence that Aileen wasn't confessing freely to explain what happened. She was confessing because she believed it was the only way to protect Tyra more. During the recorded interviews with police, Aileen can be heard repeatedly expressing how much Tyra meant to her. On the tapes, Aileen says she would protect Tyra, that she would do anything for her. At one point, she even says she would die for her. The defense told jurors that when Aileen admitted to the killings during those calls and the initial interview, her focus was not on explaining what had happened with the men she encountered on the highway. Her focus was on making sure that Tyra Moore would not be blamed. The defense also pointed jurors to another issue they believed raised serious questions about the credibility of some of the state's witnesses, media attention. From the moment Aileen Wuornos was arrested, the case exploded into national headlines. The story of a female drifter accused of killing multiple men along Florida's highways quickly drew intense interest from television producers, reporters and filmmakers. And according to the defense, that attention created a problem because several key people in the investigation, including Tyra Moore and some of the detectives, had started talking to the media about their experiences and telling their stories. The defense argued that the possibility of book deals, television appearances and movie rights raised an uncomfortable question. Could those opportunities influence the way the story was being told? Some critics of the investigation believed that the promise of media deals might encourage witnesses to exaggerate their roles in the case, or present events in a way that made the story more dramatic and more valuable to producers. And the issue became even more controversial when the defense revealed during testimony that before Aileen's trial had even begun, multiple investigators involved in the case had already been working with filmmakers on a movie project based on the killings. That revelation caused serious backlash inside the department. Law enforcement officers are generally prohibited from profiting from ongoing criminal investigations, especially while a case is still pending in court. The concern is simple. When investigators become personally involved in telling the story to the media, it can raise questions about their objectivity and their motivations. In this case, the controversy became so serious that the investigators were eventually removed from the case and later lost their jobs. To the defense, that situation showed that the investigation surrounding Aileen Wuornos had become entangled with publicity, media attention, and potential financial gain. And if the people investigating the case were already shaping the story for television and film before the trial had even begun, the defense suggested that jurors should take a very careful look at the credibility of the evidence they presented. Even Tyra Moore had discussed selling her story to the media. The broader point was this, even Tyra was not a neutral witness. When it was the defense's turn to give their closing argument, they returned to one central point. The state had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing of Richard Mallory was not self-defense. According to the defense, the prosecution's entire case relied on speculation. They told jurors that the state was asking them to guess what happened inside that car. And in a murder trial, maybe is not enough. Maybe Richard was sitting in a certain position. Maybe the bullet trajectory meant something specific. Maybe the evidence fit the state's theory, but maybe, the defense argued, isn't proof. They pointed out that even the prosecution's own expert could not say exactly what happened inside the car. If the experts couldn't reconstruct the struggle with certainty, the defense argued then prosecutors had no business presenting a confident narrative of the shooting. That uncertainty, they said, is what reasonable doubt looks like. The defense also pushed back against the prosecution's portrayal of Aileen Wuornos as a greedy predator. Yes, they acknowledged she was a sex worker. But being a sex worker does not mean you consent to violence. It does not mean you agree to be beaten, tied up, or sexually assaulted. And it certainly does not mean you lose the right to defend yourself. The defense told jurors they were not asking for sympathy. They were asking for fairness. If Aileen truly believed she was about to be killed or seriously harmed, then firing multiple shots was not evidence of murder. It was evidence of panic, of survival. They also urged jurors not to let the other killings influence their decision. Those deaths happened later. And according to the defense, what happened months after Richard Mallory died does not tell you what Aileen believed in that moment inside the car. In fact, they suggested the opposite. If Richard Mallory truly attacked and brutalized her, that trauma could explain what came afterward. Finally, the defense returned to the burden of proof. The state had to prove that this was not self-defense. And according to the defense, they hadn't done it. When jurors weighed the uncertainty in the forensic evidence, the credibility questions surrounding witnesses, and Aileen's own testimony, the defense said there was only one lawful verdict, not guilty. After hearing the evidence and closing arguments, the jury retired to deliberate the fate of Aileen Wuornos. Less than two hours later, they returned with their verdict. The jury found Aileen guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder and armed robbery in the killing of Richard Mallory. The reaction in the courtroom was immediate and explosive. An enraged Aileen shouted at the jury, calling them sons of bitches and scumbags. She yelled out that she was raped and that she wished the same fate on each of them. That outburst echoed through the courtroom, and it likely remained fresh in the jurors' minds as they returned the next day to begin sentencing phase of the trial. Now, the same jury had to answer a different question. Should Aileen spend the rest of her life in prison, or should she be sentenced to death? During this phase, the defense presented evidence about Aileen's troubled past. Jurors heard about a childhood marked by abandonment, abuse, and instability. Experts testified that Aileen suffered from serious mental health disorders, including borderline personality disorder, and argued that her life had been shaped by trauma, neglect, and violence. The prosecution did not dispute that Aileen had endured a difficult life, but they argued that despite her past and psychological struggles, she still knew right from wrong and was fully responsible for the murder. In the end, the jury sided with the prosecution. By unanimous vote of 12-0, they recommended that Aileen Wuornos be sentenced to death. Three days later, on January 31, 1992, the judge followed that recommendation and sentenced her to die in Florida's electric chair. In the years following the trial, Aileen filed a series of appeals arguing that her original lawyers had provided ineffective representation. One major issue raised was that her attorneys failed to call witnesses who could have testified about the abuse and the trauma she experienced growing up. But perhaps the most shocking issue raised on appeal wasn't about Aileen, it was about Richard Mallory. In November 1992, Dateline NBC reporter Michelle Gillen discovered Richard had been convicted of assault with attempt to rape in 1957 and served 10 years in an institute for criminal sexual deviance. Richard claimed he was insane at the time the offense happened, and he even wrote to the judge saying he hoped to get the gas chamber because he felt he was of no use to himself or anyone else. Richard went on to say he should die, and he wished he could because he was afraid he might do something someday to somebody. What's even more concerning? The doctor who ran the institute said that Richard Mallory's emotional disturbance and his poor control of sexual impulses made him a potential danger to his environment in the future. The doctor said Richard was still an extremely confused, impulsive, and explosive individual who was likely to become involved in serious sexually-driven misconduct. Prosecutors had previously denied any evidence existed to corroborate Aileen's claims of rape or a history of sexual crimes by Richard Mallory. But the information came directly from a deposition that was in the possession of the prosecution team before trial. However, state attorney John Tanner, when confronted with the information, dismissed it as irrelevant. He said that Aileen did receive a fair trial, despite this information not being presented to the jury, and that she deserves the death penalty she received. The judge refused to allow this to be admitted in post-trial proceedings and Aileen was never given a retrial. Although this evidence could have supported Aileen's claim that she feared for her life that night, there's no way to know whether that information would have changed the verdict. And there's also no way to know whether or not it would have influenced the later trials. But it remains one of the lingering questions about what a jury needs to hear before making a decision and what they don't. Because if jurors never hear evidence that could support a defendant's claim of fear or self-defense, can they truly evaluate that claim in full? Or are they left to decide the case without a critical piece of context? Tanner later admitted that without the evidence coming in about the other killings, he didn't think that the case was an easy win for prosecutors. He admitted that the jury could likely have believed Aileen's story. But by introducing the victims that followed, the jury saw Aileen in a different light. As the appeals process continued through the 1990s, Aileen's behavior became increasingly erratic. She fired several of her attorneys and eventually chose to drop her appeals entirely in 2001. Despite the legal challenges, state and federal courts ultimately rejected all of her claims, clearing the way for her execution. After trial, Aileen entered guilty and no contest pleas in several remaining cases for the other killings she confessed to. She said in a hearing that she was ready to die and escape the evil she felt she was surrounded in here on earth. Judges accepted those pleas and sentenced her to additional death sentences in multiple cases, meaning that even if one conviction had been overturned, she still would have remained on death row. In a 1997 interview from Florida's Death Row, Aileen said she was finally ready to come clean about what really happened. She told interviewers that after finding religion, she believed the Bible required her to confess the truth before she died. Aileen said much of her original story about meeting Richard Mallory under a highway overpass was true, but she admitted that one detail she had repeated for years, that Richard Mallory had sodomized her, was not. She said that part slipped out during an early police questioning, and she felt forced to continue the story afterward. Aileen maintained that her second victim, David Spears, had attacked her with a lead pipe, but she said something changed inside her after that. Believing she was going to prison anyway, she claimed she began targeting men she believed were criminals or predators. In the case of Charles Karsgaden, she admitted she killed him simply because he talked non-stop about drug smuggling. Aileen said by that point she was drunk, mentally unstable, and spiraling, describing herself as someone who turned into a serial killer, even though she insisted that wasn't who she truly was. She told interviewers that confessing was difficult, but she wanted to be honest before meeting God, and she expressed remorse to the families of the men she killed, saying she had been deeply damaged by years of violence and trauma, and had simply lost control. On October 9th, 2002, Aileen Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison. The night before, she spent three hours with her longtime childhood friend, Dawn, laughing and talking until just before midnight. In her last statement, Aileen said, I'd just like to say, I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6th. Like the movie, big mothership and all, I'll be back. Aileen was awakened at 5.30 that morning, and according to witnesses, appeared calm as she prepared for her execution scheduled for 9:30 AM. She was pronounced dead at 9:47 AM. Aileen Wuornos was the tenth woman to be executed in the United States since 1976, and the second woman ever executed in Florida. Outside the prison, reporters waited as officials held a press conference, and a white hearse carried her body away while cameras followed. Later, her friend Dawn received Aileen's ashes and said she planned to scatter them in her backyard, so her friend could finally be free. In the years that followed, the story continued to capture public fascination. In 2003, the film Monster brought the case back into the spotlight, with Charlize Theron winning an Academy Award for her portrayal of Aileen. Numerous documentaries, books, and television specials have explored the case from every possible angle, trying to understand how a woman who lived such a troubled life could become one of the most notorious killers in American history. Part of the reason the story continues to draw so much attention is that it refuses to fit neatly into a single narrative. Was Aileen a calculating predator who targeted vulnerable men along the highway? Or was she a deeply traumatized woman who believes she was fighting for her life? Women are often seen as complex and difficult to fully understand. In many ways, Aileen Wuornos embodies that complexity. She was a woman whose life was shaped by trauma and violence, yet she was also capable of committing unimaginable acts of violence herself. There's also the reality that sex workers are often judged more harshly in court, their credibility questioned before they ever take the stand. That stigma can influence how jurors interpret their actions and their fear, and it likely did not work in Aileen's favor. That tension between victim and villain has kept people debating the case for decades, and in the end, it may be that the reason the story continues to resonate is because it forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about violence, trauma, justice, and how thin the line between them can sometimes be. 13th Juror is an Audiochuck production, hosted by Brandi Churchwell. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. You can follow 13th Juror on Instagram at 13th Juror Podcast. I think Chuck would approve.

Speaker 1:
[36:34] Hi, I'm Kylie Lowe, host of Dark Down East, a true crime podcast unlike any other. Why? Because every case I cover comes from the heart of my home, New England. From the rocky Maine coast to the historic streets of Boston, to the quiet corners of Vermont and beyond, I investigate stories filled with untold twists, enduring questions and voices that deserve to be heard. So if you're ready to explore the darker side of New England, join me every week for Dark Down East. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.