Cabin 13: A True Crime Podcast

January 1, 1969. The People's Democracy set out on a march from Belfast to Derry. Their confrontation with unionists at Burntollet Bridge three days later was one of the many sparks that ignited The Troubles in the late 1960s, a series of violent conflicts that spanned decades in Northern Ireland.
Join Cabin 13 as we discuss The Disappeared, victims whose fate remained a closely guarded secret.
Art
"Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio
Music
"Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen
Sources

1. The Disappeared of Northern Ireland.
2. Families of the Disappeared, WAVE Trauma Centre.
3. “Fresh call for anyone with information on the Disappeared to come forward as new Columba McVeigh search begins” by Sarah Burns, The Irish Times.
4. “Northern Ireland census shows more Catholics than Protestants – a political scientist on what this really means” by Laurence Cooley, The Conversation.
5. “Sinn Fein celebrates an historic election win in Northern Ireland” by The Associated Press.
6. “Sinn Fein face writ over Jean McConville murder” by Christopher Woodhouse, The Belfast Telegraph.
7. "The Victim the IRA Disappeared Twice" by Shane Paul O'Doherty, The Irish Peace Process.
8. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (2018)
9. “Seamus Ruddy inquest held 33 years after his murder in France” by Louise Roseingrave, The Irish Times.
10. “Their sons were best friends. In 1978 they were disappeared by the IRA. This is the remarkable story of how 16 years later two mothers found the courage to speak out” by Suzanne Breen, The Belfast Telegraph.
11. “The Disappeared: Meath remains were those of Brendan Megraw” by BBC News.
12. "Disappeared but not forgotten: the grim secrets the IRA could not bury" by Ian Cobain, The Guardian.
13. The Disappeared (dir. Alison Millar), BBC Northern Ireland and RTÉ (2013)
14. "Two 'disappeared' men had violent, unnatural deaths" by Georgina O'Halloran, The Irish Times.
15. “28 years after the IRA buried Danny McIhone, a jury returns a verdict of unlawful killing” by The Belfast Telegraph.
16. “‘Disappeared’ victim to be buried alongside parents” by The Irish Examiner.

October 5, 2004. The darkened parking lot of the North First Avenue Medical Complex was made bright again by spotlights. The Tucson Police Department was there to respond to reports of a man down.
The man was Dr. Brian Stidham, a respected pediatric ophthalmologist. Though initially considered to be a victim of a carjacking gone wrong, the investigation soon narrowed to one prime suspect: Dr. Brad Schwartz.
Why would one doctor want to kill the other?
This is a story of obsession, revenge, and cold-blooded murder.
Art
"Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio
Music
"Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen
Sources

1. “Murder-for-hire hitman loses Arizona Supreme Court appeal in children’s eye surgeon’s death” by Martha Serda, KGUN9 Tucson.
2. Toxic Rage: A Tale of Murder in Tucson by A.J. Flick (2018)
3. “An Eye for an Eye” by Ian Paisley, Lourdes Aguiar, and Joe Halderman, 48 Hours, CBS News.
4. “Prescription for Revenge” by Lynn Sherr, Sara Holmberg, and Jessica Hornig, ABC News.
5. “Murdered” by Medical Economics.
6. “One Year Later, Murder of Dr. David Brian Stidham Still Awaits Trial” by J.D. Wallace, KOLD News 13.
7. “The Murder of Dr. David Stidham” by Chris Limberis, Tucson Weekly.
8. “Obituaries - David Brian Stidham, MD” by David A. Plager, MD, Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, vol 8, number 6, 2004, pp. 595.
9. “Doctor charged in fellow doctor's stabbing death in Tucson” by Michelle Roberts, The Arizona Daily Sun.

July 2, 1999. Ricky Byrdsong and his children were enjoying a jog through their neighborhood in Skokie, Illinois. Like many families across the country, the Byrdsongs were looking forward to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

But the peace of the evening was shattered when a car pulled up alongside them and opened fire.

Who would want to hurt Ricky Byrdsong—and why?
Art
"Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio
Music
"Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen
Sources

1. Byrdsongfilm.com.
2. The Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate.
3. “Mental health professionals say society becoming numb to tragedy after mass shootings” by Vanessa Leon, Spectrum News 1.
4. “Understanding the Character and Fitness process for bar admission” by Barbri.
5. “A white nationalist killed a black coach 20 years ago. The horror changed his friend forever” by Matthew VanTryon, Indystar.
6. “Ricky Byrdsong's death at hands of white supremacist still prevalent 20 years later” by Fox 32 Chicago.
7. “Sixteen years later, the slaying of a basketball coach by a 21-year-old white supremacist haunts all over again” by Mike Spies, The Trace.
8. “In Memory of Valerie T. Lockett.” Murray Brothers Funeral Home. (2004)
9. “Midwest Gunman Had Engaged In Racist Acts at 2 Universities” by Bill Dedman, The New York Times.
10. “Racial Slayer Killed Himself in Struggle” by Edward Walsh, The Washington Post.
11. “Byrdsong turned lessons into a kinder way of living” by Neil Milbert, The Chicago Tribune.

February 25, 2015. Christopher Epps stood before a judge to make a guilty plea. No one ever expected to see him as a defendant in a court of law.
Join us in the Cabin as we discuss the rise and fall of Christopher Epps, the FBI operation that took him down, and the power players in the prison industry.
Art
"Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio
Music
"Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen
Sources

1. “Private Prisons” by the American Civil Liberties Union.
2. “Pros and Cons of Private Prisons” by criminaljusticeprograms.com, Wiley.
3. “Baton Rouge prison contractor Michael LeBlanc sentenced in Mississippi corruption probe” by Gordon Russell, The Advocate.
4. “Mississippi Auditor: Prison Company Must Pay $2 Million for No-Show Workers” by Joseph Neff and Alysia Santo, The Marshall Project.
5. “Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions at Mississippi Prison” by The Equal Justice Initiative.
6. “Private Prisons in the United States” by Mackenzie Buday and Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., The Sentencing Project.
7. “Conditions at Mississippi’s Most Notorious Prison Violate the Constitution, DOJ Says” by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
8. “No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions” by Alysia Santo and Joseph Neff, The Marshall Project.
9. “Louisiana businessmen ensnared in Mississippi prison corruption case await sentencing” by Bryan Stole, The Advocate.
10. “Mississippi’s Prison Bribery Scandal Is in the Past, But the State Still Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson” by Madison Pauly, Mother Jones.
11. “Inside a Private Prison: Blood, Suicide and Poorly Paid Guards” by Timothy Williams, The New York Times.
12. “Chris Epps sentenced to almost 20 years” by Jimmie E. Gates, The Clarion-Ledger.
13. “With Vestavia Hills arrest, 'Operation Mississippi Hustle' corruption investigation comes to Alabama” by Kyle Whitmire, AL.com
14. "Former Commissioner of Mississippi Department of Corrections and Local Businessman Plead Guilty in Federal Court” by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (fbi.gov)
15. “The Mississippi Hustle Investigation: Violating the Principal-Agency Relationship at the Mississippi Department of Corrections” by David Hughes McElreath, Daniel Adrian Doss, Carl Jensen, Michael Wigginton, Stephen Mallory, Leisa S. McElreath, Lorri C. Williamson, Terry Lyons, and Walter Flaschka, University of Mississippi and University of West Alabama (2015)
16. “The Prison Reform Blues” by Albert Samaha, Buzzfeed.
17. “Epps probe: 'Miss. Hustle' started with sex scandal” by Emily Le Coz, The Clarion Ledger.
18. “Commissioner of Mississippi Department of Corrections and Local Businessman indicted by federal grand jury” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi (justice.gov)

November 12, 2012. Fires began popping up all over Accomack County, VA. Someone seemed intent on burning down the Eastern Shore, but who? Where would the arsonist strike next? And, perhaps one of the most elusive questions, why?
Art
"Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio
Music
"Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen

Sources

1. U.S. Fire Administration.
2. The Center for Arson Research.
3. Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal.
4. “Volunteer fire departments that the U.S. relies on are stretched dangerously thin” by Frank Morris, NPR.
5. American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse (2017)
6. “'American Fire' Tells A True Story Of Love And Arson In Rural Virginia” by Michel Martin, NPR.
7. “Eastern Shore arsonist to serve 15 years in prison” by Margaret Matray, The Virginian-Pilot.
8. “How a troubled romance fueled a string of nearly 80 arsons in Virginia's rural Accomack County” by Monica Hesse, The Washington Post.
9. “Serial arsonist told cops fires an act of love” by Carol Vaughn, The Daily Times.
10. “Records: Gas can seized from arson suspect’s home” by Brock Vergakis, The Seattle Times.