Kentucky Gone Cold

On March 25, 1990, during her daily walk, Lucinda Strange was murdered just a few hundred feet from her home. Law enforcement had no suspects, no motive, no leads- until just a few months later and a few miles away a battered 15 year old girl walked out of the woods with a story of survival that few could believe. The victim said she had been abducted, chained to a tree, repeatedly raped and kept prisoner for nearly three weeks at a remote campsite in the woods by two men. In a moment of opportunity, the young girl said she had shot and killed her captor and that he could be found dead in his bed at the camp. When police raided the camp they found the man and nearby a diary that detailed a trail of grisly crimes committed by the dead man- Phillip Clopton and his friend...James Ray Cable. The diary provided law enforcement a hand drawn map where they located a severed arm from another teenage victim- and information linking James Ray Cable to series of unsolved homicides across the state. Decades later, DNA testing would confirm that James Ray Cable killed at least five Kentucky women. But..how are these men connected to the murder of Lucinda Strange? It's been decades and police are still waiting for information to crack this cold case. #coldcase #kygonecold #bardstown

On June 22, 2013, Brookelyn S. Farthing, known to her family and friends as Brooke, was last seen at a home on Dillon Court in Berea, KY. The last text sent from her phone was at 5:30 a.m. Massive searches have been conducted by friends, family and law enforcement in the area surrounding the home but no evidence has been found. It has been nearly ten years and the case seems to be no closer to a conclusion than it was on the weekend that Brooke went missing. Where is Brooke????? News clip credit: WLEX18 and WKYT.

Kentucky Gone Cold is an investigative true crime podcast that will explore unsolved murders and disappearance from the Bluegrass State. The first three episodes will focus on the case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. James Anthony Gray.

**NOTE: I inadvertently mispronounced Vanissa’s name in both episodes. It is pronounced slightly different than the traditional Vanessa name. I am so sorry for this error and it will be corrected with a recorded introduction to both episodes. **
On June 25, 1989, beloved seventeen year old Vanissa "Nissy" Waford was working her shift at Maxie's Shoe Store in Shelbyville, Kentucky. "Nissy" had just graduated at the top of her class at Shelby County High School and was headed off to college in the fall. On that fateful day, just as the store closed the beautiful teenager was brutally beaten to death in a robbery gone wrong. The senseless murder rocked the small town and police were desperate for answers. The investigation took months but in March 1991, William Ray Stark, Jr. was arrested for the crime. The arrest and indictment brought some degree of relief to the community but justice would not come for the crime. What followed the indictment was a legal nightmare and a failed prosecution. The failures mean that there has been no justice for Vanissa, her family or the community.

In this episode we'll do a dive into Anthony Gray's strained relationship with his parents and analyze the MANY confessions involved in this very complicated trial. Do you believe in false confessions?