117: The Murder of Skylar Neese & Dr. Ossian Sweet

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04/15/20 • 128 min

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This week, Brandi makes up for Kristin’s April Fool’s Day prank by *actually* covering the murder of Skylar Neese.
It was the summer of 2012, and Dave Neese was supposed to have lunch with his 16-year-old daughter, Skylar. But Skylar wasn’t anywhere to be found. Dave was annoyed. It wasn’t like Skylar to be so irresponsible. He called her, but got no answer. Hours passed. Skylar missed her shift at Wendy’s. Her co-workers were concerned. Skylar always showed up for work. At that point, Dave and Mary Neese called the police.
Then Kristin tells the story of Dr. Ossian Sweet. Brandi tried to tell this story for our Black History Month episode, but threw in the towel. (In case you couldn’t tell, this episode is a rough one!) In 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet and his wife Gladys Sweet were ready to buy their first home. As a black couple, they faced incredible obstacles. Restrictive covenants barred people of color from buying houses in white neighborhoods. That spring and summer, mobs of white people harassed black families who moved into white neighborhoods. Despite their fears, the Sweets bought a house at 2905 Garland St, Detroit, Michigan, and prepared to defend their property.
And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“The Sweet Trials” famous-trials.com
“Ossian Sweet” wikipedia
“Sweet Trials: 1925-26” encyclopedia.com
The book, “We Return Fighting: The Civil Rights Movement in the Jazz Age” by Mark Robert Schneider
“Dr. Alexander Turner” by Mariel Watkins for the Black Bottom Archives
In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Something Wicked” episode Dateline
“16-Year-Old Skylar Neese Was Stabbed To Death By Her Two Best Friends Because They Didn’t Like Her Anymore” by William DeLong, AllThatsInteresting.com
“From Best Friends to Killers: Teens Murder Friend Because They 'Didn't Like Her’” by Gail Deutsch and Alexa Valiente, ABC News
“Murder of Skylar Neese” wikipedia.org

Previous Episode

116: The Springfield Mall Shooting & Mrs. Sherlock Holmes

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It was February of 1917, and 18-year-old Ruth Cruger was missing. Her family panicked. They called the police. But detectives didn’t seem too concerned. They assured the family that Ruth would come back. And if she didn’t? Well, Ruth was probably... on the prowl. The Crugers were offended by the implication, and incensed that the police weren’t taking them seriously. Months went by. Despite a credible suspect, the case went cold. So the Crugers did the only thing they could think to do. They hired a courageous, tenacious attorney named Grace Humiston. By the end of the saga, Grace would be dubbed, ‘Mrs. Sherlock Holmes.’
Then Brandi tells us about a shocking event that bystanders initially wrote off as a joke. It was the day before Halloween, in 1985, at the Springfield Mall in Springfield, Pennsylvania. A woman approached the mall wearing fatigues. She carried a gun. Most people thought she was in costume. Then she fired her very real weapon.
And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Mrs. Sherlock Holmes Takes on the NYPD” by Karen Abbott for Smithsonian Mag
“Missing in Action” By David Krajicek for the New York Daily News
The “Mrs. Sherlock Homes” episode of Criminal, where Brad Ricca is interviewed for his book, “Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The true story of New York city’s greatest female detective and the 1917 missing girl case that captivated a nation”
“Cocchi implicated in police grafting,” New York Herald June 23, 1917
“Buried Truth,” by Joseph McNamara for The Daily News
“Cocchi says his wife killed girl,” Daily News June 26, 1919
In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Sylvia Seegrist: Guilty But Insane” by Katherine Ramsland, The Crime Library
“Sylvia Seegrist went psycho and killed three innocent people at the Springfield, Pa., mall” by Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News
“Decades After Sylvia Seegrist, Mentally Ill People Are Still Murdering Innocents” by Victor Fiorillo, Philadelphia Magazine
“Sylvia Seegrist” wikipedia.org

Next Episode

118: The Lululemon Murder & A Woman in a Trunk

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Mary Scott Castle was hot, rich, and well connected. But when she met a 21-year-old Porter Charlton, she was down on her luck. She’d just gotten divorced, and she’d blown her reputation to bits by shooting a man in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria. But when Mary and Porter locked eyes, it was love at first sight. They got married a month later, and took off for a romantic European honeymoon. There was just one problem. Porter wasn’t so stable himself.
Then Brandi tells us about a horrific attack in a Lululemon store. It was March of 2011. Coworkers Brittany Norwood and Jayna Murray had just left the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda, Maryland, when Brittany realized that she’d left her wallet in the store. When she called Jayna to tell her what she’d done, Jayna was accommodating. She told Brittany she’d meet her back at the store. The pain re-entered the store, leaving the door unlocked behind them.
And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Lady in the lake” by Mara Bovsun The Daily News.
“The Murder of the Beautiful and Accomplished Mrs. Edith Woodhill, 1909,” written by Thomas Duke in 1910, posted to historicalcrimedetective.com
“Charlton Must go to Italy for Trial,” The Evening Times-Republican, June 10, 1913
“May Ask Wilson to Save Slayer,” The Washington Herald , June 11, 1913
“True Detective Tales: What is Justice? Murder at Romantic Como,” by Peter Levins for the Pittsburg Sun-Telegraph, April 24, 1940
“‘On Trial’ -- Omaha Boy in Spotlight,” The Omaha Sunday Bee, October 17, 1915
In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Brittany Norwood” episode Snapped
“‘The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing’ by Dan Morse” by Daniel Stashower, The Washington Post
“Lululemon victim was alive through most of beating” by Andrea Noble, The Washington Times
“Brittany Norwood sentenced to life without parole” by Richard Reeve, WLJA 7 News
“Maryland Lululemon Store Gives ‘Love’ Memorial to Family of Woman Killed There” NBC4 Washington
“Lululemon Murder” wikipedia.org