The Gravel Road: Montana Crimes & Mysteries

Butte, MT. 1905. Arvilla Hunter Walbridge Melville is charged with bigamy, and as she sits in a jail cell, she spins an ever-changing and ever more bizarre tale about the murder of her first husband Otis Walbridge. And just when it looks like Arvilla has finally settled into a relatively quiet life, another murder propels her name back into the newspapers and into the courtroom.

Phillipsburg, MT. April 1900. In 1905, as Arvilla sat in a jail cell charged with bigamy, she confessed, but to cheating on her husband but to lying on the witness stand. Three years prior, Arvilla had told a packed courtroom that her father had killed her first husband Otis Walbridge and terrorized her into silence. Now, as reporters gathered around her cell, Arvilla said that Otis was, quite possibly, still alive. Find me on Instagram @thegravelroadmtEpisode 6 "The Common Denominator: Part 2" will be released on June 2nd @11pm Central Time. Thanks, everyone, for listening!

Butte, MT. 1895. The year began with an explosion and ended in a petty dispute between two undertakers over a young man's body. And that's only the half of it. For a complete list of sources for this episode, click here. Find me on Instagram @thegravelroadmtEpisode 5 "The Common Denominator: Part 1" will be released on May 19th @11pm Central Time. Thanks, everyone, for listening!

Butte, MT. 1984. A triple murder shocks the mining city and causes the Montana legislature to change state law so that children under the age of 16 can now be tried as adults and face the death penalty. So what happened? Why did two teenagers kill their mothers, and how might their actions impact generations to come? For a complete list of sources for this episode, click here. Find me on Instagram @thegravelroadmtEpisode 4 "In Awe That Anything Has Survived" will be released on May 5th @11pm Central Time. Thanks guys!

Butte, MT. 1965. Three women disappeared from the mining city on a single day in April. Concerned relatives and citizens searched the surrounding foothills and parks, and their bodies were recovered the following week. Their murders represent only a fraction of the crimes committed against women in Montana in the mid-1960s. This episode explores the still unsolved murders of Marjorie & Nancy McQuiston and possible links to other cases in the area. For a complete list of sources for this episode, click here. Find me on Instagram @thegravelroadmtEpisode 3 "D.A.R.E." will drop on April 21, 2021 @ 11PM Central Time. Thanks for listening!