Ohio Mysteries

When Alfred Southwick invented the electric chair in Buffalo NY, Ohio's favorite son, Thomas Edison, was eager to design the procedure for using it but with nefarious motivation. He was in the middle of a fight to see whether his DC current would win public favor over his competitor's AC current. Edison designed the chair to use AC so he could connect AC to death and danger in the public mind. What happened next was horrifying.      www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.comwww.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteriesNew Horizon - AderinAudionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Notes: One of the most confounding disappearances in Ohio history happened in May of 1978, when Judy Martins vanished on a late night walk between a friend's dorm room and her own room at Kent State Engleman Hall. With no evidence of foul play, the police eventually destroyed their file on her and there is no active investigation to find out what happened. But those who know her say she had no reason to walk away - and stay away for 41 years.  www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Music: Too Much, by Larry Elefante. Find more at https://www.facebook.com/Larryelefante Audionautix the great Unknown Rise of the Pospher Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Loveland, Ohio, a medieval castle rises above the Little Miami River. It was built by stones hauled up from the river by a World War I vet obsessed with the era of knights and chivalry. Harry Andrews was one-of-a-kind, and the Knights group he found still operates the castle as a museum.      www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Audionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1990, Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig were brutally murdered in their Portage County home during a burglary. A few years later, four men were named as their assailants, with one sentenced to death. But with no physical evidence putting any of them at the site, and confessions determined by an expert as having been coerced, did the real killer get away? www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1897, Cincinnati's own Mary Becker Greene became the first woman to receive a steamboat pilot's license, and she and her husband spent the next 50 years plying the rivers of Ohio and the Mississippi. She later joined her son Tom aboard his Delta Queen. But after she died in her stateroom, some folks became convinced Captain Mary never left the ship.      www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.comwww.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteriesAudionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Midgley Jr., a brilliant scientist working for Dayton, Ohio research companies in the 1920, invented two world-changing products. He discovered a lead additive could stop the destructing knocking noise prevalent in early auto engines. And he discovered a supergas that allowed average homes to safely have refrigerators and air conditioners. It wasn't until decades after Midgley's death that his revolutionary creations were destroying the planet, and the life upon it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So tonight we're doing a rewind of our 2020 episode about three cases that were getting new attention from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. In at least one of those cases, DNA technology came through. A few months ago, Hamilton County authorities announced they tied a serial killer to the death of Cheryl Thompson -- a 19-year-old University of Cincinnati student killed in 1978. Robert Howell was a Cincinnati truck driver who died in a 1985 car accident, so he can't be questioned. But authorities are pretty firm in their belief that not only did he kill Cheryl, he may well be responsible for the deaths of three other women in Hamilton and Butler counties in that period. Unfortunately, there isn't DNA to compare from those other cases. But it sounds like the case of Cheryl Thompson is as closed as it can possibly get with a dead suspect. So here's the episode we did on Cheryl and two other cases the BCI had on their radar - and come back Sunday for a brand new story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Born in Licking County when it was America's western frontier, Victoria Claflin was born into poverty and grew up the daughter of a conman who groomed her to be a child preacher and spiritualist. She ran away just after turning 15, becoming a child bride and mother. Her "spirit guides" promised her she'd grow up to be wealthy and powerful, but nobody could have predicted what was to come. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Nov. 22 1963, Ohioans went to bed mourning the assassination of President John F Kennedy, and woke to the news of a different kind of disaster. Overnight, a fire at the Golden Age Nursing Home in Huron County had claimed the lives of 63 residents. The fire would have been national news any other day, but although it was overshadowed by Kennedy's death, it made an impact on federal safety requirements.   www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.comwww.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteriesAudionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1876, Ohio native Lt. Col. George Custer led the 7th Cavalry into a battle with the Cheyenne at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - and died alongside every soldier of the five companies that he commanded. But questions remain about "Custer's Last Stand," including more than a dozen eye-witness reports who said Custer and a great many of his men actually killed themselves after realizing how badly they were outnumbered. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1919, William Clemens, nephew of celebrated author Mark Twain, wrote about one of the most "mysterious, uncanny and problematic" cases he'd ever witnesses. He then proceeded to relate the tale of his visit to Akron, and his experience with a local family haunted by a ghost who had been throwing stones at them.      www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Audionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July of 1996, Herb Baumeister drove to a park outside Toronto, wrote a suicide note, then killed himself. In his final communication, the millionaire Indianapolis businessman penned pages about his failed thrift store chain and angst over his marriage. But he didn't say a thing about what authorities really wanted to know: Why were there skeletal remains of 11 men in his backyard, and what did he know about six men whose bodies were dumped in western Ohio. www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did the prehistoric culture known as the Hopewell build a 60-mile long prehistoric highway between two of southern Ohio's major cultural centers? Though weather and development destroyed the road long ago, technology - and old notes from 19th century explorers - suggest such a colossal monument did indeed exist. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.comwww.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteriesAudionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

HH Holmes would become one of America's most notorious serial killers, but when he was arrested in Philadelphia in 1895, it was only for insurance fraud. Fidelity Mutual accused him of faking the death of his partner in order to collect on a $10k policy. But then detectives began to think maybe Holmes had killed his partner. And if he had, what had become of the partner's missing three children? A Pinkerton detective set out to search for them, beginning in Cincinnati, Ohio. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than 50 years, folks in eastern Brown County tried to get recognition that they lived in the imaginary hamlet of Fizzleville. Though you won't find Fizzleville on any map, they managed to organize a popular annual festival, sold bumper stickers and promoted the name even in their obituaries. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Audionautix- The Great UnknownThe Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1957, a pair of young, heavily intoxicated felons invaded the home of Paul Coblentz, a 25-year-old Holmes County farmer, and terrorized him, his wife and their baby before shooting Paul in the head. But after the shooter was convicted and assigned a date with the executioner, the victim's family and greater Holmes County Amish launched a campaign to save his life. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2014, Cory Barron left his seat at Progressive Field in Downtown Cleveland during a Jason Aldean country concert - and disappeared. His body was found a few days later in a garbage truck that had collected trash from the stadium - trash that had been put down a five-story chute with a compactor. Last year for the first time, authorities agreed with Cory's family that he was more likely a victim of murder than some kind of bizarre accident.www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.comwww.patreon.com/ohiomysterieswww.twitter.com/mysteriesohiowww.facebook.com/ohiomysteriesAudionautix- The Great Unknown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tina Resch got her first 15 minutes of fame as a teenager in Columbus when national news media showed up to report her account of a pesky poltergeist wreaking havoc in her home. The next time reporters caught up with her, she was a 22-year-old in jail, accused of playing a role in the violent death of her 3-year-old daughter, Amber. Some say she was a fraud and a killer. Others insist she was an innocent woman, a victim of public opinion and abusive echoes from her past. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1985, 79-year-old Mary Yocono left her family's restaurant - Yocono's Italian Eatery in Akron's Wallhaven neighborhood - and walked across the street to take an early Christmas gift to her friends. But night and rain descended during the visit, and during the return trip on the dark street, a car struck Mary, then sped away. Nearly 40 years later, no one has ever taken responsibility for the hit and run of this colorful and beloved Italian matriarch. Ohio Mysteries: http://www.ohiomysteries.com Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.beaconjournal.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 20 years, Ohio has been waiting to execute Gerald "Bob" Hand for the murder of his wife, Jill, and for the death of the man he hired to kill her at their Delaware County home in 2002. But whether or not it ever happens, there will be no official closure for the murders of his first two wives, both suffocated by plastic bags in the basement of his Columbus home. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Additional music: Audionautix- The Great Unknown; The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices