Drinking The Cool Aid

Lyda Southard was known as Flypaper Lyda, Lady Bluebeard, and the black widow. She married several men and they all kept mysteriously dying. It was eventually discovered that some of the bodies contained traces of arsenic poisoning and Lyda was the beneficiary on all of the life insurance policies. She was eventually convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to ten years, but she got a guard to help her escape. Luckily, her next husband realized who she was before she murdered him. He...

The Bennington Triangle has had several disappearances and oddities over the years. Native American legends say the land is cursed because all four winds met one spot in an eternal struggle. They also have legends about a man-eating stone. The Glastenbury Mountain is said to have trails that stop part way up and a deafening silence. There are several theories about the disappearances such as: a serial killer, alien abductions, wormholes, hypothermia, and even the Bennington...

April Kauffman was a popular, vivacious, and provocative talk show host who advocated for veterans. On May 10th, 2012, she was discovered shot dead in her bedroom. April's daughter, Kim Pack, felt that her step-father was involved in her mother's murder. April's husband, Jim Kauffman was a doctor and he had been writing fraudulent opioid prescriptions for the Pagans motorcycle club and they were selling the pills. When April found out about the pill mill, she asked for a divorce and said she...

Benny Binion was an American gambling icon, career criminal, and convicted murderer who established illegal gambling operations. He moved his operations to Las Vegas and opened Binion's Horseshoe Casino. When he opened his casino, he saw immediate success and this upset everyone in the gambling scene. Benny eventually lost his gambling license and his sons had to step up and help run the casino. A man named Marvin Shumate set up a kidnapping/murder plot for Benny's son, Ted Binion. They...

Jane Prichard was conducting research on a summer vine for college. She travelled to Blackbird State Forest for two summers to watch and track the progress of the plant. On September 19th, 1986, Jane drove to a friend's place and headed to the forest early the next morning. Jane's body was discovered in the forest, but the murder remains unsolved. In 1986, a man named John Morris left several of his possessions with his friend, Newel Sessions. Six years later, Newel opened the trunk and...

On September 8th, 1987, Minnie Winston found bloodstains all over her home. The blood didn't belong to her or her husband and they called the police. During the investigation, police couldn't find the source of the blood and assumed it was an elaborate hoax. There are many theories about the bleeding house and some people believe there's paranormal activity. https://www.drinkingthecoolaid.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/coolaid

Lisa Au had dinner with her boyfriend on January 20th, 1982 and never made it home that night. The next day, her car was discovered, and 10 days later, her body was found too. This case sent fear and shock waves through the community. Not just because Lisa had been murdered, but because a policeman was the suspected killer. This case is still unsolved. If you have any new information regarding the Lisa Au murder case, please contact the Honolulu Police Department at...

In November, 1873, 21 men headed for the gold field in Breckenridge, Colorado. Their guide, Alferd Packer, ended up being terrible with directions. The weather was awful and the men ran out of provisions pretty fast. They began splitting the group up and Alferd was in charge of guiding 5 men through the mountains. Unfortunately, Alferd was the only one of his group to make it out alive. He told many stories about his journey and people began noticing the inconsistencies. Alferd finally...

On January 1st, 2016, Josh Woodruff was murdered in New Orleans. He was struck by a black sedan with tinted windows that was traveling at a high rate of speed and never stopped. His body was trapped under the vehicle as it drove away and his body was dragged for more than 6 miles. The family did pay to put up a billboard and this has brought in more tips, but nothing that has helped solve this case. If you have any information that can help, please call Crimestoppers at...

Adam John Walsh disappeared from a the mall in Hollywood, Florida on the afternoon of July 27th, 1981. He was six years old and it's believed that he got kicked out of the Sears store with a group of older boys. On August 10th, a severed head of a child was discovered in a drainage canal and it was identified as Adam. There were a few suspects early on, but nothing panned out. It took 27 years for the police to find the killer, Ottis Elwood Toole. He confessed, but later recanted and died in...

The Bear Brook murders or the Allenstown four, is a case where, we know who the serial killer is, before we know who the victims are. An adult female and 3 female children were discovered in barrels. The murderer is Terry Rasmussen and he was dubbed The Chameleon. He used several aliases and each time he killed, he changed his appearance and moved. Three victims in the barrels were identified as Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Vaughn, and Sarah McWaters. One of the children remains unidentified....

John Wayne Gacy confessed everything to his lawyer and police obtained another search warrant for Gacy's home. Bodies were discovered all over the house and he ended up being sentenced to death. If you think the execution is the end of the story, you'd be wrong. What if we told you, Gacy may have had accomplices? Wouldn't that be interesting? Drinking The Cool Aid https://ratethispodcast.com/coolaid

This story starts with John Wayne Gacy's torture and murders. Several boys that knew Gacy, just disappeared. At first, the police didn't believe Gacy was involved and he had no problem talking to them. The police got a search warrant and found some suspicious items in Gacy's home. From there, it all turned into a big game. Gacy loved toying with the detectives, inviting them over for drinks in his home, and going out to eat with them. He was definitely keeping his enemies close. Gacy thought...

John Wayne Gacy grew up with an alcoholic father who beat him and when he got old enough to leave, he drove to Las Vegas and became an attendant at a funeral home for three months, but he had to dip because he climbed into a coffin with a dead boy and fondled his corpse. He went to college, got married, joined a local Jaycee club and was managing KFCs. He eventually started his own business called PDM, but only hired boys and young men to work for him. Gacy was accused several times of...

A whole entire bus, 26 kids, and their bus driver, Ed, disappeared in California in 1976. Three gunmen loaded on the bus and took it over, Resulting in one of the largest mass kidnappings in U.S. history. You won't want to miss this roller coaster of an episode! Drinking The Cool Aid https://ratethispodcast.com/coolaid

On May 26th, 1999, 19-year-old Katie Poirier was abducted while working at DJ's Expressway. This convenience store was located near Interstate 35, on the outskirts of Moose Lake, Minnesota. The store had four surveillance cameras, but they were too grainy to see the abductor. Police sent the tapes to NASA and Solar Physicist Dr. David Hathaway was able to view the images. He could see a man with short, blonde or gray hair, about 5'10", average build, and wore a dark NY Yankees baseball...

On December 29th, 1999, Lauria Bible celebrated her friend, Ashley Freeman's 16th birthday. The girls spent the day together and ended up having a sleepover that night. Somewhere between the hours of 5:30 to 6:00 AM on December 30th 1999, a passerby called 911 to report that the Freeman house was engulfed in flames. Ashley's parents, Kathy and Danny Freeman were found dead, but the girls were missing. Ashley and Lauria had been kidnapped by Ronnie Busick, Warren Phillip Welch II and David...

In 1932, there was an Irish man named Michael Malloy and the WHOLE town decided he had to die. They figured they could get the life insurance money and split it. The local bar began giving free drinks to Malloy and the big master plan was to let him drink himself to death. This didn't work out like the town thought, so they tried a few other things like: stuffing him with sardine sandwiches, giving him shots of wood alcohol, feeding him oysters soaked in prenatured alcohol, metal shrapnel...

Tracey Kirkpatrick was a quiet teenager who lived in the small town of Frederick, Maryland. On the night of March 15th, 1989, Tracey was scheduled to close the store she worked at, Aileen Ladies Sportswear. Around 10:30 PM, a security guard, noticed the lights in the store were on and Tracey's lifeless body was discovered. The case was confusing and police couldn't find a motive. Three months after the murder, a guy named Don called a nationwide confession hot line and confessed to the...

On the evening of September 24th, 1971, Cathy Moulton was planning to attend a YWCA dance. She went on a shopping trip to pick up pantyhose and toothpaste, but never made it back home. Cathy was initially classified as a runaway, but hasn't been heard from in 49 years. Witnesses say they saw Cathy getting into a car with two boys and they may have all headed to a potato field together. Cathy was sixteen when she vanished and was wearing a navy blue all-weather coat, navy blue pant dress, and...