Macabre Storytime: A True Crime Podcast

11/04/2023

Episode 12: The Horrifying Murder of Tim McLean

In 2008, 22yo Tim McLean caught a Greyhound bus home to Winnipeg after working at a fair in Edmonton. After a few stops, a tall stranger boarded the bus and eventually made his way to the seat next to Tim’s. What happened next horrified not only every other passenger and the emergency personnel who responded to the incident, but the entire nation who watched the aftermath in horror.

1) A photo of Tim McLean displayed by his sister Amanda
2) Vince Li
3) An officer talking to Li during the standoff
4) The shrine at the place of Tim's death
5) Carol de Delley, (far right) Tim's mother, at a candlelight vigil for her son
6) Tim McLean Sr showing his memorial tattoo in his son's honor

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!

11/04/2023

As promised, here are the photos from our Decompression Chamber story from our Halloween bonus episode! Enjoy! And head on over to Lifetime of Smiles photography and let her know how much you love them!

11/01/2023

Bonus Episode 4: What Happened to the Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers?

In December 1900, 3 men mysteriously disappeared from their post as keepers of a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. What happened to them has never been discovered.

1) The Flannan Isles Lighthouse
2) (l-r) Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, Donald MacArthur, & NLB superintendent Robert Muirhead
3) Where it went down

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11/01/2023

Episode 11: The Man Who Killed Halloween - Halloween Bonus

When you think of Halloween, your mind likely conjures up images of tiny costumed witches and superheroes giggling as they run from house to house to gather as much candy as possible. But if you lived in the suburbs of Texas in the mid 70s, Halloween probably brings more grim imagery to mind. For some people, Halloween was forever ruined after one Houston-area father did the unthinkable.

1) Timothy Marc O'Bryan
2) Ronald Clark O'Bryan
3) Ronald O'Bryan (seated, far left) at his son's funeral
4) Papa O'Bryan in court
5) O'Bryan on his ex*****on date
6) Revelers outside the prison during the ex*****on

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10/26/2023

Bonus Episode 3: Medieval Torture

Few eras in history have grasped my attention in the same way as the Medieval Era. So much change happened during this period politically, religiously, linguistically, agriculturally, and basically every other aspect of human life. One of the most fascinating, albeit troubling, aspects of this time period can be seen in the mechanisms humans created to torture each other into giving false confessions or just for the pleasure of dishing out punishment.

1) The Rack
2-3) The Thumbscrew
4) The Pear of Anguish
5-6) The Wheel
7-9) The Scavenger's Daughter
10) The Breast Ripper
11) The Wooden Horse
12) The Judas Cradle
13) Rat Torture
14) The Brazen Bull

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10/26/2023

Episode 10: The Bloody Benders - Smashin' & Slashin'

If the Oregon Trail video game can be believed, the 19th century American frontier was a dangerous place. Nevertheless, enterprising folks still tried their luck during the seemingly endless westward expansion. Unfortunately for at least a dozen unsuspecting travelers, their stop at an inn in Labette County, Kansas would be the end of the road for their frontier dreams.

1) The Bender cabin
2) John "Pa" Bender Sr
3) Elvira "Ma" Bender
4) John Bender Jr
5) Kate Bender
6) Artist depiction of how the crimes were committed
7-8 ) Photos from the search for the bodies
9) The historical marker about the Benders
10) The Bender Mounds...and some cows, because...Kansas

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!

10/26/2023

Episode 9: John List, Family Annihilator

Have you ever watched America's Most Wanted and wondered if anyone ever actually gets caught because of it? Well, we don't know their success rate, but we do know the story of one fugitive who was caught after almost 20 years on the run. This is the story of that a-hole John List.

1) That A-hole John List
2) List Family photo
3) Breeze Knoll, the family's mansion
4) Warning
5) List's murdered wife and children
6) List's murdered mother
7) List compared to the forensic bust from America's Most Wanted
8 ) The arrest

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10/26/2023

Not sure what we're calling this segment, but have fun laughing at dumb criminals with us!

Check out MacabreStorytime's video.

10/14/2023

Episode 8: The New York Zodiac

A serial killer struck fear in New York City between 1990 and 1993. The man claimed to be the same infamous killer who stalked and killed young people in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s–The Zodiac Killer. Was it possible that one of the most notorious serial killers in American history was back after a 20-year cooling off period?

1) Eddie Seda being arrested
2) Seda's mugshot
3) Seda in court
4-5) Letters from the NY Zodiac
6) They NY Zodiac's cypher

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!

10/14/2023

Episode 7: The Yuba County 5

In 1978, 5 young men suffering from Yuba County, California, each suffering from a different intellectual disability or psychiatric condition, drove off to attend a college basketball game. None was ever seen alive again. To this day, no one knows if the men were victims of foul play or simply got lost in the wilderness and succumbed to the elements.

1) Map of the events
2) Jack Huett
3) Ted Weiher
4) Jack Madruga
5) Bill Sterling
6) Gary Mathias
7) A last note written Ted

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10/02/2023

Episode 6: The Man Who Fell From The Sky-No, Not DB Cooper

In 1928, the 3rd richest man in the world disappeared from his private plane as it crossed the English Channel. No one on the plane realized he was gone until it was too late. Did he jump or was he thrown to his death?

1) Alfren Loewenstein sporting is fancy top hat
2-3) Alfred and his entourage boarding the fateful flight
4) Diagram of the inside of the Loewenstein's plane
5) Pilot Donald Drew
6) Loewenstein's stately mansion in Leicestershire, England, which sold in 2021 for £1M

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!

10/02/2023

Episode 5: Hell's Belle & The Indiana Murder Farm

You've heard what a woman scorned is capable of, but what about a woman who's just plain evil? This week, we'll dive into the horrific tale of Belle Gunness and her insatiable quest for wealth that *anyone* was prone to fall victim to.

1) Belle in her younger years
2) Belle with her children Phillip, Myrtle, & Lucy
3) The man who brought her down, Andrew Helgelien
4) Lover, arsonist, murderer? Ray Lamphere
5-8) Investigators and onlookers combing through the Gunness farm for victims
9) Belle's alleged teeth found in the remains of the farmhouse
10) The Belle Gunness exhibit at the La Porte Historical Society Museum

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!