I was asked to pen half of a new audio short story for my friend, Pi, and her podcast, Stories from the In-Between. It’s called BLANK, and it’s a spooky little bit of absurdity set in a world where adults possess the ability to remove parts of their face. And some covet certain features they lack themselves.
I’m this week’s guest on The Murder Squad’s “Distractions” podcast. I talk to Paul Holes and Billy Jensen about Amy Mihaljevic, The Porchlight Project, and The Philosophy of Crime. Check it out here.
The Case of the Bones in the Barn has been solved at last, and the answer leads to even more mysteries. For our second case, The Porchlight Project assisted the New London, Ohio Police Department to determine the identify of the young woman whose bones were found wrapped up in newspaper in an old barn, there. I was personally interested because the barn was located just a few doors down from a suspect in the Amy Mihaljevic case.
The Porchlight Project funded DNA testing and genetic genealogy, which led investigators to conclude that the bones belonged to one Hallie Armstrong, an eighteen-year-old schoolteacher who died in 1881.
The strange case of the man who called himself Joseph Newton Chandler is one of my favorite true crime mysteries of all time – and the inspiration behind my novel, The Man from Primrose Lane. So it was a honor to be interviewed by Katya Cengel for her new piece of long-form nonfiction, which appeared on Vox.
Investigative journalist James Renner, who reported on the Chandler case and even wrote a novel loosely based on it, believes Ruff and those like her who are running from something terrible should be able to disappear.
“What right do we have to open up those doors?” he asks.
He makes an exception for rape and murder, and he is not the only one who believes the Nichols case may have involved both. Because of Robert Nichols’s various eccentricities and the time he spent in California in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when the Zodiac Killer was active there, some web sleuths and even members of law enforcement, like Elliott, who says he can’t rule it out, suspect Nichols could be the killer.
Now, you can tell everyone what they already strongly suspect – that, you too, are a True Crime Addict. Check out the new shirt as well as my collection of fiction and nonfiction at the Philosophy of Crime store.
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Melissa Rivers this month! We talk about The Porchlight Project, Maura Murray, and Amy Mihaljevic. Check it out here.
A year ago, I put together a new nonprofit to fund new investigations into some of Ohio’s coldest cases. I’m so thrilled to announce that there has been an arrest made in our first case – the 1987 unsolved murder of Barbara Blatnik. James Zastawnik was arrested for the girl’s murder on Wednesday. Here’s a report from the Beacon Journal and USAToday.
Donna Zanath, Blatnik’s sister, said Wednesday evening that she was in shock that an arrest had been made after all this time. She credited Project Porchlight, a local effort lead by Akron author James Renner that took on her sister’s case as its first attempt to generate renewed interest in a cold case. Project Porchlight raised $6,000 for DNA testing that helped with the Blatnik case. “Without James Renner, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” she said, choking back tears.
Beacon Journal
Learn more about The Porchlight Project here. You can also donate via the website. Every little bit helps. Thank you!
The Philosophy of Crime, Season 3 begins today! I’ll be releasing two episodes a week for the next three weeks. Available on all platforms. Here is the schedule:
April 15: “Why do some crimes have a statute of limitations?”
April 16: “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world. Or is it?”
April 22: “Is it still possible to disappear and start a new life?”
April 23: “Is reasonable doubt reasonable?”
April 29: “How to interview a witness… after they’re dead.”
April 30: “What really happened at Kent State?”
SHAKER HEIGHTS is a six-part true crime podcast miniseries, which places the listener beside police detectives as they investigate the 1990 unsolved murder of Lisa Pruett. Did the weird kid in school get away with murder or was he unwittingly set up by a group of teens?
PALINDROME was released on 02/11/20, which is a palindrome, just like Renner. So I helped write this very symmetrical story for the pi_rational podcast. Dark and twisty and a little sexy.
The Porchlight Project has it’s next case. We’re working with the New London police department and will pay for DNA testing of human bones found in an old barn, there. The remains are that of a young woman between the ages of 12 and 20, and could have been in the barn for over 30 years.
Please consider a donation to The Porchlight Project today! Every little bit helps and gets us closer to taking another cold case.
