Dawn of Mantis: True Crime, Mysteries and More

Send us Fan Mail This episode begins a two part series on the "Little Rascals Curse". The "Our Gang"/"Little Rascals" franchise has been around since the1920s, and in the decades since, many have alleged a disturbing trend amongst the show's cast members. Many of the children from the show grew up to meet a gruesome end, or be charged with murder, or didn't...

Send us Fan Mail In our second and final episode on the unsolved murder of Bob Crane, we cover the last day of Bob's life and his gruesome murder. Then we cover the various theories as to who may have killed Bob and why, focusing mostly on our favorite suspect- Bob's "partner in grind" John Henry Carpenter. We also discuss regional dialects, delve into the great "Dean&apos...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode we're talking about Bob Crane- an accomplished radio DJ in the 50's and the star of the 1960's sitcom "Hogan's Heroes". But we get a little naughty on this one folks, because ol' Bob had a severe sex addiction throughout his entire adult life. When asked "How many women would you like to sleep with?", Bob's answer w...

Send us Fan Mail Gig Young was a major supporting actor in Hollywood for decades, appearing in films alongside the likes of Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. But in his later years, Gig's inner demons and vices contributed to a sharp decline in his career. Then in 1978, after only three weeks of marriage, Gig murdered his new bride and then killed himse...

Send us Fan Mail It's been a long journey, but we are finally to the last episode of our 9 part series! We discuss the NOMIS and FBI investigations into Ken's death, the impact the death had on his loved ones, the resolve the town showed to keep the shooter's identities a secret, and end the series by revealing what happened to all of the key players in the story in the years since....

Send us Fan Mail In the next to last episode in our series, we cover the events of July 10th, 1981- the day Ken McElroy died. We also discuss the direct aftermath of his shooting, and the storm of controversy it created. (Subject Matter Begins @ 8:30) Redbeard Sound RedBeard Sound specializes in live sound engineering, recording, music production & audio editing. Disclaimer: This post contains...

Send us Fan Mail In our 7th episode on Ken McElroy, we introduce you to new Nodaway County Prosecutor David Baird, and cover Ken's trial for shooting Bo Bowenkamp. Then, despite what initially appeared to be a victory for Bo and the town, Ken and his attorney once again find a way to beat the system. True to form, Ken marches right back into town to further instigate the people, and this caus...

Send us Fan Mail Hey kids! So it turns out we've been doing this podcast thing for 4 years now. Who knew?? Well, we knew, and decided to make a little "Happy Anniversary" episode to shamelessly congratulate ourselves. Enjoy.  Redbeard Sound RedBeard Sound specializes in live sound engineering, recording, music production & audio editing. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate...

Send us Fan Mail In this incredibly frustrating episode, Pastor Tim Warren stands up to Ken and refuses to stop visiting and supporting the Bowenkamp family. Also, after Ken is finally bound for trial after a successful preliminary hearing in the matter of shooting Bo, Gene McFadin sets about postponing that trial for the next year. During that time, of course, keeps busy by harassing people, espe...

Send us Fan Mail In part 5 of this series we introduce you to the only law man in 3 states NOT scared of Ken McElroy- a Missouri State Trooper named Richard Dean Stratton. We also cover Ken's continued fixation on the Bowenkamp's- an obsession that culminated in the shooting of poor Bo. They say the wheels of justice turn slow, but Ken's attorney was back on the scene as usual, to m...

Send us Fan Mail After seven decades the identity of the mysterious "Somerton Man" has been solved!! We discuss the new findings and in true Dawn of Mantis style, Joe closes out this short episode with a totally unrelated story! Redbeard Sound RedBeard Sound specializes in live sound engineering, recording, music production & audio editing. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate li...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we continue to follow Ken's path of lawlessness and dissect the event that would end up leading to his death- the "Candy Incident" that occurred in B & B Grocery in April of 1980.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In part 3 of our series, we cover Trena’s failed attempts to get away from Ken, and how she instead ended up marrying him at 15 so that he could avoid sexual assault charges. We also discuss Ken’s shooting of Romaine Henry- an event that would ultimately cause Ken to focus all of his animosity on Skidmore.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In part 2 of our series we cover Ken's continued laundry list of crimes, as well as introduce you to the attorney who would help him avoid prosecution for all of them- Richard Gene McFadin. We also introduce you to the girl who would remain with Ken till the bitter end and beyond- Trena McCloud.   Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Ken McElroy terrorized northwest Missouri for decades before finally being killed in what some call an act of vigilante justice. In this first part of a nine part series, we cover Ken's early life, his foray into crime and the first of many girls he victimized.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In the second and final part of our Bobby Fuller series, we cover his bizarre death and examine each of the three major theories of how he died and who may have been responsible. (Subject Matter Begins @ 4:38) Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Bobby Fuller and his band, the Bobby Fuller Four, achieved commercial success in the mid 60s with songs like “Let Her Dance” and their cover of the Crickets’ “I Fought the Law”. But just as the band was reaching their highest level of fame, Bobby was found dead in the front seat of his mother’s car. The death was first marked a suicide, but his body was soaked in gasoline and show...

Send us Fan Mail On a sunny cloudless day in March of 1876, meat began to fall from the sky over a small farm in Kentucky. To this day, no one is quite sure where it came from or how it happened. In our 182nd episode, we discuss this strange event, along with other weird things that have fallen from the heavens, like frogs, fish, red rain and even spiders.  Redbeard Sound RedBeard Sound specialize...

Send us Fan Mail On May 12th, 2018, a young Florida woman named Joleen Cummings left her job at a hair salon and was never seen again. Police quickly suspected foul play and zeroed in on one of Joleen’s co-workers, an elusive woman named Jennifer Sybert. When they investigated her, they not only uncovered what she had done to Joleen, but also her decades long run from the law including a laundry l...

Send us Fan Mail In this listener suggested episode we cover the case of Samantha Sperry, a young woman who went missing from a rural area in Kentucky in 2018. The last two people known to have seen her were her boyfriend and his father, but they have offered conflicting stories. (Subject matter begins -@ 5:00) Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This is one of the most bizarre cases we've covered, and it occurred in the Spring of 1922 in a small village in France. A small girl disappeared, only to be found 200 miles away, alive an unharmed weeks later. But the family soon began to suspect that they had the wrong child; a suspicion that was confirmed when the body of their actual child was found weeks later- along wit...

Send us Fan Mail The second part of our convo with Bruce Bennett contains twice, dare I say THRICE the family friendly quality content as the first. Enjoy!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail We once again had the privilege of speaking with Mr Bruce Bennett! So many yarns were spun that we made a two parter- enjoy!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Hey! Ever wonder why people get so skittish on Friday 13th? Neither did we! But we figured a Friday 13th themed episode was appropriate. We’ve tracked down some of the origins of this creepy unofficial holiday, along with several useless facts and a few horrific tragedies to top it off. SO, don’t take a shower, don’t walk down a dark alley, and for the love of God, don’t have sex...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we examine the story of Blanche Monnier- a beautiful young woman who was locked away for 25 years simply for loving the wrong man. But was she though? Everyone on the internet says so. Even people 100 years ago said so, but that was not exactly what happened. Join us as we first tell the "accepted" version of Blanche's story, then reveal what actuall...