The Deck

Our card this week is Thomas Mather, the Seven of Diamonds from Iowa.  Nothing causes the true crime community to stir more than a case with the open-ended question of did he? Or didn’t he? Well, except that is, when the question is did SHE? For longer than 32-year-old Thomas Mather was alive, a rural town in Iowa has been haunted by their only unsolved homicide. The former Sheriff told us it’s th...

Our card this week is Shad Gandy Kaydea, the 2 of Spades from Rhode Island. A late-night fire in a Rhode Island cemetery led to the discovery of the body of Shad Gandy Kaydea, a young father and aspiring rapper who was strangled, then set on fire. As detectives peeled back the layers of Shad’s life, they uncovered volatile family tensions, a suspicious life insurance policy, and a man whose story...

Our card this week is Theresa Dusevitch, the Queen of Diamonds from Florida.  For 50 years, Theresa Dusevitch’s case was intrinsically tied to Debra Espey’s murder. Both women were 19 years old when they were killed back in 1973, just eight months apart. There were other similarities, too: Both women were found nude from the waist down, their shirts pulled up, hands over their heads, with head wou...

Our card this week is Debra Espey, the 6 of Clubs from Florida.  Debra Espey was the 6 of Clubs from Florida. We first reported on her case in 2024, and left you all on the precipice of hope that new DNA testing would finally shed light on what happened to a young girl in Niceville over 50 years ago. Well, the results are in! And Debra’s case is SOLVED. It turns out her killer was hiding in plain...

Our card this week is Donna Ingersoll, the 10 of Clubs from Minnesota.  On a snowy December night 35 years ago, 25-year-old Donna Ingersoll stormed outside and disappeared into the darkness after a heated argument with her boyfriend, leaving behind several important belongings and a twisted web of mysteries investigators have spent decades trying to untangle. Since 1990, Donna’s disappearance has...

Our card this week is Paris Matthews, the 6 of Hearts from Florida.  In the spring of 2013, Paris Matthews was enjoying an evening at home when he heard a knock at the door. Someone on the other side called out their name – but Paris knew that was impossible. Seconds later, before he could piece together why someone was lying … Paris was shot, and the years-long search for his killer began. Invest...

In 1971, 21-year-old Karen tried hitching a ride to go and meet her husband after work. She never made it and a week later her body was found floating in a canal nowhere near where she’d left or her destination. Was Karen a victim of a predator passing through? Or was a former Sheriff with a dark side responsible… and maybe that’s why this case has never been solved? If you or anyone you know has...

Our card this week is Tyra Garcia, the Queen of Diamonds from California. It was Memorial Day, 1985, when fifteen-year-old Tyra Garcia slipped out the front door to a neighbors house, saying she’d be gone for only a few minutes. No one expected those minutes to stretch into hours… and then days. And no one could have imagined that 40 years later, the case would still be unsolved. Especially when t...

Charles' bold suits and charismatic personality made him stand out. He was also a man who liked money — earning it, flashing it, and spending it. And trying to untangle Charles' different threads of income – and what may or may not be connected to his death – has kept investigators busy for decades. Especially when some of that income was almost definitely under the table.   If you know anything a...

When 73-year-old Margaret Reimann was murdered in her garage while getting ready to leave for church in 1986, everyone immediately started pointing fingers at one particular relative. And in the investigation that followed, detectives uncovered a decades-long family feud, grudges that had been festering for years, and questions about just how far someone might go when there’s money on the line. Bu...

In 1975, 27-year-old Norris Evans was found brutally murdered in her Rochester home while her children were upstairs. The crime was shocking, but the decades of silence that followed may be even more haunting. Now, her children are breaking that silence in search of the truth. If you know anything about the murder of Norris Evans, please call Rochester Police Department’s major crimes unit at 585-...

Our card this week is Shelby Wright, the 2 of Clubs from Washington.  In the Summer of 2004, Shelby Wright, along with his computer, disappeared, never to be seen again. Over two decades later, Shelby’s grandparents and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office are still looking for answers.  If you have any information about the disappearance of Shelby Wright in Snohomish County, Washington, please c...

Our card this week is Susie Timmons, the 9 of Diamonds from New York. In the summer of 1982, Susie Timmons was discovered stabbed and beaten in a vacant lot north of downtown Rochester, NY. Investigators have spent nearly four decades trying to solve her murder. If you have information about the murder of Susie Timmons on July 29th, 1982, in Rochester, NY, please call the Rochester Police Departme...

Our card this week is Darnell Smith, the 5 of Diamonds from California. Darnell Smith’s family never expected him – a pastor’s son and an ambitious student – to get killed in a hail of gunfire. For a young man without even a whisper of a criminal record, no one would have expected his life to end in such a violent way at the age of twenty. But Darnell Smith’s death became entangled in a world his...

Our card this week is Robert Mitchell Jr., the 8 of Clubs from New York.  When the body of Robert Mitchell Jr., a “gentle giant” and towering presence in Rochester’s bar scene, is discovered burning in a public park, detectives don’t know what to think. As rumors swirl and leads dry up, the case grows cold… until a witness comes forward with details so specific, only someone close to the crime cou...

Our card this week is Jerene Matta, the Queen of Spades from Washington.  During the Yakima Police Department’s annual Christmas party, the news of 62-year-old Jerene’s murder shocked every officer and their plus ones. Jerene’s house was known for its security cameras – there were so many that you basically couldn’t enter the property without being filmed.  Why was Jerene targeted? And who was she...

Our card this week is Ron Harnish, the 7 of Clubs from California. Twenty-two-year-old Ron Harnish was murdered on the streets of San Diego in December 2006. Almost 19 years later, the police and Ron’s own mother believe they know who’s responsible. But proving it has been a challenge, and the people they are after are as violent as it gets.  If you have information about the murder of Ron Harnish...

Our card this week is Jaklyn Baccoli, the 5 of Clubs from New York. When demolition workers entered a vacant home in Rochester, New York, they expected asbestos—not a crime scene. But hidden inside was the body of 44-year-old Jaklyn Baccoli, a woman whose final moments were marked by unimaginable violence. As detectives dug into her life and the days leading up to her death, they uncovered a tangl...

Our card this week is Valaine Briggs, the Ace of Spades from Utah. When 19-year-old Valaine left her Salt Lake City apartment and walked to class one spring morning in 1977, her carefully planned future was full of promise. And though she was in a time of transition and had recently ended an engagement, Valaine knew even this temporary disappointment just brought her closer to the life she dreamed...

Our card this week is Andrew Moore, the 6 of Clubs from California.  This week marks the 25th anniversary of Andrew “Andy” Moore's murder. 26-year-old Andy was killed in September 2000 while sleeping in his San Diego, California, apartment. The scene left behind was confounding to detectives; the weapons are missing, odd items displaced but not taken, and the one thing "stolen" from Andy shows up...

Our card this week is Patricia Allen, the Queen of Hearts from Washington. On October 3, 1995, Patricia Allen was asleep on her couch when she was stabbed once so precisely that it nearly cut her heart in half. So begins one of the most mysterious homicide cases out of Yakima, Washington. With no shortage of suspects – including a woman who some believe wanted to become Patty – this case is truly...

Our card this week is Jodine Serrin, the 7 of Diamonds from California. In 1995, Marisa Patti met David Mabrito on the beach in Oceanside, California – it was love at first sight. Twenty-three years later, he would be found responsible for the brutal murder and desecration of 39-year-old Jodine Serrin in her own bedroom.  In the wake of the solve, Marisa and her son were left on their own to figur...

Our card this week is Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez, the Wild Card from Texas. Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez walked out of the duplex she shared with her family in Odessa, Texas, on Aug. 2, 1985, and seemingly vanished without a trace. Her sister-in-law watched Mary head in the direction of a local bar after fighting with her husband, who they knew as Arnuldo Mendez. Mary had asked her sister-in-law to watc...

Our card this week is Lawrence Riegel, the 5 of Spades from Washington. When Lawrence was reported missing on January 10th, 2010, he didn’t exactly vanish without a trace. Between mysterious phone records and strange theories from a recluse who lived in an isolated trailer park , police had a good idea what his last movements were and with whom he interreacted – and specifically, they honed in on...

Our card this week is Gregory Fickess, the Jack of Diamonds from New York.  On a summer night in 1993, 19-year-old Gregory Fickess had just gotten out of his car in downtown Rochester when he was jumped in a seemingly unprovoked, fatal act of violence. A case with no motive and few cooperating witnesses is tough to get very far. But when detectives find out that one of the few cooperating witnesse...