September 21, 2023 • 34 mins
When 13-year-old Victoria Brown is dragged from her bed in the middle of the night, beaten and strangled only 50 yards away, it has residents of Mt. Pine terrified inside their own homes. The search for Victoria’s killer reveals a revenge plot that leaves her mother guilt-ridden and Nancy Clark wondering if their small town is cursed.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This series is inspired by true events. The stories you're
about to hear are fictional, and so are the characters
who are played by actors.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Principal Palumbo here, remember Valentine's Day is Friday, and today's
the last day of carnation sales one dollar a carnation,
and the proceeds go to help fund the concert choir's
trip to Nationals.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
After Charlotte Murphy's murder at the ice cream shop, it
was nice to have a distraction like Valentine's Day, even
though it could be pretty stressful. At Mount Pine High School,
a person's popularity can be basically measured by how many
carnations they get on Valentine's Day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Valentine's Day was all about the carnation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Back in nineteen eighty six, sixteen year old Lauren Collins
is a junior like us. She's the stereotypical varsity cheerleader. Today,
Lauren live in Houston and is the manager at a
high end hotel and spa.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It was not only about who I'm buying carnations for,
but who was buying carnations for me? And the colors
set it all white for friendship, pink for a secret
crush and red for love.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Of course, this Valentine's Day, I'm wondering how many carnations
all get from my new boyfriend Ethan.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Today.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
He's a fifty two year old divorce attorney, and of
course he's divorced.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
My clan was to make it a very romantic Valentine's
Day for Nancy. But man, we had no idea it
would be a bloody Valentine.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I'm Nancy Clark.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
This is The Murder Years, episode five, Victoria.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
Finally, it was Friday, Valentine's Day. Flowers were going to
be coming to our homeroom class.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Tatiana and I were always in the same homeroom, so
we got to experience the carnations thing together every year.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
I checked my diary. Of course, I wrote it down.
Speaker 6 (02:25):
I got six white ones and one red one from
my boyfriend.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I was pissed he only got me one.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I got five white carnations and ten red ones. Ethan
did good. But Lauren, the cheerleader, well, Lauren cleaned up.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I got something like thirty carnations. It was kind of crazy.
We carried the flowers around all day and everyone took
note of who got the most. You know, sure, I
know It sounds dumb now, but it was very important then.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The plan for that night is Ethan and I are
double dating with Tatiana and her boyfriend. We all go
to China Buffet, then to the Valentine's dance at school.
At the end of the night, Ethan and I have
a pretty good makeout session in his car while Tatiana
and her date are still dancing, and then Ethan drops
me and Tatiana off at her house for a sleepover.
(03:23):
We're way too hyper asleep, so we're up for hours
talking about dinner and the dance, and then.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
We hear something.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It sounds like screams, blood curling, screams.
Speaker 7 (03:36):
Nine one one, what's your emergency?
Speaker 8 (03:38):
Oh my god, my daughter she's gone.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Oh my god, my daughter is gone.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's around two am when Mount Pine police arrive at
the Blue and White ranch house on Allendale Lane, three
doors down from Tatiana's house. We're outside watching everything. On
the front we see Dorothy Brown and her fourteen year
old son, Donnie. Dorothy is sobbing while Donnie nervously swings
a baseball bat and paces the lawn.
Speaker 9 (04:10):
I arrived at a very chaotic.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Scene back in nineteen eighty six. Detective Marcia Thompson is
a four year veteran of Mount PINEPDE. Today she's an
investigator in the Prosecutor's office. She told me she would
only talk to me if she could find her notes
and review them first.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Thankfully she did so.
Speaker 10 (04:30):
Yes, I was first informed that thirteen year old Victoria
Brown was missing, and as we know, every second counts
when there's an abduction.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
People in town know the Brown family. Sadly, they're no
strangers to tragedy. Dorothy's husband died in a horrible car
accident six years before and now this.
Speaker 10 (04:53):
So because we had a missing girl, we cordoned off
the area until the canine unit from the county arrived.
I tried to talk to Dorothy outside. She was hysterical, understandably,
so she told me everything was normal up until then.
She got home from work. She worked at Ridgemont nursing Home.
(05:18):
She made dinner and a heart shaped pink duncan Heine's
cake for the kids. Around seven point thirty, Victoria came
home from her friend's house.
Speaker 9 (05:30):
She was in a good mood.
Speaker 10 (05:31):
She didn't have dinner because she had already eaten at
her friends, but she did have a lot of cake,
which then turned into a belly ache, so she went
to her room and fell asleep. Donnie got home around nineish,
ate cake and played Autari until around eleven pm, then
(05:52):
he went to bed. Dorothy said she got up from
bed at one forty five to get a drink, and
when she she got close to Victoria's room, she noticed
the door was open and cold air was blowing into
the hallway. She went into her room and Victoria was gone.
(06:14):
I asked if she heard anything prior to realizing Victoria
was missing, and she said no. She thought she heard
a male voice earlier, and she thought she heard some commotion,
but she was half asleep and thought she was dreaming.
She says she's a pretty heavy sleeper. Donnie fell asleep
(06:36):
listening to his walk man, so he didn't hear anything.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
About fifteen minutes after Detective Thompson speaks with Dorothy, the
canine unit arrives, led by Officer Dixon, an expert with dogs.
Speaker 11 (06:48):
When Me and Copper arrived, we learned a young girl
was missing.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
In nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Canine Officer Charles Dixon is on his third dog, Copper.
Speaker 11 (06:58):
One of the things that makes it, So we're easy
for a canine to follow. A scent is the adrenaline
rush accentuates, So why don't you start the doll on
a particular scent. He'll follow that sent until he either
finds it or losing. Window was opening the girl's bedroom,
and the police believed she was taking out that window.
So that's where we start. Right away, Copper tractor sent
(07:22):
from that window, and I followed.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Officer Dixon says.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Copper led him to the bottom of the muddy hill
about fifty yards behind Victoria's house. There they find her
partially clothed, beaten body.
Speaker 11 (07:37):
Oh, it was a very upsetting site. I mean, of course,
the worst case scenario, I'd hope Copper would help us
find Victoria alive, or you know, at least lead us
to a suspect. Of the two of them. Victoria's adrenaline
was stronger than the suspects, and unfortunately we were just
too late. We set word back to Detective Thompson that
(08:02):
we found the victim again.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Detective Marcia Thompson.
Speaker 10 (08:08):
I mean, it was just awful news. And her body
was found so close to her house and with her
mother and brother right there. When I told Dorothy the
tragic news. She was in shock and insisted on seeing
her daughter with her own eyes. I tried to talk
her out of it, but she demanded to see her.
Speaker 9 (08:33):
So we walked.
Speaker 10 (08:34):
Down the hill, and I mean you could see her
body in the distance.
Speaker 12 (08:40):
God.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
When we got there, the officer proved back the sheet
and Dorothy collapsed. She fainted. Thankfully, there were paramedics on
scene to help her.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
It's hard to believe Tatiana and I are right there
watching this tragedy full of before our own eyes.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
I could not believe my sweet neighbor had been murdered.
She was such a nice, nice girl. My babysat her
a few times when her mom would run to the store. Honestly,
this one just about broke me.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Dorothy, Donnie, and Victoria's grandparents are eventually escorted to the
police station.
Speaker 10 (09:30):
I had to refresh my memory with the police reports
about what happened next. Once the family left the scene,
I entered the house. I'll read you some of it,
it says. I walked in the front door. There appeared
to be no signs of forced entry. The living room
(09:50):
looked undisturbed. To the right was the kitchen, which also
looked undisturbed. On the table, there was a heart shaped
cake that I said, I love you, but most of
the cake had been eaten. Yeah, that cake hurt my heart. Anyway,
(10:12):
I'll keep reading.
Speaker 9 (10:14):
I made my.
Speaker 10 (10:14):
Way to Victoria's bedroom and it was cold because the
window was wide open.
Speaker 9 (10:19):
It was February.
Speaker 10 (10:21):
Victoria's room was a typical preteen girls room, posters of
Michael J. Fox from Teen Wolf, The Goonies, and Whitney Houston.
I remember when I walked closer to her bed, I
saw blood droplets which led to the open window, and
the drapes had been pulled down. That made me think
(10:45):
that Victoria was fighting her abductor as she was being
taken out of the house. I wasn't sure how the
perpetrator got in, but I was pretty sure how they left.
Hoped we'd be able to get some usable prints from
the window sill.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
At the station, Victoria's family sits in one of the
interview rooms waiting for Detective Thompson to arrive.
Speaker 10 (11:14):
Asking the family to talk about it with me so
soon after seemed cruel, but we couldn't waste any time,
so I asked, could they think of anyone who would
have wanted who may have wanted to hurt Victoria. Dorothy
and the grandparents said no, absolutely not. They couldn't think
(11:34):
of a soul who would want to hurt Victoria. They
said she was the most wonderful girl. She was kind
a good student, and she loved animals. But then fourteen
year old Donnie spoke, I can play the audio tape
part of his interview for you.
Speaker 12 (11:55):
Yeah, Victoria told me someone was giving her a weird feeling.
She says she didn't like being alone with him. She
said it was someone in our family.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thirteen year old Victoria Brown was abducted from her bedroom
in her own house, beaten, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Her mom, Dorothy,
her fourteen year old brother, Donnie, and their grandparents are
at the Mount Pine Police station talking with Detective Marcia Thompson.
And Donnie just dropped a bomb. Here's more of his
(12:42):
audio taped interview.
Speaker 12 (12:44):
My sister told me that she had a strange feeling
being around. Someone asked for who, and she just looked down.
I asked her what that meant. Said she didn't like
the way this man looked at her, touched her. It
(13:08):
made her feel weird. She said, he gave her the
creeps and she didn't want to be along with him.
I asked her again who she was talking about. She
said it was uncle Martin.
Speaker 10 (13:32):
Well, everyone started talking at once. Dorothy was yelling at Donnie.
Why didn't he ever say anything? The grandparents insisted there
was no way Martin would do anything to a young girl.
I had to call in another detective to help me
calm things down.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Martin Brown is Dorothy's brother in law, her late husband's brother.
He works at the Junior High School as a security guard.
That's where Victoria went to school. Around five am, police
go to Martin Brown's home and ask him to come
down to the station and he does, here's Martin.
Speaker 12 (14:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (14:12):
When the officers came to my door, I was getting
ready to go to bed. They told me my niece
was found dead and I was like, what, Victoria's dead.
But it wasn't just that they were notifying me. They
wanted me to come to the station with them. I
had no idea why. I thought maybe they thought I
(14:32):
could help find the killer. It was also hard to
process Victoria is dead and they want to talk to
me about it.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
When Martin Brown arrived, I remember he looked disheveled. In
my notes, I wrote what he was wearing a light
blue work shirt, khakis, and work boots. He looked nervous,
but he also looked confused. I told him what happened Victoria,
(15:01):
purposefully leaving a lot of details out.
Speaker 9 (15:05):
She got very upset.
Speaker 10 (15:08):
I then wanted to know about his relationship with Victoria.
Speaker 13 (15:11):
I told the detective we had a typical uncle nice relationship.
I supported her and everything she did. I went to
all of her soccer games. I stepped into a surrogate
father role after her dad, my brother died.
Speaker 10 (15:26):
I then told him what Victoria had shared with her
brother Donnie, that she felt uncomfortable with him.
Speaker 9 (15:35):
I asked him why he thought that would be.
Speaker 13 (15:38):
I had no idea why Victoria would have said that,
and I was hurt that she felt that way. I'd
never done anything to a child, any child. I never
did anything to her. I wouldn't and couldn't. I mean,
come on, I had a daughter myself around the same age.
I had no answers for the detective. I did know
(16:02):
one thing. I didn't kill my niece. I loved her,
and I told the detective. I worked that night. I
worked security at the high school Valentine's Day dance, so
a lot of people saw me there. The dance ended
around eleven, but I was there until everyone cleaned up
and left. That was around midnight. Then I went home.
(16:26):
I told the detective I got home around twelve thirty,
and my wife could verify that, and the janitorial staff
could verify how late that I was at the school.
I didn't do it. I really wanted her to stop
asking me questions so I could go be with Victoria's
mom and brother.
Speaker 10 (16:47):
So I had to verify his whereabouts, and I hoped
for this family's sake.
Speaker 9 (16:52):
It all checked out.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
By Sunday morning, police finished processing the scene. They dust
for fingerprints and take pictures both inside the house and
where Victoria's body was found outside, and they find no
signs of force entry. Tatiana and I never get to
sleep that night. When police come to her house, we
tell them what we know, which isn't much actually, just
(17:17):
that we heard screams sometime before two am, but that
was it. We didn't see anything at all. I feel
so bad that was happening so close to us and
we didn't know. We just didn't know, or we could
have helped.
Speaker 14 (17:49):
I'm outside the home of an unthinkable crime which took
place last night. Thirteen year old Victoria Brown was abducted
from her own home and dragged out of.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
Her bedroom window.
Speaker 14 (18:01):
She was murdered and her body was found only fifty
yards behind her house. Police have no suspects yet some
of the families in the neighborhood worry this young girl
might be the victim of a serial killer who's been
terrorizing the Midwest for years.
Speaker 10 (18:25):
So, starting back in the late seventies, the Midwest child
killer murdered four little girls, ranging in ages from.
Speaker 9 (18:34):
Five to eight.
Speaker 10 (18:36):
Now, those victims weren't from Mount Pine. One victim was
from our state, the others were from neighboring states. Yes,
some details were similar to what happened in the Brown case.
The killer would come in the house through an unlocked
window or door, usually during the summer months, abduct the
(18:57):
child always girls, and make them away from the house,
where he would sexually assault them and stab them to death.
Because there were some similarities, we called the FBI and
they said they'd send a team. Sure, we thought it
would be the same killer, or it could be a copycat,
(19:18):
or there could be no connection. Whatsoever. Personally, I didn't
think it was the Midwest killer. This case occurred in
the winter, Victoria was older than the other victims, and
the Brown House was locked up. No closer to finding
Victoria Brown's killer.
Speaker 9 (19:38):
We called a press conference.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
That Sunday night. There's a vigil outside the Brown's home.
I swear the whole town turns out. Even though I
didn't know Victoria, I mean, she was three years younger
than me, didn't matter. It felt like we had lost
one of our own family members.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
My heart broke for missus Brown and Donnie. My mom
brought dinner over that night. I mean, we didn't know
what else we could do.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
I wanted to go hug them. Instead, we just hugged
each other.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Detective Marsha Thompson is also at the vigil.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
I kept scanning the crowd for anything or any one strange.
I didn't see anything that piqued my interest or looked suspicious.
It was so sad that poor, poor family. The next day,
(20:46):
it was a Monday, the coroner's office called with some
important information. Victoria's cause of death was strangulation. In my
notes from that it says I went back and reread
the interview I conducted, and the interviews the other the
other officers had conducted. It was then I noticed a
(21:11):
detail that didn't stand out to me before. It was
from an officer who attempted to talk to the residents
of eighteen seventy four Allendale Lane, seven houses down from
the Browns. The officer's notes stated, I knocked on the door,
but no one answered. I thought I heard some sounds inside,
(21:34):
so I knocked again again, no answer. I decided to
go to that house and try again to talk to
whoever lived there.
Speaker 9 (21:46):
I knocked on the door.
Speaker 10 (21:48):
The door opened with only a crack, and a man
with salt and pepper hair was standing in the living room.
I asked him his name. He asked why. Why, then
said I'm Frank Hartford.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
I'm Frank Hartford.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Back in nineteen eighty six. Frank Hartford is a middle
aged truck driver. He's tall and burly, with a raspy
cigarette voice, a little rough around the edges, is putting
it nicely.
Speaker 10 (22:16):
I asked him if I could come in and ask
him some questions, but he told me, in no uncertain terms, no,
without a search warrant, I couldn't come in.
Speaker 9 (22:26):
Then he abruptly closed the door.
Speaker 10 (22:29):
I don't know how to explain it, but I had
a feeling. I had a bad feeling about him, so
I went back to run a Frank Hartford through the system.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Detective Thompson learns the house on Allendale Lane belonged to
Frank's mother, who died two years before, and Frank's got
a criminal record. He had a domestic violence charge, which
was dropped in an animal cruelty charge for which he
pleaded guilty. He paid a fine and got probation.
Speaker 10 (23:00):
I did some more digging and learned that Frank Hartford
had a fifteen year old son named Stephen. I called
Dorothy Brown, Victoria's mother, to see if she knew anything
about Frank or Stephen Hartford. Her reaction said everything.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Mount Pine Police Detective Marcia Thompson is investigating the murder
of thirteen year old Victoria Brown.
Speaker 10 (23:33):
I called Victoria's mother, Dorothy, to see if she knew
either Frank or Stephen Hartford who lived down the street,
and she said yes. Four months prior to her daughter's murder,
she caught the son, Stephen, breaking into a car and
she called the police on him. Dorothy asked, you don't
(23:55):
think he had anything to do with Victoria, do you?
I told her I was going to investigate some more.
When I hung up with Dorothy, I dove back into
our system and there was the car incident. Stephen Hartford
was arrested by juvenile detectives for breaking and entering in
(24:16):
a car and stealing the radio. He spent two months
locked up in juvie and it's on his permanent record.
He's still on probation. I wondered was there a connection.
Was Stephen upset with Dorothy for turning him in, but
(24:36):
to murder.
Speaker 9 (24:36):
Her daughter over it? That seems pretty severe.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Fifteen year old Stephen Hartford is in the same grade
as Donnie, Victoria's older brother. Donnie and Stephen aren't friends,
but they ride the same bus to and from school.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
I asked Donnie about Stephen, but he really didn't know
much about him. He didn't have any information that could
help us. I knew what I had was thin, but
it was basically a hunch, but a possible motive. So
I went to the prosecutor anyway, hoping we could get
a search warrant for the Hartford home based on the
(25:16):
position of Victoria's body. We've believed that the perpetrator spent
some time on his knees, so we were searching for
a pair of pants with dirt on the knees, and
of course any clothes with blood.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Police spend four hours searching the Hartford house but can't
find anything incriminating. Then in an old beat up freezer
in the garage they do.
Speaker 10 (25:43):
We found a bag of clothes. There was a sweater
with what looked like blood particles. There was also a
pair of jeans with what looked like blood and on
the knees dried mud or dirt.
Speaker 9 (25:59):
In the bag were socks and tennis shoes.
Speaker 10 (26:02):
Those two had blood on them and the bottom of
the shoes they were caked in mud. And all those
clothes we found belonged to Stephen Hartford. In order to
arrest Stephen Hartford, we needed to know if the blood
on the clothes was victorious. Now, remember this was before DNA,
(26:24):
so we would just match the blood type.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
During this time, police units have Stephen Hartford under surveillance.
They don't want him fleeing or committing another crime.
Speaker 10 (26:35):
Several long days later, the results came back. Victoria's blood
type matched what was found on Stephen's sweater, jeans, socks,
and shoes.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Almost two weeks after Victoria Brown's murder, Stephen Hartford is
arrested and charged with first degree murder and sexual assault.
Speaker 10 (26:56):
We picked him up as he got off the school bus.
He had no emotion whatsoever. At the police station. Tried
to get information from him, but he remained silent. He
wouldn't cooperate. His dad wasn't helpful either, And bear in
mind too, he was a juvenile, so we had to
(27:19):
go through.
Speaker 9 (27:19):
A juvenile process.
Speaker 10 (27:22):
We felt strongly that he should be tried as an adult.
The prosecutor felt the same way, and so Stephen Hartford
would be tried as an adult.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Detective Thompson tells Donnie and his mother, Dorothy, their fifteen
year old neighbor was arrested for killing Victoria, and they
have very different reactions. Donnie wants to kill him, and
Dorothy cries and blames herself.
Speaker 10 (27:51):
Dorothy Brown crumbled. She sobbed and crumbled. She said, if
she hadn't turned him in for breaking into that car,
her daughter would still be here.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
When my friends and I learn of Stephen Hartford's arrest, well,
once again we are stunned. Not only was another young
girl murdered, this time it was at the hands of
one of our classmates.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
They were both my neighbors, the Browns and the Hartford's.
I mean, how was I ever going to feel safe again?
Speaker 12 (28:26):
You know?
Speaker 6 (28:26):
My parents actually took me to a psychologist after Stephen's arrest.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
They were worried about me.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Six months later, the trial begins. Prosecutor Laura Wells tries
the case for the state.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
I had no doubt that the right person was on trial,
furious murder. We had it all. We had motive revenge,
We had physical evidence, victorious blood on his clothes. And
we had more. We had doctor Marcus Summers, a geologist
who specializes in analyzing soil samples.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Prosecutor Wells gets me the audio tapes of the trial.
Speaker 15 (29:08):
Doctor Summers, do you saw me swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth will help you?
Speaker 9 (29:13):
God, I do you may be seated.
Speaker 16 (29:18):
So my expertise is in glacier movements, how the earth
was formed, and how that.
Speaker 11 (29:24):
Soil is unique.
Speaker 16 (29:26):
My colleagues and I can usually tell within a few
inches exactly where soil came from and the sample of
the source where the victim's body was found matched the
sample that we found on the pants of the defendant
in matched in color, mineralogy, and grain size, and after testing,
we concluded that there was a less than one percent
(29:48):
chance that this sample came from any other site within
one hundred miles.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Pathologist Michael Tappt, who performed the autopsy, also testifies Victoria.
Speaker 15 (30:01):
Was manually strangled with direct pressure to the neck with
the fingers of a person's right hand. It would have
taken approximately three to seven minutes for Victoria to die.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Stephen Hartford never takes the stand, but his father, Frank
Hartford does. He testifies that his son was not capable
of sexually assaulting and murdering Victoria Brown. He says his
son was home during the time of the crime and
he has no idea how Stephen's clothes ended up with
blood and mud on them in a bag in the
garage freezer.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
His defense was shit, he had no good sense.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
After an eight day trial and only three hours of deliberations,
the jury comes back with a verdict of guilty. Stephen
Hartford is sentenced to life without parole.
Speaker 11 (31:01):
Thank you, Jerry for your service.
Speaker 12 (31:03):
Today fort is a jury.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
The trial was over, but it wasn't getting any easier.
Losing our friends and classmates like we were. It was
getting harder and harder to live and feel safe in
Mount Pine.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Although Stephen Hartford would be spending his life behind bars
and he couldn't hurt anyone else in Mount Pine. It
was all for what? For revenge because Victoria's mom turned
him in.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Was that really the reason he murdered Victoria?
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Unfortunately we may never know, and I'm more convinced than
ever that we're cursed. It's actually baked into our soil.
Next time on The Murder Years.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
He was the coolest, just a real kind person.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
A popular teacher is murdered in his own home.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
No one who knew him would ever want to hurt him.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Except for one person, and I swear in.
Speaker 9 (32:16):
That moment his face changed right before our eyes.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
The Murder Years is a production of AYR Media and
iHeartMedia Executive producer Eliza Rosen for AYR Media co executive
producer Paulina Williams. Written by Leah Rothman, directed by Michael Celtisch.
Original concept developed in partnership with Anne, Margaret Johns and
Greg Spring. Casting by Eisenberg Beans Casting Senior Associate Producer,
(33:02):
Eric Newman, Associate producer Jill Pushesnik. Editing and sound design
by Tristan Bankston, mastering by Cameron Taggie, Audio engineering by
Matt Jacobson. Studio engineering by Jay Brannan. Legal counsel for
a y R Media, Gianni Douglas, Executive producer for iHeartMedia,
(33:24):
Maya Howard. Performances for this episode by Gabrielle Carteris as
Nancy Clark, Kelly Deadman as Tatiana, Borla Cassidy as Melanie Mari,
Silda Garcia as Carla, April Adams as Prosecutor Wells, Carolyn
Jania as nine one one caller Desiree Rodriguez is nine
(33:47):
one one operator, James B. Kennedy as Ethan Rooney, James B.
Kennedy as Young Principal Colombo, James Donahower as Pathologist Michael Taft,
Jesse H. Hendricks as Lauren Collins, Joe Pachico as Martin Brown,
Steve Felice as Lance Simpson, Tom Virtue as Officer Dixon,
(34:11):
Tyler Hopkins is doctor Marcus Summers, Tyler Hopkins as Judge,
Udonna Daniels as Reporter Number two Zachmas, Donnie Brown, Tudi
Roach as Detective Thompson. Additional voices by Alex Salem,
This series is inspired by true events. The stories you're
about to hear are fictional, and so are the characters
who are played by actors.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Principal Palumbo here, remember Valentine's Day is Friday, and today's
the last day of carnation sales one dollar a carnation,
and the proceeds go to help fund the concert choir's
trip to Nationals.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
After Charlotte Murphy's murder at the ice cream shop, it
was nice to have a distraction like Valentine's Day, even
though it could be pretty stressful. At Mount Pine High School,
a person's popularity can be basically measured by how many
carnations they get on Valentine's Day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Valentine's Day was all about the carnation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Back in nineteen eighty six, sixteen year old Lauren Collins
is a junior like us. She's the stereotypical varsity cheerleader. Today,
Lauren live in Houston and is the manager at a
high end hotel and spa.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It was not only about who I'm buying carnations for,
but who was buying carnations for me? And the colors
set it all white for friendship, pink for a secret
crush and red for love.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Of course, this Valentine's Day, I'm wondering how many carnations
all get from my new boyfriend Ethan.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Today.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
He's a fifty two year old divorce attorney, and of
course he's divorced.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
My clan was to make it a very romantic Valentine's
Day for Nancy. But man, we had no idea it
would be a bloody Valentine.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I'm Nancy Clark.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
This is The Murder Years, episode five, Victoria.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
Finally, it was Friday, Valentine's Day. Flowers were going to
be coming to our homeroom class.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Tatiana and I were always in the same homeroom, so
we got to experience the carnations thing together every year.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
I checked my diary. Of course, I wrote it down.
Speaker 6 (02:25):
I got six white ones and one red one from
my boyfriend.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I was pissed he only got me one.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I got five white carnations and ten red ones. Ethan
did good. But Lauren, the cheerleader, well, Lauren cleaned up.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I got something like thirty carnations. It was kind of crazy.
We carried the flowers around all day and everyone took
note of who got the most. You know, sure, I
know It sounds dumb now, but it was very important then.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The plan for that night is Ethan and I are
double dating with Tatiana and her boyfriend. We all go
to China Buffet, then to the Valentine's dance at school.
At the end of the night, Ethan and I have
a pretty good makeout session in his car while Tatiana
and her date are still dancing, and then Ethan drops
me and Tatiana off at her house for a sleepover.
(03:23):
We're way too hyper asleep, so we're up for hours
talking about dinner and the dance, and then.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
We hear something.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It sounds like screams, blood curling, screams.
Speaker 7 (03:36):
Nine one one, what's your emergency?
Speaker 8 (03:38):
Oh my god, my daughter she's gone.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Oh my god, my daughter is gone.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's around two am when Mount Pine police arrive at
the Blue and White ranch house on Allendale Lane, three
doors down from Tatiana's house. We're outside watching everything. On
the front we see Dorothy Brown and her fourteen year
old son, Donnie. Dorothy is sobbing while Donnie nervously swings
a baseball bat and paces the lawn.
Speaker 9 (04:10):
I arrived at a very chaotic.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Scene back in nineteen eighty six. Detective Marcia Thompson is
a four year veteran of Mount PINEPDE. Today she's an
investigator in the Prosecutor's office. She told me she would
only talk to me if she could find her notes
and review them first.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Thankfully she did so.
Speaker 10 (04:30):
Yes, I was first informed that thirteen year old Victoria
Brown was missing, and as we know, every second counts
when there's an abduction.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
People in town know the Brown family. Sadly, they're no
strangers to tragedy. Dorothy's husband died in a horrible car
accident six years before and now this.
Speaker 10 (04:53):
So because we had a missing girl, we cordoned off
the area until the canine unit from the county arrived.
I tried to talk to Dorothy outside. She was hysterical, understandably,
so she told me everything was normal up until then.
She got home from work. She worked at Ridgemont nursing Home.
(05:18):
She made dinner and a heart shaped pink duncan Heine's
cake for the kids. Around seven point thirty, Victoria came
home from her friend's house.
Speaker 9 (05:30):
She was in a good mood.
Speaker 10 (05:31):
She didn't have dinner because she had already eaten at
her friends, but she did have a lot of cake,
which then turned into a belly ache, so she went
to her room and fell asleep. Donnie got home around nineish,
ate cake and played Autari until around eleven pm, then
(05:52):
he went to bed. Dorothy said she got up from
bed at one forty five to get a drink, and
when she she got close to Victoria's room, she noticed
the door was open and cold air was blowing into
the hallway. She went into her room and Victoria was gone.
(06:14):
I asked if she heard anything prior to realizing Victoria
was missing, and she said no. She thought she heard
a male voice earlier, and she thought she heard some commotion,
but she was half asleep and thought she was dreaming.
She says she's a pretty heavy sleeper. Donnie fell asleep
(06:36):
listening to his walk man, so he didn't hear anything.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
About fifteen minutes after Detective Thompson speaks with Dorothy, the
canine unit arrives, led by Officer Dixon, an expert with dogs.
Speaker 11 (06:48):
When Me and Copper arrived, we learned a young girl
was missing.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
In nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Canine Officer Charles Dixon is on his third dog, Copper.
Speaker 11 (06:58):
One of the things that makes it, So we're easy
for a canine to follow. A scent is the adrenaline
rush accentuates, So why don't you start the doll on
a particular scent. He'll follow that sent until he either
finds it or losing. Window was opening the girl's bedroom,
and the police believed she was taking out that window.
So that's where we start. Right away, Copper tractor sent
(07:22):
from that window, and I followed.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Officer Dixon says.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Copper led him to the bottom of the muddy hill
about fifty yards behind Victoria's house. There they find her
partially clothed, beaten body.
Speaker 11 (07:37):
Oh, it was a very upsetting site. I mean, of course,
the worst case scenario, I'd hope Copper would help us
find Victoria alive, or you know, at least lead us
to a suspect. Of the two of them. Victoria's adrenaline
was stronger than the suspects, and unfortunately we were just
too late. We set word back to Detective Thompson that
(08:02):
we found the victim again.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Detective Marcia Thompson.
Speaker 10 (08:08):
I mean, it was just awful news. And her body
was found so close to her house and with her
mother and brother right there. When I told Dorothy the
tragic news. She was in shock and insisted on seeing
her daughter with her own eyes. I tried to talk
her out of it, but she demanded to see her.
Speaker 9 (08:33):
So we walked.
Speaker 10 (08:34):
Down the hill, and I mean you could see her
body in the distance.
Speaker 12 (08:40):
God.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
When we got there, the officer proved back the sheet
and Dorothy collapsed. She fainted. Thankfully, there were paramedics on
scene to help her.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
It's hard to believe Tatiana and I are right there
watching this tragedy full of before our own eyes.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
I could not believe my sweet neighbor had been murdered.
She was such a nice, nice girl. My babysat her
a few times when her mom would run to the store. Honestly,
this one just about broke me.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Dorothy, Donnie, and Victoria's grandparents are eventually escorted to the
police station.
Speaker 10 (09:30):
I had to refresh my memory with the police reports
about what happened next. Once the family left the scene,
I entered the house. I'll read you some of it,
it says. I walked in the front door. There appeared
to be no signs of forced entry. The living room
(09:50):
looked undisturbed. To the right was the kitchen, which also
looked undisturbed. On the table, there was a heart shaped
cake that I said, I love you, but most of
the cake had been eaten. Yeah, that cake hurt my heart. Anyway,
(10:12):
I'll keep reading.
Speaker 9 (10:14):
I made my.
Speaker 10 (10:14):
Way to Victoria's bedroom and it was cold because the
window was wide open.
Speaker 9 (10:19):
It was February.
Speaker 10 (10:21):
Victoria's room was a typical preteen girls room, posters of
Michael J. Fox from Teen Wolf, The Goonies, and Whitney Houston.
I remember when I walked closer to her bed, I
saw blood droplets which led to the open window, and
the drapes had been pulled down. That made me think
(10:45):
that Victoria was fighting her abductor as she was being
taken out of the house. I wasn't sure how the
perpetrator got in, but I was pretty sure how they left.
Hoped we'd be able to get some usable prints from
the window sill.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
At the station, Victoria's family sits in one of the
interview rooms waiting for Detective Thompson to arrive.
Speaker 10 (11:14):
Asking the family to talk about it with me so
soon after seemed cruel, but we couldn't waste any time,
so I asked, could they think of anyone who would
have wanted who may have wanted to hurt Victoria. Dorothy
and the grandparents said no, absolutely not. They couldn't think
(11:34):
of a soul who would want to hurt Victoria. They
said she was the most wonderful girl. She was kind
a good student, and she loved animals. But then fourteen
year old Donnie spoke, I can play the audio tape
part of his interview for you.
Speaker 12 (11:55):
Yeah, Victoria told me someone was giving her a weird feeling.
She says she didn't like being alone with him. She
said it was someone in our family.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thirteen year old Victoria Brown was abducted from her bedroom
in her own house, beaten, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Her mom, Dorothy,
her fourteen year old brother, Donnie, and their grandparents are
at the Mount Pine Police station talking with Detective Marcia Thompson.
And Donnie just dropped a bomb. Here's more of his
(12:42):
audio taped interview.
Speaker 12 (12:44):
My sister told me that she had a strange feeling
being around. Someone asked for who, and she just looked down.
I asked her what that meant. Said she didn't like
the way this man looked at her, touched her. It
(13:08):
made her feel weird. She said, he gave her the
creeps and she didn't want to be along with him.
I asked her again who she was talking about. She
said it was uncle Martin.
Speaker 10 (13:32):
Well, everyone started talking at once. Dorothy was yelling at Donnie.
Why didn't he ever say anything? The grandparents insisted there
was no way Martin would do anything to a young girl.
I had to call in another detective to help me
calm things down.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Martin Brown is Dorothy's brother in law, her late husband's brother.
He works at the Junior High School as a security guard.
That's where Victoria went to school. Around five am, police
go to Martin Brown's home and ask him to come
down to the station and he does, here's Martin.
Speaker 12 (14:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (14:12):
When the officers came to my door, I was getting
ready to go to bed. They told me my niece
was found dead and I was like, what, Victoria's dead.
But it wasn't just that they were notifying me. They
wanted me to come to the station with them. I
had no idea why. I thought maybe they thought I
(14:32):
could help find the killer. It was also hard to
process Victoria is dead and they want to talk to
me about it.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
When Martin Brown arrived, I remember he looked disheveled. In
my notes, I wrote what he was wearing a light
blue work shirt, khakis, and work boots. He looked nervous,
but he also looked confused. I told him what happened Victoria,
(15:01):
purposefully leaving a lot of details out.
Speaker 9 (15:05):
She got very upset.
Speaker 10 (15:08):
I then wanted to know about his relationship with Victoria.
Speaker 13 (15:11):
I told the detective we had a typical uncle nice relationship.
I supported her and everything she did. I went to
all of her soccer games. I stepped into a surrogate
father role after her dad, my brother died.
Speaker 10 (15:26):
I then told him what Victoria had shared with her
brother Donnie, that she felt uncomfortable with him.
Speaker 9 (15:35):
I asked him why he thought that would be.
Speaker 13 (15:38):
I had no idea why Victoria would have said that,
and I was hurt that she felt that way. I'd
never done anything to a child, any child. I never
did anything to her. I wouldn't and couldn't. I mean,
come on, I had a daughter myself around the same age.
I had no answers for the detective. I did know
(16:02):
one thing. I didn't kill my niece. I loved her,
and I told the detective. I worked that night. I
worked security at the high school Valentine's Day dance, so
a lot of people saw me there. The dance ended
around eleven, but I was there until everyone cleaned up
and left. That was around midnight. Then I went home.
(16:26):
I told the detective I got home around twelve thirty,
and my wife could verify that, and the janitorial staff
could verify how late that I was at the school.
I didn't do it. I really wanted her to stop
asking me questions so I could go be with Victoria's
mom and brother.
Speaker 10 (16:47):
So I had to verify his whereabouts, and I hoped
for this family's sake.
Speaker 9 (16:52):
It all checked out.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
By Sunday morning, police finished processing the scene. They dust
for fingerprints and take pictures both inside the house and
where Victoria's body was found outside, and they find no
signs of force entry. Tatiana and I never get to
sleep that night. When police come to her house, we
tell them what we know, which isn't much actually, just
(17:17):
that we heard screams sometime before two am, but that
was it. We didn't see anything at all. I feel
so bad that was happening so close to us and
we didn't know. We just didn't know, or we could
have helped.
Speaker 14 (17:49):
I'm outside the home of an unthinkable crime which took
place last night. Thirteen year old Victoria Brown was abducted
from her own home and dragged out of.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
Her bedroom window.
Speaker 14 (18:01):
She was murdered and her body was found only fifty
yards behind her house. Police have no suspects yet some
of the families in the neighborhood worry this young girl
might be the victim of a serial killer who's been
terrorizing the Midwest for years.
Speaker 10 (18:25):
So, starting back in the late seventies, the Midwest child
killer murdered four little girls, ranging in ages from.
Speaker 9 (18:34):
Five to eight.
Speaker 10 (18:36):
Now, those victims weren't from Mount Pine. One victim was
from our state, the others were from neighboring states. Yes,
some details were similar to what happened in the Brown case.
The killer would come in the house through an unlocked
window or door, usually during the summer months, abduct the
(18:57):
child always girls, and make them away from the house,
where he would sexually assault them and stab them to death.
Because there were some similarities, we called the FBI and
they said they'd send a team. Sure, we thought it
would be the same killer, or it could be a copycat,
(19:18):
or there could be no connection. Whatsoever. Personally, I didn't
think it was the Midwest killer. This case occurred in
the winter, Victoria was older than the other victims, and
the Brown House was locked up. No closer to finding
Victoria Brown's killer.
Speaker 9 (19:38):
We called a press conference.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
That Sunday night. There's a vigil outside the Brown's home.
I swear the whole town turns out. Even though I
didn't know Victoria, I mean, she was three years younger
than me, didn't matter. It felt like we had lost
one of our own family members.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
My heart broke for missus Brown and Donnie. My mom
brought dinner over that night. I mean, we didn't know
what else we could do.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
I wanted to go hug them. Instead, we just hugged
each other.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Detective Marsha Thompson is also at the vigil.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
I kept scanning the crowd for anything or any one strange.
I didn't see anything that piqued my interest or looked suspicious.
It was so sad that poor, poor family. The next day,
(20:46):
it was a Monday, the coroner's office called with some
important information. Victoria's cause of death was strangulation. In my
notes from that it says I went back and reread
the interview I conducted, and the interviews the other the
other officers had conducted. It was then I noticed a
(21:11):
detail that didn't stand out to me before. It was
from an officer who attempted to talk to the residents
of eighteen seventy four Allendale Lane, seven houses down from
the Browns. The officer's notes stated, I knocked on the door,
but no one answered. I thought I heard some sounds inside,
(21:34):
so I knocked again again, no answer. I decided to
go to that house and try again to talk to
whoever lived there.
Speaker 9 (21:46):
I knocked on the door.
Speaker 10 (21:48):
The door opened with only a crack, and a man
with salt and pepper hair was standing in the living room.
I asked him his name. He asked why. Why, then
said I'm Frank Hartford.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
I'm Frank Hartford.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Back in nineteen eighty six. Frank Hartford is a middle
aged truck driver. He's tall and burly, with a raspy
cigarette voice, a little rough around the edges, is putting
it nicely.
Speaker 10 (22:16):
I asked him if I could come in and ask
him some questions, but he told me, in no uncertain terms, no,
without a search warrant, I couldn't come in.
Speaker 9 (22:26):
Then he abruptly closed the door.
Speaker 10 (22:29):
I don't know how to explain it, but I had
a feeling. I had a bad feeling about him, so
I went back to run a Frank Hartford through the system.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Detective Thompson learns the house on Allendale Lane belonged to
Frank's mother, who died two years before, and Frank's got
a criminal record. He had a domestic violence charge, which
was dropped in an animal cruelty charge for which he
pleaded guilty. He paid a fine and got probation.
Speaker 10 (23:00):
I did some more digging and learned that Frank Hartford
had a fifteen year old son named Stephen. I called
Dorothy Brown, Victoria's mother, to see if she knew anything
about Frank or Stephen Hartford. Her reaction said everything.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Mount Pine Police Detective Marcia Thompson is investigating the murder
of thirteen year old Victoria Brown.
Speaker 10 (23:33):
I called Victoria's mother, Dorothy, to see if she knew
either Frank or Stephen Hartford who lived down the street,
and she said yes. Four months prior to her daughter's murder,
she caught the son, Stephen, breaking into a car and
she called the police on him. Dorothy asked, you don't
(23:55):
think he had anything to do with Victoria, do you?
I told her I was going to investigate some more.
When I hung up with Dorothy, I dove back into
our system and there was the car incident. Stephen Hartford
was arrested by juvenile detectives for breaking and entering in
(24:16):
a car and stealing the radio. He spent two months
locked up in juvie and it's on his permanent record.
He's still on probation. I wondered was there a connection.
Was Stephen upset with Dorothy for turning him in, but
(24:36):
to murder.
Speaker 9 (24:36):
Her daughter over it? That seems pretty severe.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Fifteen year old Stephen Hartford is in the same grade
as Donnie, Victoria's older brother. Donnie and Stephen aren't friends,
but they ride the same bus to and from school.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
I asked Donnie about Stephen, but he really didn't know
much about him. He didn't have any information that could
help us. I knew what I had was thin, but
it was basically a hunch, but a possible motive. So
I went to the prosecutor anyway, hoping we could get
a search warrant for the Hartford home based on the
(25:16):
position of Victoria's body. We've believed that the perpetrator spent
some time on his knees, so we were searching for
a pair of pants with dirt on the knees, and
of course any clothes with blood.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Police spend four hours searching the Hartford house but can't
find anything incriminating. Then in an old beat up freezer
in the garage they do.
Speaker 10 (25:43):
We found a bag of clothes. There was a sweater
with what looked like blood particles. There was also a
pair of jeans with what looked like blood and on
the knees dried mud or dirt.
Speaker 9 (25:59):
In the bag were socks and tennis shoes.
Speaker 10 (26:02):
Those two had blood on them and the bottom of
the shoes they were caked in mud. And all those
clothes we found belonged to Stephen Hartford. In order to
arrest Stephen Hartford, we needed to know if the blood
on the clothes was victorious. Now, remember this was before DNA,
(26:24):
so we would just match the blood type.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
During this time, police units have Stephen Hartford under surveillance.
They don't want him fleeing or committing another crime.
Speaker 10 (26:35):
Several long days later, the results came back. Victoria's blood
type matched what was found on Stephen's sweater, jeans, socks,
and shoes.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Almost two weeks after Victoria Brown's murder, Stephen Hartford is
arrested and charged with first degree murder and sexual assault.
Speaker 10 (26:56):
We picked him up as he got off the school bus.
He had no emotion whatsoever. At the police station. Tried
to get information from him, but he remained silent. He
wouldn't cooperate. His dad wasn't helpful either, And bear in
mind too, he was a juvenile, so we had to
(27:19):
go through.
Speaker 9 (27:19):
A juvenile process.
Speaker 10 (27:22):
We felt strongly that he should be tried as an adult.
The prosecutor felt the same way, and so Stephen Hartford
would be tried as an adult.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Detective Thompson tells Donnie and his mother, Dorothy, their fifteen
year old neighbor was arrested for killing Victoria, and they
have very different reactions. Donnie wants to kill him, and
Dorothy cries and blames herself.
Speaker 10 (27:51):
Dorothy Brown crumbled. She sobbed and crumbled. She said, if
she hadn't turned him in for breaking into that car,
her daughter would still be here.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
When my friends and I learn of Stephen Hartford's arrest, well,
once again we are stunned. Not only was another young
girl murdered, this time it was at the hands of
one of our classmates.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
They were both my neighbors, the Browns and the Hartford's.
I mean, how was I ever going to feel safe again?
Speaker 12 (28:26):
You know?
Speaker 6 (28:26):
My parents actually took me to a psychologist after Stephen's arrest.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
They were worried about me.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Six months later, the trial begins. Prosecutor Laura Wells tries
the case for the state.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
I had no doubt that the right person was on trial,
furious murder. We had it all. We had motive revenge,
We had physical evidence, victorious blood on his clothes. And
we had more. We had doctor Marcus Summers, a geologist
who specializes in analyzing soil samples.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Prosecutor Wells gets me the audio tapes of the trial.
Speaker 15 (29:08):
Doctor Summers, do you saw me swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth will help you?
Speaker 9 (29:13):
God, I do you may be seated.
Speaker 16 (29:18):
So my expertise is in glacier movements, how the earth
was formed, and how that.
Speaker 11 (29:24):
Soil is unique.
Speaker 16 (29:26):
My colleagues and I can usually tell within a few
inches exactly where soil came from and the sample of
the source where the victim's body was found matched the
sample that we found on the pants of the defendant
in matched in color, mineralogy, and grain size, and after testing,
we concluded that there was a less than one percent
(29:48):
chance that this sample came from any other site within
one hundred miles.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Pathologist Michael Tappt, who performed the autopsy, also testifies Victoria.
Speaker 15 (30:01):
Was manually strangled with direct pressure to the neck with
the fingers of a person's right hand. It would have
taken approximately three to seven minutes for Victoria to die.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Stephen Hartford never takes the stand, but his father, Frank
Hartford does. He testifies that his son was not capable
of sexually assaulting and murdering Victoria Brown. He says his
son was home during the time of the crime and
he has no idea how Stephen's clothes ended up with
blood and mud on them in a bag in the
garage freezer.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
His defense was shit, he had no good sense.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
After an eight day trial and only three hours of deliberations,
the jury comes back with a verdict of guilty. Stephen
Hartford is sentenced to life without parole.
Speaker 11 (31:01):
Thank you, Jerry for your service.
Speaker 12 (31:03):
Today fort is a jury.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
The trial was over, but it wasn't getting any easier.
Losing our friends and classmates like we were. It was
getting harder and harder to live and feel safe in
Mount Pine.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Although Stephen Hartford would be spending his life behind bars
and he couldn't hurt anyone else in Mount Pine. It
was all for what? For revenge because Victoria's mom turned
him in.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Was that really the reason he murdered Victoria?
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Unfortunately we may never know, and I'm more convinced than
ever that we're cursed. It's actually baked into our soil.
Next time on The Murder Years.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
He was the coolest, just a real kind person.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
A popular teacher is murdered in his own home.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
No one who knew him would ever want to hurt him.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Except for one person, and I swear in.
Speaker 9 (32:16):
That moment his face changed right before our eyes.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
The Murder Years is a production of AYR Media and
iHeartMedia Executive producer Eliza Rosen for AYR Media co executive
producer Paulina Williams. Written by Leah Rothman, directed by Michael Celtisch.
Original concept developed in partnership with Anne, Margaret Johns and
Greg Spring. Casting by Eisenberg Beans Casting Senior Associate Producer,
(33:02):
Eric Newman, Associate producer Jill Pushesnik. Editing and sound design
by Tristan Bankston, mastering by Cameron Taggie, Audio engineering by
Matt Jacobson. Studio engineering by Jay Brannan. Legal counsel for
a y R Media, Gianni Douglas, Executive producer for iHeartMedia,
(33:24):
Maya Howard. Performances for this episode by Gabrielle Carteris as
Nancy Clark, Kelly Deadman as Tatiana, Borla Cassidy as Melanie Mari,
Silda Garcia as Carla, April Adams as Prosecutor Wells, Carolyn
Jania as nine one one caller Desiree Rodriguez is nine
(33:47):
one one operator, James B. Kennedy as Ethan Rooney, James B.
Kennedy as Young Principal Colombo, James Donahower as Pathologist Michael Taft,
Jesse H. Hendricks as Lauren Collins, Joe Pachico as Martin Brown,
Steve Felice as Lance Simpson, Tom Virtue as Officer Dixon,
(34:11):
Tyler Hopkins is doctor Marcus Summers, Tyler Hopkins as Judge,
Udonna Daniels as Reporter Number two Zachmas, Donnie Brown, Tudi
Roach as Detective Thompson. Additional voices by Alex Salem,
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.