March 15, 2023 • 22 mins
Four employees at one popular fast food restaurant go missing on the same night. Were they just smoking weed to celebrate a birthday? One mother pleads with officers to dig deeper. Part one of two. Originally broadcast October 7, 2020.
Written by Daniel Jones and Chelsea Bray, narrated by Schuyler Fastenau, and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Marissa Pistone, Matt MacNelly, Tamara Perry, Jeremy Staple, Allyn Anthony Moriyon, Daniel Jones, Walker Barnes, Ariel Dale, Rainee Blake, Jordan Katcher, Janette Zosche, and Sophia Sassone with special guest from our Tik Tok contest, Becky Chavez. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales. Sound recording by Chelsea Bray.
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Written by Daniel Jones and Chelsea Bray, narrated by Schuyler Fastenau, and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Marissa Pistone, Matt MacNelly, Tamara Perry, Jeremy Staple, Allyn Anthony Moriyon, Daniel Jones, Walker Barnes, Ariel Dale, Rainee Blake, Jordan Katcher, Janette Zosche, and Sophia Sassone with special guest from our Tik Tok contest, Becky Chavez. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales. Sound recording by Chelsea Bray.
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Check out our other shows:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Have you ever let someone make youfeel like trash, Like they can just
throw you away, dump you onthe side of the road. Throughout college
I worked at one of our dininghalls. Every so often we catered events
like weddings or football recruitments, andboy did I hate serving those people.
I mean, several were great,but I think a lot of adults saw
(00:28):
me as this sweating, terrified littleboy and baby talk to me so I
felt better, You know what Imean, Oh Skyler, You're doing so
good. This meet is simply divine. Don't worry that you nearly dropped the
plate. You're a mess, butI'd feel bad for you because of how
socially awkward you are. But theteenagers ended. My fellow college students were
(00:49):
the biggest pieces of donkey dung Ihad ever dealt with. I remember it
was working this event with a bunchof religious incoming freshman football players and their
families. My job that day wasto refill drinks and clean up once people
were gone. Simple, So Iasked my table as an overwhelming amount of
times, do you want more coffee? Is that water chilled enough? La?
(01:10):
While you think I'm going to bringyou more wine? You are out
of your goddamn mind. Everyone's thirstwas very quenched at my tables, all
except one pimple faced freshman. Hesnaps his fingers at me, Skyler.
Oh yes, sir, what canI do for you? What's wrong with
my coffee cup? Oh, gugly boy, is it chipped? That's
(01:32):
not good. No, Jeremy's onmy watch. No it's empty. Oh
oh dear, you're gonna fill itup or what like. I don't know
what set me off. It mighthave been the heat or the stress of
the situation, because serving the publicis not a job for an introverted,
(01:52):
antisocial boy like me. But asI walked back to the kitchen to grab
the coffee pot, something really startedto grind my years, and I decided
to do something you should never do. No, I didn't spit in his
coffee. I grabbed the pot,walked back to the table, and with
this devilish grin, I asked himto pass me his coffee cup, and
(02:15):
as he did, I poured thefresh pot of coffee all down his nice
white buttonup shirt sleeve. Then Iput on my sweet innocent face and said,
oh no, I'm so sorry.It's my first day, and you
were just so mean to me,and it really made me so nervous.
And now I ruined your shirt andhis mom's like, oh, sweetie,
(02:35):
that's okay. My son was mean. Do you don't worry about it now.
I don't recommend anybody does what Idid, but I will say on
this particular day, it worked inmy favor. Each of the eight people
at that table left me twenty bucksin a note telling me how great I
did on my first day. Winkwink. Sometimes you have to take life
(02:58):
by the reins and make sure peopledon't treat you like garbage for no reason.
But sometimes you weren't given that opportunity. Welcome to dead Time Stories.
(03:36):
It was a crisp fall morning inSpeedway, Indianapolis. A bright eyed and
bushytailed Jane Fret walked down to herwhite nineteen seventy four Chevy Vega, heading
into what we know as her lastday of work. Jeez, wallet,
it's gonna be a long day.Only two more years of this and you'll
be out of this small town.You got this, Jane, damn it,
(04:00):
James. Jane was greeted by amountof trash left in her car by
her little brother. Those of uswho are lucky enough to have siblings will
understand her frustration. James, WHOAHow many times do I have to tell
you treat my things with respect?I work really hard. Yeah, fad,
(04:24):
what a total fry. Good morning, Speedway. Welcome back to the
morning Eagle Ie with me Sky onone oh one point two FM. It's
a cool forty four degrees this funkyNovember seventeenth, nineteen seventy eight. Burr.
(04:48):
Here's the skinny on the happening.Habs shit around. I love Truie's
card on the counter somebody. I'lljust give it to her tomorrow. No
big deal. Up with the getup, and don't forg get to lock
your doors this weekend because that freakydicky coffee fee is still out there.
Get my drift. Now, let'shear some tunes. You who excuse me?
(05:15):
This isn't what I ordered. No, let us please, I'm allergic
to tomatoes. I'm gonna need youto remake that. A river of red
and orangeburger chef uniforms quickly flowed throughthe team hot spot as assistant manager Jane
stayed busy dealing with orders and customercomplaints. She led her team of four
as they tried their best to keepup with the mountain of orders. Daniel,
(05:38):
drop those fries, please, Markno let us on order thirty seven.
Thanks for coming in today. Mark, you've really been a lifesaver.
We're slammed. No boss, anythingfor you? Your boss cool? If
I pick up John shift tomorrow,yeah, no problem. Put it in
the book signing you got it,boss. I'll have him sign it when
he picks me up tonight. Mynew camera was pricy to the max.
(05:59):
Oh my, everyone, stop,it's Ruthie's birthday. Ruth Happy birthday everyone,
Happy birthday day, birthday. Ohstop, thanks everyone, thank you
(06:31):
so much. I'm legal now.Burger Chef was busier than ever, and
the four worked together for a seamlessshift. As the night wound down,
Mark noticed ruffians in the corner andcautiously approached their table. Hey dudes,
we're closing up. We're out,man, we leie when we're good and
(06:51):
ready. Listen man, I don'twant any trouble, but we're closing.
I gotta get everyone out. Catchthem on the flip side. Jane stepped
out of her eye and overheard Mark'sconversation with the strange men. I don't
care what you gotta get done tonight, black boy, But if I want
to sit here all night, who'sgonna tell me otherwise? A stunt,
Mark gripped the sport in his righthand as Jane stumped her way over to
(07:13):
the table. Boys, didn't hetell you to leave? The degenerate stared
at Jane with a smug look.Well, now come on, don't touch
me. Yeah digg it. ThanksJane, you're a pretty groovy chick.
Thanks Mark. Okay, kids,let's clean this place up. Ruth,
make sure to change the oil.Dan, please sweep under all the tables,
(07:36):
and Mark grab the rest of thetrash. Jane headed towards her office.
Thanks guys, y'all really kicked somebutt today. Daniel and Ruth closed
the blinds and cleaned the tables.As Jane emptied the cash registers and counted
the money in her office, Markwent outside to take out the last of
the trash. Around midnight, Johnwho was an off duty Burger Chef employee,
(08:16):
danced toward the restaurant. It's fightingnight, Yeah, yeah, fighting.
John walked towards the back of theBurger Chef and saw the back door
was wide open. Hey spice yo. He rushed towards the door and hid,
folding his hands into the shape ofa gun, and hey, stick
him up, guys. Hey Ruthie, Jane, damn a man. Mark.
(08:45):
John was welcomed with radio silence.The friar had been cleaned, the
floors mopped, and the tables set. By all appearances, it looked like
a perfect close. Shout out toall my food service people. Jane,
Hello, they say, funny guys. John slowly walked through the restaurant.
On his left was Mark's jacket andRuth's purse was next to the register.
(09:09):
What where are you guys? Ashe sauntered towards Jane's office, he was
shocked to see that the safe waswide open and stripped bare. He now
officially knew his co workers were introuble. What's your emergency help. I'm
(09:30):
at work and all my friends aremissing. The safe's been ripped off.
I mean all the money is gone. No one is here. Breaking news
(10:01):
on Indie TV Channel four. Atragic morning Indianapolis Today, November eighteen,
nineteen seventy eight. Hundreds have beenfound dead inside Jonestown. Seems to be
a mass poisoning suicide. Reverend Joneswas found dead at the scene. The
world cries for Guyana. The deathcount is now over four hundred. Now
(10:22):
stay tune because in about five minutesafter the break, we have Leatherman Bob
Marian Sheriff Department Grammar Here, buddy, it's Caroline. Do anywhere on the
kid's head? No, Carol,I don't want to bother you. But
(10:43):
Jane isn't the type to steal.And why would she just leave her purse
out in the open all willy nillylike that? Carol. I know what
you're thinking, buddy, but she'snothing like her brother. She's responsible and
hard working. She loves that job. She wouldn't why throw it away for
five Saine? Jeez, will youlet me speak now? I know Jane
(11:05):
and Ruth are not the type ofgirls to start trouble. Boys are hey,
I know the boys as well,but kids are kids. We don't
know if they were smoking grass inthe back. It was Ruth's birthday after
all. Hell, she could beheading back from Claremont all hung over and
walked through your front door any minute, begging you not to start a fight.
Because she's twenty years old and doesn'tneed her MoMA to look after her.
(11:28):
Aren't you just a tad bit concernthat you let the restaurant reopen?
Those kids are going to clean everylast bit of Caroline funny. Try and
get some rest, Caroline, Sergeant, Yes, Deputy, we found a
white seventy four Chevy Vega. Jane'spleads her on it. What where was
(11:50):
Jane? Sir? No signed Janeanywhere? Just her car with the doors
partially locked like the Frets, Itoo, come from a smaller suburb in
the Midwest, and as we allknow, people like to talk. Can
you believe that jonestown business? Oh? I know, so sad. Yeah,
(12:11):
that's why I don't trust anyone's koolaid but my own. Oh my
gosh, how can you say that? What? It's the truth? Oh
my god? Have you been all? As the hikers continue chatting about everyone
but themselves, one of them noticeda strange figure in the distance. What
is that? It looks like aperson? Hello, do you need help?
(12:35):
Oh, it's probably just a coupleof teenagers drunk asleep. Look,
it looks like there's blood. Asthe two got closer, they came to
discover that it was the bodies oftwo of our victims, Ruth Ellen Shelton
and Daniel Davis. They've been shotmultiple times execution style. Good morning,
(13:05):
Speedway, Welcome back to the morningEagle Eye with me Sky on one oh
one point two FM. It's asad forty one degrees on this gloomy Sunday,
November nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight.Today, coolcats, we have some
extremely sad news about some of ourgroovy youth. Four young bodies were found
(13:28):
in the woods in Johnson County.Two victims were shot execution style, while
a third victim was stabbed in thechest and a fourth was found dead with
blunt force trauma to the head.All four was still wearing their work uniforms.
A distraught Caroline Freed stormed into theSpeedway Police department, devastated by the
(13:50):
news of her daughter's death. Carolinefought back tears as she slammed her daughter's
senior photo on Officer Kramer's congested desk. Say it hello, miss Free to
I'm so sorry. What would youlike me to say? Tell me that
I don't know my own child.Tell me that I was an overconcerned mother
when she didn't return home tell methat she went to have a good time
(14:11):
with your friends. You're tell memy Donner deserved to die. Caroline burst
into tears as Officer Kramer did everythingin his power to console her. It
was a hard day for this smallIndiana suburb. Four hard working young adults
with nothing but bright futures ahead ofthem were violently taken with no warning,
(14:33):
and the locks of days ago andinexcusable actions of the Speedway Police Department left
no evidence behind, with no leadsor suspects, the department had to admit
their wrongdoings. We have screwed itup from the beginning. There are no
current leads or suspects in the BurgerChef murders. The Speedway Police are asking
(14:54):
if anyone has any information about anythingsuspicious happening in the area around Burger Chef
from Friday e into Saturday morning,please call the department immediately to CEFO of
Burger Chef is offering twenty five thousanddollars for any lead. The town of
Speedway flooded with theories around the suspiciousstats. With four dead and still no
(15:16):
suspects to follow, fear ran rapidin the small town. Hello, Yes,
I heard Jane's brother was involved witha bad drug deal. I bet
this was in retaliation. First,have you guys checked out where Jane's car
is? They were found twenty milesaway. Do we really think they were
(15:41):
just partying in the woods like that? This is just a simple robbery gone
bad, nothing more, nothing less. Me and my crew went to grab
a burger lade that night and therewere definitely two creepy white dudes just sitting
in their car. Definitely the weebygeebs Alan Pruett here. I swear to
(16:07):
god, I saw Tim Willoughby andJeff Reid outside of the burger chef on
Friday night. They took that girlin their orange van. I watched him
do it. They smashed that blackboy's head too. I know Timo Dooitt
because his lady, Mary Anne,who's a stone fox by the way,
told me to get away from him. He'd killed me if he got the
chance. Despite a flood of leadsfrom the townsfolk, the investigation quickly ran
(16:30):
dry. Fast forward to nineteen eightyfour, almost six years since the bodies
of Jane, Ruth, Daniel andMark were found in the woods. A
thirty four year old detective named MelWillsie was assigned to the case, and,
much to his surprise, a telephonerang in his office. A convicted
(16:52):
rapist at the Pendleton Correctional Facility wasready and waiting to confess. Evening,
mister Forester, I heard you havesomething you'd like to tell me. I
only spell if you'd keep me outof Michigan City. You see, Dawn
was a convicted rapist. He wassentenced to ninety five years in prison and
(17:14):
was going to be transferred to amuch larger, much more dangerous, especially
for rapists, prison system, andwas trying to save his hide. All
of that depends on what you haveto say. Don Can I call you
down? I did a background checkon you. Don You grew up in
Johnson County and you've lived in Speedwayfor some time. A reductive Dawn began
(17:36):
to tell his story. Right,I was actually released the day it happened.
And what day was that? Theday before Jonestown. You're talking about
the murders at Burger Chef? Yeah, what else would I be talking about?
Sometimes I think I'd be a betterdetective than you pigs. What do
you know about that day, Dawn? Well, I shot those two in
(17:59):
the woods, Were you alone?What happened to the others? Don revealed
his alleged accomplices to the detectives.He was there with two other unnamed men,
and he had more knowledge than theyhad ever released to the media.
The knife stuck into the girl thatran, he had to break off the
blade. Don was also able tolead the detectives to the exact spot in
(18:21):
the woods where the Burgerschef murders hadoccurred. How could he possibly have haull
this information if he wasn't directly involvedwith the case. Don Forrester continued to
feat Detective Wilsie more and more information. You see, James Jane's brother owed
money for a drug deal, sowe went out to Burgerschef to send a
message. Rub off his sister alittle bit, but then that black boy
(18:45):
stepped into help her. What happenedwith Mark? I thought they killed him
in the lob bang in his headagainst the van like that. We all
thought he was dead. That's whywe took the others. No witnesses.
After Don's confession, the detective interviewedhis ex wife, who corroborated his story.
She told him that days after themurders. Don had taken her to
(19:07):
the wooded area, then left herin the car while he retrieved four shell
casings. She said he took themback to their house and flushed them down
the toilet. The detective searched Don'sold septic tanks and found several thirty eight
caliber shell casings. Case closed rightnot even close. On November fourteenth,
(19:30):
nineteen eighty six, someone inside thedepartment, with knowledge of the investigation,
leaked the details of Don's confession andhis cooperation to the press. This resulted
and Don pulling his entire confession andthe case went cold once again. There
is no statute of limitations on murderin Indiana, but there is an increasingly
(19:52):
tight limit on law enforcement resources.For years, the Indiana State Police had
a cold case unit dedicated to unsolvedmajor crimes like the Burger Chef murders,
but due to budgetary constraints, thatwas disbanded. Those dusty folders were now
to be perused by cops solely intheir spare time. Dozens of investigators from
five different law enforcement agencies worked theBurger Chef case. Most have retired and
(20:17):
many have died. The crime isstill unsolved. The killers were never brought
to justice, but there might besomeone out there who knows something that could
break the case. Open secrets areeasier to keep when no one's talking about
them. Speedway seventy eight was writtenby Daniel Jones and Chelsea Bray and narrated
(20:41):
and edited by me Skyler Fastenel.Daniel Jones produced the episode, and Chelsea
Bray was our recording engineer. Thevoices featured in today's episode were Marissipa Stone,
Matt McNelly, Tamra Perry, JeremyStaple, Alan, Anthony Morion,
Daniel Jones, Walker Barnes, ArielDale, Rainy Blake, Jordan Catcher,
(21:02):
Jeanette Zosh, Sophia Sasne, andour TikTok winner Becky Chavez. Thank you
for tuning in for the first ofour Halloween specials. Since everybody loves a
good eighties slasher movie, we'll bebringing you stories like that all month long.
I have the best news of twentytwenty four you. The original Deadtime
Stories is now live on Patreon,and we have some amazing gifts for those
(21:26):
of you who subscribe to our Patreonpage. I'm talking completely ad free episodes
early access to new episodes, entryinto the Deadtime Stories of Vault, and
of course everyone's favorite thing, merchandise. A complete breakdown is available on our
Patreon and the link to that isin the episode description, so go ahead
and check it out today, andas always, thank you so much for
(21:49):
supporting independent artists. We are trulynothing without you. To learn more about
the actors involved with today's episode,or more information on the case that we
just didn't have time to cover,you can follow us on Instagram, YouTube,
Facebook, and Twitter. The linksto those are in the episode description,
and while you're listening today, considerleaving us a five star rating and
(22:11):
review on the podcasting mapp you're using. It helps us to reach more listeners
and keep bringing you quality stories.We'll be back in just one week with
another Halloween slasher story. Until then, stay safe out there. I don't
want you to become the next chapter'stopic on the original Dead Time Stories
Have you ever let someone make youfeel like trash, Like they can just
throw you away, dump you onthe side of the road. Throughout college
I worked at one of our dininghalls. Every so often we catered events
like weddings or football recruitments, andboy did I hate serving those people.
I mean, several were great,but I think a lot of adults saw
(00:28):
me as this sweating, terrified littleboy and baby talk to me so I
felt better, You know what Imean, Oh Skyler, You're doing so
good. This meet is simply divine. Don't worry that you nearly dropped the
plate. You're a mess, butI'd feel bad for you because of how
socially awkward you are. But theteenagers ended. My fellow college students were
(00:49):
the biggest pieces of donkey dung Ihad ever dealt with. I remember it
was working this event with a bunchof religious incoming freshman football players and their
families. My job that day wasto refill drinks and clean up once people
were gone. Simple, So Iasked my table as an overwhelming amount of
times, do you want more coffee? Is that water chilled enough? La?
(01:10):
While you think I'm going to bringyou more wine? You are out
of your goddamn mind. Everyone's thirstwas very quenched at my tables, all
except one pimple faced freshman. Hesnaps his fingers at me, Skyler.
Oh yes, sir, what canI do for you? What's wrong with
my coffee cup? Oh, gugly boy, is it chipped? That's
(01:32):
not good. No, Jeremy's onmy watch. No it's empty. Oh
oh dear, you're gonna fill itup or what like. I don't know
what set me off. It mighthave been the heat or the stress of
the situation, because serving the publicis not a job for an introverted,
(01:52):
antisocial boy like me. But asI walked back to the kitchen to grab
the coffee pot, something really startedto grind my years, and I decided
to do something you should never do. No, I didn't spit in his
coffee. I grabbed the pot,walked back to the table, and with
this devilish grin, I asked himto pass me his coffee cup, and
(02:15):
as he did, I poured thefresh pot of coffee all down his nice
white buttonup shirt sleeve. Then Iput on my sweet innocent face and said,
oh no, I'm so sorry.It's my first day, and you
were just so mean to me,and it really made me so nervous.
And now I ruined your shirt andhis mom's like, oh, sweetie,
(02:35):
that's okay. My son was mean. Do you don't worry about it now.
I don't recommend anybody does what Idid, but I will say on
this particular day, it worked inmy favor. Each of the eight people
at that table left me twenty bucksin a note telling me how great I
did on my first day. Winkwink. Sometimes you have to take life
(02:58):
by the reins and make sure peopledon't treat you like garbage for no reason.
But sometimes you weren't given that opportunity. Welcome to dead Time Stories.
(03:36):
It was a crisp fall morning inSpeedway, Indianapolis. A bright eyed and
bushytailed Jane Fret walked down to herwhite nineteen seventy four Chevy Vega, heading
into what we know as her lastday of work. Jeez, wallet,
it's gonna be a long day.Only two more years of this and you'll
be out of this small town.You got this, Jane, damn it,
(04:00):
James. Jane was greeted by amountof trash left in her car by
her little brother. Those of uswho are lucky enough to have siblings will
understand her frustration. James, WHOAHow many times do I have to tell
you treat my things with respect?I work really hard. Yeah, fad,
(04:24):
what a total fry. Good morning, Speedway. Welcome back to the
morning Eagle Ie with me Sky onone oh one point two FM. It's
a cool forty four degrees this funkyNovember seventeenth, nineteen seventy eight. Burr.
(04:48):
Here's the skinny on the happening.Habs shit around. I love Truie's
card on the counter somebody. I'lljust give it to her tomorrow. No
big deal. Up with the getup, and don't forg get to lock
your doors this weekend because that freakydicky coffee fee is still out there.
Get my drift. Now, let'shear some tunes. You who excuse me?
(05:15):
This isn't what I ordered. No, let us please, I'm allergic
to tomatoes. I'm gonna need youto remake that. A river of red
and orangeburger chef uniforms quickly flowed throughthe team hot spot as assistant manager Jane
stayed busy dealing with orders and customercomplaints. She led her team of four
as they tried their best to keepup with the mountain of orders. Daniel,
(05:38):
drop those fries, please, Markno let us on order thirty seven.
Thanks for coming in today. Mark, you've really been a lifesaver.
We're slammed. No boss, anythingfor you? Your boss cool? If
I pick up John shift tomorrow,yeah, no problem. Put it in
the book signing you got it,boss. I'll have him sign it when
he picks me up tonight. Mynew camera was pricy to the max.
(05:59):
Oh my, everyone, stop,it's Ruthie's birthday. Ruth Happy birthday everyone,
Happy birthday day, birthday. Ohstop, thanks everyone, thank you
(06:31):
so much. I'm legal now.Burger Chef was busier than ever, and
the four worked together for a seamlessshift. As the night wound down,
Mark noticed ruffians in the corner andcautiously approached their table. Hey dudes,
we're closing up. We're out,man, we leie when we're good and
(06:51):
ready. Listen man, I don'twant any trouble, but we're closing.
I gotta get everyone out. Catchthem on the flip side. Jane stepped
out of her eye and overheard Mark'sconversation with the strange men. I don't
care what you gotta get done tonight, black boy, But if I want
to sit here all night, who'sgonna tell me otherwise? A stunt,
Mark gripped the sport in his righthand as Jane stumped her way over to
(07:13):
the table. Boys, didn't hetell you to leave? The degenerate stared
at Jane with a smug look.Well, now come on, don't touch
me. Yeah digg it. ThanksJane, you're a pretty groovy chick.
Thanks Mark. Okay, kids,let's clean this place up. Ruth,
make sure to change the oil.Dan, please sweep under all the tables,
(07:36):
and Mark grab the rest of thetrash. Jane headed towards her office.
Thanks guys, y'all really kicked somebutt today. Daniel and Ruth closed
the blinds and cleaned the tables.As Jane emptied the cash registers and counted
the money in her office, Markwent outside to take out the last of
the trash. Around midnight, Johnwho was an off duty Burger Chef employee,
(08:16):
danced toward the restaurant. It's fightingnight, Yeah, yeah, fighting.
John walked towards the back of theBurger Chef and saw the back door
was wide open. Hey spice yo. He rushed towards the door and hid,
folding his hands into the shape ofa gun, and hey, stick
him up, guys. Hey Ruthie, Jane, damn a man. Mark.
(08:45):
John was welcomed with radio silence.The friar had been cleaned, the
floors mopped, and the tables set. By all appearances, it looked like
a perfect close. Shout out toall my food service people. Jane,
Hello, they say, funny guys. John slowly walked through the restaurant.
On his left was Mark's jacket andRuth's purse was next to the register.
(09:09):
What where are you guys? Ashe sauntered towards Jane's office, he was
shocked to see that the safe waswide open and stripped bare. He now
officially knew his co workers were introuble. What's your emergency help. I'm
(09:30):
at work and all my friends aremissing. The safe's been ripped off.
I mean all the money is gone. No one is here. Breaking news
(10:01):
on Indie TV Channel four. Atragic morning Indianapolis Today, November eighteen,
nineteen seventy eight. Hundreds have beenfound dead inside Jonestown. Seems to be
a mass poisoning suicide. Reverend Joneswas found dead at the scene. The
world cries for Guyana. The deathcount is now over four hundred. Now
(10:22):
stay tune because in about five minutesafter the break, we have Leatherman Bob
Marian Sheriff Department Grammar Here, buddy, it's Caroline. Do anywhere on the
kid's head? No, Carol,I don't want to bother you. But
(10:43):
Jane isn't the type to steal.And why would she just leave her purse
out in the open all willy nillylike that? Carol. I know what
you're thinking, buddy, but she'snothing like her brother. She's responsible and
hard working. She loves that job. She wouldn't why throw it away for
five Saine? Jeez, will youlet me speak now? I know Jane
(11:05):
and Ruth are not the type ofgirls to start trouble. Boys are hey,
I know the boys as well,but kids are kids. We don't
know if they were smoking grass inthe back. It was Ruth's birthday after
all. Hell, she could beheading back from Claremont all hung over and
walked through your front door any minute, begging you not to start a fight.
Because she's twenty years old and doesn'tneed her MoMA to look after her.
(11:28):
Aren't you just a tad bit concernthat you let the restaurant reopen?
Those kids are going to clean everylast bit of Caroline funny. Try and
get some rest, Caroline, Sergeant, Yes, Deputy, we found a
white seventy four Chevy Vega. Jane'spleads her on it. What where was
(11:50):
Jane? Sir? No signed Janeanywhere? Just her car with the doors
partially locked like the Frets, Itoo, come from a smaller suburb in
the Midwest, and as we allknow, people like to talk. Can
you believe that jonestown business? Oh? I know, so sad. Yeah,
(12:11):
that's why I don't trust anyone's koolaid but my own. Oh my
gosh, how can you say that? What? It's the truth? Oh
my god? Have you been all? As the hikers continue chatting about everyone
but themselves, one of them noticeda strange figure in the distance. What
is that? It looks like aperson? Hello, do you need help?
(12:35):
Oh, it's probably just a coupleof teenagers drunk asleep. Look,
it looks like there's blood. Asthe two got closer, they came to
discover that it was the bodies oftwo of our victims, Ruth Ellen Shelton
and Daniel Davis. They've been shotmultiple times execution style. Good morning,
(13:05):
Speedway, Welcome back to the morningEagle Eye with me Sky on one oh
one point two FM. It's asad forty one degrees on this gloomy Sunday,
November nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight.Today, coolcats, we have some
extremely sad news about some of ourgroovy youth. Four young bodies were found
(13:28):
in the woods in Johnson County.Two victims were shot execution style, while
a third victim was stabbed in thechest and a fourth was found dead with
blunt force trauma to the head.All four was still wearing their work uniforms.
A distraught Caroline Freed stormed into theSpeedway Police department, devastated by the
(13:50):
news of her daughter's death. Carolinefought back tears as she slammed her daughter's
senior photo on Officer Kramer's congested desk. Say it hello, miss Free to
I'm so sorry. What would youlike me to say? Tell me that
I don't know my own child.Tell me that I was an overconcerned mother
when she didn't return home tell methat she went to have a good time
(14:11):
with your friends. You're tell memy Donner deserved to die. Caroline burst
into tears as Officer Kramer did everythingin his power to console her. It
was a hard day for this smallIndiana suburb. Four hard working young adults
with nothing but bright futures ahead ofthem were violently taken with no warning,
(14:33):
and the locks of days ago andinexcusable actions of the Speedway Police Department left
no evidence behind, with no leadsor suspects, the department had to admit
their wrongdoings. We have screwed itup from the beginning. There are no
current leads or suspects in the BurgerChef murders. The Speedway Police are asking
(14:54):
if anyone has any information about anythingsuspicious happening in the area around Burger Chef
from Friday e into Saturday morning,please call the department immediately to CEFO of
Burger Chef is offering twenty five thousanddollars for any lead. The town of
Speedway flooded with theories around the suspiciousstats. With four dead and still no
(15:16):
suspects to follow, fear ran rapidin the small town. Hello, Yes,
I heard Jane's brother was involved witha bad drug deal. I bet
this was in retaliation. First,have you guys checked out where Jane's car
is? They were found twenty milesaway. Do we really think they were
(15:41):
just partying in the woods like that? This is just a simple robbery gone
bad, nothing more, nothing less. Me and my crew went to grab
a burger lade that night and therewere definitely two creepy white dudes just sitting
in their car. Definitely the weebygeebs Alan Pruett here. I swear to
(16:07):
god, I saw Tim Willoughby andJeff Reid outside of the burger chef on
Friday night. They took that girlin their orange van. I watched him
do it. They smashed that blackboy's head too. I know Timo Dooitt
because his lady, Mary Anne,who's a stone fox by the way,
told me to get away from him. He'd killed me if he got the
chance. Despite a flood of leadsfrom the townsfolk, the investigation quickly ran
(16:30):
dry. Fast forward to nineteen eightyfour, almost six years since the bodies
of Jane, Ruth, Daniel andMark were found in the woods. A
thirty four year old detective named MelWillsie was assigned to the case, and,
much to his surprise, a telephonerang in his office. A convicted
(16:52):
rapist at the Pendleton Correctional Facility wasready and waiting to confess. Evening,
mister Forester, I heard you havesomething you'd like to tell me. I
only spell if you'd keep me outof Michigan City. You see, Dawn
was a convicted rapist. He wassentenced to ninety five years in prison and
(17:14):
was going to be transferred to amuch larger, much more dangerous, especially
for rapists, prison system, andwas trying to save his hide. All
of that depends on what you haveto say. Don Can I call you
down? I did a background checkon you. Don You grew up in
Johnson County and you've lived in Speedwayfor some time. A reductive Dawn began
(17:36):
to tell his story. Right,I was actually released the day it happened.
And what day was that? Theday before Jonestown. You're talking about
the murders at Burger Chef? Yeah, what else would I be talking about?
Sometimes I think I'd be a betterdetective than you pigs. What do
you know about that day, Dawn? Well, I shot those two in
(17:59):
the woods, Were you alone?What happened to the others? Don revealed
his alleged accomplices to the detectives.He was there with two other unnamed men,
and he had more knowledge than theyhad ever released to the media.
The knife stuck into the girl thatran, he had to break off the
blade. Don was also able tolead the detectives to the exact spot in
(18:21):
the woods where the Burgerschef murders hadoccurred. How could he possibly have haull
this information if he wasn't directly involvedwith the case. Don Forrester continued to
feat Detective Wilsie more and more information. You see, James Jane's brother owed
money for a drug deal, sowe went out to Burgerschef to send a
message. Rub off his sister alittle bit, but then that black boy
(18:45):
stepped into help her. What happenedwith Mark? I thought they killed him
in the lob bang in his headagainst the van like that. We all
thought he was dead. That's whywe took the others. No witnesses.
After Don's confession, the detective interviewedhis ex wife, who corroborated his story.
She told him that days after themurders. Don had taken her to
(19:07):
the wooded area, then left herin the car while he retrieved four shell
casings. She said he took themback to their house and flushed them down
the toilet. The detective searched Don'sold septic tanks and found several thirty eight
caliber shell casings. Case closed rightnot even close. On November fourteenth,
(19:30):
nineteen eighty six, someone inside thedepartment, with knowledge of the investigation,
leaked the details of Don's confession andhis cooperation to the press. This resulted
and Don pulling his entire confession andthe case went cold once again. There
is no statute of limitations on murderin Indiana, but there is an increasingly
(19:52):
tight limit on law enforcement resources.For years, the Indiana State Police had
a cold case unit dedicated to unsolvedmajor crimes like the Burger Chef murders,
but due to budgetary constraints, thatwas disbanded. Those dusty folders were now
to be perused by cops solely intheir spare time. Dozens of investigators from
five different law enforcement agencies worked theBurger Chef case. Most have retired and
(20:17):
many have died. The crime isstill unsolved. The killers were never brought
to justice, but there might besomeone out there who knows something that could
break the case. Open secrets areeasier to keep when no one's talking about
them. Speedway seventy eight was writtenby Daniel Jones and Chelsea Bray and narrated
(20:41):
and edited by me Skyler Fastenel.Daniel Jones produced the episode, and Chelsea
Bray was our recording engineer. Thevoices featured in today's episode were Marissipa Stone,
Matt McNelly, Tamra Perry, JeremyStaple, Alan, Anthony Morion,
Daniel Jones, Walker Barnes, ArielDale, Rainy Blake, Jordan Catcher,
(21:02):
Jeanette Zosh, Sophia Sasne, andour TikTok winner Becky Chavez. Thank you
for tuning in for the first ofour Halloween specials. Since everybody loves a
good eighties slasher movie, we'll bebringing you stories like that all month long.
I have the best news of twentytwenty four you. The original Deadtime
Stories is now live on Patreon,and we have some amazing gifts for those
(21:26):
of you who subscribe to our Patreonpage. I'm talking completely ad free episodes
early access to new episodes, entryinto the Deadtime Stories of Vault, and
of course everyone's favorite thing, merchandise. A complete breakdown is available on our
Patreon and the link to that isin the episode description, so go ahead
and check it out today, andas always, thank you so much for
(21:49):
supporting independent artists. We are trulynothing without you. To learn more about
the actors involved with today's episode,or more information on the case that we
just didn't have time to cover,you can follow us on Instagram, YouTube,
Facebook, and Twitter. The linksto those are in the episode description,
and while you're listening today, considerleaving us a five star rating and
(22:11):
review on the podcasting mapp you're using. It helps us to reach more listeners
and keep bringing you quality stories.We'll be back in just one week with
another Halloween slasher story. Until then, stay safe out there. I don't
want you to become the next chapter'stopic on the original Dead Time Stories
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