Capable: A True Crime Podcast Laura Davis

Episode 14. The Villisca Axe Murders

In 1912, an entire family and their two guests were murdered while sleeping in their beds. The culprit was a vicious killer wielding an axe and a motive that we will never know. This brutal event left their town forever infamous. Ttoday, it has become a hot spot for ghost hunters and paranormal investigators - leaving the lives of the victims as nothing more than background noise to the macabre story.



Sources: the Smithsonian, the Daily Crate City, VilliscaIowa.com, Murdered In Their Beds: The History. & Hauntings of the Villisca Ax Murders, the Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), the La Crosse Tribune, the Denison Review, Ghost Adventures, the Witchita Beacon, Iowa Cold Cases, Des Moines Register, Man from the Train, MSN.com, Adams County Free Press, Pierre Weekly Free Press, Chanute Daily Tribune, Quad City Times, Abilene Daily Chronicle

Episode 13. Yingying Zhang

In 2017, a young Chinese student studying abroad in the US abruptly disappeared after missing a bus. Authorities investigating her disappearance discovered that a man on campus noticed her distress and offered her a ride to her destination - making him the last person to ever see her alive.

Sources: the Central District of Illinois official complaint (United States of America V. Brendt Christensen), Trial Transcripts, the Daily Journal, the Chicago Tribune, ABCNews, NewsChannel 20 (ABC), WGNTV, Justice.Gov, WTTWNews , CBS Chicago, Southern Illinoisan, Fox Illinois, SCMP, Daily Illini

In 1976 and 1977, a series of child abductions and murders rocked several Detroit, Michigan suburbs. The families that were left devastated in the aftermath are still fighting for justice today, nearly 4 and a half decades after the fact. With several compelling suspects, authorities believe that it's only a matter of time before advances in forensic testing identifies the person responsible for these cruel murders.


Sources: Detroit Free Press, The Times Herald, the Ludington Daily News, NCJRS Documents, WXYZ, Hometownlife, CleveScene, Fox2Detroit, Medium, People.com, Associated Content, NYTimes, the Oakland Press, A Father’s Story (Barry King’s Blog), Catherine Broad (Blog of Timothy King’s sister), Unsolved Child Murders by Emily Thompson, SacBee.com, Helen Dagner

Hey Capable listeners, The show is still re-launching closer to the end of summer or in early fall but I’ve been moved to put together this episode for a fellow podcaster, Eric Carter-Landin, who hosts the wonderful podcast, “True Consequences”. 
This special episode is about his sweet little brother Jacob, and the justice that he and his family deserve.  
Petition: Justice for Jacob
Sources for this episode:
Eric Carter-Landin @TrueConsequences
Jacob's case file.

In 2011, a local Florida man was ambushed while taking a shower in his Jupiter, Florida home. The two other people in the house at the time happened to be his ex-wife and their son. As the investigation progressed, both mother and son claimed they were innocent while pointing the finger at one another. Each had motive and the means, however, only one was arrested and tried - twice. 
Resources: Court Records (Appeal Documents), CBSnews, 48 Hours, Super News World, WPTV, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post

This episode is Part 2 in my 2 part series about the Wineville Chicken Coop murders. I highly suggest listening to part one if you haven’t already, before proceeding with this episode. I also want to let you know, that in pretty much all of the resources out there on this subject, one of Stewart’s victims is frequently and primarily referred to as “the Mexican boy” or the “Headless Mexican”. As I wrote part two of this story, it started to bother me because it felt very impersonal and almost cold to refer to a victim in this manner. So, in this episode, he’ll be referred to as John Doe instead.
For an inside look at the Wineville Chicken Coop murders, check out and follow my instagram at capablepodcast. I’ve posted pictures of the farm, the victims, items the cops found in their investigation and other people involved in this story.
Resources used for this episode: The Road Out of Hell by Anthony Flacco, Nothing is Strange With You by James Jeffrey Paul, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Whittier Daily News