Under the Pines: Stories From New England & Beyond

Aku Bone Media

In the small cities, forgotten roads, and quiet towns of New England—and sometimes beyond—silence has a long memory. Under the Pines digs into the stories time tried to bury: unsolved murders, disappearances, cold cases, and the tragedies that still echo years later. Told in a haunting, reflective style, each episode listens for what history left behind. Produced by Aku Bone Media, the team behind Beneath the Palms and Shadows of Siam.

  1. 1d ago

    The Murder of Fern Feather: Seth Brunell, the Vermont Trial That Fell Apart, and a Family Denied a Verdict

    Fern Feather was 29 years old, ten days from her 30th birthday, when an act of kindness placed Seth Brunell inside her car. Several days after she stopped for the hitchhiker, Fern was found fatally stabbed beside a rural road in Morristown, Vermont. Brunell admitted using the knife and claimed self-defense. This episode of Under the Pines begins with Fern’s life before the headlines: her love of tropical plants, flowers, animals, travel, and the friends who remembered her as a wildflower and a force of beauty. Fern had publicly shared that she was a transgender woman only weeks before her death, but her identity was one part of a much larger human life. The case appeared straightforward. Brunell called Fern’s friend from her phone and said he had killed her. Officers found him at the scene and reported no visible signs of the serious struggle he described. But the murder prosecution began to break apart. The defense received a 3D model from the wrong investigation. A prison letter was disclosed too late and excluded. Then a deputy questioned Brunell during transport without his attorney present, raising the possibility of a mistrial. In April 2025, Brunell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Because he had already spent roughly three years in custody, the agreement required no additional incarceration. Fern’s parents were left with a homicide conviction, but not the jury verdict they had waited years to hear. This is the story of Fern Feather, the disputed self-defense claim, the possibility of anti-transgender bias, and a Vermont murder trial damaged by the people entrusted to protect it. Sources ‘A Star-Being’: Friends Mourn Fern Feather, a Transgender Woman Killed in Morristownhttps://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/friends-mourn-transgender-woman-murdered-in-morristown-35349301/ Friends Mourn Fern Feather, Lover of Plants and Birds, After Killing in Morristownhttps://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2022-04-14/friends-mourn-fern-feather-lover-of-plants-and-birds-after-killing-in-morristown Seth Brunell Murder Trial Delayed After Evidence Mix-Uphttps://vnews.com/2024/10/14/seth-brunell-murder-trial-delayed-after-evidence-mix-up-57412643/ How a High-Profile Vermont Murder Case Fell Aparthttps://vtdigger.org/2025/04/28/how-a-high-profile-vermont-murder-case-fell-apart/ Seth Brunell Reaches Plea Deal in Death of Fern Feather With No Additional Prison Timehttps://vtdigger.org/2025/04/17/seth-brunell-reaches-plea-deal-in-death-of-fern-feather-with-no-additional-prison-time/ Former Deputy Sheriff Indicted on Obstruction of Justice Chargeshttps://www.wcax.com/2026/06/03/former-deputy-sheriff-indicted-obstruction-justice-charges/ #FernFeather #VermontTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #TransgenderJustice #UnderThePines

  2. Aug 11

    Who Killed Bobbie Miller? The Unsolved Halloween Weekend Murder in Gilford, New Hampshire

    On Halloween weekend in 2010, 54-year-old Bobbie Miller was beginning again in Gilford, New Hampshire. She had a new home, a business degree in progress, flower boxes waiting to be built, and a yellow Labrador named Sport at her side. By the evening of November 1, Bobbie and Sport had been found shot to death inside the house on Country Club Road. There was no sign of forced entry. Investigators narrowed the critical window to the 25 hours between 4:00 p.m. on October 31 and 5:00 p.m. on November 1. No murder weapon has been publicly identified, no motive has been announced, and no one has been charged. This episode of Under the Pines follows Bobbie beyond the cold case file: the mother whose home was always open, the student rebuilding her future in her fifties, the artist who worked in stained glass, the hiker who loved Mount Major, and the woman still making plans with her daughter. It also examines the bitter divorce, the unresolved financial dispute, the nearby Maine arson two days before her final confirmed sighting, and the theories that have divided both the public and members of her own family. Those theories are clearly separated from verified fact. Neither her former husband nor her son has been charged or publicly named as a suspect in Bobbie’s murder, and investigators have never publicly linked the Acton fire to the killings. The latest public appeal lists a reward of up to $56,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution. Tips can be made anonymously to the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-271-2663 or coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov. Sources: Appeal for Information in 2010 Homicide of Roberta “Bobbie” Millerhttps://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/appeal-information-2010-homicide-roberta-bobbie-miller Roberta “Bobbie” Miller’s Family Seeking Answers in Unsolved Homicidehttps://www.concordmonitor.com/2025/11/03/roberta-miller-gilford-cold-case/ Daughter of Murder Victim “Bobbie” Miller Pleads for Public’s Help to Find Killerhttps://indepthnh.org/2025/11/03/daughter-of-murder-victim-bobbie-miller-pleads-for-publics-help-to-find-killer/ Family Wants Justice in 2010 Murder of Roberta Miller in Gilfordhttps://indepthnh.org/2024/02/27/family-wants-justice-in-2010-murder-of-roberta-miller-in-wolfeboro/ Family of Bobbie Miller Seeks Answers More Than a Decade After Her Shootinghttps://www.wmur.com/article/bobbie-miller-cold-case-shooting-112222/42043400 Roberta “Bobbie” Miller Obituaryhttps://obits.phaneuf.net/roberta-miller The Murder of Roberta “Bobbie” Millerhttps://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/bobbie-miller NH Family Offers $50,000 Reward to Find Woman’s Killerhttps://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/nh-family-offers-50000-reward-to-find-womans-killer/ Newspapers.com Historical Newspaper Archivehttps://www.newspapers.com/ #BobbieMiller #NewHampshireColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #NewEnglandTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast

  3. Aug 4

    Gycelle Cote Murder: Scott Waterhouse, Satanism Rumors, and the 1984 Sanford, Maine Case

    On April 29, 1984, twelve-year-old Gycelle Cote left her Sanford, Maine home to meet friends in woods neighborhood children treated like their own backyard. By morning, she had been found near the Mousam River, and a town that knew her as kind, affectionate, artistic, and full of life was left trying to understand how an ordinary Sunday ended in murder. Eighteen-year-old Scott Waterhouse was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life. This episode follows the investigation, witness testimony, biological evidence, trial, appeal, and the dispute over satanism evidence while separating the verified record from cult rumors and later online speculation. At the center is Gycelle: a flute player, softball player, young artist, and the girl her family remembered for running toward people, hugging them, and saying, “I love you.” Listener discretion is advised. Sources and further reading:State v. Waterhouse, 513 A.2d 862 - https://law.justia.com/cases/maine/supreme-court/1986/513-a-2d-862-0.htmlSanford Girl to Be Remembered Tuesday - https://www.pressherald.com/2014/04/26/sanford-girl-to-be-remembered-tuesday/Murder in Maine Mixed Satan Worship and Drugs - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/18/Murder-in-Maine-mixed-Satan-worship-and-drugs/9683469602000/The Mills - https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/features/the-mills/Scott Waterhouse Gets Life, Part 1 - https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-tribune-scott-waterhouse-gets-li/143749269/Newspapers.com Archive: Journal Tribune, Portland Press Herald, Evening Express, Bangor Daily News, Sun-Journal, Lewiston Daily Sun, Maine Sunday Telegram, Times Record, and Morning Union - https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?keyword=Gycelle%20CoteJohn P. Cote Obituary - https://conroytullywalker.com/obits/john-cote/Gycelle Anne Cote Memorial - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71948912/gycelle_anne-cote Music: “Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission. #GycelleCote #SanfordMaine #MaineTrueCrime #NewEnglandTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast

  4. Jul 28

    Rachael Garden & Laureen Rahn: Two New Hampshire Girls Who Vanished 36 Days Apart | Unsolved 1980 Disappearances

    Two New Hampshire girls vanished thirty-six days apart in 1980. Neither ever came home. Fifteen-year-old Rachael Garden was last seen after leaving Rowe’s Corner Market in Newton. Thirty-six days later, fourteen-year-old Laureen Rahn disappeared from her family’s Manchester apartment after a night marked by dark hallways, an open back door, and a bed holding the wrong girl. This episode of Under the Pines follows both unsolved New Hampshire disappearances from the last confirmed moments through decades of searches, reported sightings, mysterious phone calls, and unanswered questions. Rachael was first viewed as a possible runaway, but investigators later said the circumstances suggested foul play. Laureen left behind her clothes, money, purse, and new birthday sneakers. Months later, unexplained calls charged from California gave her mother a fragile reason to believe she might still be alive. The cases have never been officially connected. No one has been charged. What remains are two girls who were more than case files: Rachael, a daughter and sister remembered for her smile and the horse she loved; Laureen, a girl who loved singing and dancing and dreamed of becoming an actress. Have information? Contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-271-2663 or coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov. Tips may be made anonymously. SourcesRachael Garden | New Hampshire Department of JusticeLaureen Rahn | New Hampshire Department of JusticeRenewed Call for Information in 1980 Disappearance of Laureen RahnHave You Seen This Child? Rachael Elizabeth GardenHave You Seen This Child? Laureen Ann RahnRachael Garden Disappearance: Officials Actively InvestigatingNew Hampshire Unsolved Case File: Disappearance of Laureen RahnRachael Elizabeth Garden | The Charley ProjectLaureen Ann Rahn | The Charley ProjectThe Mystery of Rachael GardenThe Forty Year Search for Laureen RahnFBI, Manchester PD Conduct Search Related to 1980 Missing Persons CaseArchived New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News Reporting Music: “Broken Wings” by Yoza. #RachaelGarden #LaureenRahn #NewHampshireColdCase #MissingPersons #TrueCrimePodcast

  5. Jul 21

    Amy Carnevale Murder: Jamie Fuller and the True Story Behind No One Would Tell

    Fourteen-year-old Amy Carnevale was preparing for high school, a new home, and a future she believed was still waiting for her. Instead, her boyfriend, Jamie Fuller, had already told other teenagers that he intended to kill her. In August 1991, Amy disappeared from Beverly, Massachusetts. For five days, her family searched while people close to Jamie carried pieces of the truth. This episode remembers Amy as a daughter, sister, friend, student, and girl who hoped to become a hairdresser. We examine the warnings, investigation, first-degree murder conviction, escape plot, 2024 parole denial, and the real case behind No One Would Tell. We also separate verified facts from disputed claims involving steroids, pregnancy, and the alleged haircut lure. Dating-abuse support: Call Love Is Respect at 1-866-331-9474, text LOVEIS to 22522, or visit loveisrespect.org. Call emergency services if there is immediate danger. Sources:Commonwealth v. Jamie P. Fuller - https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/421/421mass400.htmlJamie Fuller Life Sentence Decision, August 20, 2024 - https://www.mass.gov/doc/jamie-fuller-life-sentence-decision-august-20-2024/downloadBoy Allegedly Plotted Death of 14-Year-Old Girlfriend Months Ago - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/08/29/Boy-allegedly-plotted-death-of-14-year-old-girlfriend-months-ago/7939683438400/Funeral Held for Slain Cheerleader - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/08/31/Funeral-held-for-slain-cheerleader/3629683611200/Witnesses Tell of Girl's Murder - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/10/16/Witnesses-tell-of-girls-murder/7245719208000/Teen Bodybuilder Guilty in Cheerleader's Death - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/10/23/Teen-bodybuilder-guilty-in-cheerleaders-death/5852719812800/Mother of Convicted Teen Killer Charged in Escape Plot - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/08/12/Mother-of-convicted-teen-killer-charged-in-escape-plot/1910745128000/Cynthia Gill Obituary - https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/cynthia-gill-obituary?id=24298954Christopher M. Carnevale Obituary - https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/christopher-carnevale-obituary?id=57933802No One Would Tell, 1996 TV Movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117191/No One Would Tell, 2018 TV Movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8883456/No One Would Tell: The Amy Carnevale Story - https://yourdream.liveyourdream.org/no-one-would-tell-the-amy-carnevale-story/ #AmyCarnevale #JamieFuller #NoOneWouldTell #TeenDatingViolence #MassachusettsTrueCrime

  6. Jul 14

    Lineida Olivera: Mother of 11 Found Near Route 122 | Worcester Unsolved Homicide

    Lineida Olivera was a mother of eleven, a sister, a daughter of Puerto Rico, and a woman still trying to rebuild her life when she disappeared from Worcester, Massachusetts in early 2007. After giving birth to twin girls, Lineida told her sister Marilyn she wanted treatment and a chance to recover her children. Then the calls stopped. Her family searched with flyers, emails, and a MySpace missing-person page. On September 4, 2007, her remains were found in woods about 200 yards from Route 122 in Rutland. This Under the Pines episode follows Lineida’s life before the case file, the family who kept looking, the unresolved homicide investigation, and the careful public discussion around possible links to the Main South Woodsman cases involving Carmen Rudy, Betzaida Montalvo, Dinelia Torres, and Wendy Morello. The theory material is clearly separated from the verified record. If you know anything about the death of Lineida Olivera, contact Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office at 508.453.7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. Sources: Lineida Olivera – Rutland – 9/4/2007 – https://worcesterda.com/cases/lineida-olivera-rutland-9-4-2007/Lineida Olivera Gonzalez Obituary – https://www.collinsfuneral.com/obituaries/lineida-gonzalezLineida Olivera – https://charleyproject.org/case/lineida-oliveraMother of 11 linked to serial killings – Daily News, Amanda Smith, June 30, 2007Expert blames serial killer: “Main South Woodsman” preying on prostitutes – Telegram & Gazette, Scott J. Croteau and Shaun Sutner, September 9, 2007Skeleton site yields evidence: Officials say clues linked to killer of mother of 11 – Telegram & Gazette, Scott J. Croteau, September 13, 2007Evidence uncovered in case of body found in Central Mass. – The Boston Globe, John C. Drake, September 13, 2007A serial killer victim? Sister says no, it was “someone she knew” – GateHouse News Service / Liz Mineo, September 25, 2007Probe into Worcester, Middlesex killings broadens – The Boston Globe, John R. Ellement, May 8, 2008Berlin man is arraigned in 1996 killing of Fitchburg prostitute – The Boston Globe, Milton J. Valencia, September 24, 2008Convicted killer Alex Scesny’s murder conviction upheld by state’s highest court – MassLive, Scott J. Croteau, July 14, 2015 #LineidaOlivera #UnsolvedMurder #MassachusettsTrueCrime #UnderThePines #ColdCase

  7. Jul 7

    Mercy Brown and the New England Vampire Panic | America’s Last “Vampire” Was a 19-Year-Old Girl

    Mercy Brown and the New England Vampire Panic tells the true story behind one of New England’s most haunting legends: the nineteen-year-old girl from Exeter, Rhode Island, remembered by history as America’s last “vampire.” But before she became folklore, Mercy Lena Brown was Lena. A daughter. A sister. A young woman in a farming family being slowly emptied by tuberculosis, then called consumption. Her mother died. Her sister died. Lena died. And while her brother Eddie was still wasting away from the same disease, fear brought neighbors back to the family graves. This episode of Under the Pines looks past the vampire label and into the human story underneath it: a family surrounded by death, a father under pressure, a community caught between folk belief and emerging medical science, and a young woman whose body became the place where grief, fear, and superstition collided. This is not a monster story. It is a story about tuberculosis, New England folklore, 19th-century medicine, Rhode Island history, and the cost of trying to explain the unexplainable before science could save the people families loved. Sources: Have Mercy… – The Rhode Island Historical Society – https://www.rihs.org/have-mercy/ The Great New England Vampire Panic – Smithsonian Magazine – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/ Vampires and Death in New England, 1784 to 1892 – Michael E. Bell – https://www.yorku.ca/kdenning/%2B%2B%2B2150%202007-8/BellVampiresandDeath.pdf Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England’s Vampires – Michael E. Bell – https://www.weslpress.org/9780819571700/food-for-the-dead/ The “Vampire” Quilt: A Material Culture Study – Rhode Island History Navigator – https://navigator.rihs.org/rhode-island-a-bibliography-of-its-history/the-vampire-quilt-a-material-culture-study/ The “Vampire” Quilt: A Material Culture Study – Quilt Index PDF – https://kora.quiltindex.org/files/35-90-236/Uncoverings1999-A7.pdf When Tuberculosis Helped Put Colorado on the Map – History.com – https://www.history.com/articles/the-disease-that-helped-put-colorado-on-the-map Mercy Lena Brown Memorial – Find a Grave – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6628164/mercy_lena-brown Additional source material includes Providence Journal reporting from 1883, 1884, January 1892, March 1892, and May 1892; Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner references; Rhode Island death records; the 1880 United States Census; cemetery records; and public folklore material used only where clearly framed as legend or cultural afterlife. #MercyBrown #NewEnglandVampirePanic #RhodeIslandHistory #TrueCrimeHistory #UnderThePines

  8. Jun 30

    Linda Carman Vanished at Sea: Nathan Carman, John Chakalos, and the Trial That Never Happened

    Linda Carman left Point Judith, Rhode Island, on what was supposed to be an overnight fishing trip with her only son, Nathan Carman. Eight days later, Nathan was found alive in a life raft more than 100 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Linda and the boat were never recovered. But this was never only a missing-at-sea case. Linda’s disappearance reached back into the unsolved 2013 murder of her father, John Chakalos, a wealthy Connecticut and New Hampshire real estate developer. Federal prosecutors later accused Nathan of killing both his mother and grandfather as part of an alleged inheritance and insurance fraud scheme. Nathan pleaded not guilty. He died in custody before trial. He was never convicted. The federal case was dismissed after his death, leaving behind a story with no jury verdict, no recovered boat, no recovered body, and no clean ending. This episode of Under the Pines tells the Carman family story as a human tragedy first: Linda as a mother, daughter, friend, and careful person who checked in before she left; John and Rita Chakalos as a married couple whose long life together ended just before the family fractured; and Nathan as a son who became the center of accusations that were never tested before a jury. Sources used for this episode: Vermont Man Arrested for Murder on the High Seas and Related Inheritance Fraud Scheme Coast Guard Audio with Nathan Carman National Liability & Fire Insurance Company v. Nathan Carman, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law Nathan Carman “omitted” from CT mom’s will years before disappearance Nathan Carman’s Death Was Not Suspicious, Autopsy Shows Funeral Held for Nathan Carman, Man Accused of Killing Mother in Inheritance Scheme Man Charged with Killing Mom at Sea Seeks Grand Jury Minutes Additional research included archived newspaper reporting from the Hartford Courant, Boston Globe, Burlington Free Press, The Day, Middletown Press, Valley News, Greenwich Time, The Free Lance-Star, Concord Monitor, Daily Press, and Associated Press coverage. #LindaCarman #NathanCarman #JohnChakalos #MissingAtSea #UnderThePines

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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

In the small cities, forgotten roads, and quiet towns of New England—and sometimes beyond—silence has a long memory. Under the Pines digs into the stories time tried to bury: unsolved murders, disappearances, cold cases, and the tragedies that still echo years later. Told in a haunting, reflective style, each episode listens for what history left behind. Produced by Aku Bone Media, the team behind Beneath the Palms and Shadows of Siam.

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