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. 5d ago

    Holly Jean Cote: Gardner Waitress Murder, James Randall, and the Unresolved Birch Hill Dam Homicide | 031

    Holly Jean Cote was 28 years old when she left Mr. D’s in Gardner, Massachusetts after work on March 4, 1984, and never came home. She was a waitress, a wife, a mother to a six-year-old girl, and a sister whose absence was felt almost immediately as something wrong. Her car was found unlocked behind the bar. Her family searched. Friends searched. Volunteers searched woods, marshes, junkyards, riverbanks, and surrounding towns. Then, three months later, canoeists found her body in floodwater near Birch Hill Dam in Royalston. Her death was ruled a homicide. This episode of Under the Pines follows the 1984 Gardner waitress homicide, the search for Holly, the fear that moved through the city after she was found, and the long shadow of James Randall, who was later named in reporting as the prime suspect but was never charged in Holly’s death. Randall was later convicted in Florida in the strangulation deaths of Wendy Evans and Cynthia Pugh. Those convictions gave new weight to old suspicions in Massachusetts, but Holly’s family never received a courtroom verdict in her case. In 2008, investigators revisited evidence connected to Randall, including clothing with a reddish-brown stain that reportedly tested positive for human blood. Unsolved Worcester later reported that the DNA testing came back inconclusive. This is not a story about a suspect first. It is a story about Holly, her daughter Heidi, her husband Joseph, her sister Theresa, her family, her co-workers, and a community that searched, waited, and still never received the full truth. Anyone with information about Holly’s homicide is asked to contact the Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office at 508-453-7589 or email WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. Sources: Holly Jean Cote, Royalston, 3/4/1984, Worcester County District Attorney’s Office: https://worcesterda.com/cases/holly-jean-cote-royalston-3-4-1984/ Unsolved: Worcester, Holly Jean Cote, March 4, 1984: https://thisweekinworcester.com/unsolved-worcester-holly-jean-cote/ Unsolved: Worcester, Season 6, Episode 6, Found Face Down and Strangled in Swamp, Holly Jean Cote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG8_OBf7N4Y The Murder of Holly Jean Cote, Massachusetts, Dark Downeast: https://darkdowneast.com/hollyjeancote/ Randall also a suspect in similar killing, Tampa Bay Times: https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1997/01/26/randall-also-a-suspect-in-similar-killing/ Holly Jean McNeil Cote Memorial, Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232219460/holly_jean-cote Theresa Mary O’Neil McNeil Memorial, Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157648756/theresa_mary-mcneil Gerald D. McNeil Obituary, Phaneuf Funeral Homes & Crematorium: https://obits.phaneuf.net/gerald-mcneil Janette Cote Ducharme Obituary, Brandon Funeral Home: https://www.brandonfuneral.com/obituaries/janette-cote-ducharme James Randall v. State of Florida, Florida Supreme Court Decisions: https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/2000/sc92652.html Additional archival reporting reviewed from The Boston Globe, Athol Daily News, The Patriot Ledger, Transcript-Telegram, The Morning Union, The Berkshire Eagle, The Recorder, North Adams Transcript, The Miami Herald, St. Augustine Record, Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg Times, and Worcester Telegram & Gazette reporting by Jason Feifer, Lisa D. Welsh, Gary V. Murray, George B. Griffin, and Mike Elfland. #HollyJeanCote #MassachusettsTrueCrime #UnsolvedHomicide #GardnerMA #UnderThePines

    41 min

  2. May 26

    John Gordon and the Murder of Amasa Sprague | Rhode Island’s Last Execution, 1843–1845 | 030

    John Gordon. Amasa Sprague. Rhode Island’s last execution. This episode takes you back to Cranston and Providence in 1843, where wealthy industrialist Amasa Sprague was found murdered on a winter road and suspicion quickly settled on Irish immigrant John Gordon. What followed became one of the most controversial murder cases in Rhode Island history: a circumstantial prosecution, anti-Irish prejudice, Gordon’s 1845 hanging as the last execution ever carried out by the state, and a 2011 pardon that forced Rhode Island to confront how badly this case may have gone wrong. This is a fact-based historical true crime story about class, power, immigrant bias, wrongful conviction, wrongful execution, and the long shadow of a murder that history never fully settled. If you’ve been searching for John Gordon, Amasa Sprague, Rhode Island wrongful conviction, Rhode Island death penalty history, Irish immigrant history, or one of New England’s most haunting historical murder cases, this episode sits right at that crossroads. Sources:Governor Lincoln D. Chafee Pardons John Gordon — https://www.ri.gov/press/view/14182 Personal papers of 19th century judge shed light on last R.I. trial to end in execution — https://www.uri.edu/news/2008/06/personal-papers-of-19th-century-judge-shed-light-on-last-r-i-trial-to-end-in-execution/ The Trial of John Gordon and William Gordon — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-The-Trial-of-John-Gordon-and-William-Gordon.pdf State v. John Gordon, 1 R.I. 179 (R.I. 1844) — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mosaic-Podcast-John-Gordon_s-Appeal-September-1844.pdf Who Killed Amasa Sprague? — https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/stories/who-killed-amasa-sprague/ The Rhode Island Historical Society — https://www.rihs.org/ #JohnGordon #AmasaSprague #RhodeIslandHistory #TrueCrimePodcast #HistoricalTrueCrime #WrongfulConviction #WrongfulExecution #IrishImmigrantHistory #Cranston #Providence #NewEnglandHistory

    31 min

  3. May 19

    Sarah Maria Cornell Murder (1832) | Ephraim Avery, Fall River, Tiverton, Rhode Island | 029 (U09:19AM)

    Sarah Maria Cornell, a Fall River mill worker, was found hanging in Tiverton, Rhode Island, in December 1832. Her note named Methodist minister Ephraim Avery, the postmortem raised deeper suspicion, and the case became one of New England’s most notorious 19th-century murder trials — a story of Fall River, Tiverton, religion, class, gender, and the brutal distance between suspicion and proof. This episode follows the Sarah Maria Cornell case from her life in the early mill world through the discovery of her body, the investigation, Avery’s trial, the not guilty verdict, and the theories that still cling to the case. Sources: Brown University Library exhibit on Sarah Cornell and Ephraim Avery: https://library.brown.edu/exhibits/archive/RLCexhibit/avery/averyms.html National Library of Medicine digital trial material: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm%3Anlmuid-101648970-bk Cornell Law Library Trial Pamphlets, Fall River, an authentic narrative: https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/satkf06 Cornell Law Library Trial Pamphlets, Avery trial report: https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sat3901 American Heritage, The Minister and the Mill Girl: https://www.americanheritage.com/minister-and-mill-girl Ocean State Media on Kate Winkler Dawson’s research: https://www.oceanstatemedia.org/history/a-minister-was-acquitted-of-a-brutal-1832-fall-river-murder-a-new-book-revisits-the-case #SarahMariaCornell #EphraimAvery #FallRiver #Tiverton #RhodeIslandHistory #MassachusettsHistory #MillGirl #TrueCrimePodcast

    30 min

  4. May 12

    The Murder of Josie Langmaid (1875): The Suncook Town Tragedy, Joseph LaPage, and Pembroke, New Hampshire | 028

    Josie Langmaid was 17 when she left for school in Pembroke, New Hampshire, on October 4, 1875, and never arrived. In this episode of Under the Pines, we follow the documented murder of Josie Langmaid, the investigation that led to Joseph LaPage, the trials that followed, the confession before the hanging, and the way this crime survived in New England memory through a monument and the ballad “The Suncook Town Tragedy.” This episode contains factual reporting on the murder of a teenage girl, including sexual violence and postmortem mutilation. It stays with the historical record first, then clearly separates what belongs to later memory, local interpretation, and theory. If you value careful true crime storytelling rooted in documented history, follow the show and share this episode with someone who cares about memory handled with restraint. Sources: New Hampshire Historical Society — Josie Langmaid https://www.nhhistory.org/object/258463/langmaid-josie-1857-1875 Library of Congress — The Suncook Town Tragedy https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SuncookTragedy.pdf New Hampshire Magazine — Taking the Tour of the Josie Langmaid Murder https://www.nhmagazine.com/taking-the-tour-of-the-josie-langmaid-murder/ Concord Monitor — Murder of Pembroke schoolgirl stunned community https://www.concordmonitor.com/2017/10/27/murder-pembroke-schoolgirl-stuns-12935441/ CaseMine — State v. Lapage https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cf67add7b04934821796 Mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.” #JosieLangmaid #SuncookTownTragedy #PembrokeNH #NewHampshireTrueCrime #JosephLaPage #UnderThePines #TrueCrimePodcast #NewEnglandHistory

    28 min

  5. May 5

    The Shoe Box Murder Mystery: Wallingford, Connecticut’s 1886 Unsolved Cold Case | 027

    In this episode of Under the Pines, we investigate The Shoe Box Murder Mystery, an 1886 Wallingford, Connecticut unsolved murder and cold case in which a man’s torso was found packed inside a wooden shoe box, with arsenic later found in his stomach. It remains one of the strangest and most enduring unsolved true crime cases in Connecticut history. This is a story about murder, dismemberment, and erasure. The victim was never definitively identified. The killer was never caught. Investigators traced the box from Wallingford to Fall River and then to Chicago, followed false leads, found more remains, and still could not close the distance between evidence and certainty. We also look at the rumor that grew around the silence: local fire theories, whispers of a Haymarket connection, the well story, Mabel Gage, Shoebox Road, and the way an old unsolved case can drift from record into folklore when time refuses to let it rest. This episode contains discussion of homicide, dismemberment, and poisoning. Listener discretion is advised. Sources:The Shoe Box Murder Mystery — Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project — https://connecticuthistory.org/the-shoebox-murder-mystery/August 8: The Shoe Box Murder of 1886 — Today in Connecticut History — https://todayincthistory.com/2018/08/08/august-8-the-shoebox-murder-of-1886/The Mystery of the Wallingford Shoebox Murder — New England Historical Society — https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-mystery-of-the-wallingford-shoebox-murder/Wallingford’s 'Shoebox Murder' to be Featured on New Ghost-Hunting TV Show — Wallingford, CT Patch — https://patch.com/connecticut/wallingford/wallingford-s-shoebox-murder-be-featured-new-ghost-hunting-tv-showHaymarket Affair | History, Aftermath, & Influence — Britannica — https://www.britannica.com/event/Haymarket-RiotThe Anarchists and the Haymarket Square Incident — American Experience | Official Site | PBS — https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-anarchists-and-haymarket-square-incident/ #ShoeBoxMurder #WallingfordCT #ConnecticutColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #HistoricalTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #UnderThePines #ConnecticutHistory

    24 min

  6. Apr 21

    The “Devil Made Me Do It” Case (1981) — Alan Bono Murder | Arne Cheyenne Johnson Manslaughter Trial (Brookfield, Connecticut) | 025

    Alan Bono’s killing in Brookfield, Connecticut became the kind of case people don’t just follow—they project onto. On February 16, 1981, Bono was fatally stabbed, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was arrested the next day, and the courtroom that followed drew a hard line between belief and proof. Episode 23 stays inside the verified record first: the day’s events as described in contemporary reporting (including Wanda Johnson’s account), the rapid, witness-driven investigation, and the evidentiary fight over whether “demonic possession” could even be presented to a jury—followed by the pivot to conventional arguments and the manslaughter conviction with a 10–20 year sentence and release after roughly five years. Where sources collide, I don’t sand it down—I name it. Even basic details like the number of stab wounds are reported differently across reputable summaries and later courtroom recollections; this episode treats that discrepancy as a warning about how fast “record truth” can get replaced by “story truth.” Then, and only then, we step into “Outside the Record”—the Warrens, the “transfer” claim, the rumors, and the media machine—because that layer is part of why this case still won’t stay quiet. But it stays clearly separated from what can be proven. If you’re on Spotify, tap Follow. Anywhere else you listen, follow the show there too—so you don’t miss the next one. Thank you to Yoza—“Broken Wings” is used with permission. SOURCES (as used for this episode; URLs kept intact): University of Virginia Law Library (Dengrove) — “Arne Cheyenne Johnson”https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/arne-cheyenne-johnson The Washington Post (Lynn Darling, 1981) — “By Demons Possessed”https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/13/by-demons-possessed/3479fa6b-eee3-4233-a2fc-b9defa403504/ UPI Archives (Oct 28, 1981) — Judge throws out the “demon defense”https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/28/A-judge-Wednesday-threw-out-the-demon-defense-of/2826373093200/ The News-Times (Oct 31, 2023) — Local reporting/courtroom recollection and wound-count detailhttps://www.newstimes.com/news/article/devil-on-trial-netflix-doc-mike-allen-18447345.php Associated Press — Arne Cheyenne Johnson release; arrest date context; “model prisoner” languagehttps://apnews.com/article/c758c33ba4756f757e1dfec4f0abd39e TIME (Oct 2023) — Competing perspectives around Netflix’s “The Devil on Trial”https://time.com/6325498/the-devil-on-trial-netflix-true-story/ Netflix Tudum — “The Devil on Trial” contextual piecehttps://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/devil-on-trial-release-date-trailer-news People (Feb 16, 2026) — Later-life/update-style summary reportinghttps://people.com/where-is-arne-johnson-now-devil-made-me-do-it-11763765 #DevilMadeMeDoIt #AlanBono #ArneCheyenneJohnson #BrookfieldConnecticut #ConnecticutTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #ManslaughterTrial #CourtroomEvidence #DemonicPossessionDefense #EdAndLorraineWarren #ParanormalHistory #1981Case #NetflixDocumentary #OutsideTheRecord #CriminalJustice

    27 min

  7. Apr 7

    Jason Foreman Murder 1975: Michael Woodmansee, the Peace Dale Child Killing, Sealed Journal, and Rhode Island Good Time Fight | 026 (UTP 5242026)

    In 1975, five-year-old Jason Foreman vanished from Peace Dale in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. What began as a missing-child search through woods, marsh, water, neighborhood streets, and public windows became one of Rhode Island’s most haunting child murder cases. This episode of Under the Pines revisits the murder of Jason Foreman, the later arrest of Michael Woodmansee, the 1983 guilty plea, the sealed journal that shaped public fear, and the decades-later controversy over Rhode Island “good time” sentence credits and civil commitment at Eleanor Slater Hospital. But this is not just a case about a killer, a sentence, or a sealed record. It is a story about a child who was supposed to come home, a family that kept searching, a mother who held onto hope, a father who carried rage, a sister who later spoke publicly about caution and review, and a community that never fully escaped the question of what happened inside its own neighborhood. The episode is built from contemporaneous newspaper reporting, court-era coverage, archived public accounts, and later reporting on the release-credit fight. Where the verified record ends and rumor begins, the episode says so clearly. The sealed journal, claims repeated around it, and online retellings are discussed only to explain public perception, not to present unverified details as fact. Sources used for this episode include: Hundreds Search for R.I. Boy, The Boston Globe, May 25, 1975. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Police Halt Search for Missing Boy, The Herald News, May 27, 1975. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Hope Remains, The Herald News, May 28, 1975. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Give Me Back My Boy Pleads Grieving Mom, San Antonio Express-News, December 28, 1975. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Mystery of Three Little Boys Who Disappeared Still Baffles the Police, San Antonio Express-News, July 25, 1976. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Victims Society Devoted to Finding Missing Children, Burlington Free Press, April 26, 1981. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Murder Charges Filed in Child’s 1975 Disappearance, Associated Press coverage carried by multiple newspapers, April 1982. Archived newspaper clippings reviewed through Newspapers.com. Accused Child Slayer Is Closely Guarded, The Herald News, April 22, 1982. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. R.I. Man Pleads Guilty to Killing 5-Year-Old Boy; Gets 50-Year Prison Term, The Day, February 25, 1983. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Father of Boy Slain in 1975 Says He’ll Kill Son’s Murderer If He’s Released From Prison, The Day, March 9, 2011. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Sister Urges Care in Parole of Boy’s Killer, The Republican / Providence Journal coverage, March 10, 2011. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. R.I. Patches a Schedule Snag to Keep Boy’s Killer in Custody, Associated Press / Laura Crimaldi, September 9, 2011. Archived newspaper clipping reviewed through Newspapers.com. Additional source reporting reviewed included ABC News, CBS News, Bangor Daily News, TurnTo10, Patch, Rhode Island public statements, and Associated Press and UPI reporting carried in multiple newspapers. Public URLs were not available in the archived clipping packet used for the final script. Music credit: “Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission. #JasonForeman #MichaelWoodmansee #RhodeIslandTrueCrime #UnderThePines #TrueCrimePodcast

    47 min

  8. Mar 31

    Samuel Robidoux and The Body Sect: The 1999 Attleboro Starvation Death and Jacques Robidoux Conviction | Revisited: 022

    In 1999, Samuel Robidoux was just days from his first birthday when he died after being denied solid food for 51 days. What began as a “leading” inside a small Attleboro-area religious sect known as The Body became a slow, documented starvation death, followed by concealment, a remote burial in Baxter State Park, and a murder conviction that forced the law to name what happened. This episode follows the verified record behind the death of Samuel Robidoux, the role of Jacques Robidoux, the influence of The Body sect, and the court case that ended with a first-degree murder conviction by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty. It also looks carefully at the questions that still surround the case: high-control religion, coercion, responsibility, online speculation, and how a baby’s hunger could be reframed as obedience. This story contains discussion of child starvation, infant death, coercive religious control, concealment of remains, and court testimony. Listener discretion is advised. At the center of this episode is not a sect, not a theory, and not a headline. It is Samuel — a baby who was growing, eating, beginning to stand, and depending entirely on the adults around him. Music: “Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission. Sources: Commonwealth v. Robidoux — Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/450/450mass144.html Robidoux v. O’Brien — United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca1/10-1239/10-1239p-01a-2011-06-28.pdf?ts=1410910918 Sect Leader Guilty In Son’s Murder — CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sect-leader-guilty-in-sons-murder/ I-Team: “Holy God, I Killed My Own Son,” Former Cult Leader Jacques Robidoux Wants To Help Others Avoid Mind Control — CBS Boston/WBZ https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/jacques-robidoux-prison-interview-the-body-former-cult-leader-mind-control-attleboro-wbz-tv/ Murder Trial Spotlights Reclusive Religious Sect — Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-11-na-cult11-story.html Jury Gets Case of Infant Starved Over “Prophesy” — Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-14-na-sect14-story.html Sect Leader Found Guilty in Son’s Starvation Death — Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-15-na-sect15-story.html Sect Leader Charged in His Infant’s Death — Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-14-mn-51713-story.html Mass. Man Convicted of Murder in Infant Son’s Starvation Death — The Washington Post / Associated Press https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/06/15/mass-man-convicted-of-murder-in-infant-sons-starvation-death/2f38e6ac-3e53-4bad-bc48-15da5e8a5c3f/ Jailed Parents Told to Show Baby — ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=126346 Sect Member Pleads Guilty as Accessory in Baby’s Starving Death — Lewiston Sun Journal https://www.sunjournal.com/2004/02/11/sect-member-pleads-guilty-accessory-babys-starving-death/ #SamuelRobidoux #JacquesRobidoux #TheBodySect #AttleboroCult #MassachusettsTrueCrime #NewEnglandTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #ColdCasePodcast #HighControlGroup #ReligiousSect #BaxterStatePark #UnderThePines

    44 min
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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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