Codorus Murders

Francisco Soto

The Codorus Murders Podcast will be a weekly discussion about cold cases in York Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas. In depth discussion on how the crimes have impacted the community and the families that they have left behind. For any additional information or how you can contribute we can be contacted at Codorusmurders@gmail.com.

  1. 09/02/2020

    Codorus Murders - Loretta Claiborne and the death of Anna Johnson

    In the Summer of 1969 after the events of the summer Anna Johnson went missing and was found days later laying face down near the Codorus Creek in Bantz Park.  Anna Johnson was the Great-Grandmother of one of York's most famous and accomplished citizens Loretta Claiborne.  Loretta Claiborne was born on August 14, 1953, in York, Pennsylvania. She was the fourth of eight children, and she and her siblings were raised by their single mother, Rita Claiborne. Loretta Claiborne was born partially blind, with an intellectual disability and clubbed feet; she underwent surgeries to correct her feet and visual impairment when she was young, and was unable to walk until she was four years old. She learned to talk when she was seven. Although doctors advised Claiborne's mother to institutionalize the girl, Rita steadfastly refused, choosing to raise Claiborne at home with her other children. Loretta Claiborne was the middle of seven children in a poor, single-parent family. Born partially blind and intellectually challenged, she was unable to walk or talk until age four. Eventually, though, she began to run. And before she knew it, she had crossed the finish line of twenty-six marathons, twice placing among the top one-hundred women in the Boston Marathon. She introduced President Bill Clinton at the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games has won medals in dozens of its events, and also holds the current women's record in her age group for the 5000 meters at seventeen minutes. Learn more about Loretta Claiborne at http://www.lorettaclaiborne.com

    51 min
  2. 07/08/2020

    Codorus Murders - Lillie Belle Allen Murder and aftermath

    Racial tensions began to escalate in York, Pennsylvania in 1963. Black citizens of York protested police violence and discrimination at City Hall. Their demands for a bi-racial police review board were turned down by the all-white city council. Citizens continued to protest over the next few years and complained of police brutality and the use of police dogs to curb protests. During this time, the city saw the rise of several notorious all-white gangs. By the mid-1960s, York had become deeply racially divided, and in 1968 a series of white-on-black crimes incited retaliation in the form of fire-bombings and street brawls. On July 17, 1969, with racial tensions at the boiling point, a black youth who burned himself playing with lighter fluid blamed a local white gang known as the Girarders. That would later be revealed as a lie, but not before the pent-up resentments of the black community turned violent. That same day, seventeen-year-old Taka Nii Sweeney was shot by an unseen gunman when York City Police Detective George Smith stopped him and his friends for violating the city's youth curfew. White and black gangs began fighting that afternoon. Eleven others were hurt when people in six blocks of the city reverted to rock-throwing, barricading and shooting from behind bushes and poles. Fighting lasted through the night and into the next day. Nine more people were injured, including Officer Henry C. Schaad. Schaad, a twenty-two-year-old rookie with eleven months on the force, was struck by a bullet believed to have been fired by a black rioter while riding in one of the police department's two armored trucks. White gangs around the city prepared for revenge. Schaad languished in the hospital for nearly two weeks before succumbing to his injuries. As Schaad lay dying, racial tension soared in the city. Fights broke out, buildings were set ablaze and police began barricading black neighborhoods. More than sixty people were injured, one hundred were arrested, and entire city blocks were burned.

    24 min
4.9
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

The Codorus Murders Podcast will be a weekly discussion about cold cases in York Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas. In depth discussion on how the crimes have impacted the community and the families that they have left behind. For any additional information or how you can contribute we can be contacted at Codorusmurders@gmail.com.