Under the Pines: Stories From New England & Beyond

Aku Bone Media
  • 4.5 (4)
  • True Crime
  • Updated Weekly

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

    Karina Holmer: The Unsolved 1996 Boston Murder of a Swedish Au Pair

    Karina Holmer was 20 years old when she came to Massachusetts from Sweden in 1996, hoping to work, travel, and prove she could make her own way. Three months later, after a Midsummer night out at Zanzibar in downtown Boston, she vanished into a few unexplained hours that investigators still cannot fully reconstruct. In this episode of Under the Pines, we go beyond “the Swedish nanny” and remember Karina as a person first: one of four sisters, a young woman who studied the restaurant business, cared for two children in Dover, spent weekends with other au pairs in Boston, and was thinking about returning home to Sweden later that summer. Karina was last reliably seen in the early morning of June 22, 1996. The next day, part of her remains were found behind 1091 Boylston Street. Her lower remains have never been recovered, the location where she was killed has never been identified, and no one has been charged. Thirty years later, the case remains active. We examine the verified timeline, the unexplained letter Karina sent home, the uncertain later sightings, the missing crime scene, the investigation, and the theories that have followed the case for decades, while keeping the daughter, sister, friend, caregiver, and young traveler at the center of the story. Sources: 1996 Unsolved Homicides - Boston Police Department The murder of Karina Holmer remains unsolved 30 years later; police asking public for help - The Boston Globe The murder of Karina Holmer remains unsolved 30 years later; police asking public for help - Boston.comhttps://www.boston.com/news/the-boston-globe/2026/07/07/the-murder-of-karina-holmer-remains-unsolved-30-years-later-police-asking-public-for-help/ Who killed Karina Holmer? Twenty-five years later, Swedish nanny’s grisly murder remains unsolved - The Boston Globehttps://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/22/metro/who-killed-karina-holmer-twenty-five-years-later-swedish-nannys-grisly-murder-remains-unsolved/ Remembering Karina Holmer By Name, Not Just By The Crime That Killed Her - GBHhttps://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2019-06-24/remembering-karina-holmer-by-name-not-just-by-the-crime-that-killed-her Decades later, few clues in Swedish nanny case - Massachusetts Lawyers Weeklyhttps://masslawyersweekly.com/2020/01/23/decades-later-few-clues-in-swedish-nanny-case/ Who Killed Karina Holmer?https://whokilledkarinaholmer.com/ Victim regarded as upbeat, good with children - The Boston Globe, June 26, 1996 Dover-based employer questioned; police trace events at loft, nightclub - The Boston Globe, June 26, 1996 Additional archival reporting: The Patriot Ledger, Associated Press, and United Press International, June 1996, accessed through Newspapers.com. #KarinaHolmer #BostonTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast

  2. Oct 13

    Joanna Brown: Halloween Disappearance at Bean Counter Bakery | Worcester, Massachusetts

    On Halloween morning in 2025, Joanna Lynn Brown left the Bean Counter Bakery Café in Worcester, Massachusetts, expecting to return for her next shift. She didn’t. Her absence unsettled people who had come to count on seeing her. Joanna was an older sister, an artist whose painting Broad Meadow earned a 2013 Scholastic Gold Key, and a familiar face to bakery regulars. They remembered her humor, kindness, and the little routines they shared. Under the Pines follows her Halloween disappearance, the police search and later court proceedings involving Donovan Foster, who pleaded not guilty. We separate allegations from established facts and keep Joanna’s life at the center. Sources and further reading Joanna Lynn Brown: 2013 LISTING OF ALL ART AWARDS BY SCHOOL: 2013 Boston Globe Scholastic Art & Writing Awards results: Local student wins national prize for artwork on poverty: Worcester bakery mourns death of ‘beloved staff member’ as police continue to investigate: Worcester police find missing woman Joanna Brown dead in car: WPD Investigating the Death of Joanna Brown: Details on Worcester woman found dead in her car: Murder Indictment Returned in Death of Joanna Brown: Former boyfriend charged with murdering Joanna Brown of Worcester: With Joanna Brown's family in courtroom, Foster arraigned on murder charge: No bail for Worcester man charged with murder in mysterious death of Joanna Brown: Music: Yoza, Broken Wings. #JoannaBrown #WorcesterMA #TrueCrimePodcast #MassachusettsTrueCrime #UnderThePines

  3. Oct 6

    Who Killed Johnny Donaldson? The Unsolved 1979 Lovers Lane Murder in Harvard, Massachusetts

    Who killed Johnny Donaldson? On April 6, 1979, 20-year-old John Royal “Johnny” Donaldson was found shot to death inside his orange Ford Pinto in the driveway of his family home on Lovers Lane in Harvard, Massachusetts. Hours earlier, Johnny had finished a late shift at the Sheraton Boxborough, spent time with young coworkers, and driven home. A local patrolman saw him alive around 4 a.m., sitting in the car and finishing a cigarette. By 6:45 that morning, Johnny’s brother Jim had found him dead. The case soon widened beyond one driveway. Investigators looked at other .22-caliber shootings around Boxborough, a possible witness later located in Los Angeles, an accessory-after-the-fact charge that collapsed in 1984, old bullets recovered during a 1998 search, and later reviews of leads that never produced a proven killer. But this episode is not just about a gun, a timeline, or an unresolved file. It is about Johnny: the youngest of four siblings, a young man home from college, remembered as friendly, easygoing, a dreamer, a “good kid,” someone who loved his dog Heidi and his orange Pinto and was still trying to figure out where life was going. Was Johnny deliberately targeted, or did he die because somebody recklessly fired at a parked car without realizing he was inside? Nearly five decades later, that question remains unanswered. If you have information: Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office can be reached at 508-453-7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. Sources: Unresolved Cases - Worcester County District Attorney’s Office After drinking beer with co-workers, he was shot dead in his parents’ driveway in Harvard. His murder was never solved. The trauma of the unsolved murder of my brother New England’s Unsolved: The murder of John Donaldson The Murder of John Donaldson (Massachusetts) Susan Donaldson James - Finding Johnny Newspapers.com archive: contemporary Massachusetts reporting, 1979-1999 Under the Pines #JohnnyDonaldson #UnsolvedMurder #MassachusettsTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast

  4. Sep 29

    Ruth Marie Terry: Lady of the Dunes, Cape Cod’s 49-Year Murder Mystery and the Truth Behind the Cold Case

    Ruth Marie Terry was a daughter, sister, mother, and traveler long before the world knew her as the Lady of the Dunes. Her 1974 murder in Provincetown, Massachusetts became one of Cape Cod’s most haunting cold cases, lasting nearly 50 years before investigative genealogy finally restored her name. This episode of Under the Pines follows Ruth’s life from Whitwell, Tennessee, to Michigan and California, her son Richard Hanchett, her marriage to Guy Rockwell Muldavin, the discovery near Race Point, decades of failed identification attempts, and the theories that grew around an unnamed woman, including the Jaws extra theory and Whitey Bulger speculation. Most of all, this is about Ruth as a human being, not a nickname or a case file. Sources:Remarks Prepared for Delivery Announcing the Identification of the Lady of the Dunes - FBI - https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/boston/news/press-releases/remarks-prepared-for-delivery-by-fbi-boston-sac-joseph-bonavolonta-at-press-conference-announcing-the-identification-of-the-lady-of-the-dunesLady in the Dunes - Town of Provincetown - https://www.provincetown-ma.gov/618/Lady-in-the-DunesLong Unsolved Murder Comes Into Focus - The Provincetown Independent - https://provincetownindependent.org/featured/2022/11/30/long-unsolved-murder-comes-into-focus/Police Seek Info on Man ‘Lady of the Dunes’ Married Months Before Her Death - NBC Boston - https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/lady-of-the-dunes-husband/2881407/Cape Cod's ‘Lady of the Dunes’ Murder Case Closed as Killer Is IDed - NBC Boston - https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/cape-cods-lady-of-the-dunes-murder-case-closed-as-killer-is-ided/3122569/Joe Hill Sees a Link Between Lady of the Dunes and ‘Jaws’ - Boston.com - https://www.boston.com/culture/movies/2018/08/07/joe-hill-author-and-son-of-stephen-king-sees-a-link-between-lady-of-the-dunes-jaws/Lady of the Dunes: A New Headstone in Provincetown and a New Documentary - Cape Cod Times/AOL - https://www.aol.com/lady-dunes-headstone-provincetown-documentary-100516270.htmlNewspapers.com Historical Newspaper Archive - https://www.newspapers.com/ #RuthMarieTerry #LadyOfTheDunes #CapeCodTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast

  5. Sep 22

    Shaun Hibbard Murder: The Doors on Forest Street, John Yang, Fitchburg and the 12-Year Wait for Justice

    Shaun Hibbard was 33 years old when he was shot in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, just after 4 a.m. on August 3, 2013. Wounded, he moved through Forest Street knocking on doors and asking strangers for help. His murder would take more than a decade to reach a courtroom. This episode of Under the Pines follows the full Shaun Hibbard murder case: the July 2013 firebombing tied to the conflict around him, the fatal shooting near Forest and Charles Streets, the neighbors who heard his calls for help, the long investigation, John Yang's 2023 arrest, and the 2025 trial that ended with a second-degree murder conviction. Yang was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 years. But this is more than a cold case timeline. Shaun was a tattoo artist, a father, a brother, and a man whose life had become complicated by addiction. His family carried the loss for twelve years before they finally had the chance to speak in court about what those years had taken from them. Sources: Worcester County District Attorney, “Fitchburg Man Shot and Killed”https://worcesterda.wordpress.com/2013/08/ Worcester County District Attorney, “Fitchburg Man Charged with Murder in 2013 Killing of Shaun Hibbard”https://worcesterda.com/fitchburg-man-charged-with-murder-in-2013-killing-of-shaun-hibbard/ Worcester County District Attorney, “Fitchburg Man Convicted of Murder in 2013 Killing of Shaun Hibbard”https://worcesterda.com/fitchburg-man-convicted-of-murder-in-2013-killing-of-shaun-hibbard/ Worcester County District Attorney, “Yang Sentenced in Murder in 2013 Killing of Shaun Hibbard”https://worcesterda.com/yang-sentenced-in-murder-in-2013-killing-of-shaun-hibbard/ Massachusetts Appeals Court, “Commonwealth v. Yang, 98 Mass. App. Ct. 446”https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/court-of-appeals/volumes/98/98massappct446.html Worcester Telegram & Gazette, “Former Fitchburg man, released after firebombing of man's home, goes on trial for his murder”https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-fitchburg-man-released-firebombing-172028147.html WCVB, “Fitchburg shooting leaves 1 dead”https://www.wcvb.com/article/fitchburg-shooting-leaves-1-dead/8186027 The Boston Globe, “Man, 33, shot to death after argument”https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/08/03/fitchburg-man-shot-death/jQIKzLadTU7suQuTkVZjjN/story.html Telegram & Gazette archival clippings via Newspapers.com: “Man is shot to death in Fitchburg” (Aug. 4, 2013); “Murder victim’s home firebombed in July” (Aug. 7, 2013); “Community comes together to talk crime” (Aug. 9, 2013); “Prosecutor: Suspect hired firebombers” (Mar. 24, 2015); “Jury convicts Fitchburg man in ’13 killing of ex-roommate” (Oct. 13, 2025); “John Yang sentenced for 2013 Fitchburg murder: When could he get parole?” (Nov. 6, 2025).https://www.newspapers.com/ #ShaunHibbard #FitchburgMA #MassachusettsTrueCrime #ColdCaseSolved #UnderThePinesPodcast

  6. Sep 15

    Connecticut River Valley Killer: Part Two | Jane Boroski, Lynda Moore, Barbara Agnew and the New Hampshire-Vermont Cold Cases

    Connecticut River Valley Killer Part Two investigates the unsolved murders of Lynda Moore and Barbara Agnew, the 1988 attack on Jane Boroski, and the New Hampshire-Vermont cold cases still linked by an unproven serial killer theory. Lynda was a wife and mother who helped families through hospital programs. Barbara spent a winter day skiing with friends and started home. Jane was 22, pregnant, and stopping for a soda when a stranger attacked her. She survived 27 stab wounds and lived to describe the man police could not identify. We also examine Philip Ginsburg's The Shadow of Death, the later investigation of Michael Nicholaou, the absence of a publicly reported forensic link tying him to these crimes, and the modern cold-case work that continues today. In 2025, investigators returned to the New London area searching for physical evidence in the 1978 murder of Catherine Millican. This episode keeps the focus where it belongs: on Lynda, Barbara, Catherine, Betsy Critchley, Bernice Courtemanche, Ellen Fried, Eva Morse, and Jane. These cases remain unresolved, and no single offender has been conclusively established as responsible for all of them. Sources Estate of Moore v. Stephen L. Moore Const. Co. https://outside.vermont.gov/dept/Labor/WorkersComp/1990%20-%201999/1995/37-95WC%20Estate%20of%20Moore%20v.%20Stephen%20L.%20Moore%20Const.%20Co.%20%28August%2018%2C%201995%29.pdf Barbara Agnew | Vermont State Police https://vsp.vermont.gov/unsolved/homicide/agnew The Cold Case Unit says it's doing its best to crack cases https://www.concordmonitor.com/2023/08/07/death-and-disappearance-fuel-this-coaliton-51790438/ Victim presses to ID 1980's serial killer https://www.sunjournal.com/2007/07/06/victim-presses-id-1980s-serial-killer/ Cold case is hot topic in Newport https://vnews.com/2024/06/01/police-investigation-teams-search-newport-property-believed-connected-with-cold-case-55257316/ NH Cold Case Unit renews search in 47-year-old New London murder case https://vnews.com/2025/10/30/cold-case-unit-sunapee-homicide/ Dark Valley: Chapter 9 | Not My Bad Man https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-dark-valley-102012249/episode/chapter-9-not-my-bad-120849482/ Music: Broken Wings by Yoza. #ConnecticutRiverValleyKiller #JaneBoroski #NewEnglandTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurders #ColdCases

  7. Sep 8

    Connecticut River Valley Killer: Part One | Five Women, New Hampshire Cold Cases and an Unproven Theory

    Five New Hampshire cold cases became linked in public memory to one of New England true crime’s most enduring mysteries. Part One follows Catherine Millican, Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Critchley, Bernice Courtemanche, Ellen Fried, and Eva Morse, and asks what the evidence actually supports about the so-called Connecticut River Valley Killer. These were women with jobs, families, plans, and people waiting for them. Between 1978 and 1986, their disappearances and deaths began forming a disturbing pattern across western New Hampshire. But one fact matters above all: investigators have never proved that a single killer was responsible. Under the Pines follows the verified timeline from Catherine’s 1978 murder through Eva’s recovery in 1986, separating established facts from details that hardened through decades of retelling. Three of the women were confirmed stabbing victims. In two cases, the cause of death could not be determined. Their homicides remain unsolved. Sources: Catherine Millican | New Hampshire Department of Justice https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/catherine-millican Mary Elizabeth Critchley | New Hampshire Department of Justice https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/mary-elizabeth-critchley Bernice Courtemanche | New Hampshire Department of Justice https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/bernice-courtemanche Ellen Fried | New Hampshire Department of Justice https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/ellen-fried Eva Morse | New Hampshire Department of Justice https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/eva-morse New Hampshire unsolved case file: Killing of Ellen Ruth Fried | WMUR https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-unsolved-ellen-fried-72225/65477110 Newspapers.com Archive https://www.newspapers.com/ Contemporary reporting reviewed from the Concord Monitor, Valley News, Brattleboro Reformer, Hartford Courant, and Lewiston Daily Sun. Music: “Broken Wings” by Yoza. #ConnecticutRiverValleyKiller #NewHampshireTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurders #NewEnglandTrueCrime #UnderThePines

  8. Sep 1

    The Fall River Cult Murders: Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa, Karen Marsden & the Satanic Panic

    The Fall River Cult Murders remain one of Massachusetts true crime’s most disturbing and disputed stories. In 1979 and 1980, Doreen Levesque, Barbara Ann Raposa, and Karen Marsden were killed in and around Fall River. Their deaths became tied to allegations of a Satanic cult, ritual murder, prostitution, drugs, fear, and a witness whose story would later change. This episode of Under the Pines goes back beneath the cult label to the three young women themselves. Doreen was seventeen and weeks from her eighteenth birthday. Barbara was nineteen and left her infant son with a sitter because she expected to come back. Karen was twenty, wanted her young son back in her life, and disappeared after telling her grandmother she was afraid. Andre Maltais was convicted of Barbara’s murder. Carl Drew was convicted of Karen’s murder. Robin Murphy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Karen’s death and became the key witness linking the cases. She later admitted lying about knowing Doreen and falsely accusing William Smith. No one was convicted of Doreen’s murder. The episode separates what juries decided from disputed ritual claims, recantations, Satanic Panic-era reporting, and the theories that still surround the case. Sources:Commonwealth v. Andre O. Maltaishttps://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/387/387mass79.htmlCommonwealth v. Carl H. Drewhttps://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/1986/397-mass-65-2.htmlWilliam Smith v. Commonwealthhttps://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/386/386mass345.htmlLooking Back: Murder, in Satan's Namehttps://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20131006/LIFE/310060305'Concocted' Satanic Murder Tale Sparks DA's Reviewhttps://www.wcvb.com/article/bristol-county-prosecutors-to-review-satanic-cult-killings-1/8170776Robin Murphy Life Sentence Decision, May 13, 2024https://www.mass.gov/doc/robin-murphy-life-sentence-decision-may-13-2024/downloadWoman Convicted in Fall River 'Satanic Cult' Murder Granted Parolehttps://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/05/15/woman-convicted-in-fall-river-satanic-cult-murder-granted-parole/Fall River Documentary Serieshttps://www.mgmplus.com/series/fall-riverDoreen Ann Levesque Memorialhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/240555865/doreen_ann-levesque Additional contemporary reporting reviewed through Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/) included The Herald News, The Boston Globe, The Standard-Times, The Patriot Ledger, Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Daily Item, The Republican, and the Transcript-Telegram, along with Associated Press and United Press International coverage. Closing music: “Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission. #FallRiverCultMurders #MassachusettsTrueCrime #SatanicPanic #DoreenLevesque #UnderThePines

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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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