North Carolina Episodes
Feb. 13, 2025
91.Love Lost: The Valentine’s Day Murders of Jesse McBane & Patricia Mann in Durham, North Carolina
Episode Summary: On Valentine’s Day 1971, a young couple Jesse McBane and Patricia Mann vanished after a romantic night in Durham, North Carolina. Days later, their bound and strangled bodies were discovered deep in the woods. Their deaths were no accident—this was a meticulously staged murder. Ove…
Jan. 28, 2025
89. Murder at Muddy Creek: The Ida Ball Warren Case in Winston Salem, North Carolina
In this episode, we delve into the lesser-known case of Ida Ball Warren, a woman from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, whose story shocked the state in 1914. It all began with the discovery of a body in Muddy Creek—a chilling f...
Jan. 22, 2025
88. Mayberry's Dark Day: The 1951 Bombing in Mount Airy, North Carolina
On New Year's Day 1951, a respected member of the Mt. Airy community was targeted in a car bombing. He was a teacher, a new husband, the son of a police chief, and an upstanding citizen. It took two years for the bomber to be...
Jan. 14, 2025
87. Murder in the North Carolina Mountains: Nancy Ann Kerley
In 1913 Nancy Ann Kerley's name became infamous in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. Her story remains a chilling legend in the region's history. Listen to this episode to find out why. Music By Memphis Robinson Gora Sources: newspapers.com findagrave.com https://www.facebook.com/LadyFro…
Dec. 24, 2024
86. Charlie and Frankie Silver: Tragedy in Western North Carolina
Days before Christmas in 1831, Charlie Silver went missing from his home, leaving behind a young wife and baby. In the mountains of Western North Carolina, his family searched to no avail. Unfortunately, Charlie was eventuall...
Oct. 9, 2024
76. Carnage in Carthage: North Carolina's Deadliest Mass Shooting
A rocky marriage, a controlling husband, an estranged wife, and alcohol addiction; a destructive combination that led down a deadly path and ultimately ended in tragedy for several families. Narrator: Curtis Hildreth Intro an...
Sept. 4, 2024
72. Murder in Asheboro - The Melissa Mickey Story
The murder of a mother of two in a small town in Randolph County has investigators baffled. She had no enemies to speak of. Sometimes an enemy is closer than we think though and is not someone we consider an enemy. One man is...
July 31, 2024
69. The Murder of Poor Ellen Smith from Winston Salem
In 1894, poor Ellen Smith was murdered by her ne-er do- well lover, Peter DeGraff in Winston-Salem, NC. This episode will cover a short background, the murder, trial and execution of Peter DeGraff. The story was made famous...
July 9, 2024
67. Lost Boys of the Allegheny Mountains
In the spring of 1856, two brothers, seven year old George and five year old Joseph wondered off together from their cabin home in the Alleghenies Mountains of Pennsylvania. Listen to hear their tragic story. Allison Krauss...
May 29, 2024
61. The Bitter Blood Murders Pt. 2
On June 3, 1985, police cautiously pursued a Chevy Blazer with four passengers. A slow chase had persisted for several miles-- from Greensboro into Summerfield, North Carolina. Suddenly, the Blazer stopped and a bomb was de...
May 21, 2024
60. The Bitter Blood Murders Pt.1
In the years between 1984 and 1985, three intertwined families experienced the murders of close family members. The murders spanned from Louisville, Kentucky to Winston Salem and Greensboro, NC. Susie Newsome Lynch and Fritz...
April 16, 2024
56. North Carolina's Killer Baptist Preacher: Reverend George Washington Carawan
Reverend George Washington Carawan was charged and found guilty of the murder of a school teacher named Clement H. Lassiter . After learning the jury had found him guilty and that he would be hanged for his crime, Reverend ...
March 13, 2024
51. Another Fort Bragg Murder: Kathryn Eastburn
On Mother's Day 1985, a young mother and her two little girls were found dead in their home near Ft. Bragg, NC. The youngest of her daughters was left alive, alone, crying, and dehydrated in her crib waiting for a rescue. The murders bore a striking resemblance to the 1970 killings at Ft. Bragg of …
Jan. 24, 2024
45. The Mysterious Death of Smith Reynolds
Accident? Suicide? Or Murder? The question of "Z" Smith Reynolds' death is still not answered to this day more than ninety years later. The wealthy heir of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco fortune was shot on his sleeping porch after hosting his friend's 21st birthday party at his estate. The initial ruling…
Dec. 23, 2023
42. Christmas Eve Special - Lowe Daniels
In 1914, Lowe Daniels lived in the Uwharrie forest. He made his living making and selling whiskey. One day he came home from a trip and out of nowhere, shot his wife, his wife's seventeen year old sister, his seventeen year ...
Dec. 6, 2023
39. Boone, North Carolina: The Bathtub Murders
During a snowstorm in early 1972, a Boone, NC family is shockingly murdered in their own home. At first, it appears to be a robbery gone bad, but upon further inspection, that theory does not seem to add up. It was a crime th...
Sept. 26, 2023
31. Nell Cropsey: A Murder That Still Haunts North Carolina
On the night of November 20, 1901, Nell Cropsey vanished from her family's home in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Thirty-seven days later her body was found floating in the Pasquotank River. There was only ever one real suspect but did authorities get it right? Sources: Music by: Isaiah Hildreth M…
Sept. 20, 2023
30. Who Would Want Patricia Blakely Dead? A Chilling Crime in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina
When a house fire in Pleasant Garden, NC is determined to have been started by arson, and a resident is found inside dead from a gunshot, the sheriff's department has its work cut out for it. Friends, family, and fellow churc...
Sept. 13, 2023
29. The Hanging of Thomas Bowman
In 1877, 47 year old Thurza Bowman died a violent death. An autopsy revealed she had been poisoned by strychnine. Suspicion would immediately fall on her husband. After many conflicting testimonies and two trials, Thomas Bow...
Aug. 22, 2023
27. Poor Naomi Wise
Naomi (Omie) Wise was an orphan girl. She fell in love with a young gentleman named Johnathan Lewis. Naomi found out she was pregnant. When she told Lewis, he told her to meet him that night so they could run away and get ...
May 25, 2023
15. Brenda Holland: The Outer Banks Murder
In the summer of 1967, on a small island off the coast of NC a young intern at the outdoor drama, The Lost Colony, vanished. Nineteen year old Brenda Holland's body was found five days later in the Albemarle Sound. The suspec...
March 30, 2023
11. North Carolina: Legend of Tom Dooley
One morning in May 1866, just before daybreak Laura Foster quietly left her home with a bundle of clothes and her father's horse. She was going to rendezvous with her beau, Tom Dooley. Rumor had it they were going to run off ...
March 2, 2023
9. Darci Pierce- "Womb Raider"
In the spring of 1987, a young woman shows up at the hospital after allegedly giving birth in her car. After a medical exam reveals that she has not given birth, authorities discover the unthinkable lengths she went to to ge...
Jan. 5, 2023
4. Velma Barfield / Death Row Granny- Pt 1
Velma Barfield was a beloved mother, grandmother and Sunday school teacher. She was also a master manipulator and serial killer. Send us a text Support the show hardtimesandtruecrimes.com buymeacoffee.com/hardtimesTC