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IN THIS EPISODE: (Dark Archives episode previously released July 26, 2018) *** A woman is awoken by strange sounds coming from outside the house – and inhuman sized footsteps – and why didn’t she close that window before going to bed? (Bizarre Sounds in the Poconos) *** In the deep dark holes in the waters of the Bahamas, locals speak of a mysterious and terrifying marine creature shaped like a gaping, tooth-filled mouth of a shark, with an array of tentacles like an octopus, and massive in size – up to 200 feet in length. What is this leviathan that people are seeing? (Bahamas Monster of the Deep) *** A man is out driving and finds himself in a predicament; the truck that was following him has disappeared. (The Vanishing Truck) *** They say “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” That was never more true when it came to the murder of Annie Wheeler. (Insane Jealousy) *** People often speak of feeling a sudden cold or chill when experiencing the paranormal. But what if the chill lasts, unstopping, for years on end? (Ice Box Mystery) *** A noisy spirit invades a home in Tennessee. (You Don’t Have To Be Seen To Be Heard) *** Many people kill for love, profit, or revenge, but Michael and Suzan Carson shocked California in the early 1980s when they admitted they killed because they were on a “holy war against witches.” (The New Age Murderers Who Went On a Witch-Killing Spree) *** Tales of Bigfoot, the dogman, and other hairy bi-pedal cryptids usually come from normal people like you and me out minding their own business. Occasionally an unexplained creature will be sighted by someone of a bit more notoriety or position, such as someone in the military – or even a celebrity. Usually these creatures are docile or even frightened of humans – but other times they are bloodthirsty savages. But the story of the most violent, dangerous, man-killing unknown mystery creature of all might possibly have been told directly to a former U.S. President… Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. (The Most Violent Mystery Animal of All)
STORY AND MUSIC CREDITS/SOURCES…
“Bizarre Sounds in the Poconos” submitted by SH for Phantoms and Monsters: http://bit.ly/33TcNKl
“Bahamas Monster of the Deep” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2Qq8ouy
“You Don’t Have To Be Seen To Be Heard” submitted by Robert Keys for My Haunted Life Too: http://bit.ly/32S6dmb
“The New Age Murderers Who Went On a Witch-Killing Spree” by Matt Gilligan for Did You Know Facts: (link no longer available)
“Ice Box Mystery” submitted by Steve Heisenburg to WeirdDarkness.com
“The Vanishing Truck” submitted by Bruce Harrison for My Haunted Life Too: http://bit.ly/378AYXh
“The Most Violent Mystery Animal of All” by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: http://bit.ly/2NS9c9Q
“Insane Jealousy” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: http://bit.ly/35aFkev
Background music provided by EpidemicSound and AudioBlocks with paid license. Music by Shadows Symphony (http://bit.ly/2W6N1xJ) and Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) is also sometimes used with permission.
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“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” — John 12:46 *** How to escape eternal darkness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IYmodFKDaM
MOST VIOLENT OF ALL
Over the years, decades and even centuries, reports have surfaced of deadly Bigfoot – and of creatures that somewhat resemble the United States’ monster, but in other parts of the world. In his 1890 book, The Wilderness Hunter, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote: “Frontiersmen are not, as a rule, apt to be very superstitious. They lead lives too hard and practical, and have too little imagination in things spiritual and supernatural. I have heard but few ghost stories while living on the frontier, and those few were of a perfectly commonplace and conventional type. But I once listened to a goblin-story, which rather impressed me.”
Roosevelt added that the story came from a “mountain hunter” named Bauman, “…who, born and had passed all of his life on the Frontier.” According to what Roosevelt was told, on one occasion Bauman and a friend were trekking through the Bitterroot Range (on the Rocky Mountains) when something terrible happened. Bauman’s friend was violently killed by a creature in the woods – while the pair were separated. When Bauman returned to their camp (and in Roosevelt’s own words): ***“At last he came to the edge of the little glade where the camp lay and shouted as he approached it, but got no answer. The campfire had gone out, though the thin blue smoke was still curling upwards. Near it lay the packs wrapped and arranged. At first Bauman could see nobody; nor did he receive an answer to his call. Stepping forward he again shouted, and as he did so his eye fell on the body of his friend, stretched beside the trunk of a great fallen spruce.”***
Horrified, Bauman rushed to his friend, but it was all too late. The man was clearly dead. It was the nature of his death that was particularly disturbing. Back to Roosevelt: “Rushing towards it the horrified trapper found that the body was still warm, but that the neck was broken, while there were four great fang marks in the throat…While thus waiting, his monstrous assailant, which must have been lurking in the woods, waiting for a chance to catch one of the adventurers unprepared, came silently up from behind… Evidently unheard, it reached the man, and broke his neck by wrenching his head back with its fore paws, while it buried its teeth in his throat. It had not eaten the body, but apparently had romped and gamboled around it in uncouth, ferocious glee, occasionally rolling over and over it; and had then fled back into the soundless depths of the woods.” Whatever the creature was, its tracks made it clear to Bauman that it walked on two legs – exclusively. A deadly Bigfoot? Maybe.
There are several similar reports of violent and even deadly Bigfoot on record. But, there could be yet another such dangerous, mysterious animal, one which is said to live on the other side of the world – that is, if it hasn’t gone extinct. A West African country, Senegal is home to two distinct types of unknown ape with somewhat human-style qualities, one of which exhibits extreme hostility towards people. Its name is the Gnena. At around two to three feet in size, it lacks the bulk of Bigfoot. This does not, however, prevent it from being a potentially formidable opponent.
The Gnena are very strong creatures, muscular, and possessing fierce tempers. As for their physical description, they are noted for their coats of extremely long, dark hair that hangs in lank fashion from their bodies. Somewhat strangely, they have large heads that are significantly out of proportion to their bodies and have piercing, yellow eyes. When confronted by people, the Gnena will invariably intimidate them with dog-like barks, and will, if it’s deemed necessary, launch an all-out attack. The Gnena are not exclusive to Senegal, however: reportedly, they live deep in the forests of numerous African countries, including the Cameroons, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Mali.
Within Senegal, the Gnena has a rival in the man-beast stakes. Or, at least, it did until around the start of the 20th Century. That’s when reports of the creature began to fade away. It is called the Sansandryi. Although the fairly placid Sansandryi were said to have been far more ape-like than human, they apparently enjoyed wearing human clothes, whether stolen from villagers or found discarded. They reportedly had a sizeable colony in the forests surrounding the Casamance River, until around 1900 when something unknown put an end to their presence and they were never seen again – so far as we know, of course.
Clearly, the Gnena and the Samsamdryi are not the same thing. Should you ever find yourself in Senegal and you encounter a mysterious, hair-covered, human-like thing, let’s hope it’s the latter and definitely not the former!
POCONOS
Hello, I live in Towamensing Trails subdivision (near Albrightsville), Penn Forest Township, PA in the Poconos. I sleep lightly and usually take Dyphenhydramine to sleep, but didn’t tonight. I was dozing just now in my room on the 1st floor with the window open when some sense of alarm woke me up. My brain telling me, that sound outside isn’t normal! I’ve laid here a few minutes trying to think of an accurate way to describe the sound.
It sounded like someone or something with drum cymbals (but tied almost together or secured so they never reach the high reverberations part of the sound they make. Just the initial sound of two or more of them banging together) attached to them, and a loud breathing sound that I can only associate with a horse. I am inclined to say walking since that is the means of moving that I’m used to attributing to someone moving around. But as the sound moved, it was erratic and spaced too far apart to be a human walking, yet it had a distinct walking rhythm to it. However, I heard no leaves crunching since it is in the woods. It seemed at first to be on the street which would explain no leaf sounds but it seemed to double back and then go behind my house, past my garage and to left of my room, which is the woods.
The weirdest part is although it had a walking-like feel to the sound it made when moving, it didn’t sound like it had 2 legs. It was like walking or whatever it was doing, crossing very large areas at a time I would say that a person could cross in 5 or 6 steps, but I never heard the 2nd leg come down. It was always just one step and them the next step was quite further on.
There was no scent that I noticed. I went to wake my husband when I heard it double back and I was standing by him saying ‘honey…hey babe’ when it went to the side of the house and I heard it disappear back into the woods. So I just let him sleep since the sound was gone and nothing to corroborate now. But I know it really happened and wasn’t a dream because I stayed awake until his alarm went off at 5.30am and he strangely decided to call out of work. It’s strange because he doesn’t even take his allotted vacation days. He goes to work no matter what. Then we both went back to sleep and just now got up. I was alarmed and queasy feeling while I lay awake alone but felt better knowing he was staying.
I don’t begin to know what to make of it.
BAHAMAS MONSTER
Sea monsters come in all shapes and sizes, and have been reported from all corners the globe for centuries. Coming in all flavors, such accounts never cease to amaze and inspire the imagination, and remain a staple of the field of cryptozoology. One very interesting type of sea monster comes to us from the postcard-perfect paradise of the Bahamas, in the Caribbean Sea, where something seemingly rather fierce and malevolent has long been reported to prowl these blue waters.
Among all of the islands in the archipelago of the Bahamas the largest is the island of Andros, which consists of an area greater than all the rest of the islands combined. Here is a land of sun-kissed white sand beaches, idyllic small islets and cays, sprawling mangrove swamps, clear azure waters, majestic coral reefs, and some of the greatest biodiversity in the region, and tourists flock here from all over the world to see it all. Andros is also home of the most famous of what are called “Blue Holes,” a phenomenon in which deep sinkholes form in the carbonate bedrock and descend down into the clear depths.
These blue holes can dive down into vast underground submerged cave systems that can meander down to hundreds of meters and stretch on and fan out for miles, with much of this often virtually unexplored. They are typically visually stunning, with their striking deep blue hues contrasting starkly with the shallower water around them, and they are typically havens for divers. Down in these depths can also be found surreal scenes of animal remains and fossils, perfectly preserved in their watery graves by the salty, oxygen free waters and slow water exchanges at the bottom of these pits that conspire together to prevent decomposition.
Although blue holes are found in many places throughout the world they are particularly common in the Bahamas, with the second deepest one in the world, the 202 metres (663 ft) deep Dean’s Blue Hole located at the archipelago’s Long Island. By far the most well-known blue holes among these islands are myriad blue holes of Andros. The island sports an estimated 200 of the holes on land and around 50 along the coast, which draw a large number of tourists looking to dive within the often perilous and very dangerous underwater caves. The blue holes can pose many dangers for divers, such as disorientation, tight passageways, and sudden currents, but if island legends and some mysterious reports are to be believed there are also possibly aggressive sea monsters prowling these caves to be wary of as well.
Locals of the Bahamas have long spoken of a mysterious and terrifying marine creature they refer to as the Lusca, which is traditionally described as possessing the general body shape and gaping, tooth-filled mouth of a shark, and an array of tentacles more like an octopus, as well as being staggeringly massive, sometimes up to 75 to 200-feet in length. Although this is the standard depiction of them in local lore, there are some variations, such as that it can change color like a chameleon, and that it looks more like a giant squid-eel hybrid, a reptilian dragon-like beast, or that it is simply a vast octopus of some kind. Whatever it may be one thing that is always the same and agreed upon with these tales is that the Lusca has formidable tentacles and is most certainly predatory and quite voracious.
The Bahamas, and in particular Andros, has countless stories of the Lusca running amok in these waters, where they are said to favor the secluded caves of blue holes during the day and to come out at night to feed. Numerous fishermen have claimed to have seen the monsters, and it is often claimed that whole boats have been yanked down below the surface in the vicinity of the blue holes. The Lusca is often blamed on divers who have vanished or died in the blue holes, with some accounts even speaking of bodies or survivors of attacks demonstrating abnormally large sucker marks upon the flesh. Some of the more dramatic tales even say that even the shoreline is not necessarily safe, with people on the beach sometimes snatched and dragged to the caves if they venture too close to the water.
While it may all sound like mere spooky local lore, witnesses typically swear by what they have seen, and sightings and encounters have continued on into very recent times. In 2005 an underwater diver in one of the blue holes claimed that he was attacked by an enormous octopus he estimated as being around 50 feet in diameter, which reportedly actually stole his camera before retreating into a murky cave. Yet another diver claimed to have seen a nurse shark get grabbed by a tentacle as thick as a telephone pole and sucked into a cave. There was also a recent report of a fishing boat whose crew noticed something yanking their buoys completely underwater, a feat which would take a phenomenal amount of strength. One of the buoys was still attached to the boat, and the entire vessel was apparently actually dragged through the water by the mysterious force for some time. Sonar on the boat allegedly showed “a large, pyramid-shaped creature,” and traps attached to buoys that were retrieved possessed damage as if they had been mauled and twisted as if by some huge, angry animal.
More well-known than these are the various expeditions launched by a few famous TV programs. Perhaps the most dramatic of these was a trip made by the show Destination Truth. During this harrowing expedition, the crew allegedly picked up anomalous sonar readings of something enormous moving and crawling about which they had at first taken to be a part of a cave wall. One of the divers they had put into the water also saw the strange thing, saying that something gigantic moved through the water in a flurried cloud of bubbles and silt into a tunnel, and crew on the boat were so concerned that something so large and potentially dangerous was in there with him that they pulled him out and even turned off the lights on their boat to avoid attracting the beast. Footage of what might be the Lusca was also taken at the time, which seems to show perhaps a tentacle, but it is blurry, indistinct, and far from conclusive. The TV show River Monsters also visited the blue holes, and while they did not manage to catch anything particularly bizarre, host Jeremy Wade speculated that the Lusca was probably some sort of giant octopus. Wade would say of this: ***My investigation now centers on whether a giant octopus could potentially catch and consume a person. I’ve seen this animal’s amazing predatory behavior, so I know in principle this is a possibility.***
Indeed, the most common theory for what the Lusca could be is that it is an enormous unidentified species of octopus, and there has even been some evidence pointing to this. Parts of the carcass of what is thought to have been an extremely large specimen of an octopus allegedly washed up on the Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas on January 18, 2011, and appeared to be only the head and mouth of the creature. When the potential size was extrapolated using normal octopuses as a comparison it was estimated that this beast would have been between 20 and 30 feet across. The story was initially reported by G. Noel in the Freeport News, and the size estimate was supported by a Clement Campbell of the Department of Marine Service. Oddly, in July of that same year another octopus carcass measuring 12 feet across was found floating on the surface in the same vicinity. Unfortunately this specimen was merely measured but not retrieved.
Amazingly enough, in the case of these carcasses there are actually known types of living octopuses that reach sizes approaching these, such as the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), the largest known species, which can have an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft), with unconfirmed claims that they can possess massive arm spans all the way up to 30 feet and weigh up to 272 kg (600 lb). Something like this could certainly be misidentified as a mythical beast and be exaggerated as being even larger still, but the problem is that this particular species is native to the coastal North Pacific, nowhere near the Bahamas. However, it still shows that some species of octopus can get to be rather large, so perhaps there is an undiscovered species of similar proportions or even larger than the giant Pacific octopus living in the Caribbean waters of the Bahamas, although nothing like it has ever been found here.
Another more skeptical theory is that the Lusca is based on superstition mixed with the inherit dangers of the blue holes. Divers can most certainly die by any number of reasons while delving into these holes or even vanish off the face of the earth, getting stuck in the submerged tunnels and crevasses to never be seen again, and this could combine with spooky stories to be blamed on the Lusca. There could also be misidentifications of natural phenomena in the area, such as the tidal pulls or whirlpools that blue holes are known for, which could make it appear very much as if someone or even a boat were being pulled underwater by some gigantic monster. How this could explain the sightings from those who are absolutely sure they have seen a many tentacled beast is anyone’s guess.
The Lusca is a relatively little-known creature within the world of cryptozoology, but it is no less intriguing than many of the other mystery beasts out there, leaving a lot of questions of its own. What lies down in those deep blue holes? Is it the man-eating shark-octopus monster of Bahamian legend? Is it some sort of outsized unknown giant octopus that calls these spiderwebs of caves home? Is it whirlpools and natural phenomena that have taken on a life of their own to become entrenched in local lore? Or is it just overactive imaginations? Whatever the case may be, this monster in paradise remains an elusive mystery that causes one to look into those alluring azure holes in the ocean in a new way, and wonder if something isn’t lurking there coiled in the depths waiting for its next victim.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SEEN…
When we moved Tennessee, we didn’t expect to find ourselves faced with a spirit or ghost. We’ve had a lot of incidents happen and every time I mention these incidents people ask me if I’ve “seen” anything. I don’t know about seeing it. But we have sure heard it. We set up a recorder just after we first moved in and it recorded a very loud bang, which we didn’t hear and a voice saying, “I am Richard.” Really strange. But we haven’t heard any other time. We do get lots of strange noises at night and when I go to investigate, nothing is a miss. Still have the occasional sense of someone watching me or feel as though someone brushed by me. The dogs will bark now and then when there’s no reason to bark. Like we’re in the living room and they will be looking in the kitchen and barking. Nothing is there. Maybe its mice. The one big incident was waking up in the middle of the night to the pans in the kitchen clashing together. I haven’t seen our resident ghost but I we’ve all heard it in this house.
WITCH KILLERS
Apparently not all hippies are dedicated to peace and love. That certainly was not the case for Michael “Bear” Carson and his wife, Suzan.
The deadly duo met in the late 1970s when they both lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Michael and Suzan were both divorced with children, and they shared an interest in drugs and mysticism. They fell in love, traveled Europe together, and returned to the U.S., ending up in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, the country’s most famous counterculture enclave.
Michael and Suzan changed their last name to “Bear” and proclaimed themselves to be pacifist “vegetarian Moslem warriors.” The Bears’ behavior became increasingly bizarre. Suzan began to believe she could see the future and the couple jointly concluded that “witchcraft, homosexuality, and abortion” should be punished by death. Michael’s ex-wife was alarmed enough by his strange behavior that she went to great lengths to hide herself and their child from him, including moving several times so Michael would not be able to contact them.
Michael and Suzan Bear’s odd tendencies took a lethal turn in March 1981. The couple lived with a 22-year-old woman named Keryn Barnes, an aspiring actress. In her drug-induced paranoia, Suzan believed that Barnes was a witch. The couple attacked their young roommate, beating her head with a frying pan before stabbing her 13 times. Barnes’ body was wrapped in a blanket and dumped in the basement of the house.
The Bears fled to Oregon for a year before they returned to California in the spring of 1982. They ended up in Humboldt County, working on a marijuana farm. Michael and Suzan’s ramblings about an impending nuclear war did not endear them to their fellow workers, which led Michael to begin feuding with a co-worker named Clark Stephens. Like with Keryn Barnes, the Bears decided that Stephens was a witch. The dispute came to a head in May 1982, when Michael shot and killed Stephens, then burned and buried his body in the forest. Michael and Suzan Bear fled again, this time away from Humboldt County.
Police searched the belongings that the Bears had left behind and found an anti-government manifesto Michael had written. The proclamation called for the assassination of President Ronald Reagan and TV personality Johnny Carson. Bear believed both men were high-level witches who needed to be killed. Although police now knew who their suspects were, the Bears had disappeared.
In November 1982, Michael Bear was picked up by police in Los Angeles and brought in for questioning regarding the murder of Clark Stephens, but a clerical error released the killer before the police had an opportunity to talk to him. The Bears were gone once again. This error would come back to haunt the police.
In March 1983, Michael and Suzan Bear were hitchhiking near Bakersfield, California when 30-year-old Jon Charles Hellyer picked them up. At some point during the trip, Suzan became convinced that Hellyer, too, was a witch. A struggle began inside the car, and Hellyer pulled his vehicle to the side of busy Route 101 in broad daylight. The three exited the car and continued to fight alongside the highway. Suzan stabbed Hellyer, and Michael proceeded to shoot and kill the victim in full view of passing drivers, who alerted police.
A high-speed chase ensued, but the Bears were quickly captured; the witch hunt was over. In a bizarre turn of events, Michael and Suzan agreed to plead guilty to the murders of Barnes, Stephens, and Hellyer in exchange for a press conference where they would be allowed to talk about their beliefs. At the event, the couple discussed their warped sense of morality and the impulses that drove them to kill the victims they believed were witches. Michael even claimed that Suzan was “a yogi and a mystic with knowledge of past, present, and future events.”
Michael and Suzan Bear were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences, and both were denied parole in 2015. Although they were only charged with three murders, authorities believe the couple may be responsible for up to a dozen murders in the United States and Europe.
VANISHING TRUCK
When I first passed driving test I would spend a lot of time practicing and honing my skills on country roads and lanes. I had only just passed my test by the skin of my teeth, and I certainly didn’t feel comfortable enough to be on any major roads. I would try to drive for an hour each night after work. I had been doing these practice sessions for about a month before I decided to tackle a larger country road. The first couple of times on that road were uneventful but the third or fourth time I found myself being followed by a truck. There was nothing unusual about this, trucks get everywhere, but I remember clearly watching this large hauling truck through my rear-view mirror, glancing back to look at the road in front of me, looking at the rear-view mirror and the truck was gone.
The following night I tried to work out where this truck had gone… but there were no turn offs or side roads where the truck had been. It just literally disappeared. To this day I can’t work out where that truck went that night.
INSANE JEALOUSLY
Mildred Brewster was the daughter of a wealthy farmer near Montpelier, Vermont. In 1897, 18-year-old Mildred decided to leave her father’s home and move to the city to make her own way. She found a job working for a tailor and took a room at a boarding house. All was going well until she met and fell in love with Jack Wheeler, a young granite-cutter who boarded at the same house. Wheeler knew of Mildred’s affections for him, but, he would later say, he did not return them.
Jack Wheeler was engaged to another wealthy farmer’s daughter named Annie Wheeler—they had the same last name but were not related. When Mildred learned that he planned to take his fiancé to Barre, the end of May for the Decoration Day celebration she became incensed. She paid a visit on Annie Wheeler and told her in no uncertain terms to leave Jack Wheeler alone. Mildred said she had a prior claim on his affections and if Annie did not give him up, Mildred would kill him.
Annie Wheeler paid her no mind and continued preparing for her trip but when she left her house later that day Mildred was waiting outside. They walked together for a short way then Mildred pulled out a revolver and shot Annie point blank in the head. She then turned the revolver on herself and put a bullet in her right ear. Both women were unconscious when found and were taken to the hospital. Annie died soon after; Mildred survived.
Doctors removed the bullet from her head, but when Mildred regained consciousness she was upset that she was still alive and asked her father for her revolver so she could finish the job. She also asked him to retrieve some letters from her room so they wouldn’t be stolen. He was too late. This letter signed Mildred Brewster, found in her room, may have been meant as a suicide note:
“Don’t blame love-sick girls, for they were made thus loving. A handsome girl is something; one real good, willing, self-sacrificing, more; but one who loves almost to distraction—most. Take those lukewarm, indifferent, loveless beauties, you who would become a marital martyr. She is the premium wife whose fervid, glowing, whole-soul, devoted love knows no limit; who is spellbound, magnetized, entranced, beside herself when beside her lover; whose love, torrent-like, sweeps all before it, making all possible allowances for imperfections in the loved one and magnifying to the highest degree his desirable and loving traits of character.” Signed, Mildred Brewster
This tragic tale of unrequited love became somewhat less romantic when the lawyers took it over. Mildred Brewster was indicted for premeditated murder and her trial scheduled for November 1897. Her lawyer, William A. Lord entered a plea of not guilty which was soon rescinded when Lord decided to challenge the indictment on the grounds that a stenographer had been improperly present when the grand jury deliberated. The matter was to be decided by the state Supreme Court which met the following January.
Mildred was still convalescing in the hospital when the Supreme Court was ready to hear the case, so at the request of both attorneys the session was held in her hospital room and she listened to the arguments from her bed. The Supreme Court made their decision the following March, they found nothing wrong with the indictment and Mildred’s trial was rescheduled.
When the murder trial began on April 4, 1898, in Montpelier, Mildred was well enough to attend but sat in a plush rocking chair. Her plea was not guilty by reason of insanity. The state’s case was straightforward, there was no question that Mildred Brewster shot Annie Wheeler and there was evidence that the murder was premeditated. She had purchased a revolver in Barre several days before the murder and on that morning had been seen practicing with it.
The defense presented testimony from Mildred’s friends and family describing her moods that would change quickly from jolly to morose, and erratic behavior such as locking herself in her room and talking of suicide. They also gave evidence that other members of her family were insane. The strongest testimony came from Dr. F. W. Page of the Waterbury Insane Asylum who examined Mildred’s mental condition and wrote a 4,000-word report—every word of which was read in court. He concluded that Mildred was insane and not responsible for her actions.
She told Dr. Page that she had not intended to kill Annie Wheeler but had bought the revolver to kill herself because of the way she was treated by Jack Wheeler. He had seduced her, she said, and she had given herself to him under promise of marriage. She decided to kill herself when she learned he was engaged to another.
Though Jack Wheeler testified under oath that he never returned Mildred’s affections other testimony would indicate that Mildred’s accusations were not idle fantasies of a madwoman. Mrs. Goodenough who ran the house where Mildred boarded testified that Jack Wheeler had visited Mildred before moving into the house himself and often went to her room uninvited. From the condition of the linen, she believed they were sharing a bed. Other boarders testified to seeing the couple together. Juan DeCollaines, who knew both Mildred and Jack Wheeler, testified that Wheeler had told him that he had promised Mildred something he was sorry for and he would just as soon marry her if it wasn’t for Annie. DeCollaines said that Wheeler had gotten Mildred in trouble and implied that she had gone to a doctor to see about an abortion. The defense also read several letters sent by Jack Wheeler to Mildred which indicated that their relationship was more than casual and expressed his jealousy at seeing her talk to another man.
In rebuttal, the state introduced 15 more witnesses to show that Mildred and the members of her family were perfectly sane. The jury, however, persuaded by Dr. Page’s extensive report and sympathy for Mildred’s shabby treatment by Jack Wheeler found Mildred Brewster not guilty by reason of insanity. She was sentenced to the State Insane Asylum at Waterbury.
ICE BOX MYSTERY
I have lived in this same house for 20 years and my bedroom has always been cold, even with the heating on in the whole house. My bedroom felt like an icebox hence the title of this incident. Some times the ceiling fan would start up on its own. I thought i was imagining it so I marked one of the blades and sure enough I found it had moved position without it ever being switched on by myself. I could always feel someone with me in the room when I was entirely alone in the house.
The creepiest thing that ever happened was when I had a new mattress for my bed – a memory foam mattress the kind that mould to your body outline. It was on a Friday night and I’d just got in from work. I was tired and I decided on an early night. I made a cup of cocoa and made my way upstairs to my bed room. I thought i heard movement upstairs so I cautiously checked each room thinking there may be an intruder in the house. I found no one, but upon finally entering my bedroom I was filled with utter shock as upon my bed was the clear indentation of a sleeping child. The memory foam mattress holding this outline and making no attempt to return to its original shape. I grabbed my phone and attempted to photograph the bed still holding this child’s outline, but the image my phone screen displayed showed a perfectly formed mattress. I turned back to the bed to see the indentation still there, then back to my phone to see a perfect, undisturbed mattress……I totally freaked out and shouted “this is my room, you are not welcome here, please go and never return.” The mattress slowly began to fill out. From that moment on the room can only be described as returning to normal. The mattress never again showed this indentation of a child, the fan never moved on its own, and the temperature returned to normal, no longer feeling like an icebox.
I have never felt a presence there since. I have no explanation for any of this experience and never attained any evidence to support or reject any of the things that have happened.
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