Monthly Archives: August 2019

Prison City Murders – Case 7 – The Nicest Guy



Late Friday night, the day after Thanksgiving, November 28th, 1958.

Wolcott, Kansas.

18-year-old University of Kansas sophomore, Lowell Lee Andrews, calls the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office. He reports that there has been a burglary at his family’s farmhouse near the tiny Wolcott neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas. In the house, he has found his mother, father, and sister–all dead.

I’d appreciate it if you would subscribe to Prison City Murders and write a review. Even critical feedback is appreciated. You can email me at prisoncitymurders@gmail.com or comment on the cases below.

Thank you so much for listening and until next time, please don’t murder anybody. I don’t think you can listen to podcasts behind bars.

Sources used for this episode are listed below:

2010 retrospective for New York Daily News by David J. Krajicek.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nicest-boy-wolcott-polite-lowell-lee-andrews-proved-cold-kansas-killer-article-1.198046

https://www2.ljworld.com/

https://www.doc.ks.gov/

https://www.kansascity.com/

https://kansascity.newsbank.com

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/

https://www.genealogybank.com/

https://www.findagrave.com/

https://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/gsrstillviable.html

https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/the-m-naghten-rule.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Menninger-family

https://www.atchisonglobenow.com/

https://themercury.com/

https://www2.ljworld.com/

https://oklahoman.com/

https://www.leavenworthtimes.com/


Prison City Murders — Case 6 Part 2 — Evil Stepmother



Saturday, May 3rd, 1980. Miami County, Kansas.

Mark and Barry, ages 17 and 14, decide to go fishing near Bull Creek in Miami County, Kansas, maybe an hour’s drive south of Kansas City. The area is deserted countryside—soon to be underwater when a Marais des Cygnes Reservoir Project is completed. After they tire of fishing, they go off to explore the nearby woods and fields. When Barry sees a fresh mound of dirt near the creek, the two teens walk over to look more closely. Ominously, the mound is 10 inches high, 6 feet long, and 4 feet wide. When they spot a piece of denim and a red shirt sticking out from the dirt, they poke gingerly at the cloth. They recoil at terrible smell and cry out “It’s a body.” Poking some more, they see what looks like it might be a knee. That’s finally enough for our young adventurers. Barry yells “We better go tell my mom” as they race away from the scene.

I posted the links to the sources used for this episode below. These sources were especially important:

  • Reporter Andy Hoffman’s book Family Affairs was invaluable. His website is https://www.andyhoffmanbooks.com
  • Area newspaper provide excellent coverage of the case, particularly the Kansas City Star, Olathe Daily News, and the Columbia Missourian.

I’d appreciate it if you would subscribe to Prison City Murders and write a review. Even critical feedback is appreciated. Recently I set up an email for the podcase prisoncitymurders@gmail.com or you can comment on the cases on this website. 

Thank you so much for listening and until next time, please don’t murder anybody. I don’t think you can listen to podcasts behind bars.

Sources:

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Moore_(politician)

https://andyhoffmanbooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/update-on-my-book-family-affairs-twenty.html

https://www.doc.ks.gov/

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/07/A-jury-Friday-convicted-Sueanne-Hobson-of-first-degree-murder/3279389592000/

https://www.kansascity.com/

https://kansascity.newsbank.com

https://newspaperarchive.com/us/kansas/olathe/olathe-daily-news

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/

https://www.genealogybank.com/

https://www.findagrave.com/


Prison City Murders — Case 6 Part 1 — Evil Stepmother



Saturday, May 3rd, 1980. Miami County, Kansas.

Mark and Barry, ages 17 and 14, decide to go fishing near Bull Creek in Miami County, Kansas, maybe an hour’s drive south of Kansas City. The area is deserted countryside—soon to be underwater when a Marais des Cygnes Reservoir Project is completed. After they tire of fishing, they go off to explore the nearby woods and fields. When Barry sees a fresh mound of dirt near the creek, the two teens walk over to look more closely. Ominously, the mound is 10 inches high, 6 feet long, and 4 feet wide. When they spot a piece of denim and a red shirt sticking out from the dirt, they poke gingerly at the cloth. They recoil at terrible smell and cry out “It’s a body.” Poking some more, they see what looks like it might be a knee. That’s finally enough for our young adventurers. Barry yells “We better go tell my mom” as they race away from the scene.

I posted the links to the sources used for this episode below. These sources were especially important:

  • Reporter Andy Hoffman’s book Family Affairs was invaluable. His website is https://www.andyhoffmanbooks.com
  • Area newspaper provide excellent coverage of the case, particularly the Kansas City Star, Olathe Daily News, and the Columbia Missourian.

I’d appreciate it if you would subscribe to Prison City Murders and write a review. Even critical feedback is appreciated. Recently I set up an email for the podcase prisoncitymurders@gmail.com or you can comment on the cases on this website. 

Thank you so much for listening and until next time, please don’t murder anybody. I don’t think you can listen to podcasts behind bars.

Sources:

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Moore_(politician)

https://andyhoffmanbooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/update-on-my-book-family-affairs-twenty.html

https://www.doc.ks.gov/

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/07/A-jury-Friday-convicted-Sueanne-Hobson-of-first-degree-murder/3279389592000/

https://www.kansascity.com/

https://kansascity.newsbank.com

https://newspaperarchive.com/us/kansas/olathe/olathe-daily-news

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/

https://www.genealogybank.com/

https://www.findagrave.com/


Prison City Murders — Case 5 How to Ruin Your Life



6:30 pm, Thursday, June 13th, 1996.  Overland Park, Kansas.

A beautician at the Snip ‘N’ Clip Hair Salon finishes trimming a client’s hair. She and her customer walk to the front of the store. They see two young men approach the rear of a convertible parked outside. One of the men gets into the driver’s side of the vehicle. The other man points a gun through the open window at the man sitting in the passenger’s seat. As the passenger exits the car, a shot is fired.


Reporter Tony Rizzo covered the carjacking story and the trial for the Kansas City Star. The Star also did excellent coverage on the escape. There is information online about the interviews with Toby. Just google ‘Escape Lansing Toby Dog’ and you’ll find them. A very good interview was conducted by Lauren Fox at http://www.KansasCity.com.

I’d appreciate it if you would subscribe to Prison City Murders and write a review. Even critical feedback is appreciated. Recently I set up an email for the podcase prisoncitymurders@gmail.com or you can comment on the cases here. If you think I was too hard on ‘poor’ Toby, let me know, because I would still like to sentence her to be in a room with the  formidable Nancy Grace for a while. For now, I’m just hoping she gets some real therapy someday.

Main Sources:

http://www.kscourts.org/cases-and-opinions/opinions/supct/1999/19990416/79051.htm

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article216044285.html

https://www.kmbc.com/article/toby-young-talks-about-escape-prison-life/3649543

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/exclusive-kansas-jail-worker-talks-helping-man-escape-article-1.2265651

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-fmcc-criminallaw/

https://www.safeharborprisondogs.com

https://tobydorr.com

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://newspaperarchive.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/

https://www.genealogybank.com/

https://www.findagrave.com/


Prison City Murders — Case 4 Too Smart for Murder



Friday, November 14th, 2003.  Near Lawrence, Kansas.

Two Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies conduct a welfare check at an isolated farmhouse. They find the scene of a bloody struggle in the living room. A women’s body lies face up on the floor. She is brutally beaten and stabbed multiple times. She appears to have been dead about a day. As the deputies search the house, they find a little girl’s room filled with toys and books. The little girl cannot be found.

I posted the links to the sources used for this episode in the show notes. Author and Attorney Robert Beattie wrote the definitive book on this case Language of Evil. I highly recommend it. It’s available on Amazon. You can also find Dr. Thomas Murray’s scholarly works online, like The Language of Sadomasochism (available on Amazon for only $38.00 plus free shipping)  For newspaper reports, I used the Lawrence Journal World, and the Manhattan Mercury.  48 Hours and a couple of other true crime tv series covered the case. I remember watching the 48 Hours episode when it came out not too long after the trial. It was very good. The family and police cooperated, and they even got to put cameras in the courtroom for the trial.

https://www.amazon.com/Language-Evil-Robert-Beattie/dp/0451225309

https://www2.ljworld.comhttps://themercury.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-mind-for-murder/

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ks-supreme-court/1131588.html

http://skepdic.com/consegrity.html

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://newspaperarchive.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/

https://www.genealogybank.com/