For nearly two decades, an anonymous writer terrorised a small town in Ohio using nothing more than pen, paper, and intimate knowledge.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, residents of Circleville received threatening letters accusing them of affairs, corruption, and hidden crimes. The writer knew personal details that were not public, and when the letters were ignored, the threats escalated. One man was convicted. The letters did not stop.

In this episode of Compact Mysteries, we investigate the Circleville Letters. We trace the origins of the campaign, examine the arrest and conviction of a prime suspect, and confront the most disturbing question of all: how did the letters continue even after someone was sent to prison?

Was the wrong person convicted? Was there more than one letter writer? Or did the truth vanish along with the author's identity?

🎧 Listen now to one of America's most unsettling cases of anonymous harassment.

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The Mystery of the Circleville Letters