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- [00:00]
Advertiser 1
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- [01:16]
Peyton Moreland
To an ONO Media Podcast. Hi everyone and welcome back to the into the Dark podcast. I'm your host Peyton Moreland. I am so happy you are here listening if you are watching on YouTube. Yes I did just roll out of bed and start recording. Yes I still am in my pajamas. Thank you for leaving a comment and letting me know how cute my pajamas are today. That is a great way to interact with the show and I really appreciate your comment. If you are listening on audio and can leave me a five star review about how cute my pajamas are today and how much you love the show, that is also awesome and I would love you forever jumping straight into my 10 seconds. My microphone doesn't have a pop filter on it so if I'm a little popping peas today that's why because I can't find it because Garrett and I, like I said, left town for the 4th of July and I lost my pop filter somewhere along the way. But don't worry, I have a new one on the way. It was so funny. While we were away for the 4th of July there was a pond that kind of had like a rock retaining wall around it and I took Daisy because I figured she would want to swim in the pond and she did like go in and out. But what she actually spent more time doing and fell in love with was scaling the rocks like a goat. Literally around the entire pond walking sideways on this huge retaining wall of rocks for hours, like finding new paths. She looked like a cat. And I'm not gonna lie, Daisy girl is so cute, but she is not the most coordinated dog. I have watched her run and jump and miss things multiple times. So I'm not quite sure how she was able to just run around those rocks so quickly and never lose her footing. I feel like maybe she's purposely missing things when I'm watching and she's running and jumping just to get some pets. But that could just be a tinfoil tale in my own life. That being said, let's get straight into today's case. Now, a lot of times when I cover the story of a person who went missing or who was murdered, we end up focusing on their family, the people who are left behind to try to make sense of their loved ones disappearance or even death. And sometimes they organize search parties, they hang posters or go to the press to beg for tips. But usually there's very little they can actually do to move the case forward. The police take the lead on the investigation and the relatives just have to do their best to stay out of the way. They may feel frustrated and powerless while they sit on the sidelines. However, that is not the story I'm telling today. I want to tell you about a family that took control of an investigation and possibly solved a murder. So let's start by meeting a teenage girl named Carrie Gilpin. Now, in the fall of 1986, Carrie was just 16 years old and she was very busy. Okay, as a teenager she had plans to eventually go to college. So she's keeping up her grades while working a part time job at a Blue Cross Blue Shield. She comes from a family of five. She has a mother and a father and two younger siblings. Carrie is the oldest. Her sister Tracy is actually just 11 months younger than her. And then they also have a little brother. Now, they all used to live together near the Massachusetts shore, actually not too far from Plymouth. But at one point while Carrie was still a little girl, her parents actually got a divorce. Her brother stayed with their father while their mother kept the girls and she decided to move to be closer to her extended family. So Carrie, Tracy and their mom all relocated a little further north to Kingston, Massachusetts. Harry and her sister did their best to adjust to their new lives and new school. But Tracy, her little sister, had an easier time of things. She was naturally charismatic and fun to be around. She didn't have to work very hard to make friends. People flocked to her. And by the time she was in high school, she's getting invited to parties and going out all the time. But along the way, Tracy, the younger sister, also develops a bad habit. She likes to stay out late, so late that it's not safe for her to walk home on her own. And she can't drive because she's still only 15 years old. So whenever she's out too late, she sleeps over at a friend's house, which is a smart decision, except usually she never calls her home to explain that she isn't coming home. So night after night, her mother sits by the door, waiting for her to get back, worried out of her mind. And then every morning afterward, Tracy would just come home like it was no big deal. Her mother would beg her to remember to call next time. But Tracy, at 15, never quite gets into the habit. Now, eventually, her whole family just kind of gets used to this quirk. They stop fretting every time Tracy stays out all night, and it kind of just becomes a normal part of their life. You got to pick and choose your battles.
- [06:31]
Advertiser 3
But.
- [06:31]
Peyton Moreland
But I don't want to make it sound like Tracy's an out of control party animal. She's pretty responsible. A lot of the families in the neighborhood actually hire her as a babysitter. They know they can trust their kids with her. And on October 1, 1986, when Tracy is 15 years old, that is what she's doing. She's babysitting. And once the job is done, she goes home and she brags to her family about how much money she just made. In fact, Tracy feels like celebrating. And she knows that a friend of hers is throwing a party just down the block, not far away at all. It's still pretty early, so Tracy heads out to go to the party. After babysitting with some friends, she has a great time, but she's ready to head home at 10:30pm now, by now, lots of people are leaving and the gathering does seem to be winding down. So when Tracy leaves, two other friends agree to walk home with her. Now, keep in mind, like I said, Tracy's house is only two blocks away from this party. So it's not like it's going to take her a super long time to get back. And it's a very safe neighborhood, the sort of place where everybody knows everyone. There isn't a lot of through traffic either. Still, at this time of night, Tracy feels more comfortable having her friends with her. So she leaves with her two friends. But then they get to the first person's house and they say goodnight. And go inside. And now Tracy's only with one other person, and they make it to that person's house next, and that person goes inside. So now Tracy has to finish the rest of the walk alone. And before doing this, she actually ducks into a nearby convenience store and she buys a pack of cigarettes and asks to use the phone. And in the store she calls the friend who was hosting the party and she says, hey, can you actually come pick me up and just drive me the rest of the way home? I guess she figures that her own family would be asleep by now since it's after 11. But the friend has to still be awake, and she's probably free now that the party is over. Except the host says, I actually can't leave. There are still some people at the house. So she's sorry, but she can't give Tracy a ride now. After they hang up, Tracy decides, okay, well, I guess I have no choice. I'll just walk the rest of the way home alone. So Tracy strolls out of the convenience store and she's never seen alive again. Except it takes her family a while to realize that something's wrong. And it's because of what I mentioned before. Tracy has a habit of staying out all night without a word. So her siblings and mother have no idea that she went missing while trying to walk home from the party. Instead, they figure she probably just went somewhere with another friend and she'll be back in the morning. So no one thinks anything of it. Not until the next day when they start getting calls from Tracy's friends. And they're all like, hey, we haven't heard from her all day. That's not like her. Where is she? What is she doing? Clearly, nobody had seen her since they left the party. And that's enough for Tracy's mother to realize something is probably wrong. So right away, she hops in her car and drives around town looking for Tracy. She even goes all the way down to a local beach. It would be very out of character for Tracy to go on a spontaneous midnight swim after the party. But her mother at this point is desperate and she can't think of anywhere else she would be. She's willing to search for her daughter just about anywhere. Unfortunately, Tracy isn't on the shoreline or any of the other places that her mother checks that morning. And when she doesn't see any sign of her, her mother calls the police to report her 15 year old daughter missing. Now, sadly, like so many cases before, the detectives don't take it very seriously. Instead, the officers immediately say, hey, your 15 year old daughter must be a runaway. Her mother argues no. Yes, she likes to go out, but this is completely out of character for her to disappear without telling anyone. But still, the police refused to lift a finger for almost an entire week. So until October 6th. In the meanwhile, her loved ones do everything they can to find her without help from law enforcement. They organize searches and plaster missing persons flyers all over the local stores and street lamps. But none of these efforts help. Nobody calls in with any tips. Tracy never comes home. And no one can even guess what happened to her after she left that convenience store. All right, you guys, I'm getting into an ad and the other day I was streaming live on Twitch and I got a notification that it was time for me to place another quince order because they are sponsoring this podcast and I could not be more excited that they are sponsoring into the Dark. If you've listened to my other show, Murder with My Husband, you know I love Quince. I have been shopping with them for years. 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Go to quince.comdark for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. You guys, just good quality staples. Go check it out. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com dark to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com dark all right, you guys, I want to talk to you about factor meals. Factor meals arrive fresh and ready to eat. Perfect for any active lifestyle over summer and beyond. Factors Chef crafted dietitian approved meals are ready in just two minutes. Taking the hassle out of eating well. And with 45 weekly menu options, you can pick gourmet meals that fit your summer gains angles. Choose from options like Calorie Smart Protein plus keto, and more. If you guys know Factor has been a longtime sponsor of this show and we truly love them, you know that what you're getting is good for you. It's good quality food and it is so fast and easy. Factor genuinely just makes it easy for me to stick to my goal of eating protein while also not really having to put much thought into it. So get started@Factor Meals.com Dark50OFF and use code DARK50OFF to get 50 off plus free shipping on your first box. You guys, if you ever wanted to try Factor Mills, use my code because you get get 50 off and free shipping. That's code dark50off@factormills.com dark50off for 50 off plus free shipping factor meals.com dark50off so three weeks go by. By late October, Tracy's family is desperate for information. They know something bad has happened, but police haven't come up with a single lead and it's starting to look hopeless. But her older sister Carrie, who I talked about at the beginning of the story, is doing her best to keep her spirits up. Live Life. So on October 22, she's working a shift at the Blue Cross Blue Shield. Her workday isn't even over yet when she hears an announcement over the intercom. It says that she needs to report to the lobby, and the second Carrie gets there, she spots her mom at her work waiting for her. She's crying, and right away Carrie gets a pit in her stomach because she knows this has something to do with her missing sister, Tracy, and it isn't good news. Sure enough, Carrie's mother tells her that her sister has been found dead. But the news is even darker than that. Tracy didn't die in an accident. She had been murdered. The police can tell from the state of her body, which was discovered earlier that day. It happened when a woman was picking flowers in the Miles Standish State Forest, which is a remote wooded area about 14 miles away from town and right near the park's entrance. The woman saw Tracy's body buried under some leaves. Some of her clothes had been removed and her head had been crushed beneath a giant 74 pound rock. It was heavy enough to fracture her skull in multiple places. And that's what killed her. Her body was decomposed, meaning Tracy hadn't died recently. It was more like she probably Died the night she went missing. And she had been laying here for the past three weeks. The deterioration is bad enough that the police able to identify her, actually using dental records, but now that they know who this is, the officers scour the crime scene looking for clues, and unfortunately, they don't learn very much. There is some DNA on Tracy's body, but since it's 1986 and genetic technology isn't as good as it is today, there's not much they can do with it Other than that material. There isn't any clear evidence of who did it, Nor is there any obvious leads. Tracy didn't have any enemies who would want to hurt her. And besides the question of who did it, the police also can't figure out how they did it. I mean, the big question about how she ended up in the state park, she obviously didn't walk 14 miles off course on her way trying to get home. So her killer must have taken her in a car. But it seems very unlikely that she would have just accepted a ride from a stranger. She was a little too cautious by this point. And Also, it was 86 again. She was only, like, two blocks away from home. The police's best theory is that maybe someone she knew and trusted Actually picked her up on the road that night, maybe offered to give her that ride home. And she may have willingly gotten into the car, Believing the driver was safe. The detectives know that if they can figure out who she would trust enough to accept a ride from, they could identify a suspect. But the problem is that, again, nobody in her family or social circle really had a clear motive. So pretty quickly, Tracy's case goes cold, and years go by without any movement in the case. During those years, Tracy's mother and father actually eventually get back together. Apparently, neither wants to deal with the grief of losing their daughter alone. So the father moves into the house in Kingston, and Tracy's mother refuses to leave this house because it's full of memories of her murdered daughter. I mean, the family is powerless to solve the case or bring her justice, but at least they can honor her in their own small ways. Now, after her parents remarry, they have another son together, A boy who will never meet or get to know his older sister. And as for Tracy's oldest sibling, Carrie, she's passionate about finding justice for all of the murder victims all over the world, which is a part of the reason why, in college, she actually gets a job as a security guard. It's a way for her to make money while trying to keep the people around her safe. And then she eventually decides she actually wants to become a police officer. Carrie takes all of the tests that are needed for licensing and ultimately enrolls in the police academy. After she completes the program, she becomes an officer with the Massachusetts State police department. This is the same department that is in charge of her little sister Tracy's open case. And even after all of these years, it is still unsolved. Now, of course, Carrie wants to spend all of her time investigating Tracy's murder and trying to find the killer. This was a major reason she even became a cop. But that is not practical. There are a lot of other cases that she needs to work on as well. In fact, Carrie learns that the department is actually stretched thin. There just aren't enough detectives to give every victim or missing person the attention they actually deserve. So for a while, Tracy's case needs to fall by the wayside. While Carrie focuses on others, she does her best to work hard and be the best police officer she can be. Now, the good news is, is that her passion pays off, and she gets promoted again and again. And eventually, Carrie earns the rank of colonel. And from there, she's appointed to be the supervisor of the department, meaning she's now in charge. And finally, that's when she gets the authority to reopen her sister's murder case and pour herself into trying to solve it. Now, in 2017, she and her family members pool their funds to offer a $10,000 reward for any tips that might lead them to Tracy's killer. Again, this is now 2017, but nobody comes forward with any usable information. Now, later that year, they all increase the offer to $25,000. Still don't get any takers. Now, before you know it, 2018 has arrived. It has been a smidge over 31 years since Tracy's murder. Carrie, her sister, became a cop to try and solve it. That's when finally, she and her team get a break. They realize that the night before she went missing, Tracy actually went over to a friend's house. So this was before the party, before babysitting. His name was Michael Hand. And while the police didn't have any reason to think that that visit the day before is related to the murder, they also realized that back then, they never got a statement from Michael. Maybe he knew a little bit more about what was going on in Tracy's life. Now, Michael is a lot older than Tracy. Remember, she was 15 at the time of her death. And at that time, he was actually in his late 20s. So late 20s, hanging out with a 15 year old the day before she gets murdered. By now, he's 59 years old. When the officers come and knock on his door, he readily agrees to give a statement. And the police also ask him to give a DNA sample. And he offers one without resistance. Then the detectives ask him some routine questions. They're like, hey, we should have done this a while ago. We. They didn't back then. And he gives the usual answers. It seems like this interrogation is going nowhere. But then Michael says something pretty odd. Namely, all of the sudden, in this interrogation, he says he witnessed Tracy's abduction. He was on the scene at the time of her murder. Now, police are like, what? Wait, what? They want to hear about what he saw. They're also like, why haven't you said anything? Why have you been quiet? And now you're just like, willingly giving up this information? In fact, they almost wonder if he's lying. But they want to get the story out before they argue with him. And they only become even more suspicious once he gives his testimony. Because I'm gonna be honest, it is outlandish. Now, according to Michael, he was at a gas station filling up his tank on the night of October 1st. This is the night of Tracy's disappearance and murder. And the day after he had hung out with her, he says. Then a strange car pulled up. Michael saw Tracy in the car, and the driver, according to him, was a man named Henry Meinholt. Now, I should note that Henry was actually convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering an underage girl several years after Tracy's death. Of course, that hadn't happened yet on the night when Tracy was killed. But Michael has to know about Henry's criminal record when he eventually gives this statement to the police. So Michael's story goes that he felt very suspicious when he saw Henry and Tracy in the car together that night. After Henry got his gas and drove away with Tracy, Michael decided to follow them. He tells police he tailed the car all the way to Miles Standish State park, which, you'll remember, is exactly where Tracy's body was later found. According to Michael, by the time he got there, he had lost track of Henry and his car. So he parked and wandered around the woods for a while. But he didn't actually see the murder happen. Instead, he spotted Henry leaving the forest with a tarp and a shovel in his hands. Now, Michael wasn't being very discreet, so right away, according to him, Henry spotted him and told him to come back into the forest with him. Michael said he was terrified because the evidence all suggested that Henry was a brutal killer. In fact, he said at that point, he was just too scared to tell Henry no. So the two men walked over to the area where Henry had left Tracy's body. Along the way, Michael said he put his hand down on a sharp rock, and it cut him deep enough to draw blood. Tells police, so you just took my DNA, and it might be at the crime scene. Because of that, he's like, but I'm not the killer. I'm not the killer, Okay? I was just there. And because I was following and trying to save Tracy, I was just too late. I'm not sure if he has an explanation for how he eventually got away from Henry or how this ended. But it's safe to say that when he's telling the story, the police think it's unbelievable. In fact, back when Henry got convicted of that other murder, the police actually explored the possibility that he might have been Tracy's killer. So way back then, they tested his DNA, but it didn't match the material from Tracy's body. He also had an airtight alibi that proved he wasn't in town at the time of Tracy's abduction. But Michael doesn't know that. So now when they're interviewing Michael, they know that he's lying about seeing Tracy in the car with Henry. And they encourage him to tell the story again, but this time to stick to the truth. And Henry argues, no, I am telling the truth. And once it's clear that he won't cooperate, they start using more aggressive interrogation tactics. They twist his words, accusing him of contradicting himself in situations where his story is actually consistent. The officers also lie to him, saying they have physical evidence that proves he's the real killer. But the truth is, they don't have any evidence against him, Just the odd story that he told in his interrogation. He's the only person that's tied him to this. So it's clear that the police are trying to pressure Michael at this point. They want him to feel like he has no choice but to confess. But eventually, Michael just begs the police to let him go home. He says he has a medical condition and he has to take medicine regular. So the officers let him leave. But two days later, they call him back in for another grueling day long interrogation. They start by forcing Michael to take a polygraph test. And he's hooked up to the machine for a total of four hours. After the test, they tell him he failed. Now, lie detectors are notoriously unreliable. You can fail even if you're telling the truth. Especially if you're stressed out, which Michael, at this point, definitely is.
- [25:29]
Advertiser 1
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- [26:24]
Peyton Moreland
Now, after his polygraph examination, he has to sit in an interrogation room while the officers hurl insults at him and question him. This lasts until just after 4pm on March 9, 2018. And by this time, he's exhausted. He's not thinking straight half the time. Instead of answering the officer's questions, he's just saying, can I please go home and take my medicine? And it should be no surprise that Michael's story starts to change as the hours go by. First, he says he might have picked up the rock that killed Tracy while she was still alive. Police ask him if he could have dropped it on her head and killed her by accident. And Michael concedes, I guess that's what could have happened. But he's not willing to actually say for sure that he killed Tracy on accident or otherwise. And then he adjusts his account so that he could have dropped the rock on Tracy without even realizing it. So his theory is that he wasn't intentionally lying either. He's like, I guess he really thought he had nothing to do with the homicide. But now he realizes it could be possible that he might have done it after all. And the police keep pushing. They don't want Michael to admit to accidentally killing Tracy or claiming that he doesn't remember if he killed her. They want hard evidence that the murder was intentional. And finally, after an extremely long day and at a breaking point, he confesses. He says he kidnapped and murdered Tracy on purpose. When the police show him crime scene photos, he identifies the exact rock he used to bash her head in. And his identification is correct. It is the correct rock, meaning with this confession, the police finally have their culprit after more than 30 years. Except then the officers of actually drive Michael back home. Presumably, they have to file for an arrest warrant and handle some other things before they can actually arrest him. So Michael spends about an hour at his place before he calls the pastor of the church that he attends. And on the phone he says, I think I'm about to be arrested for murder. Then he gives his pastor a story that's pretty similar to what he told police, but it has a few key differences. Michael says that on the night of Tracy's death, he witnessed her abduction. He hasn't. He had nothing to do with it. So, like he originally said that he felt like he had to rescue her, which is why he followed the kidnapper all the way to the Miles Standish State Forest. Of course, the woods were dark and hard to navigate, and eventually, Michael claims to have lost track of them. He was walking around aimlessly. Eventually, he either knocked over a heavy stone or picked it up and threw it. The confession was a bit vague, so I'm not sure about the exact details, but he says that in a highly improbable stroke of bad luck, he thinks that rock just happened to land on Tracy, who had been right underneath it. So to summarize, Michael admitted that he killed Tracy, but he was back to saying it was an accident. He was actually trying to save her when he accidentally killed her. Now, I should note that when Michael tells his pastor all of this, he isn't seeking spiritual guidance. He instead, he wants the minister to run some errands for him. Michael thinks the police will be back at his home any minute now, and he won't have a chance to wrap up some important paperwork. So he wants the reverend to drive to his house, gather those important documents, and hold on to them for him. Well, the pastor tells him that he's sorry, but he has other important commitments and he can't help Michael. And afterward, nobody ends up helping him, because before the end of the day on March 9, the officers return to arrest Michael and they charge him with first degree murder. Now, after the pastor hears about Michael's arrest and that it's first degree, he has some mixed feelings. Mostly, he thinks that, of course, it's good when murderers get caught and justice is served. But he also wants to be a good minister to Michael. And that means he might have an ethical obligation to keep the. The confession to himself. Pastors are not supposed to gossip about the things people tell them in confidence. Now, obviously, this is a high stakes situation. So the pastor asks his own son for advice. Son actually works as a police officer, but in a different division from the one that's handling Tracy's case. Still, he knows how important this confession could be to the investigation. And he tells his father that he has to go to the police station with what he knows. And the pastor follows his son's advice after he gives a statement. The officers now have two admissions from Michael. The original one he gave in his interrogation, and then the one he made to the pastor after leaving the interrogation. But even with all of this evidence, it is almost impossible to get a trial date. Instead, Michael hits delay after delay. First, there is a huge battle over the confession that he gave during his interrogation, because obviously, his lawyer wants it to be inadmissible in the courtroom. Their argument is something that I have covered on this show before. Sometimes innocent people confess to murders they didn't actually commit, especially when the police are using high pressure tactics. Clearly, the officers who questioned Michael were really applying the pressure. I'll also say that people with lower IQs are statistically more likely to give false confessions. And Michael scored lower than average when he took an intelligence test. So according to Michael's lawyer, the confession was coerced and therefore not credible. I mean, the detectives were walking a shaky line here. So according to Michael's attorney, Michael is an innocent man who just cracked and then gave a false statement out of stress and exhaustion. Except then that leaves the confession he went on to give his pastor. Well in the lead up to the trial. Michael's lawyer also says those statements were coerced, too. Obviously, the minister didn't pressure Michael to lie. But Michael did make the call less than an hour after getting home, Meaning he hadn't really had a chance to rest, recover, or get out of the mental state that he had been put in at the time of the first false confession. Now, a judge does agree with this argument. So they say that neither confession can be mentioned in front of the jury. I want to be clear. It takes a long time for the judge to make this ruling. First, there are years of hearings and debates, and the trial date keeps getting pushed back. You add in the delays and the chaos around Covid. And while it has been over seven years since Michael was arrested, and he still hasn't gone to court as of today, he has spent the entire time behind bars because a judge denied him bail. Now, it's impossible to say whether Michael will be convicted or not or if he's guilty or not. We'll just have to see how his trial goes. I hope there's more evidence at trial, but it's worth mentioning that even though his confessions aren't admissible, Michael has apparently been bragging to other people in jail during these seven years. Reports say that there are a lot of witnesses who have come forward and say that Michael admitted to killing Tracy. These are other inmates who are incarcerated with him, and they've all heard him say he did it. So that sounds pretty compelling. But get this. As I mentioned before, the police took a DNA sample from Michael. When they tested it against the DNA they pulled from Tracy's body, It's not a match. So that's a big point in favor of the defense. And then add in the fact that they got the confessions ruled out. All to say, it's hard to know where the truth lies and whether Michael will actually be convicted. There's also a lot of controversy about whether he's guilty or innocent. But as I tell this story, I just keep thinking about Carrie Gilpin, who spent her whole life trying to solve her sister's murder. Maybe she found the culprit after decades of hard work and dedication. Or maybe the evidence will show Michael's innocent and she'll have to dive right back into the search for the real killer. There's a third possibility, too. Even if Michael is convicted, Harry will always have to wonder if there's more to the story. Even if the case is solved and closed, there probably will always be room for a little uncertainty here. I will definitely be keeping up with this story in case it's an extremely confusing and intriguing one. It's also a case where I wish detectives wouldn't have gone as hard in interrogation because they didn't have a lot of evidence. And that is a fine line to walk. I have to say I am not shocked that the confessions are getting thrown out in this case. I just don't know whether that's beneficial or harmful to the case because I genuinely don't know what happened. All right, you guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode, and I will see you next time as we go further into the dark together. Goodbye.
- [35:37]
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