The Cheat Sheet: Jingles and Justice

Summary

Murder Sheet – The Cheat Sheet: Jingles and Justice

Release Date: August 7, 2026
Hosts: Áine Cain (A) and Kevin Greenlee (B)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Murder Sheet focuses on a mix of unsolved cold cases and disturbing murder-suicides with an emphasis on both investigative detail and the broader psychological or societal issues at play. The hosts balance heavy content with their characteristic banter and empathy, exploring cases from Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, and Michigan. Listeners can expect in-depth reporting, thoughtful analysis, and reflections on the complexities of crime, victimhood, and community.

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Main Discussion Themes

• Value of covering difficult cases: The importance of remembering victims, raising awareness, and having critical conversations about society's dark sides.
• Balancing dark subject matter with compassion and community responsibility.
• Listener engagement: Inviting listeners to share feedback on possible future “happy episodes.”
• Exploring the psychological drivers and warning signs behind murder-suicides, especially family annihilation cases.

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Episode Structure and Key Segments

1. Opening Reflections on True Crime and Community (04:03–09:40)

Key Points:

• Áine and Kevin reflect humorously and philosophically on their podcast’s “vibe” – dropping dark stories before listeners' weekends.
• Debating whether to produce a “happy episode” of the show; Áine wonders about lightening things occasionally, Kevin (in classic deadpan fashion) resists:

  “If I wanted to be happy, I’d go outside and touch grass. I want to know about bad stuff happening. That’s why I listen to true crime.” – Kevin (04:46)

• Listeners encouraged to submit positive crime stories if they exist.

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2. Case 1: The Unsolved 1988 Murder of Evelyn Matchett (11:02–17:43)

Background:

• Evelyn Matchett, 67, a widow living alone on Pretty Lake, LaGrange County, Indiana, strangled in her home on February 3 or 4, 1988.
• Case remains unsolved despite extensive investigation by Indiana State Police and LaGrange County Sheriff.
• Emphasis on how actions of listeners might help—asking those with ties to Pretty Lake/Lagrange County to talk to family, share memories.

  “It might just be something you noticed that really didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but now does. … Your grandma might be like, ‘Oh, yeah, there was that guy,’ and didn’t think it was important enough to go with. But you could be the catalyst for change…” – Áine (13:55)

Call to Action:

• If you know anything, contact Indiana State Police at [e-mail] or 260-403-2841.

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3. Case 2: The 1987 Baton Rouge Murder of Jingle Writer Thomas L. Klotz (21:10–31:12)

Background:

• Klotz, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, wrote radio jingles, killed in Red Carpet Inn (April 18, 1987) during a work trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• Brutally bound and stabbed; car stolen and later recovered.
• Decades-old DNA evidence finally leads to arrest of Sean Atkinson in 2019—but the case bizarrely stalls due to detective reassignment and lack of follow-up, only resuming recently.
• Áine expresses frustration at the way cold cases can be inadvertently stalled by police bureaucracy:

  “It sounds like they had the friggin’ case solved. … It can be very political. It’s very upsetting to me when that happens. … Messing around with this stuff, it bothers me.” – Áine (28:25)

Notable Moment:

• The hosts riff on jingles and their power (“Kevin’s love jingle” joke), showing their dry chemistry even on grim topics (24:28–25:32).

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4. Case 3: Restaurant Operator Matthew Mitchell Murder-Suicide, Houston, Texas (31:50–43:04)

Background:

• In May, Matthew Mitchell killed his wife, Ty (respected for her work in the Houston community), their children (ages 4 and 8), and himself.
• A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ty’s parents accuses Mitchell’s relatives of helping him hide assets as his financial troubles mounted.
• Extensive Ring camera audio reveals the perpetrator’s downward spiral:

  “12:31pm: Complete despair. … 12:49pm: I wanted to spare her pain. Spare my kids the pain. There’s no way to figure this out..." – Matthew Mitchell (selected quotes, 37:00–39:00)

• Áine and Kevin highlight the extreme selfishness in such crimes, noting Mitchell’s focus on his own humiliation over his family’s lives:

  “It’s all about how he looks to the public. … That’s the most important thing in the world.” – Kevin (39:36) “You can survive all that. … But you can’t survive death. And not giving your family, like, even the option of that, your little children, is horrible.” – Áine (41:08)

• Kevin offers support: “If there’s anybody listening … please talk to somebody. And know it doesn’t have to end this way.” (40:05)

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5. Case 4: Kiewicz Family Murder-Suicide, Grand Haven Township, Michigan (43:04–50:44)

Background:

• In Michigan, Christopher Carol Kiewicz killed his wife Amanda and their six children (and their pets), then set their home on fire and took his own life.
• Investigation reveals possible motives: marital discord, infidelity, counseling, financial issues.
• Amanda may have sought support and solace via anonymous Reddit posts before her death.

  “It’s sad if someone feels like they can’t speak their fears out loud outside of something like Reddit. And that just made me think, because I think in this day and age, for a lot of us much of our social life is online…” – Kevin (47:06)

Broader Reflection:

• Áine focuses on the psychology of “family annihilators”—controlling, narcissistic parents who cannot see loved ones as individuals:

  “That’s not love … that’s just control, you know, if you loved your kids, you would want them to be alive, even if you make a choice not to be.” – Áine (49:47)

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6. Closing Thoughts and Key Takeaways (50:44–52:27)

Key Messages:

• The hosts reiterate the importance of community, support, and vigilance—reminding listeners that even the most “perfect” families can be hiding suffering.
• Áine: “These women and their children deserve so much more.” – (49:43)
• Kevin: “It’s important to maybe see the signs … a power and control dynamic or that there may be danger ahead…” – (50:58)
• Emphasis on survivors and the need to keep conversations about domestic violence and hidden abuse alive.

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “[True crime] is not about just reveling in what goes wrong and what’s bad. It’s about widening the conversation to be bigger than that.” – Áine (06:25)
• “Look at the name of the podcast. It’s not gonna be a happy story.” – Kevin (05:52)
• “We’re not trying to make anyone look good or bad. I’m just putting it out as is.” – Kevin (08:48)
• “If you have family with connections to Lagrange county ... spark up conversations. … You never know, your grandma might be like, ‘Oh yeah, there was that guy...’” – Áine (13:55)
• “It sounds like they had the friggin’ case solved. … It can be very political. … Messing around with this stuff, it bothers me.” – Áine (28:25)
• “If there’s anybody listening … please talk to somebody. And know it doesn’t have to end this way.” – Kevin (40:05)
• “You can survive all that. … But you can’t survive death.” – Áine (41:08)
• “It’s all about how he looks to the public. … That’s the most important thing in the world.” – Kevin (39:36)
• “These women and their children deserve so much more.” – Áine (49:43)
• “We should be encouraging people who are suffering in a relationship to get safe, get help, get out...” – Áine (48:42)
• “That’s not love … that’s just control.” – Áine (49:47)

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Importance of Community Support

• The episode underscores the positive role of online communities for victims, survivors, and family members in crisis.

  “Communities like Reddit at their best, do give people an outlet to talk about things that can be hard to talk about and seek comfort from a community that understands them.” – Kevin (47:19)

• Áine and Kevin encourage listeners to keep conversations alive, share tips, and look for warning signs in their own circles.

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Key Timestamps

• 04:03 – Reflections on tone of true crime media
• 11:02 – Evelyn Matchett case coverage begins
• 13:55 – Practical tips to help cold case investigations
• 21:10 – Thomas L. Klotz case, jingle writing tangent
• 28:25 – Frustration with police cold case handling
• 31:50 – Houston murder-suicide (Mitchell family) deep dive
• 37:00–39:00 – Excerpts from perpetrator’s Ring camera diary
• 43:04 – Michigan family annihilation; online community reflections
• 49:43 – Broader analysis of family annihilation psychology
• 50:58 – Final thoughts on vigilance and support

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Overall Tone and Takeaway

Jingles and Justice exemplifies The Murder Sheet’s distinctive blend of dark humor, seriousness, and ethical reporting. The hosts strive to keep victim stories alive, advocate for community vigilance, and encourage listeners to take action—whether it’s sharing tips, evaluating their own relationships, or reaching out for help. The episode ends with an affirmation:

“Even if you seemingly have a picture perfect life … you never know what’s going on behind closed doors. It’s important to maybe see the signs and look at the subtle cues … in order to protect yourself and people you love.” – Kevin (50:58)

If you or someone you know is in crisis, there are people who care and want to help. Reach out. You’re not alone.

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For case tips or to connect with the show, email: murdersheetmail.com. For further resources, check episode show notes.

Transcript

[A]

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Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's Upwork.com Upwork.com Thumbtack presents uncertainty Strikes

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I was surrounded the aisle and the options were closing in. There were paint rollers, satin and matte finish, angle brushes and natural bristles. There were too many choices. What if I never got my living room painted? What if I couldn't figure out what type of paint to use? What if I just used thumbtack? I can hire a top rated pro that knows everything about interior paint, easily compare prices and read reviews. Thumbtack knows homes. Download the app Today I'm Anya, and today on the Cheat Sheet, we're going to be doing two cold cases and two murder suicides. Content WARNING this episode contains discussion of murder, violence and suicide, including the murder of children.

[A]

You know, Anya, I was thinking it's like every week on this program, people are getting ready to go out and enjoy a happy weekend. Maybe they're doing something by themselves, maybe with friends, maybe with family. And it's like we're saying, wait a minute, before you go out, we want to tell you some really awful things.

[B]

That's the vibe we bring to the weekend barbecue.

[A]

Yeah. And thinking about that, I remember a couple weeks ago we had that story that gave everybody really hot heart cockles. And it's like, should we do a special Cheat Sheet episode sometime where it's just all happy stories? What do you think? And what do your friends, the listeners, think?

[B]

I'm not trying to kill anyone's vibe here. I've listened to true crime podcasts where they're like, oh, this we're gonna do a happy. I don't want to hear that. Save it. If I wanted to be happy, I'd go outside and touch grass. I want to know about bad stuff happening. That's why I listen to true crime. That's my take.

[A]

That's your. Well, let's see what the listener thinks. And also it can be hard what

[B]

the one listener thinks.

[A]

It can be very difficult to find, like, happy stories involving crime. And so also if you think, yeah, you should cover the happy stories, maybe send us a couple so we don't have to look for them.

[B]

I'm not trying to put anyone on blast here because I admire people who are optimistic and well adjusted, truly.

[A]

Like, you admire me.

[B]

I. Yeah, Says the guy doing a true crime podcast. I, like, love those people. You know, I feel like we need those people to have a society. Like, you know, if we're all morbid and maladjusted, that's a bad thing. But the thing is, like, when I, like, always just, like, sometimes you get comments like, oh, wow, that's really depressing. It's like, yeah, it's a murder.

[A]

Like what?

[B]

Like, look at the name of the podcast. It's not gonna be a happy story.

[A]

So for you, you have no problem. If you're about to go out, celebrate, like a happy family event, like a wedding, and I call you aside and say, anya, death, murder, destruction. Have a nice time, sweetie.

[B]

Memento mori. Okay? Remember, you will die. And. And also, like, to me, I guess I compartmentalize it a lot now and then sometimes I don't and it spills over. But I think for. For me, it's. It's like we can. Some of these stories at their best, we can memorialize the victims, talk about issues in society, and have serious adult conversations. So it's not about just reveling in what goes wrong and what's bad. It's about widening the conversation to be bigger than that. And I think that is important.

[A]

Well, can't we revel in what goes right?

[B]

What do you want to revel in right now?

[A]

I'm sure there's. I just feel bad because people are about to have fun doing their little barbecues. What do people do? Do people have barbecues? I think they do. I think they do. You go out.

[B]

Apparently you're not invited to any of them.

[A]

You go out, you watch the August fireworks.

[B]

The August fireworks.

[A]

You go to the old fishing traps. What do people do?

[B]

Kevin's trying to connect with the common man and failing like some kind of out of touch politician.

[A]

But before you do that, you know when you want happy thoughts. Yeah, we're not.

[B]

So what are we gonna become? Like, a toxically positive show? These people were murdered. But at least this happened. Like what?

[A]

Like, I'm not saying every week. I'm saying maybe we should do a happy episode.

[B]

Well, I'll let you. I don't. Maybe I'll let you find cases you find happy that. That warm. The heart cockles, as you say, and I'll let you.

[A]

Well, I don't want to do that. If people are. People are like you and they're just sad. And bitter, and that's all they want to think about. So if you want to see a happy episode, let.

[B]

Why are you doing this? Because then people will say yes, and then inevitably, I'll be like, well, it's your job now, because you're the one who put this out there. And you're like, I can't believe I said this. Why do you let me say things? Anya, that's what's going to happen.

[A]

Ultimately, all the content on the show is your responsibility.

[B]

It's my responsibility.

[A]

You're probably going to edit this episode, and if you wanted to, it could be, hey, Anya, I have an idea. Let's do things as normal.

[B]

No, I like to teach you there's consequences to your words.

[A]

Have you done that in the past? Have you, like, crudely edited things to make me say whatever you want me to say?

[B]

Edit out the heart cockles. Thing of this warms my heart.

[A]

I am very normal.

[B]

No, I've not done that. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not, like, doing the, like, the Stalin thing where he's editing that guy out of the picture. I'm. I like to. I like to just give people what.

[A]

What.

[B]

This is not trying to make anyone look good or bad. I'm just putting it out as is.

[A]

You're just living your life very laissez faire. Whatever will be, will be. Right? That's the future, not ours to see. That's what she's saying. You always go around singing songs.

[B]

Yeah, that is true. It's like a musical in here. Are you. Are you quite finished?

[A]

I just. I feel bad because you say, oh, yeah, you're going to have a happy weekend. But first, murder suicide. And so I just. I miss sharing.

[B]

Maybe they're not having a happy weekend. Maybe they. You know, maybe they're just having a normal weekend.

[A]

Well, maybe if you're having a bad weekend, maybe that's when you need to hear the happy stuff. So maybe people could have, oh, here's a happy episode of the Murder Sheet. Let's keep that in reserve. And then when something bad is happening to me, I'll have this to turn to.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

See, I'm always looking out for our dear friends, the listeners.

[B]

Yeah, you're.

[A]

You're.

[B]

You're doing a lot. Doing some. Might say too much.

[A]

Well, you're welcome.

[B]

My name is Anya Cain. I'm a journalist.

[A]

And I'm Kevin Greenlee. I'm an attorney.

[B]

And this is the Murder Sheet.

[A]

We're a true crime podcast focused on original reporting Interviews and deep dives into murder cases. We're the murder sheet and this is the cheat sheet.

[B]

Jingles and justice.

[A]

It. I look over at you, Anya, you're putting your suitcases away because we're right here in Indiana for the first case. There's no need to travel. You're just relaxing.

[B]

That's exactly right, Kevin. So this first cold case, an unsolved case at that, occurred in Indiana in 1988, February 4th, to be exact. This is a very sad case and it's even sadder because we don't know who did this. And so I'm hoping that we're going to include a link in our show. Notes to the press release put out there by the Indiana State Police, which is still working on this and that. We also have some reports from the wonderful newspapers.com, an excellent service if you're researching cold cases or even any older cases for the Muncie Indiana Star. Press covered this, as did the Reporter Times of Martinsville. And the Indianapolis Star did some good coverage. And so these are all different, different publications that I'm basing this information off of. But we'll start with the State Police's latest press release. They put out a press release about the murder of Evelyn Matchett. And she was 67 years old. She was a widow in 1988. Her husband, Albert or Dutch Matchett, had died in 1986. So she was living all by herself. She had a daughter. She was living all by herself in on Pretty Lake in Lagrange county. She was 67 years old, as I mentioned, and she was murdered in her home on that February winter's day. Now, the Indiana State Police have investigated this, as has the Lagrange County Sheriff's Department. But despite those efforts, her killer has not yet been identified. The press release notes that, quote, hundreds of hours of investigative work have been poured into this case. Every lead has been chased, every clue examined, but the answer remains hidden, end quote. So this is from the Indiana State Police Cold Case Team, which is a project that Kevin and I very much support and is. Is badly needed for the cold cases in this, in this Hoosier state. What they're saying is they think someone out there knows something. They think someone out there has information about what happened to Evelyn, you know, and, and they want you to come forward. They note that this is a woman who deserved a lot better than what she got. And I'll go into more of the. The details of her heinous murder in a moment, but, you know, it doesn't have to be like, someone doesn't have to like run up to you and be like, I killed somebody. It might be just a weird statement that lingers with you for years. It might just be something you noticed that really didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but now does. And what I would tell people is honestly the people we're reaching. I think, you know, podcast listeners, you tend to be a bit younger or you're kind of adopting new technology more. Not everyone is in that boat. So the best thing you can do is that if you have family with connections to Lagrange county, if you have people who even just kind of drifted through that, that's. Those are the people you should be sparking up conversations with. Oh, was there ever any chatter about this? Did. Was there someone in town people suspected? You know, was there someone creepy in town at the time? Like have those comp. Like that is the best thing you can do because you never know, your grandma might be like, oh yeah, there was that guy and didn't think it was important enough to go with. But you could be the catalyst for change in a case like this and get justice for Evelyn. So let's talk about what exactly happened to her. So she's found by emergency workers after her daughter, a woman in Fort Wayne, tried to call her and couldn't get a hold of her. Drove to her house and. And couldn't get a hold of her. Emergency workers go in and they find her dead body. You know, the new press release says that she was murdered on the fourth. I know at the time what they said was they believed she was murdered on February 3rd at around 8:30 p. So I don't know if they've developed that or what happened. But yeah, this is. Some of this information comes from LaGrange County Coroner Donald M. Stuckey. I know her autopsy was done in Battle Creek, Michigan. So they went out of town for that. But at first they were a bit tight lipped about any injury she might have sustained. But later on they came out with that she was strangled. So obviously, like we can imagine. Makes sense that they would have known she was murdered because that's not gonna be something that happens really naturally. And. And she was strangled. She was all alone at home. It's really heartbreaking and I hope that, I don't know, someone is able to come forward with information because, you know, you look at her picture, she just looks like a sweet old lady, you know, I mean, this shouldn't have happened to her. And the fear she must have Felt being strangled is, is really disturbing. So the information, if you have any information, again, this is one of those cold cases. It sounds like they've run down everything. And when you're, when you've done everything and there's nothing more you can do, that's a cold case. So if you have something, however minor, contact the Indiana State Police, go to ISP Cold Case s p.in.gov that's their email. Email them your tip ISP Coldcase sp.in.gov or you can call them at 260-403-2841. We will also be including that information and a link in our show notes. But yeah, spread the word with people who might have been from that general area of Indiana at the time. Talk about it. The best thing we can do for these cases sometimes is just keep talking about it because you never know who's going to be like, wait a minute, I had a boyfriend at that time who came back one winter's night and it was really odd. And this is the kind of case where that actually could help.

[A]

Yeah. And I, I wanted to mention we, we do have listeners all over the country, also all over the world. And I, I wanted to say that if you're part of a law enforcement agency and there is a cold case that you want to get eyes on, please contact us and we will spotlight it on the show.

[B]

Yeah, you literally like just send us something and we'll do it. Like, we'd love to talk to you, but if you, if you just are like, nah, just here's a press release. I mean, we like to do these cold cases because they often are overlooked because, you know, they're not the big sexy case that everyone's freaking out about the trial or whatever, you know, And I get that from the public's perspective, but I think this is where true crime could actually do some societal good.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So let's keep talking about Evelyn. If you, any of you are from this area, from this pretty lake area, if you're from Lagrange county and you know something, but you don't know anything that's like investigative in nature, but you just knew her or you knew her family or someone wants to come forward, we'd love to have you on, we could spotlight the case even more. Email [e-mail] this other case is an Indiana connected cold case that is actually warming up. So my, I was recommended this one by a lovely listener and one of my sources is the advocate. And then another one, she, she asked that I I shout out a local independent journalist unfiltered with Kiran. I'm sorry if I'm saying that name wrong. This message is sponsored by Greenlight.

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Upgrade your everyday. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.commsheet get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q U I N C E.commsheet but this is something where long cold case that there's a bunch of twists and turns, but there is an Indiana connection. Very sad this happened in Louisiana. I've never been there, but I'm sure it's an interesting place. Actually I have a weird personal connection to Louisiana, believe it or not. So when my grandmother came to this country, the United States, she emigrated from Ireland. Louisiana was where she went for very complicated and frankly disturbing reasons. Namely that she went to go be like a babysitter nanny for like these kids that were adopted from Ireland by a couple in Louisiana. So she got to experience, that was her first experience of America. But she eventually moved to New York. But so yeah, I've always kind of wanted to go there because there's that personal connection and she was there. I say disturbing because it's come out in years since that like basically the Catholic church in Ireland was like taking kids from unwed mothers and like giving them away to, you know, like it was a bad, it was very bad, you know. And so there's some stuff that makes me wonder if those kids may have been in that boat, you know, based on what my grandma would tell me. But you know, she wasn't taking them. Like she had nothing to do with it. She was just a young woman who got a job in America. But anyways, so Louisiana, this is Baton Rouge and this is something that happened or at least was discovered on the morning of April 18, 1987. So actually a little bit before Evelyn was murdered. And in this situation you had, you know, this cleaning staff go into a hotel room at the Red Carpet Inn, which was on South Acadian Thruway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and they make a really horrifying discovery. I think it was like around like 9:30 in the morning when they, when they came in, but I could be wrong on that. They find the body of a man, Thomas L. Klotz, and it was very clear that he had been murdered. Now let's back up a little bit and talk about who Mr. Klotz was, because he actually kind of had an interesting job. He was from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The only real record I could find on him in, you know, linking him to that is he. I see he seemingly was divorced a couple years earlier in Allen county courts. And you also. Yeah, so, like, he, he, he had that connection to that area. But it sounds like he did a lot of traveling for work because he would go around and basically write jingles for radio stations. So he was in Baton Rouge to do that for WJBO and people.

[A]

Do we know what a jingle is?

[B]

And wfmf. Why wouldn't people know what a jingle is?

[A]

So it's like a little advertising song.

[B]

Yes, I think people know what jingles

[A]

are, like, you deserve a break today, or something like that.

[B]

Why don't you sing a murder sheet jingle, Kevin?

[A]

Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't our dear friends, the listeners send in some murder sheet jingles?

[B]

Well, you know, that was. I mean, I always think that's. There's certain jingles that, like, linger in my head. Like, I don't know if anyone else is from the New York area, but, like, here, here. Here's something. Seleno and Barnes, injury attorneys. Does anyone remember that? That was. We were obsessed with Seleno and Barnes and my family. We made up all this lore about them. It was great. Um, but, yeah, a jingle can really burrow its way into your mind, and that's the job, because you're supposed to make it, like, memorable and make people, you know, go back to whatever that it was.

[A]

And no one's surprised that you're fascinated with jingles celebrating attorneys. That seems very much an Anya thing to do. That was.

[B]

That was how you got me with your jingle. You lured me in.

[A]

I'm a man of many gifts and talents.

[B]

Kevin's love jingle. The haunting Kevin love theme. No, I wasn't obsessed with them in that way. We just thought the commercials were funny. And they always looked really, like, kind of tense, and so we would have, like, oh, are they feuding?

[A]

Or whatever.

[B]

I think unfortunately, one of them died tragically in an airplane crash, so that sucks. But, yeah, that. That was like a. That was a famous jingle in the New York area.

[A]

But we. We digress.

[B]

We digress. So he was in town to do those jingles for those radio stations, checked into the hotel or Motel at April 10, and I think he was actually supposed to leave pretty soon, which is tragic because he ultimately was not able to leave ever, you know, but that was according to his brother in law, apparently that he was heading out. So he was found dead of multiple stab wounds. He was apparently suffering from six stab wounds in his throat, seven stab wounds in his chest, which one was fatal, and blunt force trauma to his left eye. His hands, his arms were tied behind his back with a nylon cord. And you know, it's just a horrible crime scene, like very, very brutal. Police run down a couple leads. They look, they're looking into his rental car in 1987, Mercury Cougar. And that was missing from the motel and then it was later found, I believe at the University Club Apartments on Alaska Street. And they were looking into the rope that was used to bind him. They said that that did not come from the hotel and they said that different items that he had were missing from the motel. So they were looking at actually a robbery gone wrong or just a horrible, horrifying robbery. But they kept the, the cord and they all, you know, they, you know, other pieces of evidence. Apparently in 2011 they submitted those for DNA analysis with the Louisiana State Police Lab and it came back negative at the time for a suspect profile. And then they, I think they, they submitted it to the. Yeah. So then, then they tried it again in 2019. They retested the cord and they developed a profile for Sean Atkinson and they, oh, DNA warrant was issued, but here's where it's really. And this guy's in Mobile, Alabama. Bizarrely, nothing happened at that point because apparently the detective working the case for the cold case unit was transferred and the case went dormant again. I don't understand that. I have a lot of questions about how does that happen? Do you have any thoughts?

[A]

Yeah, I have questions too. It seems, it seems unusual.

[B]

Seems concerning. Listen, I mean, one reason I praised Indiana State Police for putting together the cold case unit is because in the. I think they actually focus on these cold cases and that that's what these deserve. But we've heard so many horror stories of like police agencies putting together a cold case team and then not having it anymore and then putting it together and it's all like defense dependent on funding and blah, blah, blah. It can be very political. It's very upsetting to me when that happens. It's like they're, these cold cases are important. Somebody died horribly. Someone deserves to at least get answers about what happened, if not have someone be punished for it. And you know, messing around with this stuff, it bothers me. I don't know how this happened. I don't know if that's a sign that this Case is, you know, gonna have some problems with it. I don't know, but it confuses me. Anyways, recently police reopened the case again. It sounds like they had the friggin case solved. So what happened in 2019? They obtained another warrant and they matched Atkinson with the national DNA database and he was arrested in Mobile and is being has been booked into the East Bat Rouge Paris prison for second degree murder. So some other interesting tip tidbits I was able to find about this guy. The Huntsville Times in 1990 access through newspapers.com reported that he had been charged at the age of 26 in a burglary in that that apparently caused an apartment fire that killed a man named Danny Ray Walker. No idea what happened with that case, but obviously that's another tragedy that happened. But he that, you know, that certainly indicates some kind of history, criminal history. The Baldwin Press Register of Mobile, Alabama also reported that when he was 42 he was charged with public intoxication. And some more information about Thomas L. Klotz. He if this is the same guy. The Louisville Times reported that in 1976 he reported that two men robbed him of 37 at 8:40 45pm on First street and Woodlawn Avenue. And he's also listed in the Boston Globe as being, you know, at the. The local sales manager for We Ze radio. And that he premise previously was with WW E L AM fm. So very sad what happened to him. A very brutal and horrifying death. I hope that they're able to kind of find the true answer of this at this point. And I hope that the issues in 2019 do not come back to haunt them. And if anyone knows why that happened or why that could happen, please let me know because it. It's disturbing. But I hope that now is finally the conclusion that this case needs.

[A]

Yeah, I agree completely.

[B]

I think we're time. Time for some Kevin cases. I picked two cold cases and you picked two murder suicides. So we are a bundle of laughs today on the murder sheet.

[A]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say at the top of the episode. We need happy stuff, do we? Well, you know Anya, I know you may not be familiar with it, but happiness is a good thing.

[B]

I thought you were gonna start singing Happiness is a warm gun.

[A]

So you just can't get away from the violence?

[B]

Nope. Can't escape.

[A]

I want to talk about this case out of Texas. My sources are K H O U for two articles and then I. I also consulted a. A complaint that was filed in court and this is actually a case that starts all the way back in the first week in May where a restaurant operator in Houston named Matthew Mitchell and his wife T. Mitchell are killed in a murder suicide by Mr. Mitchell and I should say here, the outside. I called his wife T. Mitchell. Her parents have asked that she be referred to by her maiden name. Again, I apologize if I mispronounce it, but I believe it's T my. So I will not be referring to her as Ms. Mitchell.

[B]

You always want to respect the, you know, the family's wishes in an instance like this. And I will note I, I actually briefly covered this cheat sheet. I don't know if you remember, but you're going into it in a heck of a lot more depth than I did. So this is a follow up to what that was.

[A]

So we, we covered this when it happened.

[B]

Yeah, I believe, I think a little while ago. But you, you did a lot more digging because I think there was a lot more to be done there.

[A]

Yes. So Mr. Mitchell, in this incident, he shot his four year old son. Oh God. His eight year old. And then his wife Ty before taking his own life. And he was well known in the Houston scene for his restaurants and she also was well known and beloved. And it is just a horrible tragedy that unfolded in the first week of May down in the great state of Texas. So now you're saying, well, why are we talking about it now in, in August? And the reason is Ty's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit about this. And they say, basically they say a couple of things. One thing is that Mr. Mitchell had some financial problems and he was worried about being humiliated if news of his financial problems got out to the public. And so they allege that he did some shady things near the end of his life where with the assistance of some family members, some of his assets were moved over to hide them in family members accounts, things of that nature. And then after he's dead, they're moved back to his account. And I should mention that's worth mentioning it is something that's brought up in this lawsuit. But there is at least at the moment, no fraud investigation. There's no investigation into those things. And basically all it is now is an allegation in a civil wrongful death lawsuit that at least as far As I know, Mr. Mitchell's surviving relatives have not yet responded to. Okay, but there's, there's some other details. Again I say they say that this murder suicide is prompted by his ongoing financial problems and his desire to escape the humiliation of those being revealed and that this. He plotted this murder suicide for a while. And it turns out that some of his talking about it is captured in ring camera audio and videos that were recorded over the course of a little bit more than a week. And I'm going to read some of these things that he said that was captured by this audio. Most of this stuff is him talking. There are a couple of times when it's other people talking to him. So I'm going to read some of these. It's certainly upsetting and I caution people of that. On April 24th at 1:11pm he says you can't make a decision. You're too far gone. I Love you all. 1:25pm we can't stop it. Losing our money. Is there even a remote hope? Not even if I was strong enough. 205 what am I doing? Am I just going to try to lie to her? 2:15 ending my life now. 1109am on April 27th. I did this. What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? 11:16am I had such a great life. 11:28am you're done. You're done. You're all done. 12:26pm I just want out of this. I want out of this. Please. Please. Please. 12:31pm Complete despair. Complete despair. Everybody's 12:49pm I wanted to spare her pain. Spare my kids the pain. There's no way to figure this out. There's no way to figure this out. They're going to say you. We want all our money. 12:53pm I just need to do it. I could have done it last night. Now I have to wait. All over again. All over again. Another problem. 12:56pm you're going to get sued into oblivion. Everyone is going to sue you. Jesus Christ. This is going to be so bad. 1:23pm and then what? Or I just stay in this torture chamber every day. 3:52pm what's happening to me? What's happened? 3:53pm You've got to end it. You've got to end it. You can't fix any of this. You're not strong enough. You're not strong enough. You're. You're already this up. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have done this. How did this happen? 4:10pm there's no hope. There's no hope. This is the worst day of my life. 4:21pm Jesus Christ. What the have I done? I shouldn't have been in Charge. It was me that put myself in charge. I need to just. It's over. It's over. I now know. 4:47pm I gotta kill everybody. And it. 10:43am On April 30th. Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. I don't see any way out. I made so many bad mistakes here. So many bad mistakes. 12:14pm Am I going to do it or not?

[B]

Good Lord.

[A]

So a man under significant stress and with significant problems and just wallowing in it and it's really horrifying to read that how self involved he is.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, like, just no feeling for, like your family wants to be alive. Like if you go into financial disrepair, they're alive. Like the, the priorities.

[A]

It's all about him.

[B]

It's all about how he looks to the public. It's all about how he appears to other people. Because that's the most important thing in the world.

[A]

And certainly problems in this world can be serious. But as long as you are alive and those you love are alive, there's always hope to get through them and come out on the other side.

[B]

But then you don't get to act like a winner all the time, you know, like, you don't get to act like, I'm just the biggest fancy restaurant man in the world.

[A]

And I would just encourage. If there's anybody listening to this who's having problems, please talk to somebody. And no, it doesn't have to end this way.

[B]

I'm just gonna say this like I am the base. I have a real issue with being a perfectionist. And it would suck.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If our business were to collapse and we were to go. Have to, you know, like, go into bankruptcy or whatever. I mean, I'm not, I'm not underplaying how much that would totally suck to go through, but yeah, get help. If you're having like suicidal or homicidal thoughts over it, you need to get help. Because that's not. It's not the end of the world. It truly isn't. You know what is the end of the world? Murdering your family and yourself. You know, killing yourself, murdering your family like that you can't come back from. You can come back from financial mistakes, you can come back from job loss, you can come back from. We have to have a less. We have to spend less or we ha. I can't live at this kind of lifestyle. Or we have to move to someplace cheaper. You can survive all that. You can even come back stronger from it, but you can't survive death. And not giving your family, like, even the option of that, your little children is horrible.

[A]

And making this decision for them and acting like you're doing them a favor because you're like, sparing them something worse.

[B]

It's sparing them what? Being poor. A lot of people are, like, struggling financially and they have happy and, you know, they could. You could be happy and have an okay life to those struggles, you know, I don't know.

[A]

Yeah. And the voices of his kids are on here. It's.

[B]

You wish the wife could have heard this. You know, I mean, it's like, it's so tragic. She probably just thought everything was fine. Like, my heart breaks for her and those babies and can't imagine, like, someone you love is plotting this against you and you don't even know it.

[A]

On May 3, he says to his wife, love you. His wife says to their daughter, who's showing them something she did. Oh, that's really nice. Why? I'm really impressed with you. And then she says to her husband, the teacher said she did really good on her test today. So this is just a woman who loved her kids and was proud of her kids and deserved quite a lot more than this, obviously. And I. I have so much feeling and compassion for her parents. And if there is any dirty dealing here where some of Mr. Mitchell's relatives were helping him try to do stuff financially that was inappropriate, I. I hope they get as much justice as possible because I can't. I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like to go through a loss like this.

[B]

It really is horrible. But thank you so much for doing a deeper dive into that case.

[A]

Yeah. So then I wanted to also talk about a not entirely dissimilar case in Michigan. And I say, oh, yeah, it's not dissimilar. Only I'm not suggesting there's financial dirty dealing here because I think it's too early to know the details. A man named Christopher Carol Kiewicz, his and his wife Amanda and their six children are found dead in their home in Grand Haven Township in Michigan after a fire. And it has been ruled a murder suicide, I should say. My sources for this are woodtv.com and cleveland.com Investigators say that he shot his wife and their kids and then set the house on fire and killed himself. And the family's pets also were killed in this incident. So again, this is a horrible tragedy. And sometimes you try to look for reasons like, oh, was there financial or what have you? And the fact is, sometimes it feels to me like the search for reasons is futile because there's. There's no reason to explain the unexplainable. There. There's no piece of information that I can give you that you can then say, oh, this makes sense now, because it never will make sense. It is just horrifying.

[B]

Well, I don't know about that. To me, the piece of information that makes sense is you have controlling, narcissistic parents who decide that their families are extensions of themselves. And there should go, therefore should go down with the proverb, the proverbial ship. You know, it has to do with personality and the kind of person who's doing this more so than any. How many people do you think go bankrupt a day? How many people do you think get divorced any day? How many people like no one. That the type of person who does this, it's like about them, not about the circumstances they're in.

[A]

I'm just saying there's no problem that these people can have that is big enough to explain this action.

[B]

Well said.

[A]

What interested me about this is there was a Reddit account that local journalists say we've been able to, to confirm that this account actually belonged to Amanda. And I think they did that by looking. You know, when people are posting a lot on Reddit, they're. They're eventually allowing little bits and details about their lives to spill through. And people were able to look at that and say, everything here fits Amanda. I don't think there's been an official confirmation that this account was hers, but again, reporters feel pretty confident that it was. And what's interesting is some of these posts talk about things such as her discovering that her husband had cheated on her, issues with marriage counseling and therapy, economic issues and things of that nature. And one thing about this jumped out at me is that a spokesman for the family, Emily Jones, said, I'll just quote from this article. I'm quoting Ms. Jones. I do want to make it clear we have no way to confirm that that was Mandy that made the post. It's very clear that whoever wrote that they were using Reddit is an outlet to seek support and a bit of anonymity, because for whatever reason, they felt they couldn't seek it in their real lives. I think it's that sad in and of itself, whether it was Mandy or somebody else, it's sad if someone feels like they can't speak their fears out loud outside of something like Reddit. And that just made me think, because I think in this day and age, for a lot of us. Much of our social life is online, and communities like Reddit at their best, do give people an outlet to talk about things that can be hard to talk about and seek comfort from a community that understands them. And certainly online, we've been able to meet a lot of people we wouldn't otherwise have met, including all of you listeners. And I certainly take great pleasure and pride in the community our listeners have built around the show. And so I'm not sure I see it as sad. I feel glad that she had an outlet of any kind where she could share her story and get comfort and reach out to people who understood her. And I also take some comfort in the fact that her story, in her own words, is now out there because she found a way to express it. What do you think?

[B]

I agree with you. I think it's sad in the sense that she wasn't able to get away from this creepy, you know, and. And get her kids away from them. I mean, that's tragic. But as far as her talking about what's going on, we should be encouraging people to do that, you know, we should. We should be encouraging people who are suffering in. In a relationship to get safe, get help, get out, you know, and it's very hard to do that, but the more we can talk about it, the more it might actually inspire people to do it.

[A]

And. And there are things that are difficult to talk about, which. Like infidelity.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Job problems, things like that. And if it's hard to talk about that with people, you know, offline, talk about it online for. Try to find some support there.

[B]

It really breaks my. I mean, all those kids and doing it and like, setting the place on fire. It's just. It's horrible.

[A]

Yeah. Terrible stuff. Terrible stuff.

[B]

Yeah. These.

[A]

These women and their children deserve so much more.

[B]

They do, they do. You know, and I. I just think the family annihilation stuff is. Is something that really horrifies me that, like, you can't see your children or your spouse. Women can perpetrate this. Oftentimes. We. Oftentimes it's men. But I think it's fair to say that women can be family annihilators, too. And. But just like, not being able to see your kids is like, anything more than a problem to solve or anything more than an extension of yourself, where it's like, well, if I go, so do they. I can't even. Like, that's. That's not. That's not love, you know, like, that's. I don't know what that is. It's just control, you know, if you loved your kids, you would want them to be alive. Even if you make a choice not to be. I just don't get it. It's, it's just very. There's some things where I'm like, oh, yeah, I can kind of understand like growing up in poverty and joining a gang, you know, but like something like this, it's like, what are you doing? I don't know. I leave it to the psychologists.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's unexplainable. Yeah. This is what I'm always saying. This is the kind of story we leave people with. It's. It is tragic. But I do take some comfort that there are these online communities and they've certainly been a blessing to us.

[B]

Well, I hope that people can take from it that this stuff can happen. Even if you seemingly have a picture perfect life, you know, you could seem to have a family that has all the trappings of success, beautiful family, whatever, and you never know what's going on behind closed doors. And it's important to maybe see the signs and look at the subtle cues that a relationship may have a power and control dynamic or that there may be danger ahead in order to protect yourself and people you love. But anyway, thank you all so much for listening and have a. Have a good weekend.

[A]

Before that, I feel we should mention we do have great premium, great premium content.

[B]

What are you laughing about?

[A]

Wait, it's awkward to suddenly go into plugging yourself after that.

[B]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

I'm sorry. But we do try to have. We enjoy our community. You guys make it possible. We offer extra shows ad free shows, early shows both on Patreon and Apple.

[B]

Yes. And it is a really fun community. I do really enjoy, enjoy our true. Our Murder Sheep people. They're very fun. And, and by subscribing you definitely make the show possible. And we're eternally grateful to all of you who do subscribe. And if it's something you might enjoy, check it out. I think there's like trial memberships. You can see if it's for you. And, and we really appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you guys and have a good weekend.

[A]

Thanks so much for listening to the Murder Sheet. If you have a tip concerning one of the cases we cover, please email [e-mail] if you have actionable information about an unsolved crime, please report it to the appropriate authorities.

[B]

If you're interested in joining our Patreon, that's available at www.patreon.com murdersheet if you want to tip us a bit of money for records requests, you can do so at www. Buymeacoffee.com murdersheet we very much appreciate any support.

[A]

Special thanks to Kevin Tyler Greenlee, who composed the music for the Murder Sheet and who you can find on the [e-mail] if you're looking to talk with

[B]

other listeners about a case we've covered, you can join the Murder Sheet Discussion group on Facebook. We mostly focus our time on research and reporting, so we're not on social media much. We do try to check our email account, but we ask for patience as we often receive a lot of messages. Thanks again for listening.