Podcast Summary: Murder Sheet – "You Never Can Forget: The Forty-Seventh Anniversary"

Date: November 18, 2025
Hosts: Anya Cain (journalist), Kevin Greenlee (attorney)

Main Theme and Purpose

This episode commemorates the 47th anniversary of the unsolved Burger Chef murders—a defining case for both hosts and the true crime community in Indiana. The hosts read and respond to listener questions, revisiting key elements of the case: the mishandled investigation, ongoing challenges in solving it, and the role community engagement may still play in surfacing new information. The tone is frank, thoughtful, and at times frustrated, with the hosts’ personal investment in the case shining through.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Case Recap: The Burger Chef Murders

• Victims:
  • Jane Friedt (assistant manager)
  • Ruthanne Shelton (17)
  • Daniel "Danny" Davis (16)
  • Mark Flemmonds (16)
• Timeline:
  • Disappearance occurred on Nov 17 or 18, 1978, between end of shift and night.
  • All four were abducted from the Speedway, Indiana, Burger Chef restaurant.
  • Bodies found two days later in Johnson County, a drive from the abduction site.
• Case remains unsolved and is personally significant to the hosts.

2. Evidence Handling & DNA Prospects

• Modern forensics (e.g., DNA) have advanced but may not apply due to early evidence mishandling.
• Dramatic evidence preservation failures:
  • Victims’ clothing stored improperly (in a trash bag, in a car for days), likely compromising DNA.
  • Neither the abduction site nor murder site properly secured—multiple agencies trampled the secondary scene, destroying potential evidence (e.g., footprints, tire tracks).
  • [12:17] Kevin Greenlee: “The Speedway Police Department did not take crime scene photos of the interior of the restaurant on the night of the kidnapping...they basically then took faked crime scene pictures.”

Notable quote:

“The secondary crime scene...was trampled by multiple law agencies. The evidence on the kids, on the victims was not well preserved. This was not—and listen, this is all pre-DNA—but other agencies managed to handle these crime scenes...with more care before DNA, and that’s why their cases are solved.”
— Anya Cain [10:17]

3. Agency Involvement and Inter-Agency Issues

• Multiple jurisdictions involved: Speedway PD, Indiana State Police, Marion County Sheriff, Johnson County Sheriff, brief early FBI engagement.
• Muddled responsibility and poor coordination contributed to lost opportunities, further complicating the case.

4. Listener Q&A: Lines of Investigation & Community Engagement

• Should law enforcement pursue further DNA testing? Possible, but with limitations due to preservation issues and lack of sexual assault (where DNA is often found).
• Calls for greater use of social media (especially TikTok) to reach new generations; potentially drawing out living witnesses or those with neighborhood knowledge from 1978.
• Community encouraged to gently ask now-older relatives about the drug trade and other rumors at that time.
  • “Who was selling drugs on the west side around Burger Chef in ’78?” — Anya Cain [16:27]

5. Open Theories: Drugs, Robbery, and Victimology

• Drug trade speculated as a possible motive but hosts remain cautious:
  • Two victims (Jane and Mark) had relatives later convicted of drug-related crimes, but direct involvement by the victims appears unlikely.
  • Many rumors about Mark owing a large drug debt seem implausible.
  • Ruth and Danny are consistently described as "squeaky clean" by people who knew them.
• Alternative theory: a local fast food robbery gang; supported by former police (e.g., Todd McComas) but viewed as just one plausible option.
• Many possible chains of events, no clear theory fits all the facts.
• “It’s almost like a multiverse of theories... Maybe we should make a tree of, ‘If this, then that…’”
  — Anya Cain [64:00]

6. Specific Questions and Deep Dives

• Can the murder scene yield new evidence? Touch DNA from clothing and potential weapon DNA, but time and mishandling dim prospects.
• Handling Rumors and False Leads:
  • Many locals claim to have swapped work shifts with the victims or have inside information; most stories don’t withstand scrutiny.
  • Caution urged: “For us to settle down with a theory...we’re going to need a lot more than just a feeling or intuition or a vibe.” — Kevin Greenlee [47:27]
• Suspicion Around Law Enforcement:
  • Open to the possibility of a corrupt cop, but no evidence found.
  • Difference between incompetence and malice:
    “I don’t attribute to malice what I can to incompetence.” — Anya Cain [41:09]
• The Enigma of Jane Friedt’s Car:
  • Her car found near Speedway PD, not enough mileage added to have been driven to and from the Johnson County crime scene. Status of the van sighting—dubious.
  • Adds layers of mystery, potentially multiple vehicles involved, or witnesses are misremembering.

7. Institutional Issues and Future Hope

• Indiana State Police do have a cold case squad (contrary to popular belief, [58:17]).
• Hosts urge investigators to pursue old-fashioned police work: re-interviewing, reviewing changed stories—not just waiting for a DNA break.
• Host-to-police relationships are cordial but lack insider updates; the hosts use every interaction to remind officials of public interest.

8. Reflections on the Case’s Difficulty and Lingering Mystery

• “The more I know about this case, the less certain I am. There are probably as many as a dozen possibilities I find plausible...It’s maddening.” — Kevin Greenlee [66:11]
• The crime’s randomness—methods of execution, locations—clouds all speculation.
• Uncertainty about whether drugs were central, or whether it was an unusually inexplicable robbery.

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps & Attribution)

• “The evidence on the kids, on the victims was not well preserved. This was not—and listen, this is all pre-DNA—but other agencies managed to handle these crime scenes and these pieces of evidence with more care before DNA, and that’s why their cases are solved.”
  — Anya Cain [10:17]

• "The Speedway Police Department did not take crime scene photos...they basically then took faked crime scene pictures."
  — Kevin Greenlee [12:17]

• "We want people who were in Speedway or the west side of Indianapolis or had familiarity with that to talk about what the drug scene was. ...There's a possibility that drugs played a role in this. There's also a possibility they didn't."
  — Anya Cain [60:35]

• "Why abduct people? You could just kill them in the restaurant. That's what most people do... It makes it seem like more than just a simple robbery."
  — Anya Cain [61:32]

• “If it happened today, things would have been handled very differently.”
  — Kevin Greenlee [32:09]

• “For us to settle down with a theory...we’re going to need a lot more than just a feeling or an intuition or a vibe.”
  — Kevin Greenlee [47:27]

• “The more I know about this case, the less certain I am.”
  — Kevin Greenlee [66:11]

• "Burger Chef is the most baffling freaking case because they're just all these weird hinge points where it can go this way or that way, and it's so ambiguous that you can't even determine."
  — Anya Cain [64:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Case Recap: [03:27]–[07:14]
• Listener Questions & Evidence Handling: [07:14]–[14:08]
• Agency Roles & Investigation Problems: [13:21]–[14:08]
• DNA Potential & Investigative Techniques: [14:11], [18:23], [20:53]
• Law Enforcement Transparency & Theories: [21:12], [23:49], [32:14]
• Deep-Dive: Drug Connections & Victimology: [32:49]–[39:34]
• Debating Shift Claims & Rumors: [39:34]–[40:25]
• Law Enforcement Corruption? [40:54]
• Suspects/Rumors Explored: [45:56]–[48:13]
• Mark Flemmonds' Injuries: [48:13]–[51:33]
• Community Input on Case Details: [53:11]–[54:07]
• Handling Unreliable Witness Accounts: [55:00]–[58:10]
• Future Paths for Investigation: [58:17]–[61:32]
• General Frustrations and Closing Reflections: [65:36]–[67:55]

Takeaways for New Listeners

• The Burger Chef case is unsolved in part due to significant mistakes by law enforcement that were exacerbated by the era’s lack of forensic awareness.
• The hosts are candid about gaps in both the original and ongoing investigation, rejecting simplistic or unsupported theories.
• Community involvement may yet help—especially if people with connections to Speedway or the 1978 drug scene come forward with credible information.
• The case endures not only because of its tragic loss but also because it offers so few certainties, with almost every “fact” leading to more confusion.
• The podcast's atmosphere—a blend of professional frustration, investigative rigor, and emotional resonance—underscores why the Burger Chef murders continue to haunt both the hosts and their audience.