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- [00:01]
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Hi, listeners, it's Carter Roy. Real quick. Before today's episode of Murder True Crime Stories, I want to tell you about another show from Crime House that I know you'll love. America's Most Infamous Crimes. Hosted by Katie Ring. Each week, Katie takes on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history. Serial killers who terrorized cities, unsolved mysteries that keep detectives up at night, and investigations that change the way we think about justice. Listen to and follow America's Most infamous crimes Tuesday through Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This his crime house. We like to think we know the people around us. Whether it's a friend or a family member, we put stock in the tiny details, their routines, little inside jokes, a favorite song on the radio. But the truth is, every person exists in fragments. There's the version their parents see, the version their friends know, and the version they keep hidden from everyone else. And when something terrible happens, those fragments don't always come together neatly. Sometimes they splinter even further. Memories shift, rumors grow, and before long, a person's life is reduced to competing stories, each one claiming to explain who they really were. In 1972, 16 year old Jeannette DePalma went missing in suburban New Jersey. In the weeks and months that followed, there were all sorts of narratives about what happened to her. Some thought she'd hitched a ride with the wrong person. Others were sure she was the target of a satanic sacrifice. Over time, the story grew even stranger until eventually the truth seemed to disappear altogether. And Jeannette De Palma was no longer just a person. She was a myth. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon. And we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come out every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Friday's episodes covering the cases that deserve a deeper look. Thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow the show and for ad free access to every episode. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This is the first of two episodes on the murder of 16 year old Jeannette DePalma in Springfield, New Jersey. Today I'll introduce you to Jeannette. At 16 years old, she was like any other teenager. Curious, hard to pin down, and a little rebellious. So when she went missing in August of 1972. Everyone, including her own family, had assumed she'd run away. Six weeks later, that theory would be debunked in the worst way possible. Next time, I'll walk you through the decades long investigation. Detectives had several suspects, but with so many conflicting stories about Jeanette, they had a hard time pinning down what had really happened to her or why. And because of that, we're still searching for the truth all these years later. All that and more coming up. You know that moment in spring when you open your closet and you think, do I really need all this? I do. Lately I've been trying to keep fewer pieces, but ones that actually feel special and wear well every day. And that is why I keep coming back to Quints. Their linen pants and shirts are lightweight, breathable and comfortable. Comfortable. I literally have one on right now. The kind of pieces that make spring mornings effortless and their Flowknit activewear. Oh soft moisture wicking anti odor. Honestly, I want to live in it. The best part is the value. Quint works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen so you're getting premium quality at prices 50 to 60% lower than similar brands. Everything is made to last and simplifies getting dressed. Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.com crimehouse for free shipping and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. Go to Q U I n c e.com crimehouse for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com
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- [06:09]
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In the mid-1960s, Florence and Salvatore De Palma moved their large Italian Catholic family from Jersey City to the smaller New Jersey township of Springfield. Although the two places were only about 20 miles apart and they couldn't have been more different, Jersey City was a major urban center and constantly bustling with activity. While Springfield was a quiet suburb, Florence and Salvatore thought it seemed like the perfect place to settle down and raise their children Especially because they'd found a nice house in a newly developed area called Springfield Top. They had seven kids. Some had already moved out, but their youngest daughters were still at home. And Gwendolyn, Jeanette, and Cindy. Jeanette was the second youngest and around 10 years old. When the family moved to Springfield, Gwendolyn was two years older than her, and Cindy was one year younger. It seems like the girls settled in pretty quickly. It wasn't long before they each had a solid group of friends who were showing them around Springfield. But as time went on and they became teenagers, Florence started to worry. The girls were sneaking out of the house, smoking weed and cigarettes, and making out with boys. Not exactly shocking stuff for teenagers. But Florence was extremely religious, and she wanted her kids to uphold those same morals. Experimenting with sex and drugs definitely didn't fit the bill. But that wasn't the only reason Florence was on edge. Springfield was a small town, the kind of place where everyone knows each other and everyone talks. That meant the whole neighborhood knew what the De Palma girls were up to. I'm sure they weren't the only teenagers getting into trouble. But Florence and Salvatore were very concerned about what their neighbors thought of them. And they probably weren't happy that their daughters were making them look bad. The thing is, Florence and Salvatore had already done plenty of damage to their own reputations, and it had nothing to to do with their children. Salvatore was the owner of a salvage yard in nearby Newark, and there was talk that he was involved in the mafia. Those rumors were probably fueled by Salvatore's own behavior. Although there wasn't any documented physical abuse. The police were called to the De Palma residence several times because the neighbors had heard screaming and fighting coming from the home. By the time the authorities arrived, whatever argument Salvatore and Florence were having had fizzled out. Each time, Florence would send the officers away. She didn't want them getting into what she considered a family affair. And although Florence was worried what her neighbors thought, she didn't want them in her business. But she wasn't really helping her case. She and Salvatore kept to themselves and rarely socialized. That only made people gossip even more. Maybe Florence didn't realize that was the case because her main focus was on raising her girls and getting them through high school. At first, Jeannette went to the private Catholic high school in town. But for some reason, she switched to the public school, Dayton Regional halfway through. While she was there, she continued her rebellious streak. Rumors flew around school that she liked experimenting with hardcore drugs, Although really it was just weed, and only if someone else had it and offered it to her. According to Jeannette's cousin, Gail Donahue, Jeannette was pretty innocent, all things considered. She wouldn't even know where to start when it came to anything more intense than marijuana. One day when they were hanging out at Gail's house, they decided to raid Gail's father's liquor cabinet. They took a sip of schnapps, then whiskey. With both swirling around her mouth, Jeannette started jumping up and down. She told her cousin to join in so they could mix up the alcohol in their stomachs and get drunk faster. Obviously, it doesn't work that way, but Jeannette didn't know any better. Still, all those rumors about her probably had something to do with Jeannette's hard exterior. She had this look about her that made it seem like she was constantly uninterested. And she never faked a smile to fit in. She was often described as tough, fast, and wild. Even if those characterizations overlooked her more sensitive, vulnerable side, there was some truth to them. Jeanette definitely wasn't the type to put up with anyone's crap. And while she wasn't usually the one to start trouble, she wouldn't back down if someone came at her. Like the time that she and her cousin Lisa snuck out and hitchhiked to go see some boys, then ended up in a fight with each other. They started throwing punches and beat each other up pretty badly. By the time Jeannette's mother was called to pick them up, Florence assumed the worst and thought the two girls had been sexually assaulted. I don't know what actually happened, but Jeanette and Lisa just laughed it off and said it was nothing beyond all that. Jeanette also had a reputation as being a promiscuous party girl. She was always crushing on some boy or another, and she and her cousins were constantly sneaking out to hang out with the opposite sex. One police officer even said that he had to break up quite a few of her backseat hookups in the park. However, there were never any official filings or formal complaints lodged at the police department against her. And one of Jeannette's sisters and another friend disagreed with the officer, although there might have been some making out, but nothing more than that. In reality, Jeanette contained multitudes. While she was breaking the rules and sneaking around with boys, she also made a point to participate in church outreach with her cousins. She spent weekend mornings handing out flyers and spreading the word. Her cousin Lisa described them as, quote, little hippies trying to teach people about Jesus. For most of their life, the De Palmas were devout Catholics. But at some point in the early 70s, Jeanette's little sister Cindy went with another family to a Sunday service at a new church. It was called the Assemblies of God Evangel. Church members have described the services differently. Some said the church was mellow, though there were definitely mentions of burning in hell if you sinned. But others said it was more intense and involving speaking in tongues, faith healing, baptism, demon castings, and high tithes. Either way, Cindy, who would have been around 13 at the time, became enamored with the church. So much so that she convinced her parents to join her the next Sunday. Soon the whole family was going, and Florence and Salvatore declared themselves born again Evangelical Christians. But in a town that was largely Italian American Catholic, that was seriously frowned upon. Now the De Palmas weren't just getting weird looks for being antisocial, they had also betrayed their faith. So when one of the De Palma girls eventually went missing, the town wondered whether it was karma or if she'd gotten wrapped up in something far more unholy.
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- [15:21]
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On the morning of Monday, August 7, 1972, 16 year old Jeannette De Palma rolled out of bed and made her way downstairs for breakfast. Summer was still in full swing, so Jeannette was enjoying her last days of freedom. She lazily made her way into the kitchen, then stopped in her tracks when she saw both her parents sitting at the dining table. They told her to sit down. They had something they needed to talk to her about. Jeannette racked her brain, wondering if she had done something to get in trouble. But she did as she was told and took a seat. After a few moments, her parents said that her cousin Lisa was missing. She had run away from home almost a Month ago. Jeanette thought she'd misheard them. A month was a long time. How was it possible that she was only learning about it now? Her parents admitted that they'd kept the news from her because they thought Lisa would come back home and it wouldn't be an issue. It wasn't the first time Lisa had disappeared. She had a habit of running away, but she always came back. But she'd never been gone for so long. Florence and Salvatore felt like they had no choice but to finally tell Jeanette. They thought Jeanette would understand, but she didn't. She was pissed that they'd lied to her. She pushed her chair back from the table and stormed upstairs to her room. She didn't have an appetite anymore. Jeannette stewed the rest of the morning, but her parents had already moved on. Her mom assigned her chores, enlisting Jeannette to scrub the bathrooms clean. That only frustrated Jeannette more. She and her other cousin, Gail Donahue, had plans to hang out with a couple of cute boys that afternoon. Now, Jeannette didn't think she could go. The bathrooms would never be clean in time. When she called Gail around 11am her cousin was having none of it. She insisted that Jeanette find a way to get out of her chores. There was no way she was going on her own. Gail kept pushing until finally Jeannette relented. She said she'd come up with some excuse and hitchhike over to Gail's and something the girls did all the time. So a couple of hours later, in the early afternoon, Jeannette told her parents that her boss had scheduled her for a last minute shift at work that night. When her mom offered to drive her, Jeanette waved her off. She said she would walk the three miles to the train station on her own. Florence watched as Jeanette grabbed her purse and headed out the door wearing a blue shirt and tan slacks. It seems like her mom bought the work story. Plus, Florence knew her daughter was angry with her, so it made sense that she would choose to walk instead of getting a ride. Florence figured she'd let Jeanette blow off some steam and they could talk things through later. But Florence had no way of knowing that when Jeannette walked out the door, it would be the last time she ever saw her. The afternoon turned into evening and soon night fell over the town. But Jeannette still wasn't home. Florence and Salvatore thought that was strange. Even if her shift had gone late, she should have been home from work by then. And if she went somewhere afterwards, she should have called. The De Palmas, started phoning Jeannette's friends to see if anyone had seen or heard from her. But no one had. I don't know if they called Gail, but even if they did, Gail probably would have tried to cover for her cousin, not realizing the gravity of the situation. Still, the De Palmas kept their cool. They waited until the next morning to sound the alarm. When Jeannette still wasn't back, Florence and Salvatore felt they had no choice but to go to the authorities. They tried to lodge a missing persons report, but the local police said they couldn't declare her officially missing until it had been a full 48 hours. If you're familiar with missing persons cases, you know this is a common misconception. And it was back then, too. But the De Palmas weren't prepared to argue with the police. So they waited, unsure what else to do. Once another 24 hours had passed, they returned to the Springfield police headquarters and officially reported 16 year old Jeanette missing. That said, Florence and Salvatore weren't that worried. When investigators interviewed them about Jeanette's last known movements, they provided a lot of short, unhelpful answers. They gave off the vibe that they wanted this solved, but they also wanted this behind them. Before the whole community knew their daughter had run away, Florence and Salvatore told the police that maybe Jeannette had gone looking for her cousin Lisa. Or maybe she'd gone off to New York City to live out the dream of being a girl in the Big Apple. Without anything more concrete, the initial search for Jeanette wasn't exactly intense. Since pretty much everyone, including her parents, thought Jeanette had run away, it was a low priority case. The assumption was that at some point she would simply come home. The only thing suggesting otherwise was that Jeanette hadn't taken any extra clothes. Nothing was missing from her bedroom besides the purse she'd taken on her way out and the clothes she'd had on her back. Jeanette's cousin Gail was one of the few who didn't buy the runaway story. She told the police that if Jeanette had planned on abandoning her life, she would have known Jeanette was her best friend. They told each other everything. But as one week turned into two and everyone kept repeating the same story, Gail started to believe it, too. Maybe the De Palmas were right and Jeannette had left her behind for the big city. Even though it would hurt to know that her cousin had lied about something so huge, part of Gail hoped it was true. It was better than the alternative. But something in Gail's gut told her that everyone was wrong. Something bad had happened to Jeanette. She just knew it. And unfortunately, it wasn't long before Gail was proved right. Sixteen year old Jeanette was last seen on August 7th. And by the start of September 1972, there was still no sign of her. No one could track her down in New York City. She hadn't called any friends. And around this time, her missing cousin Lisa had returned to Springfield. The idea that Jeannette would also come home seemed less and less likely. At that point, the Springfield police started to consider the idea that there was foul play involved. One of the first people they questioned was a friend of Jeannette's, a boy named Lewis who lived down by the golf course. It seemed like the only reason the police suspected him was that he was into heavy metal and had long hair. Sure enough, there was nothing to indicate that he'd been involved in Jeannette's disappearance. After interrogating Lewis, the police let him go. And for some reason, that was the last local teenage boy they investigated. None of Jeannette's boyfriends or flings got the same treatment. The only real piece of information the police learned in those first few weeks was that Jeanette had made an unplanned stop the day she went missing. On the way to meet Gail, Jeanette swung by her friend Donna Bledis's house. It's not clear why Jeanette went there when she told Gail she was going to hitchhike. But Donna lived nearby, so the theory is that she was looking for a ride. Donna was grounded though, so she couldn't help. Plus, Donna's mom wasn't Jeanette's biggest fan, so she didn't let Jeanette linger too long. Beyond that, Donna and her mom didn't have much information to offer the authorities, but it was the only clue detectives had. They didn't have any other confirmed sightings or leads. About a month after Jeannette De Palma went missing, the authorities were stuck at a dead end. Two more weeks would pass without any other developments, until eventually a stranger made a gruesome discovery. The morning of Tuesday, September 19, 1972 was like any other day for the elderly superintendent of the Baltus Royal Gardens apartment complex in Springfield. The new two story red brick building sat near the town's quarry and golf course. And the superintendent was busy making sure everything was running smoothly. At some point, she headed outside to check on something in the yard. She barely made it down the front steps when she noticed something strange at her feet. She looked down, ready to scold one of her tenants for leaving their trash. But when she got a Closer look, her annoyance turned to horror. There was an arm in front of her. A detached, decaying human arm.
- [25:48]
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In the suburbs of D.C. a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered.
- [25:53]
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Nine, one, one, which emergency. We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer.
- [25:58]
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For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, blog Blood and Water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:19]
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On the morning of September 19, 1972, the Superintendent of the Baltus Royal Gardens apartment complex found a human arm discarded on the ground. After the initial shock wore off, she immediately called the police. That Tuesday, patrolman Donald Schwert was doing his rounds on the north side of Springfield when the call came in from dispatch. Schwertt was ex Navy and had worked at the postal service before turning to police work. He loved being an officer and serving the community. But Springfield was a quiet suburb without much to really investigate. So when he heard the call on the radio, he thought there must have been a mistake. Surely there wasn't really a detached human arm left on the lawn of an apartment building. Especially because Schwert had heard that some local kids had been harassing the superintendent of that complex lately. This must have been some kind of new practical joke. But when Schwertz arrived on the scene, he realized how wrong he'd been. The first thing Schwert did was take pictures. To him, it seemed like the arm had been left out in the elements for quite a while. They would have a tough time trying to identify who it belonged to without finding the rest of the body. That would be the next step. So once he had his photos, Schwert called dispatch and asked for backup. Two more patrolmen arrived to help. As Schwertz spoke to the superintendent, they began knocking on doors in the apartment building. They asked everyone who answered if they had any idea how the arm might have ended up on the front lawn. No one seemed to have a clue until finally they found a tenant who mentioned that she'd let her large Dalmatian out to run that morning. It was the best lead the officers had. They thought it was possible the dog had found the arm somewhere else while running and had carried it home. It wasn't long before the police chief got involved. Surely the rest of the body had to be nearby if the dog had happened upon it. So the chief began coordinating search efforts with his officers and detectives. He also asked the sheriff's office to bring in a bloodhound. About four hours after the arm was first discovered, the official search party went out looking for the rest of the remains. They first looked around an abandoned swim club nearby, but found nothing. Then they broke up into teams and spread out through the Hudai quarry. It backed up the Baltus Roll golf course and was just across the street from the apartment complex. But this was no easy task. The quarry was around 120 acres. Finding a body in there would be like finding a needle in a haystack. While other officers went there, patrolman Schwertt and his colleagues searched along the new Interstate 78 next to the quarry. That was when he stumbled upon another discovery. The upper portion of the arm. Schwertz felt sick to his stomach. The top of the arm must have fallen off while the dog was carrying the rest back to the apartment complex. But if that was the case, Schwert was sure the rest of the body was nearby, probably at the quarry. He and his partner entered the Hudai quarry, where other officers were already searching. There was a bluff at the top called Devil's Teeth Cliff that overlooked the whole area. Something told them they needed to go check out the top. So they began hiking up, which was a process in and of itself. It was so steep that they had to pull on shrubs and tree branches to steady themselves. Schwertz made it up first, and once he got there, his worst fears were confirmed. The body was lying face down on a flat area on top of the hill. It was so decomposed that Schwertt couldn't make out whether the victim was male or female. To make matters worse, it looked like animals had already started picking at the remains. Still, there were some identifying features. The victim wore a blue T shirt and tan slacks. They had no shoes on, but flip flops were discarded nearby. Schwert knew that's exactly what Jeannette De Palma was wearing the day she vanished. Not only that, but Jeannette was the only missing person they had in town. After seeing the clothing, Schwertt was certain he'd just found Jeannette de Palma. But there was something strange about the scene. It looked like two sticks had been placed above her head in the shape of a cross. There were also stones arranged around her in a semicircle, almost like a halo. Schwert made a note of it, then radioed the rest of the force, letting them know the news. Within minutes, more investigators were on the scene. They all saw the gruesome state of the victim, and they all saw the weird placement of the sticks and stones. One of them even whispered that it looked like witchcraft. Suddenly, the name Devil's Teeth took on a whole new meaning. That was definitely concerning. But before diving into those details, they had to figure out who the victim was and if it really was Jeanette. The officers searched the area for clues, and soon they found a pocketbook. But there was no ID inside. Or anything else that indicated who the victim might be. Soon after, detectives arrived on the scene, including Detective Sergeant Sam Calabrese. From the moment he got there, Calabrese took over the investigation. At that point, Schwert felt like he and the other patrolmen were pushed aside. Even though he was the one who'd found the body. Still, there was nothing he could do about it. This case was now in the hands of Calabrese and the other investigators. Like the patrolmen, the detectives scoured the area for any additional evidence. They spent hours combing through the brush, but found nothing. They weren't sure whether they were dealing with a homicide, a suicide, or an accident. The medical examiner, Dr. Ehrenberg, couldn't determine the cause of death either. Even once they moved the victim and Ehrenberg took X rays, he was stumped. The scans revealed no broken bones or fractures. And there was no evidence of any bullet holes or knife wounds. While Dr. Ehrenberg ordered four further tests, the detectives focused on identifying the victim. They all suspected it was Jeanette De Palma. But given how decomposed the body was, they needed dental records to be sure. One day after the gruesome discovery, Detective Calabrese contacted her dentist. It's not clear how Calabrese found him, but once he did, things moved quickly. Quickly. In a bittersweet twist of fate, the dentist had seen Jeannette earlier that summer for a filling appointment. So her X rays were recent. The dentist went to the morgue with Calabrese and began comparing Jeannette's records tooth by tooth. When he finished, he stood up. He could say without a doubt that the victim on the table was Jeanette Depalma. Detective Calabrese let out a deep breath. They had an id, but that was only the beginning. Now he had to figure out what exactly had happened to the 16 year old. Was she the victim of a tragic accident? Had she somehow done this to herself? Or was there something much darker going on? Maybe even something satanic? Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for For Part two on the murder of Jeannette depalma and all the people it affected. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original Powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free. We'll be back on Thursday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benidon, Natalie Pertzofsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Alex Burns, Cassidy Dillon and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.
- [36:44]
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- [37:13]
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Thanks for listening to today's episode of Murder True Crime Stories. Not sure what to listen to next? Check out America's Most Infamous Crimes hosted by Katie Ring. From serial killers to unsolved mysteries and game changing investigations, each week Katie takes on a notorious criminal case in American history. Listen to and follow America's Most infamous crimes now. Wherever you listen to podcasts.