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MFM Minisode 481 - My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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MFM Minisode 481

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Mon Mar 30 2026

Summary

My Favorite Murder Minisode 481: Easter & Passover Hometown Stories

Release Date: March 30, 2026
Hosts: Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark
Theme: Listener-submitted hometown stories with an Easter and Passover twist—true crime, spooky, and heartwarming tales about holidays, family, pets, and mishaps.

Episode Overview

This minisode of My Favorite Murder celebrates the overlap of Easter and Passover with listener stories that blend supernatural chills, quirky family traditions, and true crime connections. Karen and Georgia read and react to a variety of stories: haunted houses at Passover, an infamous rabbi murderer, uncanny childhood Easter photos, wild pet escapades, accidental poisonings, and chaotic family Easter egg hunts. The hosts provide their trademark commentary—funny, skeptical, supportive, and occasionally incredulous.

Key Stories & Insights

1. Haunted House & the Passover Ghost

[03:45–06:21]

Summary: Emily, a past dog-sitter, recounts creepy experiences at a neighbor’s house: dogs barking at unseen things, a mysteriously opened door, and a toddler years later inexplicably identifying a "dead body" in the exact same spot.
Host Reactions:
- Karen: “That literally sounds like it's out of the Conjuring franchise somehow.” (06:21)
- Georgia: “Dogs and babies. Like, trust them.” (06:37)
Notable Moments: The dogs’ fixation, the toddler’s ghost/dead body comments at Passover, and the validation of inexplicable chills from a second source.

2. Puff, Puff, Passover: The Fred Newlander Seder

[06:43–08:44]

Summary: A listener shares a Passover Seder story where every mention of "bitter herbs" required a pot hit. Conversation shifts to a temple founder absent from their own history—for having a hitman kill his wife. The hosts had covered the case: Fred Newlander.
Host Reactions:
- Georgia jokes about Jewish stereotypes regarding weed and wine.
Memorable Quote:
- Listener: “I have to email them about this. They need to know. And now you do.” (08:24)
Notable Moment: Multiple people at the Seder realize they've listened to the same MFM episode—shared murderino moment.

3. Childhood Easter Egg Hunt Reunion

[13:03–15:46]

Summary: Two partners discover, while sharing childhood albums, that they appeared together as toddlers at the same Seattle Easter egg hunt—decades before they met. Their parents both once evaded Ted Bundy at UW in the 1970s.
Host Reactions:
- Karen: “They're in a picture together.” (15:01)
- Georgia: “I love that. That's the cutest. I can't believe that. And I have to say, I did think that it was going to be… Ted Bundy was in the background.” (15:46–15:56)
Memorable Quote:
- Listener: “We started our relationship almost 25 years to the day after that Easter morning. And next Easter, we’ll be married. Sorry, Jesus. It's our holiday now.” (15:09–15:17)
Notable Moment: The hosts note they’ll share the (real!) photo on Instagram.

4. Easter Egg Dye Disaster

[15:46–18:38]

Summary: Listener Taylor, as a 3-year-old, eats what she thinks is Easter candy—only to find out she devoured the entire box of Easter egg dye pellets. The frantic call to Poison Control (all was OK).
Host Reactions:
- Karen explains to Georgia, “They literally look like sweet tarts.” (17:30)
- Georgia: “Dude, I'm fucking 45 and…that's the first time I've learned that.” (17:45)
Memorable Quote:
- “We are exploratory eaters. Stay sexy and don't be shy to get up when your children do.” (18:37)

5. Billy the Cockatiel’s Easter Escape

[22:34–27:30]

Summary: Heather recalls her family’s “mean little cockatiel” Billy—brought home as her mom recovered from surgery. On Easter Sunday, Billy escapes. Dad, Tom (a plumber), goes on a small-town wild bird chase, climbing trees and recruiting locals. After hours, Billy gives up and hops onto Tom’s finger to ride home.
Host Reactions:
- Karen: “Exactly. Let that bird go.” (26:52)
- Georgia: “Billy’s Easter Escape is still a family legend, told at every holiday...” (27:06)
Notable Quote:
- “He was a loud, stubborn, weird little guy and we loved him for it.” (27:28)

6. The Chaotic Pub-Led Easter Egg Hunt

[27:53–32:11]

Summary: Charlotte shares the tale of her sprawling, sarcasm-fueled English family taking over a Welsh lodge complex every holiday. One Easter, the men are left in charge of the kids’ egg hunt… after hours at the pub. The result: “the most unhinged Easter egg hunt ever conceived”—dangerous clues, impossible hiding spots, and middle-aged men forced to complete the hunt themselves.
Host Reactions:
- Karen: “There was no logical route. There was no mercy.” (30:35)
- Georgia: “I love that. Just chaotic uncles everywhere. It's just drunk. Chaotic uncles is... such a good vibe.” (32:11)
Memorable Quote:
- “Stay sexy and don’t let drunken men plan anything. Or maybe do.” (32:08)
Notable Moment: The family still returns every year; the pub hunt is now holiday lore.

Notable Quotes

“Dogs and babies. Like, trust them.”
Georgia, on supernatural instincts — [06:37]
“I've listened to the My Favorite Murder episode about him!”
Anonymous Listener, Fred Newlander story — [07:51]
“Sorry, Jesus. It’s our holiday now.”
Listener on reclaiming Easter after the egg hunt reunion — [15:17]
“We are exploratory eaters. Stay sexy and don't be shy to get up when your children do.”
Taylor, on the dangers of unsupervised kids and food — [18:37]
“He was a loud, stubborn, weird little guy and we loved him for it.”
Heather, about Billy the cockatiel — [27:28]
“Stay sexy and don’t let drunken men plan anything. Or maybe do.”
Charlotte, reflecting on chaotic family traditions — [32:08]

Host Highlights

Karen and Georgia riff on the power of dogs and babies to detect the supernatural.
Karen explains Easter egg dye kits to Georgia, who missed that childhood tradition.
Both hosts delight in small world moments (shared childhood Easter photo, temple/famous murder connection).
Affection for family lore, animal chaos, and the inevitability of holiday disorder fills every story.

Timestamps for Key Segments

Haunted House Story: [03:45–06:21]
Fred Newlander Seder: [06:43–08:44]
Childhood Easter Egg Hunt Reunion: [13:03–15:46]
Easter Egg Dye Disaster: [15:46–18:38]
Billy the Cockatiel Escape: [22:34–27:30]
Pub-Led Easter Egg Hunt: [27:53–32:11]

Closing Notes

Georgia: “This is going to be a tradition from now on.” [32:26]
Both hosts encourage listeners to send in more stories—especially interfaith or hybrid Passover/Easter tales.
Standard sign-off: “Stay sexy and don’t get murdered.”

For fans of true-crime, the weirdness of family life, and holiday chaos, this minisode is brimming with classic MFM humor and heart.

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Transcript

Karen Kilgariff (0:01)

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Georgia Hardstark (24:21)

Okay, okay. So my dad thought, you know what really help her recovery? A loud, emotionally unstable parrot. So naturally, Billy became part of the family. He lived to be 21. He died when I was 17 or 18, which feels both impressive and like some sort of endurance challenge from the universe. He wasn't particularly sweet. He'd whistle back at you or say hi and then immediately try to bite you. But he did love my mom, and eventually he tolerated me. I was the only person he'd occasionally step onto without drawing blood. And sometimes he'd climb under my chin to cuddle like a tiny, angry neck warmer. I wanted a dog so badly growing up up. But Billy was what I had. So I pretended he was my dog until I was at least 13 and mildly self aware. Now on to the main event, the great Easter Escape. Trademarked our house had an enclosed sun porch with four doors between it and the outside world. Sometimes we'd let Billy stretch his wings and fly around on the sun porch for some solo bird therapy. One fateful Easter Sunday, while Jesus was out here resurrecting, Billy decided to follow suit and rise. My Uncle Chuck came over with my three cousins for Easter, and while trying to juggle the kids and open the sun porch, he left it open for just a second too long and out flew Billy like a feathered banshee shot from a cannon. Our town was tiny, maybe 1500 people, but rural and full of woods, open fields and bad ideas. My dad immediately took off after him, following Billy's panic screeches from tree to tree. Across town. He said Billy just kept flying up, probably because the highest he'd ever been was the curtain rod and the sheer vertical freedom overwhelmed him. My dad climbed trees, sprinted through backyards, and got a variety of small town reactions. One man, bless his chaotic soul, offered to grab a chainsaw and cut down a whole ass tree if it would help reach the bird. Meanwhile, another man yelled at my dad, threatening, if you fall, you'll sue me. I'm calling the cops. To which my dad, mid tree, out of breath, yelled, good, call the cops. I need backup. Hours into the saga, my dad finally found Billy perched in a tree two blocks from our house. Tired and probably emotionally shattered, Billy let my dad yell, billy, come on, let's go home. And I swear to God, he climbed down the tree, hopped onto my dad's finger like he was saying, all right, I guess I'm tired. And rode home on his shoulders like he hadn't just caused absolute chaos. Why? Why Chase after him.

Karen Kilgariff (27:53)

How you feel about this high horse? Okay, let's wrap this out. This email starts no subject line, obviously. Dear Karen in Georgia. Hi ladies, longtime listener, first time writer. Please be gentle. I promise this story makes more sense once the pub gets involved. My Name's Charlotte. I'm 26. I come from a family so large it feels like a clerical error. My dad is the youngest of 11 children and every single one of his siblings went on to have at least four kids each because apparently no one in my family has ever heard of hobbies. I'm one of five, the only girl with four brothers, and because God has a sense of humor, I'm also the middle child of triplets. I was raised feral, loud, and extremely skilled at, you guessed it, sarcasm. I added the you guessed it one in. I live in a stereotypical English village. Cobblestones, hedges trimmed within an inch of their lives, and neighbors who would absolutely notice if you moved a garden gnome. It's the kind of place that feels like something terrible should have happened in a Victorian novel, but instead it's just quiet judgment and church fetes that feel vaguely threatening. When my youngest brother was born, the youngest grandchild of this already out of control family, everybody wanted to be there for his first Christmas. He was born in January, so by the time December rolled around, he had somewhat developed a personality which apparently made him extremely exciting. Naturally, this caused arguments who would host, who would attend Et cetera. To avoid the inevitable chaos, my parents made an executive decision. They packed up the seven of us, five kids, two adults, plus our dog, and took us to Wales, specifically to a little lodge complex where to this day, they have no idea how they found. With nothing but country sidewalks, one pub, a community swimming pool, and absolutely no phone service. A bold move. I was only three at the time, so I don't remember that first Christmas. But we must have had a wonderful time, because we went back the next year and the year after that, and then for that summer and then for Easter, and then basically for every available holiday slot. Somewhere along the way, we started inviting extended family and then friends. Before we knew it, we had essentially taken over the place. If you were there during school holidays, odds were you were either related to us or accidentally adopted for the week. Okay, so one Easter, I must have been about seven. The complex had planned an Easter egg hunt for all the kids. It was canceled last minute. Dozens of feral children now on the brink of mutiny. So the women of the family took charge. They marched us all off to the swimming pool. Because nothing calms a group of disappointed children like chlorine and hypothermia, they left the men of the family in charge of creating a quick and easy Easter egg hunt. This was their first mistake. Their second mistake was forgetting that these men had spent most of the day in the pub.