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- [00:00]
Maggie Freeling
Foreign you're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast. This episode of up and Vanish Weekly is brought to you by Alloy Women's Health. Let's be real. Aging can feel pretty lousy. Sleep issues, hot flashes, brain fog, weight gain and decreased libido hit hard and menopause is inevitable. But here's the thing. It's also treatable. I learned that nearly half of women go over three years before seeking relief for menopause or perimenopause symptoms. So why do we wait so long? Well, part of the problem is that 43% of women say their doctors never mentioned menopause hormone therapy as a treatment option. Another 40% didn't even know where to turn for help. And that's where Alloy comes in. Alloy offers unlimited access to experts and safe, science backed treatments all online from the comfort of your own home. No waiting rooms or pharmacy lines. Just fast, effective relief that's delivered right to your door. I cannot recommend Alloy enough. Join the 95% of women who tried Alloy and saw relief in the first two weeks. Head to myalloid.com vanishedweekly and tell them all about your symptoms. You'll get a fully customized treatment plan and you'll get $20 off your first order. Today, head to my a l l o y.com Vanished Weekly and enter code Vanished to get $20 off your 1st order.
- [01:42]
Payne Lindsay
Okay, one second. One of my very good friends, Jake Brennan, has a podcast called Disgraceland, and if you're not listening to it, you need to be right now. Jake and I go way back to the early days of podcasting. We even collabed on our own podcast a few years ago called Dead and Gone. His podcast is called Disgraceland and it takes a deep dive. Look into music history through the lens of true crime. The stories in Disgraceland are incredible, and they cover larger than life rock stars and musicians and the crimes they've either committed or the crimes that have happened to them. Jay Z in the nightclub stabbing, AC DC in the night Stalker, serial killer, the grateful dead, the CIA, LSD, the Beatles, A$AP Rocky, you name it. Disgraceland episodes are like little movies in your ears, expertly scripted and sound designed with incredible storytelling that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Disgraceland comes out every Tuesday and it also has an enormous back catalog of episodes. Search, follow and download Disgraceland on the Odysee app or wherever you get your podcasts and I promise you won't be disappointed again. The podcast is called Disgraceland.
- [02:56]
Rob
Up and Vanish Weekly is released every Wednesday and brought to you absolutely free, but for one week early access and ad free listening. Subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus@Tenderfoot Plus.com or on Apple Podcasts. If you're already a subscriber. Thank you for your support.
- [03:15]
Maggie Freeling
This podcast discusses mature and sensitive content, including descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
- [03:31]
James Renner
It's just after Midnight on Friday, Sept. 14, 1990 in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Shaker Heights. Dan Drayford is startled awake. The teenager can feel his heart racing as he focuses his listening. He hears the scream of a woman outside. Dan rushes to his parents bedroom and flips on the light. As Dan's father strains his eyes, he sees that Dan is already dressed. While he scrambles for his clothes, he directs Dan to go outside and check on the commotion outside. Their eyes adjust to the deep night, but the two don't see anything out of the ordinary. As they make their way back to the house, Dan suddenly feels his stomach drop. He remembers that his girlfriend Lisa had made plans to sneak out and meet him that night. Dan rushes out into the darkness and he can feel his pulse quickening as he scours the area, he makes an unexpected discovery. In the bushes near where the two usually rendezvoused, he sees an abandoned bike. He immediately identifies it as Lisa' so where was she? As his mind starts to wander, a feeling of dread begins to slowly sink in. Over the course of the next few hours, he'd have to come to terms with some unimaginable news. 16 year old Lisa Pruitt was dead. The events of those early morning hours have remained a mystery for 35 years. As time has passed, the investigation has encountered lying teenagers, a wrongful conviction, and a potentially eerie link to a double homicide, leaving everyone to question what really happened to Lisa Pruitt. From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is up and Vanish Weekly with Payne Lindsay and Maggie Freeling.
- [06:07]
Maggie Freeling
Hey y'all. Welcome back to up and Vanish Weekly. I'm Maggie Freeling. Today we're discussing the murder of Lisa Pruitt, and I've followed this case for a minute, but if you've spent any time looking into the details, one thing becomes pretty clear. There are a lot of layers to this story and there is no shortage of strong opinions about what happened to Lisa and who may be responsible. When Lisa was found, her death caused a media storm. Everyone in the area was talking about it, particularly because of where Lisa's murder took place. Lisa was from the community of Shaker Heights and this isn't your average rust belt Ohio town By any means, Shaker Heights really stands out as a unique character in this story. Here's Rob with more.
- [07:01]
James Renner
Just 10 miles east of the bustling city of Cleveland, Ohio, sits the upscale neighborhood of Shaker Heights. This upper class suburb has been described as a weird little utopia. The home of doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. Shaker Heights was founded more than a hundred years ago by local railroad moguls who sought to make an oasis for the well to do outside the downtown Cleveland area. But while the upper middle class families that reside there are hedged in by the security of large homes and manicured lawns, many have spotlighted a fracture in the facade. The accomplishments of the white collar professionals that live there have often been overshadowed by their unruly teens who have a bent toward drugs, drinking and causing agitation. This reality was only heightened in the early 1990s when the dread of the satanic panic which had been sweeping the US had also reached the doorstep of this idyllic neighborhood. As parents grappled with usual adolescent rebellion, they began fearing their children could be dabbling in more forbidden activities. Every misdeed was inspected through the lens of something potentially taboo. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a string of unsolved crimes had put Shaker Heights residents on edge. So when 16 year old Lisa Pruitt was found murdered, her death only fanned the flames for those who feared that something dark and sinister was at work.
- [08:51]
Maggie Freeling
Lisa Pruitt was the kind of kid you would hope to have. She was a member of the student council, a marching band squad leader, a member of the student group on race relations, and she played field hockey and softball. She was also a mentor in her church group. And I'm sure she did a thousand other things and she excelled at all of this, including relationships. Here's how one of her classmates described her.
- [09:18]
Dan Drayford
She's the kind of person that liked everybody, that was friends with everybody. She always had a smile and a cheery face for everyone.
- [09:30]
Maggie Freeling
Lisa especially loved to write. She had a scrapbook she called her Happy Book. It was full of newspaper headlines and stories that made her smile. But her boyfriend Dan couldn't have been more different. Dan had ongoing tension in his home life and was starting to rebel against his parents. While Lisa was in the AP Posse, a group of top students, Dan and his friends were in a group called the Black Glove Club, a group of boys who would wear one black glove as a show of rebellion. Dan would throw robo parties where he'd buy a ton of Robitussin and robo trip with everyone and he was known to get violent. Dan's dad pulled some strings to get him committed to a psychiatric facility, allegedly over arguing with his father about curfew or bedtime. Lisa and Dan had met just six months before and were in their puppy love honeymoon phase. Lisa loved bad boy Dan and would write him letters almost every day that he was in the psychiatric facility. He would write back once in a while, but his letters were not cheerful and lovey like Lisa's. In one letter, he tells her about a vision he had of beating his father and all of the pent up rage inside him. He says that this place has changed him and he admits I'm a bad influence on people. Chillingly, he also tells Lisa to stay away from him when he gets out because he doesn't want to kill her. But despite Dan's dark and violent side, Lisa really liked him and thought she could change him. But the circumstances around her death would put her and Dan's relationship under a spotlight as people began asking questions. Here's Rob with the details of how that day unfolded.
- [11:29]
James Renner
Friday, September 13th was a monumental day for Lisa. That morning she passed her driver's exam, taking a major step toward coveted teenage independence. As exciting as this milestone was, the day also held the promise of a long awaited reunion between Lisa and Dan. After a month long evaluation in the mental health facility, Dan was finally scheduled to be released. This meant that after weeks of communicating through letters, the high school sweethearts were finally going to see each other again. In fact, that afternoon, Dan surprised Lisa by stopping to see her at school where he told her he was planning to have a party that night with friends. To celebrate, Lisa stopped by Dan's house on her way to flute practice that evening and the two arranged to meet up just after midnight, something the pair did frequently before Dan was checked into the hospital. As the evening trudged on, the two counted down the hours until their meetup. Then, just after midnight, Lisa snuck out of her house and rode her bike to Dan's a few streets away. Around this same time, Dan's neighbor was awoken by someone breaking into their car in their driveway. Then a short time later, Dan was stirred by the sounds of screaming. When Dan eventually discovered Lisa's bike in the bushes, he tried to call Lisa at her house. When her answering machine picked up, he called 911. When authorities arrived at the Drayford residence, Dan met police in the driveway and explained that he feared Lisa may have been kidnapped. Then, as he directed officers towards the backyard, he acknowledged to authorities that his fingerprints were likely on Lisa's bike, which struck them as odd. With no sign of Lisa, first responders begin a search of the area. Eventually, a K9 unit picked up her scent and began tracking it around the block. But before long, the search died off, and authorities were led back through a nearby neighbor's yard. But as they made their way towards the Drayford's home, authorities made an unnerving discovery. Just 30 yards from Dan's back door, they spotted the lifeless body of a young woman, which they soon identified as Lisa. An autopsy would later show that Lisa had been stabbed 21 times. As her loved ones and the Shaker Heights community mourned this senseless loss of life, authorities would now begin the hard work of piecing together the evidence. Dan's identification of Lisa's bike and his admission about his fingerprints immediately raised suspicions. Very quickly, he became the key person of interest. As police began their investigation, they soon discovered the letters that Dan had written to Lisa. But these were not typical teenage love letters. No, these held a more aggressive tone, including one which read, someday I'll go too far and do something very bad, and you'll yell at me and be serious and I won't be able to handle it, but you can't let me get away with murder. I look at you and see what I've done to you. Authorities now held some damning evidence, and a leading theory was taking shape. But investigators still had a difficult question to answer. Were these merely hyperbolic letters from a troubled teen? Or had Dan actually fulfilled one of his violent manifestos?
- [15:31]
Maggie Freeling
It is chilling that the day Lisa died, she told her close friends that this was the happiest day of her life. She passed her driver's test, and her boyfriend Dan was getting out of the psychiatric facility. No one could have predicted what would come next. Here's what a classmate told News Center 8. It's really hard. People are really upset. People are crying in the halls, and the school is really quiet today. Everyone's very upset. She's an honors student. She's involved in her school in the marching band. She used to be in student council. I mean, this is not the type of person that this should happen to. Such a violent murder. I used to think this was a really safe neighborhood and that I could, you know, that you could just roam out here whenever you want and you'd be okay. But I'm gonna, like, change the way I think now. I no longer feel safe today. Little is known about what happened in the backyard that night, and it's reasonable to believe that whoever was responsible likely knew about Lisa's plan to sneak out and meet Dan. When Lisa was found murdered just yards from Dan's house, naturally the question was raised, was Dan somehow involved? Dan says he forgot Lisa was coming over that night, which also raises alarms. As police began to look into Dan, they found his letters to Lisa and his violent side quickly became a focal point. Almost immediately, Dan became a lead person of interest. Here's an early statement from authorities.
- [17:11]
Dan Drayford
I will say that Mr. Dreyford is one of the people you're talking to, but numerous others, I can't really say that he is the number one suspect. Ari suspect. He is a person we are talking to very strongly and others.
- [17:25]
Maggie Freeling
But Dan would eventually be cleared and the focus would be turned to another young man. For the past several decades, many residents in the Shaker Heights area have believed that Kevin Young, a troubled classmate of Lisa and Dan, was responsible for Lisa's death. Kevin even went to trial for her murder. But as I've looked into this case, I can tell you that there are a lot of questions that are still unanswered, including a potential link between Lisa's death and two homicides from years earlier, which another man is doing time for. This was something my good friend, journalist, author and colleague James Renner honed in on when he was investigating Lisa's murder. James has a book on the case called Crazy Little Children and has dedicated years to figuring out what exactly happened to Lisa Pruitt. So stick around and when we come back from a quick break, we'll dive into all of this with James. Your data is like gold to hackers. They're selling your passwords, bank details and private messages. McAfee helps stop them. Secure VPN keeps your online activity private. AI powered text scam detector spots phishing attempts instantly. And with award winning antivirus, you get top tier hacker protection. Plus you'll get up to $2 million in identity theft coverage. All for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit McAfee.com, cancel anytime terms apply. Meghan Trainor, Laundry retrainer. Meghan Trainor. You're tossing out my gunky laundry detergent bottle. Ooey. It's got that booty, that juicy boom.
- [19:09]
Dan Drayford
Boom that don't hide.
- [19:11]
Maggie Freeling
Alright. Arm and hammer power sheets. Toss like this.
- [19:16]
Dan Drayford
Cause I toss like this. I wash like this. It's a no mess. Laundry bliss.
- [19:23]
Maggie Freeling
Arm and hammer power sheets.
- [19:25]
Dan Drayford
More power to you.
- [19:28]
Maggie Freeling
All right. Now back to our case. James, thanks for coming on to talk about Your book, Crazy Little Children and the Case of Lisa Pruitt.
- [19:38]
Dan Drayford
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's great to be on here.
- [19:41]
Maggie Freeling
One of the things that I just adore about you is you are a real journalist. You go out and you do the work. You're not just googling things. And this case really speaks to that because there's not much out there at all other than really the work that you have done on Lisa's case.
- [20:00]
Dan Drayford
Yes. Lisa's case has been with me for a long time. I remember when I was a senior at Kent State University and I was supposed to study for an exam and I took all my books with me and headed for Taco Bell. I was just going to camp out there and get some burritos. And on the way I passed a news kiosk and it was first seen this paper and on the COVID was Elisa's picture. I could tell it was a crime story. I'm like, well, let me pick that up. So I took it with me and I sat down to talk about and never got any studying done because I just devoured this article which was about this unsolved murder in this well to do suburb in Cleveland that had never been solved. And it did two things for me. It. It kind of opened my eyes to the case itself and the mysteries that surround it. But also it made me fall in love with long form journalism and realizing that you could tell a story as a journalist with, you know, all the facts and all the work involved, but make it as interesting to read as, as fiction. You know, you can tell a narrative, you can shape a narrative. I'm fascinated by unsolved mysteries. I love diving into them. And what, what is interesting for me is really digging in and getting to know the people involved in these stories, you know, their back stories, and just how these cases have ripple effects across a community, across a generation. So this has really been with me for a while.
- [21:41]
Maggie Freeling
So James, what made you decide that you needed to look into Lisa's case?
- [21:46]
Dan Drayford
At that time, not much had been written about it because the word around town was that Kevin Young was guilty. Everybody knows it, and so it's not worth revisiting. And he had fancy lawyers and got away with this murder. I was confused about how the police ended up focusing on this kid, Kevin Young, who was the weird kid at the high school who wore black and listened to Metallica and played D and D. And there was never any evidence linking him to the crime scene. And I was curious what else we might not know that would be in those files that could anything point to anybody else?
- [22:26]
Maggie Freeling
So Dan seems like the most obvious suspect. And he was for a little bit. They told him, you are a suspect. They questioned him. How do we get to Kevin Young?
- [22:37]
Dan Drayford
The first time they hear about Kevin Young is the morning after the murder, when a few of Dan's friends go to police and they say, hey, our friend Dan couldn't have done it. He's such a nice guy. It's gotta be the weird kid in school, this Kevin Young. And they're like, well, do you have any evidence he did it? And of course not. But, you know, he said some crazy things. He's just a weirdo.
- [23:02]
Maggie Freeling
Well, and it's. It's prime satanic panic, right? So the police are primed for a kid like Kevin to be a suspect. Right. Like, they're looking for that.
- [23:15]
Dan Drayford
He plays Dungeons and Dragons. Oh, he must be evil. Yeah. There's another character here, a young man named Tex. Tex is kind of hanging out with Dan when Lisa comes over on her way to flute practice. So he's there when they come up with this plan. He says, I'm going to go run and get cigarettes. So Dan gives him some money to buy cigarettes. And Tex rides Dan's bike to Shaker Square, which is like a mile or two away, and buy some cigarettes. And then he stops in at Arabica Coffee Shop, and it's where all the. The teens hung out at the time. Tex goes in for a coffee, and he sees their friend Kevin Young sitting in a booth, and he goes over, sits next to Kevin. They get to talking, and Text tells Kevin that Lisa's sneaking out. The police hear from Text and find out that, oh, my God, Kevin knew that Lisa was sneaking out. So maybe what the kids are saying is, maybe it's true. So the police start looking into Kevin, and they're really super focused on him at this point. And they do a search warrant at his house, and they find some very disturbing journals in his. In his room. Not talking directly about, like, murdering Lisa or anything. Mostly it's about, you know, doing terrible things to other people or, like, you know, he's mad at his mother. But they're just as disturbing as Dan's letters. They're like, oh, my God, we have a couple kind of, you know, crazy kids here.
- [24:50]
Maggie Freeling
Did you ever talk to Kevin?
- [24:52]
Dan Drayford
I did. I talked to him when I was working as a reporter back in 2008. You know, Cleveland's still kind of a small town and a big city, and one of his friends found out that I was trying to get a hold of him, and he wrote me an email. He's like, hey, look, I know how you can get an interview with Kevin, but you have to kind of lie. Kevin paints houses, and you have to pretend to be somebody who's interested in having, like, your renovated home painted. And so I'm like, I don't know if I'm comfortable doing that. He's like. He's like, I already set it up. It's like he's meeting us at, like, 4:00. So we met at this coffee shop, and, you know, he shows up about five minutes late. Kevin is, like, strikingly handsome, by the way. He looks like a. You know, he's got, like, a young Bruce Campbell thing about him. That chiseled, you know, chin. And so I recognized him right away. He walks over and, you know, I don't give him a fake name. I'm like, hey, I'm James Renner. And as soon as he heard my name, he's like, I'm out of here. And he. And he walks out. So I kind of go after him and I meet up with him in the parking garage. I'm like, hey, man, I know you've had it really rough, and the media here has treated you terribly, but from what I can see, I don't see anything that links you to this murder. And I want to know what you think. And he stopped for a minute and he said, look, he's like, it's been really tough for me. I said, well, what do you think happened? And he said, you know what I think happened? And he was implying that at the time, he thought it was Dan, too, or somebody in that house. Kevin has a lot of problems. He's kind of antisocial. He'll say these crazy things sometimes. Kevin was all bark and no bite. Super, super smart. He's a chess champion. Just. He's just different. Kevin's dad was an attorney. That was the source of many conspiracy theories, because Kevin's dad actually worked at the same law office as the mayor of Shaker Heights. So there was this conspiracy theory, like, the mayor's trying to shut this down. We know who did it. There were all these rumors about him, like being cruel to animals and things like that. None of it ever checked out. None of it was true. But what was true is he would say these horrible, despicable things. One of the questions I always had was, why were the police so focused on Kevin?
- [27:14]
Maggie Freeling
They even pulled a fingerprint from the scene, and it did not match Kevin.
- [27:19]
Dan Drayford
Right and what I found in the investigator reports on the murder regarding this fingerprint that was found at the crime scene, all they really did was test it to see if it matched Kevin, because that's who they wanted. And they didn't compare it to. I don't know if they compared it to anybody else. I don't know if they even compared it to Dan. So they were laser focused on Kevin. They wanted it to be him. So to this day, we don't know whose fingerprint that is. There were 12 police officers that drove down to his dorm room, pulled him out of the dorm room, took him to a hotel and interrogated him in a hotel room connected to a lie detector machine throughout the night. They picked him up at 8pm they gave him the first lie detector test at like 1am they gave him. Gave him another one around, I don't know, 3 or 4am he wasn't back to his dorm room until like noon the next day.
- [28:17]
Maggie Freeling
They bring in this expert. Who is this guy? He's like some expert. And he tells them how to use the best psychological coercion they can to get a confession from him, whether he did it or not. They're gonna. Clockwork Orange. Kevin.
- [28:32]
Dan Drayford
I'm so angry every time I. I think about this. This part of it. Yes, they were trying to get a confession from Kevin Young no matter what. Yes, they recorded the call between the detectives and a psychologist out of the University of Syracuse. And they consulted with him as kind of like a profiler. So the detective calls him up and he's like, how do we. How do we get a confession out of Kevin? And then the psychologist says, and it's recorded and then transcribed. He says, well, I guess that's academic, because whether Kevin did it or not, here's how you get him to confess.
- [29:14]
Maggie Freeling
I want to throw shit at the wall right now. I just want to fucking throw everything.
- [29:18]
Dan Drayford
These are like, so many professionals were on that call and nobody said, like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like, we want the truth here, maybe. No, like, here, if he did it or not. Here's how you break his mind. Here's how you get a confession. And by the end of that, his mind was broken. He had to call his parents, and he was admitted into a psychiatric unit the next day. Even after being interrogated for that long, under that amount of pressure, he never said that he. He murdered her. He always maintained that he had nothing to do with it. And he didn't understand why they were focused so much on him.
- [29:57]
Maggie Freeling
Kevin is acquitted, but his life is ruined. Then he passes away from alcohol abuse, correct?
- [30:04]
Dan Drayford
Yeah. Kevin died in 2017 and it was from effects of chronic alcohol abuse. They also found in his apartment, you know, cracked pipes. You know, it was a really sad.
- [30:19]
Maggie Freeling
Situation from speaking with him. Do you think a lot of that is because of what happened with Lisa and the trial and everything?
- [30:27]
Dan Drayford
I think it's absolutely 100% what happened when all this started when Lisa was murdered, he was just, it was his first week as a freshman at Ohio State University. And so this all happens and just, you know, his life takes a detour and never recovers from it.
- [30:49]
Maggie Freeling
More of our discussion after a quick break. You're listening to up and Vanish Weekly. I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger so I can, I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3.
- [31:11]
James Renner
Will that be cash or credit?
- [31:13]
Maggie Freeling
Credit.
- [31:13]
James Renner
4 Galaxy S25 Ultra, the AI companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do you get yours@samsung.com compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input.
- [31:25]
Dan Drayford
Check responses for accuracy.
- [31:27]
Maggie Freeling
This episode is brought to you by Pluto tv. Are you looking for your next case? Pluto TV has all your favorite crime dramas streaming for free, which means suspicion is free with countless cases to crack. Watch csi, Criminal Minds, ncis, Blue Bloods Tracker, FBI and swat. All for free from all your favorite devices. Feel the free Pluto TV stream now.
- [31:54]
James Renner
Pain never.
- [31:59]
Maggie Freeling
And now here's John with this week's critical missing case.
- [32:03]
Rob
So here's what I have this week. Maggie at approximately 11pm on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, 18 year old Kayla Rose Sobchak was seen leaving the 6000 block of 12th Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Now, it's believed she was picked up by an unidentified male who was driving a charcoal gray sedan. Now, it's not clear who the driver was or where the two were going, but Kayla is known to frequent Racine, Wisconsin and Waukegan, Illinois. Kayla is of African American and Caucasian ethnicity. She has a height of 5 foot 3 inches and a weight between 140 and 175 pounds. She would now be 19 years old. Kayla has black curly hair and brown eyes and she wears dark large framed glasses. And she was last seen wearing a black windbreaker or sweatshirt with dark colored pants. So listeners, if you know any information about Kayla's disappearance, please contact Detective Philip Breit Shaft with the Kenosha Police Department at 262-605-5203.
- [33:14]
Maggie Freeling
All right, now back to our case. So when you were going through these documents, you actually came across another name that is equally a good suspect.
- [33:24]
Dan Drayford
I just had this feeling that there was more to this story. So I kept putting in public records requests, thinking, one day, maybe it'll be a book. And over the years, gathered, you know, these boxes that I'd take with me from one house to the other. And I went into this project with two goals. One, to exonerate Kevin in the court of public opinion because I thought he had gotten a terrible deal. And two, to show that the boyfriend was the most likely suspect. But what I didn't expect to find is in these records, I came across the name of another young man who was at the scene of the crime the night of the murder, and makes for a much better suspect than either Dan or Kevin. And I think this is the person that killed Pisa Pruitt.
- [34:15]
Maggie Freeling
That person is Dave Brannigan.
- [34:19]
Dan Drayford
Dave Brannigan ends up on the police's radar the day after the murder because, like some killers do, he inserts himself into the investigation. He goes to the police department and says, hey, I was at this bus stop today, and this black guy shows up at the bus stop, and Shaker hype, you know, if you say that, you get the police's attention. Like, this black guy showed up at the bus station and he mentioned Lisa. And the police officer's like, what. What's this kid? You know, what's he all about? And. And the police officer's like, well, where were you the night of the murder? And Dave says, oh, I. I took my girlfriend out on a date. And then I. I took her home, and I walked home from her house. And turns out Dave lives on Sedgwick, that road that runs behind Lee where the dog was leading the police officers. And he says he walked by the crime scene at about 12:30 that night. And he describes it accurately. He Sundays there were two officers and a canine unit, which jumped out to me, too, because the canine unit was never reported in the newspaper. The only way you know that dog was there is if you actually did see it. Which tells me that Dave saw them, but they didn't see him. So Dave's somewhere spying on them like they don't see this kid ever. And he sees them. Then he says he goes back home. It's about 1:00, 1:30 in the morning. He says his mom is still up, and they talk for a while, and then he takes a Shower and goes to bed. And the police officer follows up with his mom, and turns out she was not awake. And he's like, oh, yeah, I made that. That part up.
- [35:58]
Maggie Freeling
I think the way he kind of develops is really interesting. You find out that he was also at Arabica when Tex was saying that Lisa was going to sneak out that night.
- [36:10]
Dan Drayford
Nobody put this part together until I kind of dug it out of the records. And this was. This was my favorite moment of the whole thing. We're always trying to find that connection of how the killer knew Lisa was sneaking out. And they did a ton of investigation, but nobody really followed up with all the clues that the barista at the coffee shop gave them. And it was the defense attorney's private investigator who finally interviews them, but didn't put this piece together because they didn't know about Dave Brannigan. But they say to the barista, like, who was at the coffee shop that night? He said, oh, there were. There was. It was just Kevin and Tex. They were talking about Lisa. And he's like, was anybody else there? He said, yeah, there was one other person there. Dave Brannigan. And that name just kind of like that connection was just never made. That was the. That was kind of like the oh, my God moment.
- [37:03]
Maggie Freeling
Cause it was right. Whoever killed her knew she was gonna be sneaking out. And now we know this kid also knew.
- [37:11]
Dan Drayford
Years later, you know, I start looking into this, and I tracked down Dave Brannigan's ex girlfriends, that girl that he dropped off that night and took on a date. And she was ready for my call. She's like, I've been expecting this call. She said, he absolutely had time to get from my house to the murder scene. I think he's capable of it. He would tell her that he had a hobby where he would sneak into the homes of people who lived on that block and steal stuff from them. Not like money, but little trinkets, like little pieces of jewelry or knickknacks. And he would keep them in a box under his bed. And he gave her a ring that he stole from somebody's house. So he was breaking into homes, sneaking into homes. And he had a collection of hunting knives, like the kind used to kill Lisa. And that's another important part. They never found the murder weapon. And he's. He's a collector of the type of knives that. That were used in this case.
- [38:12]
Maggie Freeling
At around midnight, the owner of the property behind Dan's house heard someone breaking into a rental car in the driveway, which can also place Branigan There. He's known to break into homes, I think.
- [38:28]
Dan Drayford
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. One of the first calls the police got that night was, you know, about that. The, you know, the, the woman who lived in that house heard somebody breaking into her car. And that's the same property where her body was found. And, you know, around the time that Dave would have been passing by.
- [38:47]
Maggie Freeling
And as part of your research, you also came across very compelling evidence that there may be a link to double murder that happened a couple years earlier. Can you talk a bit about the Porters and how all of that ties together?
- [39:03]
Dan Drayford
So Lisa was murdered in 1990. In 1985, five years before, same block, five houses down the road was this couple, Philip and Dorothy Porter. One day in. In 1985, their grandson finds they've been stabbed to death in their home, murdered. It was very obviously an interrupted burglary, like somebody had been in the house, and Dorothy heard it came down, there was a struggle. She was murdered. And then whoever did it went up and murdered Philip. They found out that three young boys from the neighborhood at the time of the murders, which was like 9pm On a Friday evening, these three boys went to the house next door to the Porters because it was abandoned. And they broke in to set off some fireworks. And they say when they got out of the house, they look over and they see a black man running out of the back of the Porter's homes. And then this quote, unquote black guy chased them down the street and they made it home safely. One of those kids was Dave Brannigan. And Dave Brannigan's house was directly behind the Porter's house. And you could walk through the backyards to get there. And what I believe after looking at this for a long time is I think Dave's a really good suspect for those murders too. You know, this is a kid who likes breaking into homes. It's an interrupted burglary. No cash was taken. I think a motive, motive, motivation for killing Dorothy was that whoever broke into her house was somebody she recognized in the moment. He's like, oh, shit, I got to take care of this. The reason I didn't at first look too deeply into that case was because somebody else had confessed to that murder around the time of Lisa's case in 1990. That same fall, this man named Donnie Sokey confessed to the Porter's murders and was convicted. And his story that he told was that he and his father and this other guy, these three guys in an old jalopy of a car rode into Shaker Heights to rob and kill the Porters. And the motivation he gives is that his father was a member of the Hells Angels. And in the 60s, the Plain Dealer wrote a bunch of bad articles about the Hell's Angels. And that really upset his father. So they were going to go kill this former executive editor of the Plain Dealer and steal his money. I looked into it further and found that his confession was elicited by a detective from Eastlake with a really shady history of dealing with informants in prisons. Eventually, I reach out to Donnie Soki himself. I go down there, I interview him in prison, and Donnie says, yeah. He's like, you're right. I didn't have anything to do with these murders. It was to get better accommodations in here. They fed me a line of getting out of here, and it just kept me in here longer. So he got screwed. Everybody got screwed. And these two murders that should be unsolved were kind of written off. There's a ton of circumstantial evidence that points to Dave at this point, and the one commonality between all three of those homicides is Dave Brannigan. The best story that I came across was from his common law wife. So he died in 2017. And just like Kevin, he died of chronic alcoholism. At the time, he was living with this woman. They had a kid together. And I went to talk to her, figuring she'd just slammed the door in my face and not want to talk about it. But she was really sweet. She invited me in, we had a long conversation, and finally I asked her if she thought it was possible he killed Lisa. And she said yes. And I'll tell you why. She said, when he was in preschool, a boy pushed him down on the playground. And Dave didn't react. He didn't get up and fight the kid. But when lunchtime came around, he made a point to sit next to this bully, and when the kid wasn't looking, he poured Comet cleaner in the kid's sandwich and tried to kill him in preschool. She said, that was Dave. That's how he was his whole life. She's like, do I think he killed Lisa? Yes. So that, to me, was if his own, the mother of his child and common law wife can think that, I think he's a very good candidate.
- [43:49]
Maggie Freeling
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- [44:53]
Rob
Hey listeners, if you have a tip or theories about a case you want to share or a case of interest you'd like to recommend to us, then we want to hear from you. Email us casesenderfoot tv DM us on Instagram avweekly or give us a call at 770-545-6411. You can also join the conversation on our discord at Discord GG upandvanished. Now back to the show.
- [45:28]
Maggie Freeling
So this is what I want people to know is that when you get people to falsely confess or when you've wrongly convict somebody, there is a killer still out there. If the right person who killed the Porters was caught, Lisa would be here. Assuming it is Branigan who killed both of them.
- [45:45]
Dan Drayford
That's absolutely true.
- [45:47]
Maggie Freeling
Lisa would be her if they did their fucking job. So I want to ask you, what do you think happened? Why did we get two wrongfully arrested and one wrongful incarceration?
- [46:00]
Dan Drayford
I think it's the town of Shaker Heights. I think at the place where these sorts of things are not supposed to happen. They're not equipped with the sort of detectives that will separate their emotions from the logic of the cases. And there's so much public pressure for them to arrest somebody, anybody. Just these murders don't happen here. You got to figure out who did it. We've given you Kevin Young on a platter. Just say a pen.
- [46:29]
Maggie Freeling
You know, going forward, is this case solvable? I know there is a fingerprint that can be tested. So tell me about the evidence that's left and you kind of speaking with detectives about what can happen.
- [46:45]
Dan Drayford
Yeah, I was asked to come in to talk to the detectives at Shaker Heights about a year ago. And it was. Yeah, February of last year.
- [46:53]
Maggie Freeling
Wow.
- [46:53]
Dan Drayford
And we had a conversation. And at the time I was very optimistic because it seemed like, they really wanted to do a little work on it. There are a couple of things that could solve these cases. Like you said, let's test the ironing cord for DNA. I think they're open to maybe doing a little bit of work. But the person who's in charge of the detective bureau at Shaker Heights these days is the son of the man who gave Kevin his lie detector test. So he grew up being told, no, it was Kevin. We had him. We had him good. He just got off because he had a lawyer. And so there's this weird father son thing. You know, you don't want to undo your father's legacy to an extent, I think is going on. They did have one young detective who seemed interested in doing one thing that I highly suggested is so the other two kids who were with Brannigan the night of the Porter's murders would absolutely have eyewitness evidence to whatever happened there. Even back in 85, when they were interviewed, the detective said, hey, these kids are lying. I can't figure out about what, but they're lying. My best guess is they were there and saw Dave go into the house and then come out after the murders. I've talked to them both. Their stories do not match up at all. They're telling me two different stories, and one of them, I've never been more sure, wanted to get something off his conscience and this and, and when I had that inkling, I tried to push him a little bit. I'm like, I can tell there's guilt there. Something's bothering you. Talk to me about this, what really happened. And he was close. I, I, you know, I feel that he was close. And there's been two occasions where he called me at like, 11pm, 11:30 at night. And I've got him in my phone now, and I answer, and he doesn't say anything. And I'm just like, hey, do you want to talk? Are you ready to talk? Doesn't say anything and then just hangs up. And that's happened twice. So I said, go talk to him. He's so close to saying something, and I don't know if they even even went to talk to him. So I don't know where they're at.
- [49:06]
Maggie Freeling
Do you think they're going to test the evidence that's left?
- [49:10]
Dan Drayford
I mean, I've got a nonprofit that, that will do that for free for them. I've offered our services with the Porch Light project, but nobody's taken me up on it. I don't know that they will test.
- [49:21]
Maggie Freeling
It I don't understand why her case isn't solved. A man was acquitted. You should still be investigating that. Lisa.
- [49:29]
Dan Drayford
It's a no win situation for them in their minds. I mean, I'm all for finding out what really happened, but, like, go back and open up that can of worms and show that, you know, the, the detectives that are now at Shaker Heights that their parents railroaded this kid. They got the wrong kid. The real, the real guy that did it is dead. There's no justice. It's just a sad situation. And I don't think they, they want to wade into it, even though that that's what they should absolutely do if their job is to find the truth. The only thing at this point that's gonna solve the case is one of these men that were with Dave Brannigan when they were kids says something. I think that that would get the ball rolling. So, you know, if they listen to these things, you know, we're waiting on you to bring this all all together.
- [50:22]
Maggie Freeling
James Renner, you are amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Where can listeners find you find your work? The new book you have coming out.
- [50:31]
Dan Drayford
Yes, the new book is scout camp, out February 25th. Wherever you get your books, there's an audiobook that's coming out for that. I'm@jamesrenner.com I also host the podcasts True Crime this week and the Philosophy of Crime. So, yeah, check me out.
- [50:55]
Maggie Freeling
This is a case where too many lives were ruined and it was completely preventable. The possible answers were there from the beginning. David Brannigan was at the coffee shop. He knew Lisa was going to dance. If police had looked into Dave, perhaps they would have noticed the commonality between the Porter murder and Lisa's. And despite 12 jurors finding him not guilty, Kevin Young's life was ruined by gossip and rumor. However, the department stands by their investigation.
- [51:30]
Dan Drayford
The homicide cases, a lot of times, either it's everything is plain and simple or it's very technical and difficult. This is not one of those simple and easy cases. I don't feel anybody has botched anything. I don't feel anybody's done any errors on anything. And when this is over, I had no problem with anybody reviewing everything that we did. I think they'll find out that it was done at the highest professional level. It could be done, but I can't stop rumors, and I'm not about to try.
- [51:56]
Maggie Freeling
Wrongful convictions don't only hurt the people accused and convicted, they hurt the families of the victim. There is no justice for Lisa in this story. There's no justice for Kevin Young. Lisa's case is still unsolved and that's unacceptable. Lisa Pruitt and her family deserve it. Answers and the police should look back into this case and stop being so stubborn. Humans make mistakes, and that's okay. There's always time to right a wrong. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of up in Vanish Weekly. Be sure to tune in next Friday as we dig into another new case. Until next time.
- [52:58]
Payne Lindsay
Up in Vanish Weekly is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your hosts are Maggie Freeling and myself, Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Maggie Freeling, myself and John Street. Executive producers are Donald Albright and myself. Lead producer is John Street. Additional production by Meredith Stedman and Mike Rooney. Research for the series by Jamie Albright, Celicia Stanton and Carolyn Tallmadge. Edit and mix by Dylan Harrington and Sean Nurney. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by Makeup and Vanity set. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at uta, Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group. For more podcasts like up and Vanish Weekly, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us@Tenderfoot TV. Thanks for listening.