Bodies in the Backyard: The Family of Killers No One Saw Coming

In 1981, police in California uncovered a horrifying crime. The body of 23-year-old Barbara Levoy was found buried in the backyard of long-haul truck driver Ward Francis Weaver Jr. She had been kidnapped and murdered after Weaver offered roadside help. At the time, investigators believed it was an isolated crime. They were wrong. Two decades later, history repeated itself in Oregon City. In 2002, twelve-year-old Ashley Pond vanished on her walk to school. Two months later, her best friend Miranda Gaddis disappeared the same way. As the community searched desperately, one neighbor seemed eager to help. Ward Weaver III gave interviews, welcomed media into his home, and spoke calmly to reporters while standing on a concrete slab in his backyard. That slab covered Ashley Pond’s grave. When police finally searched the property, they found her body sealed in a barrel beneath the concrete. Miranda’s remains were buried nearby. Weaver III was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Years later, the pattern grew even darker when Weaver III’s son, Francis Weaver, was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. DNA testing later revealed Francis was not biologically related to Ward at all, leaving investigators and the public with one chilling question. Was this evil inherited, learned, or something far more complicated? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices