Well, welcome back, friends. Hi. It has been a very long two months without you. Yeah.
And we're sorry about that. We're really sorry about that. We're also sorry we're on Zoom. So I'm sure it sounds terrible.
I'm sorry. So we had a minor technological issue. Oh my gosh. So yeah, I was Wednesday night because I'm a procrastinator.
And I usually wait until Wednesday night to upload everything. And just like schedule it so it comes out for y'all at midnight or whatever. And I'm doing my little editing and moving all the tracks around and like stitching things together, doing all the things, and went back into the like actual like where we'd recorded. And it just said, mixed audio, not found.
And it was just a blank blue line. I was like, oh my god. So I didn't panic at first. And I thought there's got to be a solution.
So I googled YouTube because I'm not a tech savvy person, like at all. So I was like, well, surely somebody else has experienced this. And so I'm like tech bro on the internet. It's going to tell me how to fix it.
There were no tech bros available for me. I was like, oh my god. She shot me a text at about 10 o'clock at night that said SOS. And I didn't respond because I was unconscious.
I think it worked. Yeah. So I was like, oh my god. Because I knew you had posted about it.
I was like, oh god. OK, so I'm still trying to like find it, find it, find it. I'm like, there's nothing. It's just gone forever.
So I restarted my computer. I looked in all of the folders, all of the places I could even think where it might have backed up or saved on my computer. And it's just has disappeared forever and ever. So that's why we're here.
We are doing a take two of this episode. So it's a real bummer too because I felt like the first time was really great. But you know what? We're going to give it to you.
It's your first time. It's our second time. But you know, oh, oh, oh. But really quickly before we jump in, we are going to tell you quickly about some life updates.
But I did want to give a quick shout out. We got a text message or actually it was a message via our Facebook from an individual named Brandon. Brandon says that he is from West Virginia. Yeah.
He is a truck driver. He says that he's listened to both of our podcasts, so not just Mountain Mysteries, but also Deep Thoth with Holly and Haley. He says that he's listened multiple times. And he's so excited about this new episode.
So he wanted to shout out. So Brandon, this is for you, buddy. We hope you enjoy it. You got it, Brandon.
Wow. That's so nice. Right. So we delayed a couple of episodes.
Well, mainly we delayed for about a month, largely because of the trifecta. Weather, illness, and major life events. So Haley and I both were ill. Yeah, we had the plague.
Yes. And then the weather was really bad. It was snowy. We had a huge ice storm, just terrible, terrible stuff.
And then we had a life event. So on my end, sold my old house, bought a brand new house that I had built. And it's fantastic. We love it.
So that's my life event, but Haley has a huge one. Yes. Yeah, we made it through the snow. It was, yeah, like six inches of snow here, which was crazy.
And we finally melted out. And my major life update is I'm engaged. And not to me for those who ship us. Right.
No, unfortunately, I'm happy. She turned me down, whatever. No, I'm getting married this year, which is really exciting. Yeah, so it's big life stuff.
But we are kind of getting back to normal, for the most part. And hardcore wedding planning? Yeah, I know. Holly's one of my bridesmaids.
So it's going to be great. It'd be so fun. Yes, I can't wait. Yeah, I'm sure lots of wedding updates.
I just want to see when Haley turns the corner into bride's Zillan. She's like, get me a cocktail. And she starts screaming at people. Can't wait.
I'm excited. I'm trying to set it up as much as possible to where I am not stressed out. That's true. So I'm hoping that does not happen.
Could I be bridesmaids, Zillah? Sure. Someone give me a cocktail. Oh, I like it.
Oh, it feels good. Kind of scary. Yeah, I like it. All right.
Well, congratulations. We are so excited for you. I say that from the whole podcast universe here. Yay.
But let's transition into this episode, shall we? Let's do it. Because it's a good one. I've heard it once already, but I'm ready to hear it again.
Ready to hear it again. I mean, you know what, once is never enough. Never. All right.
This is a good one to remake, though. So we are talking about Mamie Thurman. I had never heard this story. And it has so many twists and turns in it.
Like you just got to buckle up. So we are headed to Logan, West Virginia. It is June 22, 1932. So we're taking it back.
This is when Jack Thurman, a middle-aged police officer, arrives home to his garage apartment. Jack works the graveyard shift, and he hasn't been home since the evening prior. This is what. Sorry.
When you say garage apartment, you're talking like there's probably a two-car garage and an apartment above. It's attached to other properties. Yes. OK.
OK. Cool. So the evening before he went off to work, he kissed his wife of eight years good night and left for his beat, where he patrolled the downtown section of Logan, which, you know, Logan is a relatively small town, but it's pretty bustling at this point in time. Like, people have come there because there's a lot of coal jobs and construction jobs.
So there's a pretty good night life going on. So he's got an important job here, making sure he maintains some peace in the community. So Jack was pretty exhausted after getting off his long shift, and he looked forward to seeing his wife. Maybe always would greet him with a really warm smile that still made him weaken the knees after eight years of marriage.
So I think that's pretty good. Jack and maybe lived in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment above the garage of Harry Robertson. Robertson was a prominent banker in the area. He and his wife lived just a few hundred yards to the north of the apartment in a very large home, which they also rented out to borders.
So I guess they were making a lot of money off like rental property, so to speak, and renting rooms. That's just kind of weird to me, though. You make all this money, but you're still renting out rooms in your house. Unless it was set up as a boarding house, and it had separate.
Sure. I don't know if maybe, I don't know. You know you gotta remember this is 1932. So we are talking about the Great Depression.
So maybe this was a way to secure some extra income. Maybe they weren't as well off as they seemed, or they used to be, but not as much anymore. I don't know. Yeah, it's a good question.
So Jack reaches the apartment door, and he opens it. And he looks around the home, but his wife is nowhere to be found. So initially he's not too bothered by this, because sometimes maybe he would go over and visit friends of hers and just end up staying the night. Like she didn't really love being home alone when he was working his beat.
So she often just went over to a friend's house and would just typically spend the night that way. She had somebody to be with that wasn't scary. I mean, I do imagine, she women in the 20s and 30s, that would be very scary to be home alone. I mean, I don't know.
Like I lived alone for a long time. I loved it. Yeah, but I think that it was a really different time period that women felt like they needed their spouse there to protect them, you know? I don't know.
That's from nothing. I thought we were being intruded on the other night because my dog was freaking out in my house. And it was like midnight, which I'm asleep. And I was asleep.
The dog is freaking out. I'm like, what the heck is going on? I look at it, because we have cameras all around our house. So I was like, well, nobody's walked up on the house because like cameras would have caught whatever, whoever it is.
So I open our doorbell camera to the live feed or whatever. And I swear I can hear voices. And that's great. The heck is going on.
Oh my gosh, I'm going to Nancy Guthrie you. So my dumb self, I get up. I'm in like a sleep shirt, no pants. I get up and go out on the porch.
And I live on like a residential street. Oh, yeah. It's like a porch light on it. I'm like outside.
I'm like, what the heck is going on out here? And I think what it was is, I think the dog had a nightmare. But she does that sometimes. But also like, I think what I heard was the wind and we have a really creaky tree.
Let's hope so. So I think that's why it was, I mean, because there was nobody there, like, who would have seen one of the cameras? It's true. Maybe it was ghost.
It could have been a ghost. I mean, but she was like, the dog was pissed. Wow. I mean, what a show that you gave your neighbors.
Thankfully, I, the neighbors to my right are not here. That's like a holiday house for them or whatever. Like a second home. And my neighbor to the left, we have like some shrubs in between us.
So I can't actually see like his porch. Here's a question. Were you going commando? No.
OK. So that's the street for me. Well, they were there because it was midnight. Right.
It was after midnight. I did not indecently. I mean, everything was covered. I had like a long, long-sleeve shirts on.
So really it was like I had a dress on. That's good. I appreciate that. But at the same time, I was like, I suddenly were drive past my house right now.
They would be so confused. I would have been, for sure. Because you could definitely see, like, like I said, I want a residential street. Like, yeah.
Yeah. Well, it could have been like, they were track Haley again just out there in her moo moo. There she is. Well, I do tan in my front yard in the summer.
So they've seen me in less. Oh. How was Kay? Like, I've been out there in my bathing suit before.
Oh. I try to get the ankle link, flannel, that grandma's wear, that my grandma used to wear. And so that's usually how I like to go outdoors. Love that.
And there's my son. But none the less. Who cares? My boobs are down to my knees.
We don't care. I am. Oh, goodness. All right.
So initially, Jack, the husband, he's not bothered by his wife not being there. Because, like I said, he figured she'd come home soon. She's probably just hanging out with a friend. She'll return not a big deal.
But when minutes turned into hours and maybe had still not returned, Jack began to panic. Wasn't like her not to telephone if she was going to be late like that. So he started calling her friends. But no one had seen her.
Now, Mamie was really the life of the party, just like us. She had a lot of friends in the community. And she was well liked by everybody. She even taught Sunday school at the local church.
Wow. I sometimes teach Sunday school. I don't let me do Sunday school. I can see that probably because of your wardrobe.
Lovely. So while all had been going well for her, since they moved to Logan from rural Kentucky, prior to the move though, Jack had struggled to find stable work. So when they were living in Kentucky, he just really couldn't find a job. He had met Mamie while she was still in high school.
And he was about 12 years her senior. But I don't like that either. I don't like that. That doesn't feel good.
No, no. No. But it was a different time period again. This was like somehow acceptable.
Yeah. Weird. Nonetheless, the two hated off, even though there was an age difference. Mamie came from a blended family, which included her dad, her stepmother, who was around her own age, and much younger siblings.
In fact, her younger brother had always assumed that she was the aunt. She thought, oh, this must be my dad's sister, because of their age difference. Oh, well. Yeah.
So Mamie's biological mom had died when she was only four months old, leaving her father to be the primary caretaker until he married many, many years later, like when she was an adult, he remarried. So while Mamie's life started with heartache, she proved to be a very happy and lively child. She was what we might refer to as spunky. She had this joy about her.
She was really infectious. Like everybody loved to be around her. She was also stunningly gorgeous. So she, just like us, so she grew up, she had to beat him off with a stick.
Like she had so many male suitors. Everybody was lined up to take Mamie out. And she loved the attention. She particularly loved the attention that she got from men, and she was considered to be a little bit of a flirt.
I wonder if she was on her porch in her short night gown. Probably. I think I may have also had my bonnet on. Dear Lord.
So sometimes I put my hair in these like heatless curls or whatever. So really it's like the wrapped up. So all of my hair is like pile on top of my head and then I put a bonnet on. So it sticks up like pretty high.
And it's a wild sight. That's your lucky someone proposed to you. Yeah, I'm a shock to y'all are. Me too.
Well, just like Haley, Mamie beat to the sound of her own drum and she didn't conform to social norms. She dreads how she wanted to and she didn't care what others thought. Just like Haley. It was that very confidence that led her to the social club scene where she would sometimes dance and perform.
And in the 20s that was considered a flapper. Oh, yes, she was quite the women's liver. And she also kind of loved that shock and all. Like she loved her people to go, what is she wearing?
Oh my goodness, she loved that. I kind of love that too. I love when people are like, oh my. So what?
I was like, that's funny. Oh, it's currently shimming. That's right. Nobody can see it, but I'm shimming.
Hard to see on Zoom. So Jack was instantly drawn to her. And she was drawn to the fact that he was mature. He was calm.
He was a very chill individual. And she was like, you know what? I really like that. He sort of balances me out.
So eventually the two got married in 1924 at the time and he was around 24 years old. So that's good. He was 36. She was 24.
That felt a lot better than 16. So yeah. Yeah. Like I said, they were having a hard time making ends meet in Kentucky.
So with little opportunity, they decided to move several hours west to Logan, West Virginia. And Jack was able to initially find employment in construction thanks to Mamie's dad, who had done work in that area before and said, hey, you know, there's plenty of jobs this way if you want to move to West Virginia. And so they said, sure, why not? Mamie ended up going to Secretarial School and quickly got a job.
They were introduced to the Robertson family who said, hey, you know, we got this garage apartment for rent. Would you guys like to move in there? And they were like, four. Sounds great.
Fit the bill for them. They quickly became friends with Harry Robertson and his wife, Louise. Harry even helped Jack land a job with a local police force in Logan working the night shift. Louise, the wife, befriended Mamie and the two would hobnob with Logan's social elite.
At the country club, the women would drink, play card games, and of course, go golfing. I kind of didn't expect golfing. Yeah, I don't know. I wouldn't have expected golfing either.
No, maybe some racquetball perhaps. Yeah. I did not expect golfing. No.
Pretty soon, Mamie got used to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. She adored the finer things on a beer budget. Eventually, Mamie was hired on as a secretary at the bank that Harry Robertson ran. The job helped support her taste for love jewelry as items.
Mamie also started spending her Sundays in church teaching Sunday school to the local children who adored her. So she couldn't have it all at this point. They were climbing the social ladder, the career ladder, until the fall of 1931, when Mamie lost her job at the bank. So due to the depression, the economic crisis Mamie was laid off, and she took it all in stride, however, and continued to spend time with her friends and socialize.
I mean, I love that idea of like, yeah, it's all right. I just have more time to socialize. Who I'd be like, I don't know. I don't know what I'm freaking out.
Yeah, like full on panic mode. How are we going to be the bills? What are we going to do? Oh my gosh.
But I like that she's like, yeah, I'll just go play around the golf with the ladies. Oh my gosh. She's very chill about it. So all of this brings us back to the morning of June 22, 1932.
This is when Jack has gone into the apartment, and he cannot find his wife. So he's called all of her friends and still hasn't heard a word from her. So he decides to go to the Robertson's just a few yards away and knock on their door and just ask that they'd seen her. Well, the Robertson's stated they haven't seen her at all.
In fact, Mr. Robertson mentioned he hadn't seen her since the 18th of June, which was the Saturday before. And he did offer, however, to help look for her. So the thing is, Jack, the husband, he didn't have a car.
So Mr. Robertson said, you know what? I'm going to have my chauffeur, a black man by the name of Clarence Stevenson, take you around. Yes, yes.
So I'm not going to do it by sale. But I will have my chauffeur take you around and see if you can find her. I'm sure she's somewhere in the area. So Clarence, the chauffeur, had worked with the Robertson's for several years doing odd jobs.
He first came to Logan in order to work in the coal mines, but didn't find as much opportunity as he thought he would. He was a very skilled raccoon hunter and dog trainer. So he ended up meeting Mr. Robertson and the two bonded over this raccoon hunting.
And so Mr. Robertson said, hey, listen, why don't you train my dogs and we can go raccoon hunting. So they sort of built a friendship over that. And Clarence ended up running a room from the family.
So he was always available to them to do any kind of handyman work or odd jobs that they had available. So Jack said, absolutely, I would love for Clarence to drive me all around and find my wife. So Clarence did, they got in the car, and Jack got in the backseat, and they drove throughout the streets of Logan looking for Mamie. They searched any and all areas that she was known to frequent, that she liked, but to no avail, they couldn't find her.
So after several hours of searching, Jack returned home and he called the police, absolutely fearing the worst. The police arrived and began interviewing Jack and taking notes. So police also started interviewing some of Mamie's friends and individuals who knew her, and someone stated that they last saw Mamie walking around the town theater about 9 p.m. They stated that she was wearing a blue and white polka dot dress.
Meanwhile, about nine miles away on top of Trace Mountain, Garland Davis, a 32 year old mute and deaf man was out picking blackberries. He noticed out of the corner of his eye something laying in the thicket, but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. As he got closer, he saw what appeared to be a blue and white colored dress. He inch closer and he realized holy crap, gets a body.
Garland quickly ran back in order to notify officials. And again, I'm not really sure how he notified them. I don't know if maybe he wrote it down, but nonetheless, they were informed of what he found. So the police arrived and they discovered the body of a deceased female.
The woman was missing a shoe, her coat and purse were to the side of her, and she was still wearing a ring, a watch, and a bracelet. Her purse also contained several dollars in cash. So based on her having her jewelry and money, it didn't appear that robbery was the motive for this crime. So upon inspection of the body, the deceased appeared to have been shot twice in the head, had been stabbed, or in this case, her throat was slit from ear to ear.
Whoa. And she had then severely beaten showing some defensive wounds on her hands. So not just killed her, but this is overkill. This is crazy.
So there was ID found in her wallet, which confirmed that this was a body of 31 year old Mamie Thurman. So her husband Jack was notified, but when he was told he fell to the Florenteers. Jack of course himself was a person of interest being the husband who followed the husband, but he did. I mean, he had an alibi here.
He had been at work the entire time, and police had to ask, did he actually have a motive to kill her? I mean, he seemed like he adored her. He spoke lovingly of her. He seemed very happy.
So while Jack had nothing but positive things to say about his wife, church going housewife, others did not speak so highly of her. Friends and others in the community were happy to let officials know that Mamie wasn't as innocent as her husband had portrayed. Ooh, secret life. Yep, apparently Mamie had a secret life.
When her husband left her work, she would get out of the house and attend the Amor Club, otherwise known as the Le Club. Ooh. This was a secret establishment where drinking was done on the QT, and you needed a passcode to get in. So basically a speak easy.
Yeah. Yes, this was home to some of Logan's most influential men, the movers and shakers. And according to some, Mamie had relationship with these men, sexual relationships. Whoa.
Yeah. I guess she was climbing the ladder. She was climbing something. Oh my God.
So Mamie had a desire for fancy things. And to move up in life, these men were willing to help support her in her goals, and in return, Mamie ensured they had their needs met. Yikes. Yeah.
At one point, it was reported that Mamie was involved with at least 16 men from the club, including our very own Mr. Harry Robertson. No. Yes.
Her landlord, her boss, friend of the family. Yep. I'm crossing a lot of boundaries here. Oh, so many boundaries, so many boundaries.
Mr. Robertson and Mamie had worked together at the bank, and what started innocently enough turned into several years long affair. Dang. When questioned that same day by the police, Mr.
Robertson stated he hadn't seen Mamie since June 18. Which is exactly what he told Jeff. Police searched the Robertson home and found blood splatter in the basement, along with, get this, one of those sharp blades, like razor blades that you would use to shave your face. So that's the straight- Like the straight- The straight-edge razors, yes.
That you would go to like, you know, the, oh gosh. My mind is totally blank. The barbershop. The barbershop.
Yes, thank you. Thank you for helping me put that together. I am slow tonight, oh my. So yeah.
So they found that in the basement. That's kind of random. They also found blood in the Robertson's car. So at this point, Clarence Stevenson was interviewed.
And they asked him, have you seen Mamie? What's going on? Why is their blood in the basement? Why is their blood in the car?
And he told the police he had no idea. He had no idea what had happened to Mamie. The first he heard about it was when Jack had come to the house and said, I can't find my wife. I need you to come help me search for her.
He said he happily obliged and took Jack all through town. But he had no idea who had killed Mamie. He said that whole night before he had been asleep. He also accounted for the blood spots.
He said, the blood spots that you found on the front mats of the car, those are from the paws of the dog. After we go raccoon hunting, they often have blood on their paws. And that's probably what it is. Police had heard enough at this point.
They arrested all the adults living in the Robertson home. This included Mrs. Robertson, Mr. Robertson, their borders.
And of course, Clarence, the car driver. Oh, God. So I just like rounded everybody up. They said, let's go.
Exactly what they did. They were like, enough is enough. Something shady going on here. We feel like we have some probable cause.
We found blood. We found what could be the murder weapon. So at least one of the murder weapons. So that's it.
Everybody in the house, you're arrested. Go into the police station. Get in the patty wagon. Oh my gosh.
You imagine you're just like a random border and then they're like, wait a minute. I swear I paid my rent. What is happening? They're like, you, you might be accused of murder.
Come on, let's go. That would be terrifying. Yeah, it would. Jeez.
Terrifying. So this is where we're going to stop for this week's episode. We are going to pick up with a conclusion of our story next week. So that's right.
You get a bonus episode instead of once a month, we're going to give you the second part to this episode next week. So stay tuned for that. But I do have exciting news for our Patreon subscribers. You don't have to wait a week.
You get to listen to part two of this episode right now by going to patreon.com slash Mountain Mysteries. Woohoo. Yeah. Yeah.
So I'm going to leave you with this. What are your thoughts? Who are you thinking in that house could potentially be a killer? I'm kind of worried for Clarence.
I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I got to say. I'm worried for Clarence. Yeah.
Yeah. I don't know. Maybe a random border. Maybe someone who is trying to get even.
Maybe. I don't know. And we still have a completely ruled out Jack. I mean, he does have an alibi and he does love her.
But who knows? Maybe he found out about the 16 other men. I mean, that would give you motive, wouldn't it? Yeah.
She's just making ends meet. She's just doing the thing. That's true. She's that's true.
She was let go from her job. She's got to continue up the social ladder. Yeah. You know, help put food on the table.
And then there's always Mrs. Robertson. I mean, she learned the affair and she wanted to get even. Maybe.
I don't know. We shall see next week. We'll see you guys next week. All right.
Oh, let's tell them how we can get ahold of us. Oh, yeah, that's important. Yeah, you can email us at mountain mysteries dot Appalachian at gmail dot com. Find us on Facebook, mountain mysteries, tales from Appalachia.
Find us on Instagram, mountain mysteries dot Appalachia. Awesome. And of course, our patreon, patreon dot com slash mountain mysteries. And I want to give a big shout out to Liverpool, UK.
Woo hoo. Thanks, love. Thanks. All right.
Well, we will be back next week. We'll catch you then. Bye. Bye.
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