Silent Nights, Violent Crimes: The Darkest Christmas Murders in History (Part I)

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Strange History Podcast, the only show

0:03 Speaker 1: where we say 'tis the season for peace and goodwill,

0:06 Speaker 1: and then immediately ruin that by telling you about history's

0:09 Speaker 1: darkest holiday crimes, because nothing pairs better with Coco than

0:14 Speaker 1: existential dread. Every December, we prepare for joy, twinkling lights,

0:19 Speaker 1: cinnamon scented chaos, and that one relative who insists on

0:23 Speaker 1: bringing a salad to Christmas Dinner like they're trying to

0:26 Speaker 1: sabotage morale. But sometimes the darkness doesn't stay outside the window.

0:32 Speaker 1: Sometimes it kicks the door down. Tonight we're exploring five

0:36 Speaker 1: of the most chilling Christmas season crimes in American history,

0:41 Speaker 1: crimes that echo the brutality of the covena Christmas Eve massacre.

0:45 Speaker 1: These weren't petty holiday mishaps or Santa related drunken incidents.

0:50 Speaker 1: These were tragedies that wiped out entire families, shook communities,

0:54 Speaker 1: and turned the glow of Christmas lights into forensic lighting.

0:58 Speaker 1: But before we dive into the darkness, yes, a quick

1:01 Speaker 1: message from the man who believes aggressive diplomacy is the

1:04 Speaker 1: true meaning of Christmas.

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1:12 Speaker 2: Does someone keep bringing up the incident from Thanksgiving two

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1:25 Speaker 2: kicks down your door, blowing a whistle and shouting, we

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1:32 Speaker 2: needs a referee.

1:34 Speaker 3: The Goldmark Family murders Christmas Eve nineteen eighty five.

1:41 Speaker 1: On Christmas Eve in Seattle, the Goldmark family, Charles, Annie

1:45 Speaker 1: and their two young sons were preparing for a peaceful

1:48 Speaker 1: night of gifts and family warmth. They were respected members

1:52 Speaker 1: of their community, kind intellectual, the kind of people whose

1:57 Speaker 1: holiday plans involved cocoa and stocking, not fear. But they

2:02 Speaker 1: had been targeted by David Lewis Rice, a man whose

2:05 Speaker 1: mind had been hijacked by extremist conspiracy groups. Rice had

2:09 Speaker 1: soaked up propaganda from far right militias who insisted that

2:13 Speaker 1: Jewish communist leaders secretly controlled America. In his delusion, he

2:18 Speaker 1: decided that Charles Goldmark, a civil liberties attorney who had

2:22 Speaker 1: never been involved in politics of that sort, was one

2:25 Speaker 1: of these imaginary enemies. Rice approached their home pretending to

2:30 Speaker 1: deliver holiday materials. When the door opened, he attacked, binding

2:35 Speaker 1: the family with duct tape, attempting to knock them out

2:38 Speaker 1: with chloroform, and brutally stabbing and beating them. Charles and

2:42 Speaker 1: Nanni died. Their two sons clung to life for days

2:46 Speaker 1: before succumbing. Seattle was devastated.

2:49 Speaker 3: Background trial and sentencing.

2:53 Speaker 1: Rice's notebooks were filled with militia propaganda, diagrams of the

2:57 Speaker 1: Goldmark home and rambling manifests. Stows. Prosecutors argued he wasn't insane,

3:04 Speaker 1: he was radicalized. He had carefully planned the attack, purchased

3:08 Speaker 1: supplies days in advance, and stalked the family. The defense

3:13 Speaker 1: attempted a diminished capacity plea, but psychiatrists concluded Rice fully

3:17 Speaker 1: understood his actions. He confessed, detailing his motives with chilling clarity.

3:23 Speaker 1: Rice was found guilty on four counts of aggravated first

3:27 Speaker 1: degree murder and sentenced to death. Decades later, when Washington

3:31 Speaker 1: abolished the death penalty, his sentence was converted to life

3:34 Speaker 1: without parole. His appeals failed. The judge called the crime

3:39 Speaker 1: an execution fueled by hate and fantasy.

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4:12 Speaker 3: The Lawson Family massacre Christmas Day nineteen twenty nine.

4:17 Speaker 1: On Christmas Day nineteen twenty nine, the Lawson family gathered

4:22 Speaker 1: in new clothes for a professional photograph, an unusual luxury

4:26 Speaker 1: for a rural depression era family. Hours later, father Charles

4:31 Speaker 1: Davis Lawson murdered his wife and six of his seven children.

4:36 Speaker 1: He killed two daughters in the yard, then entered the

4:38 Speaker 1: house to shoot his wife and four more children. He

4:42 Speaker 1: arranged their bodies with eerie care arms, crossed pillows beneath

4:46 Speaker 1: their heads, before retreating to the woods and killing himself.

4:51 Speaker 3: Background and investigative aftermath.

4:54 Speaker 1: Charles had suffered a severe head injury months before, after

4:58 Speaker 1: which his behavior became increased erratic. Some neighbors suspected neurological deterioration.

5:04 Speaker 1: Others whispered about vague and unproven family scandals, the expensive photograph,

5:11 Speaker 1: the new clothes, the sudden extravagance. Many saw these as

5:15 Speaker 1: ritualistic prelude. Because the killer was dead, there was no trial,

5:21 Speaker 1: but there was spectacle. Newspapers sensationalized the case. Tourists descended

5:26 Speaker 1: on the farm. A song was written about the murders,

5:30 Speaker 1: one of America's earliest viral true crime narratives. The inquest

5:34 Speaker 1: produced one of the shortest findings in North Carolina history.

5:37 Speaker 1: Murder suicide motives unknown.

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5:58 Speaker 2: just enough sas to get you through the holidays.

6:01 Speaker 3: The Dayton Christmas Murders December twenty four to twenty six,

6:06 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety two.

6:08 Speaker 1: Over three days from Christmas Eve to December twenty sixth, Dayton, Ohio,

6:13 Speaker 1: became a battleground. Four young adults later dubbed the Downtown Posse,

6:19 Speaker 1: embarked on a killing spree that left six people dead

6:22 Speaker 1: and two wounded. Their victims included acquaintances strangers, a teenage girl,

6:28 Speaker 1: a good samaritan, and a mother and daughter. It was

6:31 Speaker 1: violence for thrill, money and dominance, random, brutal, senseless.

6:37 Speaker 3: Background trials and sentencing.

6:42 Speaker 1: Each member had a troubled history marked by instability, neglect,

6:46 Speaker 1: and minor offenses, but their spree went far beyond petty crime.

6:51 Speaker 1: Their trials were separated. Laura Taylor, aged sixteen, was portrayed

6:56 Speaker 1: as a disturbingly cold ring leader. She received life life

7:00 Speaker 1: without parole. DeMarcus Smith also received life without parole. Marlon

7:06 Speaker 1: Lucky Sharon received a long but lesser sentence for reduced involvement.

7:11 Speaker 1: Heather Matthews, who testified against the others, received a significantly

7:16 Speaker 1: reduced sentence. The courtroom atmosphere was tense. Jurors later said

7:22 Speaker 1: what disturbed the most wasn't the crime scene evidence, it

7:25 Speaker 1: was the lack of remorse. The judge called the spree

7:29 Speaker 1: acts of pure cruelty.

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7:51 Speaker 2: object festively.

7:54 Speaker 3: The Carnation Christmas Eve murders December twenty fourth, two thousand

7:59 Speaker 3: and seven.

8:00 Speaker 1: Carnation, Washington population peaceful until Christmas Eve two thousand and seven,

8:07 Speaker 1: when Michelle Anderson and her boyfriend Joseph McEnroe murdered six

8:12 Speaker 1: members of Michelle's family. Michelle believed her family had treated

8:16 Speaker 1: her unfairly. She stewed in resentment until it curdled into violence.

8:22 Speaker 1: She persuaded McEnroe, soft spoken, fearful of losing her to help.

8:28 Speaker 1: They killed Michelle's parents first, then when her brother, sister

8:32 Speaker 1: in law, and their two young children arrived unexpectedly, the

8:36 Speaker 1: killings continued.

8:38 Speaker 3: Background trials and sentencing.

8:42 Speaker 1: The initial police visit missed the bodies entirely. Michelle and

8:46 Speaker 1: Joseph calmly lied to officers, telling them the family wasn't home.

8:50 Speaker 1: Days later the truth emerged. Their trials were lengthy. Joseph

8:55 Speaker 1: McEnroe went first. Prosecutors pursued the death penalty, arguing he

9:00 Speaker 1: executed the children to eliminate witnesses. His calm, chilling confession

9:05 Speaker 1: videos destroyed any defense narrative. He was sentenced to life

9:09 Speaker 1: without parole. Michelle Anderson attempted to plead guilty, but the

9:14 Speaker 1: court required a full trial. Her flat effect, lack of remorse,

9:18 Speaker 1: and testimonies about long standing grudges shaped the jury's decision.

9:23 Speaker 1: She too, received life without parole. A Washington prosecutor described

9:27 Speaker 1: the case as an annihilation of a family line.

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9:48 Speaker 2: to talk.

9:49 Speaker 3: The murder of Harry and Harriet Moore Christmas Day, nineteen

9:54 Speaker 3: fifty one.

9:55 Speaker 1: On Christmas Night in Mims, Florida, civil rights pioneers Harry

9:59 Speaker 1: and Harry More celebrated their twenty fifth anniversary. As they slept,

10:04 Speaker 1: klansmen detonated a bomb beneath their bedroom floor. Harriet died instantly,

10:09 Speaker 1: Harry the next day.

10:11 Speaker 3: Background investigation and failed prosecutions.

10:15 Speaker 1: Harry Moore had dedicated his life to fighting lynching, registering

10:19 Speaker 1: black voters, and challenging segregation. The ku Klux Klan despised

10:24 Speaker 1: him for it. The first investigation was botched. Local authorities

10:29 Speaker 1: had little interest in prosecuting klansmen, evidence was mishandled leads ignored.

10:35 Speaker 1: The FBI launched four separate investigations over fifty years. Each

10:40 Speaker 1: time four primary suspects emerged, all high ranking clansmen with

10:45 Speaker 1: histories of racial violence. Each time the case stalled due

10:50 Speaker 1: to fear, corruption, or lack of cooperation. By the time

10:54 Speaker 1: Floridas Attorney General reopened the case in the two thousands,

10:58 Speaker 1: all four suspects were dead. The final report concluded they

11:02 Speaker 1: were almost certainly responsible, but no trial has ever taken place.

11:08 Speaker 1: The Moors are now recognized as the first martyrs of

11:11 Speaker 1: the modern civil rights movement.

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11:50 Speaker 1: And There you have it. The first five Christmas tragedies

11:53 Speaker 1: darker than a power outage on Christmas Eve. We say

11:57 Speaker 1: first because as usual, there is a part two in

12:00 Speaker 1: the next episode. These stories weren't meant to ruin the holidays,

12:04 Speaker 1: but to remind us December doesn't pause the world's dangers.

12:08 Speaker 1: It only makes them easier to overlook beneath twinkling lights.

12:12 Speaker 1: We honor the victims by remembering their stories, even the

12:16 Speaker 1: ones wrapped in darkness. Stay safe, stay aware, and above all,

12:22 Speaker 1: stay strange and subscribe. We promise to keep it interesting

12:27 Speaker 1: and sometimes a little dark. Even our Legos episode is dark. Seriously,

12:33 Speaker 1: check it out.