This episode of Strange Matters covers the unique case of a missing Polish woman named Katarzyna Zowada. Katarzyna was a young college student who would suddenly go missing without a trace or clue in 1998. For years her disappearance puzzled law enforcement, until a gruesome discovery was made that transformed this story from a simple disappearance, into one of the strangest and most disturbing crime cases of the country. For decades, the fate of Katarzyna Zowada has remained perhaps the biggest criminal mystery in Poland’s history. In this episode the dark tale of Katarzyna’s mystery is discussed, as well as the mystifying aftermath and the current fairs of the ongoing investigation.
In this special two-part episode of Strange Matters several cases of mystery and murder are discussed, with each disturbing story taking place on Halloween! In the two parts of this episode four dark cases are presented, including the story of a man vanishing into the desert leaving behind only cryptic clues, a toddler stolen from her crib, an unidentified Jane Doe murdered, and even a deadly instance of Trick or Treat. Enjoy listening to these disturbing and unusual Halloween cases of Mystery & Murder!
Part II of this episode can be heard on Patreon for all of the supporters of Strange Matters!
Blair Adams was a seemingly normal man living in Canada, working at a construction company and appearing content in life. One day, without warning, everything about Blair’s life mysteriously changed. In just a few days Blair emptied his savings account, quit his job, made several attempts to flee the country, all before being found dead half-naked in a parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee. What caused his sudden paranoia, who he was running from, and the ultimate motive for his bizarre death is still unknown to this day.
What caused this man to turn his life upside down without warning? What scared Blair so badly that he did everything he could to escape Canada, and then to keep running once he did. Who killed Blair, and for what reason? This episode discusses the unusual story behind this case, and the popular theories behind the many strange events that happened in Blair Adam’s final days.
Massive tax debt, divorce, the death of your brother, the collapse of your business… its enough to drive anyone mad. Ben McDaniel experienced all these things yet teetered on the edge of his sanity. To regroup he took a long sabbatical at his parents vacation home in Florida. During this period of recovery he rediscovered his lost passion of SCUBA diving. At Vortex Springs he began to log many hours of diving in order to gain an advanced certification. Vortex Springs had a checkered history. In the 90s, it has claimed the lives of many divers who thought themselves skilled enough to explore the deepest depths of the underwater cave. In order to prevent more deaths a gate was put up and a sign was posted at the entrance to ward off individuals who thought to highly of their own capabilities. McDaniel was one of those individuals. On August 18th he dove down into the abyss and never resurfaced. Most people immediately assumed he was simply another life to be claimed by the underwater cave but others suspect a variety of theories including murder and that maybe he even could have framed his own death to escape the burden of his previous life.
The Keddie Cabin Murders is a disturbing quadruple homicide that took place in Keddie, California. This infamous unsolved crime involves the murder of several family members in a cabin in the late night of April 11, 1981. This brutal murder case is notorious not just for its dark and gruesome nature, but also for the fact that many believe the investigation was a failure and the main suspects were allowed to be let go despite the large amount of evidence against them.
Sue Sharp and her five children had recently moved from the east coast to California following a troubled marriage. Sue would rent a cabin in the sparsely populate Keddie area, a run down town in a county that had a rampant drug problem. On the morning of April 12, Sheila, the oldest daughter, returned to the family cabin. Sheila never could have imagined that when the door opened she would find three bloody corpses laying in the main room. Even more disturbing, her younger sister Tina was no where to be found.
The police investigation has been noted as being quite poor and incompetent, law enforcement missing physical evidence and ignoring other pieces that should have been looked at further. The following interrogations of the primary suspects was handled in a confusingly half hearted way, the men who were thought to have been the culprits were allowed to simply leave without any follow up actions to their shady statements made about the crime. To this day the mystery of the Keddie Murders is still unsolved, but the continued work into the case has many hopeful that someday we will finally get the full story on what happened in that cabin on that fateful night.
Ross Moore approached the entrance to his brother’s house. He could tell something wasn’t right. The neighbor was used to seeing the Moore family up at an early hour, performing chores and starting their day… but not today. Ross, having a key to the house, slowly opened the door. Nothing could prepare him for what he was about to discover. He mustered up his courage and cautiously walked into the living room to discover a grizzly scene…
The Villisca Axe Murders are one of the most notorious family slayings in the United States. This small town was shaken to its core upon the discovery of the remains of an entire family of well-liked individuals. Accusations flew, crime scenes were tampered with, all chaos broke loose; but one thing was for certain: the Moore family was no more. Over the years numerous leads would be followed only to dead ends while the killer went free. Was this the work of a hitman or a cold-blooded and sadistic serial killer?
