The Military Murder Podcast dropped their first three episodes on Veteran’s Day. The podcasts featured the homicide cases of Army Sgt. Stephen Schap, Canadian RAF Colonel Russell Williams, and Army MSG Timothy Hennis (currently on military death row with three other servicemembers). The Military Murder Podcast is the first of it’s kind and we are pleased that a true crime podcaster chose this particular subject. MJFA tracks homicide committed by active duty service members, their families, and veterans. It’s our belief if they are capable of murder, they are also capable of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, physical assault, animal abuse, and other felony crimes. It is our hope that the military will track these red flag crimes in a more efficient manner with civilian authorities so we can prevent the homicide from occurring and warn civilians of the dangers that lurk when a service member is discharged instead of prosecuted. Check out the Military Murder Podcast on your favorite podcast app. We love the Stitcher app because we can organize all our favorite podcasts in one place. And the Military Murder Podcast is definitely one of our favorites.
In 2001, Kathleen Peterson’s body was found at the foot of a staircase in her home. The Missing Pieces looks at the nagging questions surrounding her death, dissecting a frantic 911 call, a potentially killer owl, and a blood-soaked stairwell. -The Staircase, Investigation Discovery
“Timothy Hennis was sentenced to death for the murders of Katie Eastburn and her two daughters, Erin and Kara Eastburn. Katie was a military wife who lived on the Fort Bragg base with her husband and three daughters. This case takes a look at how important it is to follow investigatory protocol and how double jeopardy is actually interpreted in the legal system in a case that spans over two decades. Tune in to find out how this case unfolds, and where it stands today.” –The Case of Timothy Hennis, Death’s Door Podcast (September 14, 2017)
When a mother is killed, Lt Joe Kenda wonders if it’s a robbery gone wrong, until a slew of hateful messages surface. Then, patrols discover a body on a roadway after an evident hit-and-run, but the victim’s true cause of death turns the case on its head. -#1 Suspect, Homicide Hunter (S4,E9)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Air Force spouse Kathryn Eastburn was found brutally raped and murdered on May 9, 1985 in her Fayetteville, North Carolina home. Two of her three children, Cara and Erin, were also murdered in the same vicious way. All three were stabbed and their throats were slashed. Kathryn and her three children were home alone while Gary Eastburn was on temporary duty at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. The youngest daughter Jana was found dehydrated but otherwise unharmed. The crime occurred six miles from the location of where Jeffrey MacDonald was accused of killing his wife and two children at Fort Bragg. Army Sergeant Timothy Hennis was a suspect from the beginning because he had visited the Eastburn home a couple days earlier to buy the family dog.
Kathryn placed a dog for sale ad in the local post paper. Investigators sent out a press release looking for the person who bought the dog. In the meantime, a neighbor reported seeing someone leaving the Eastburn residence at the time in question. The neighbor provided details for a composite drawing; the suspect drove a white Chevy Chevette. At the urging of his wife, Hennis contacted the police station and investigators were stunned at how much he looked like the composite drawing. He also drove a white Chevy Chevette. In a background check, they found that Hennis had three convictions for writing bad checks. This was significant because the perpetrator stole Kathryn’s ATM card and used it on one occasion. Another witness identified Hennis as the person who used the ATM at the time in question.
In 1986, the State of North Carolina tried Hennis for the triple murders. Hennis was found guilty and sentenced to death. But he appealed and was found not guilty in the second death penalty trial. After his ‘exoneration’ Hennis was the subject of a book and an ABC made for television movie “Innocent Victims”. Meanwhile, against lawyers advice, Hennis enlisted in the Army again for two more tours, worked his way up to E-8, and retired as a MSG outside of Fort Lewis, Washington. Cold case investigators took a second look at the cold case and because of the advances in DNA technology, they retrieved a vaginal swab from the rape kit test and submitted it to the lab. DNA evidence linked Timothy Hennis to Kathryn Eastburn.The State of North Carolina prosecutors could not charge Hennis a third time because he was found ‘not guilty’ of the triple homicides in the second death penalty trial.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb…” [wikipedia]. The civilians couldn’t try him in State court but the Army could because of federal jurisdiction; Hennis was an Army retiree therefore still under their jurisdiction. As a result, Hennis was activated and order to report to Fort Bragg for his third death penalty trial. The defense attempted to justify the DNA match to consensual sex but it contradicted his original testimony. The defense also called into question the ethics of the lab who made the DNA match. A military jury found Timothy Hennis guilty of three counts of murder and sentenced him to death. He awaits his execution date at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Source: Unusual Suspects ‘Mother’s Day Murders’
In 1985, a young military wife and two of her three little girls are viciously murdered in their home. In a twisted case filled with unusual suspects, the man who gets convicted goes free. But nothing is what it seems. -Discovery ID
HISTORY – Twisted Philly – Episode 14: PART 1 – Ms. Rambo
To recap part one, Sylvia Seegrist was a resident of Springfield, Pennsylvania, a suburb about 10 miles outside the city… -Ms. Rambo, Twisted Philly
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Full Episode: Emergency Dispatch in Durham, North Carolina received a frantic call from a man who said his wife had fallen down the stairs; she was unconscious but still breathing. When paramedics arrived, they could do little more than pronounce the woman dead. The number and volume of bloodstains at the scene was greater than usual. It was up to forensic scientists to find out why. -A Novel Idea, Forensic Files (S11,E22)
Editor’s Note: Full episodes of Forensic Files are available on a variety of media platforms. FilmRise Channel and Forensic Files Channel both feature full episodes of Forensic Files on YouTube. You can also find full episodes of Forensic Files on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. On Netflix, the seasons are grouped as collection 1-9. On Amazon Prime Video, you can find Season 1-10 here; Season 11; Season 12; Season 13; Season 14; Season 15; Season 16; Season 17; Season 18; Season 19; Season 20; and Season 21. Start bingeing and see for yourself why Forensic Files is such a hit!
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, had seen it all before – when Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted of savagely slaying his wife and children. Now another officer’s wife had been raped and murdered, another pari of children viciously butchered. And another member of the military was brought to trial. This time the state had no trouble winning a conviction. Tim Hennis was found guilty and sentenced to death. Only Hennis’ parents, wife, and dedicated defense team refused to give up. Piece by piece they ripped the state’s case to shreds, revealing a stunning story of perversion of justice, false witnesses, hidden evidence, and, incredibly, a baby-sitter who had a fascination with Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald. With the brutal truth and chilling suspense of Fatal Vision, this riveting account recreates a vicious crime, the behind-the-scenes story of its investigation, the compelling drama of one of the very few men ever released from Death Row, and an unsolved mystery that still casts a spell of terror. (Innocent Victims by Scott Whisnant)
Book Review:
I read the Innocent Victims book while I was camping and honestly I could not put it down. I was reminded of it while listening to the Military Murder Podcast and inspired to read it because of the level of detail available in the book. It was a great read because there were so many twists and turns in the case. If I didn’t know about the fact that a DNA match to Timothy Hennis helped prove his guilt in a 2010 military trial, I would have been convinced Timothy Hennis was wrongfully convicted. Timothy Hennis was luckier than most because he had the staunch support of his adopted family and wife Angela, who all believed wholeheartedly in his innocence. This case is one for the history books because it’s not every day someone is found guilty in a civilian trial, then found not guilty in a civilian trial on appeal, and then tried again by the military in a third trial and found guilty. Timothy Hennis was sentenced to death and is one of four service members languishing on military death row. The military hasn’t executed anyone since they hanged Army Pvt. John Bennett on April 13, 1961.
Journalists and scholars have questioned the military’s ability to try someone found not guilty in a civilian court because of the double jeopardy concerns. Due to the fact that Timothy Hennis was found not guilty in a second civilian trial, he was allowed to resume his career in the U.S. Army and retired as a MSG in 2004. As far as we know, Timothy Hennis committed no other crimes and was well respected by those he served with. It would be because of his retirement from the military, the Army was able to bring him back on active duty status and try him in a third trial for the murders of the Eastburn family. This practice is also controversial. On appeal Timothy Hennis challenged the military’s jurisdiction to recall him to active duty status to prosecute him and questioned the double jeopardy concerns. In January 2020, an Appeals Court decided military retirees can be recalled to active duty status and court-martialed. In February 2020, the U.S. Court of Military Appeals rejected Hennis’ constitutional rights challenges to the military court’s jurisdiction to try him.
On October 30, 1985, Sylvia Seegrist, 25, dressed in Army fatigues and black boots, parked her car in front of the Springfield Mall in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stepped out, and started shooting. She killed three people and injured seven more in the mass shooting before she was stopped by an on-looker in the mall who didn’t realize she was not in a Halloween costume. Killed in the incident was a young child and two men: Recife Cosmen, 2, Dr. Ernest Trout, 67, and Augusto Ferrara, 64. As a result, Seegrist was arrested and indicted for three first degree murders. Investigators would learn that Sylvia Seegrist was discharged from the military after a year of serving because she wasn’t “right in the head” according to Army officials. Sylvia’s mother shared that she tried to get help for her daughter and tried to get her to take medication, but no one would hear her pleas for help. Prior to and after her trial in 1986, Seegrist was held at a Pennsylvania State Hospital.
Sylvia downward spiraled after her discharge from the Army and used the military training she learned to kill innocent civilians. After Sylvia was found guilty of three first degree murders and given three life sentences, she was transferred to the women’s Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution where she still resides. The 1985 incident highlighted the fine line between an individual’s rights and the state’s authority to commit potentially dangerous people. Seegrist interviewed in 1991 said, “daily doses of anti-psychotic medication had curtailed her delusions, paranoia and explosive anger.” Why wasn’t the mental illness picked up by recruiting and instead only recognized after she joined the military? Sylvia Seegrist had paranoid schizophrenia which is a serious mental illness that requires the use of medication to manage symptomology. Sylvia Seegrist needed follow on treatment after her discharge from the Army in an effort to prevent a predictable downward spiral.
