The Unlovely Truth

This is Season 2, Episode 30, and our book for this week is an Audible exclusive: “The Demon Next Door'' by Bryan Burrough. After reading it, I’m right there with the author wondering why any of this happened, and whether any of it could have been prevented. My guest today is our own Unlovely Truth Tribe chaplain, Lori Prather. We’re going to get her take on bad people blending in at church and ways to reach out to people that a lot of churches choose to ignore.

In 2005, the FBI held a symposium in San Antonio...

Would you recognize the symptoms of schizophrenia in your children? Don and Mimi Galvin didn’t at first. Robert Kolker’s book “Hidden Valley Road” not only tells of the Galvin family struggles, but how their participation in schizophrenia studies have helped scientists looking for better treatments and maybe even a cure.

Mary Galvin, the youngest family member, endured horrific neglect and abuse. She often felt like an outcast of society, and this gave her a new connection to her six brothers who each had a mental health diagnosis. They needed so much help that home care...

I’m a mom who went through the worry of dropping off two daughters at college, well aware that I could no longer protect them in the way that I had when they were still home with me. Katie Autrey probably thought she was safe on the campus of Western Kentucky University, and she would have been if the two men charged with her murder hadn’t crashed a campus party that night. It seemed like a slam dunk case, but one jury didn’t agree. Was justice served?

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Americans are slightly obsessed with stories about serial killers. There are at least a dozen published books about Ted Bundy and the same for Charles Manson, not to mention everything written about John Wayne Gacy, Wayne Williams, Gary Ridgway, and others. But as retired cold-case investigator Paul Holes told Rolling Stone magazine, cultural changes like fewer women hitchhiking made it harder for these and other roving killers to find victims. 

But there was still one vulnerable group of women who was willing get in a car with a stranger - sex workers. The man known as...

Lizzy Hersberger grew up in what is probably the most conservative subgroup of the Old Order Amish community - the Swartzentruber Amish. She didn’t have indoor plumbing and wasn’t allowed to attend school beyond the eighth grade. Worst of all, when she was sexually assaulted by a member of her community, she was the one who was blamed, and cast out of their fellowship at the age of 15. Join me and my guest Molly Maeve Eagan, who is a trauma-informed writer, survivor activist and award-winning investigative journalist. You won’t want to miss her insights into surviving abuse...

Sandra Latrail Robinson was just 32 years old when her life was senselessly stolen from her during the course of a robbery. Her mother and her four children want to know what happened. Let’s help them find the answers they deserve by sharing this episode with everyone we can.

And if you’re feeling inspired to help other children who have lost a parent, check out the link below to the website of The National Alliance for Grieving Children.

I’ve never seen the show “WandaVision”, but I love a quote from the character Vision (played by...

Piper Kerman could have been any one of us. I had no idea that the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black was based on the true crime memoir that detailed her experiences and what she learned from spending a year in federal custody.

My guest today is James Early, a fellow podcaster and volunteer in prison ministry. James actually serves at the same prison that is the setting for most of the action in this week’s book. You’ll be fascinated by how his work there changed his life.

Che...

Our book this week is “Pathological” by Henry J. Cordes and Todd Cooper, and my guest is Katherine Mayer, founder of Mayer Consulting in Austin Texas, where she and her colleagues offer civil and criminal defense investigations as well as Death Penalty Mitigation and Sentencing Advocacy.

We had a fascinating talk about the death penalty and more that you won’t want to miss. I hope you’ll share your thoughts with me on social media, or email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com so we can have a discussion!

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On August 31, 1986, Doug Suns was shot in the head during an apparent robbery at the Kocolene gas station on Jonathon Moore Pike. He was working alone on the late night shift. The 22 year old died the next day at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Local police say this is the only unsolved homicide in Columbus, Indiana. Every victim deserves to have their story told, but not every story gets made into a book. Maybe if this one had been, the victim’s family would have the answers they’ve searched for for so long.

I hope that...

This week we are taking another look at “Hell in the Heartland” by Jax Miller. My guest today is Linda Davis, executive director and co-founder of Families Against Narcotics. If you were with us last week, you’ll remember that “Hell in the Heartland” tells the almost unbelievable story of murders, missing girls, marijuana, meth, and one amazing mom. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode you will definitely want to catch it ASAP!

As the time that Ashely Freeman and Lauria Bible had been missing went from days, to weeks, to months, and then to years...