Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast

CRIMECON 2023 UPDATE! & Ep 72: “Done to death by slanderous tongues”- The Death of Amy Robsart: An Elizabethan Mystery by Sarah-Beth Watkins Part 2

Jill discusses Crimecon 2023 in Orlando!  Being on Podcast Row, meeting her Murder Bookies and meeting so many in the True Crime community! Then, she continues the story of Lady Amy Robsart, found dead at the bottom of the stairs.  In every royal court in Europe, and across every town and hamlet in England, the people of England wonder what to believe of their beautiful, young and unmarried Queen, Elizabeth I, whose relationship with Amy’s husband, Robert Dudley, is described widely as “most intimate.”  Was Amy’s death an accident or suicide?  Where does the 500 yr old evidence take us?  What does the 1560 autopsy report reveal? And, who had motive if a ‘murder most foul’ was committed? 
Sources, snack recipe, wine recommendation, show notes plus CRIMECON 2023 PHOTOS are found on Jill’s blog (soon!) www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Join Jill on Patreon for our zoom True Crime and Book Club discussion!  Get your merch – Jill’s putting pumpkin spice into True Crime!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 71: “The Original Staircase”- The Death of Amy Robsart: An Elizabethan Mystery by Sarah-Beth Watkins Part 1

Episode 71: “The Original Staircase”- The Death of Amy Robsart: An Elizabethan Mystery by Sarah-Beth Watkins Part 1
1560: Tudor England. Amidst rumors of adultery, poisoning divorce, and murder, Lady Amy Dudley, nee Robsart, was found dead at the foot of the stairs. Immediately, suspicion fell upon her husband, Lord Robert Dudley, favorite of the newly ascended Queen of England, Elizabeth I. Had he done away with his wife to marry the Queen?  The investigation, interviews, interrogations, and inquest does little to snuff out the speculation and debate—How did Amy Dudley die?  Accident, Suicide, or Murder? 500 years later, we are still asking these questions. Join Jill as she combines the two passions of her life- The Tudors and true crime!
And find Jill on PODCAST ROW AT CRIMECON 2023 ORLANDO!!!  So EXCITED!
Sources, show notes, a ton of portraits, family trees, and more are found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com
 
Check out her MERCH shop on Spreadshop!
Join Patreon here!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved.

Episode 70: ”The Story Isn’t Over”-Bone Deep- Untangling the Twisted true story of the tragic Betsy Faria Murder Case: Jill speaks with RUSS FARIA!

We met Russ Faria after he was charged with the murder of his wife, Betsy.  Wrongfully convicted, Russ spend 3 years in prison, until he was  finally exonerated (Ep 40-44). Enter new DA, Mike Wood, who begins investigating the investigators for corruption, determined to right the unbelievable wrongs.  In an alleged effort to derail the investigation, former Lincoln County detective, Mike Merkel is implicated, spirally the investigation. Listen to the latest from Russ Faria, who was in the Missouri court room himself.  And what is new with Russ and Carol McAfee? The story isn’t over yet!
 
Source material, show notes, photographs are found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub- May 2022.(Click here)  
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 69: ”The Sage Speaks with Jill”- An Interview with cold case investigator Chief Clay Bryant Pt 4

Our author, the "most prolific cold case investigator in the United States for single-event homicides", Chief Clay Bryant chats with Jill, discussing his cold case investigations and a bit on life itself.  His common sense and down to earth brilliance shines through, as Clay shares moments that simply take your breath away—What were the odds THAT could have happened? Get the inside story of the next book, on yet another cold case he solved and another killer off the streets. Murder Bookies, do not miss this discussion, it is sincere, poignant, and uplifting!
AND- Announcement: Look for the Murder Shelf Book Club on Podcast Row at Crimecon 2023 in Orlando!
Sources, show notes, photographs, maps and food and drink information on the Clay Bryant books is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Get your merch for CrimeCon!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 68 – 2ndCast“ Alls Well that Ends Well”- The Cold Case Murder of Fred Wilkerson: Untangling the Black Widows Web in West Georgia by Clay Bryant Part III

Episode 68 –2ndCast“ Alls Well that Ends Well”- The Cold Case Murder of Fred Wilkerson: Untangling the Black Widows Web in West Georgia by Clay Bryant Part III
In Part III, we see Connie Quedens ensnaring Fred Wilderson in her web, entangling finances, escalating demands, culimnating with Fred abruptly vanished, leaving his beloved daughter and son behind. Who had a life insurance policy on Fred?  Connie.  But, nothing tied her to his disappearance.  17 yrs later, Clay Bryant begins to investigate this cold case, and he finds a witness that sets the case on fire! Hear justice arrive in all it’s glory, and the truth of who Connie Quedens is comes out, with many wondering what else she did.
 
Sources, snack recipe, wine recommendation and show notes are found on Jill’s blog www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Join Jill on Patreon! HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT TONIGHT! 
 Get your merch for CrimeCon Orlando in Sept 2023!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 67 “All is not well” Pt 2: Solving the West Georgia Murder of Gwendolyn Moore & The Cold Case Murder of Fred Wilkerson: Untangling the Black Widow’s Web in West by Clay Bryant

A horrendously abused wife, Gwendolyn Moore, is found at the bottom of an old well in 1970. The investigation deliberately went nowhere, for 32 years. Pt 2 tells the story, begun in 2003, with a chance phone call that brought the case to the attention of Investigator Clay Moore, who not only recalled the case; he watched her body being recovered that terrible day, as a teenager  Delving in, Clay would go to extremes to get the evidence to charge her killer, a chance to set the record right.  
Just days afterward, a chance meeting with mechanic Tim Wilkerson turns the tides of investigation once more. Tim tells Clay his Dad, Fred Wilkerson, is missing- for the last 17 years.  Suspicions abound, but the evidence lead nowhere and the case went cold. Could Clay Bryant do it again, and find Fred Wilkerson?
 
Sources, snack recipe, wine recommendation and show notes are found on Jill’s blog www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Join Jill on Patreon!  Get your merch for CrimeCon Orlando in Sept 2023!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 66 “Coin in a wishing well” – Pt 1 Solving the West Georgia Murder of Gwendolyn Moore: A cry from the well by Clay Bryant

Back in 1970, the beaten body of a young wife and mother was lifted from an old well just outside Hogansville, Georgia.  The victim, Gwendolyn Moore, had long been married to her violent and abusive husband, Marshall Moore.  Yet, mysteriously, this homicide investigation went cold the day Gwendolyn died, with Hogansville Chief of Police, Buddy Bryant, haunted by the case for decades. 32 years later, Buddy Bryant’s son, Clay Bryant, following in his father’s steps, would delve into a new investigation. Would the cold case thaw?
 
Sources, snack recipe, wine recommendation and show notes are found on Jill’s blog www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Join Jill on Patreon!
By Jill, All Rights Reserved

Episode 65 2ndCast- ‘Female of the Species’- Pt.3 Death Sentence- The True Story of Velma Barfield’s Life, Crimes and Execution by Jerry Bledsoe

Pt 3: What happens when you are on Death Row?  How does the appeal process work?  What is the human toll?  Is it justice?  We will follow Velma’s loved ones as they struggle with new revelations, and hear from the families of the victims’ as human endurance is tested.  Jill walks you through Velma Barfield’s maze of appeals, arguments for a new trial, and the final emotional outcome.  And, Jill tells you what she thinks of Velma Barfield, the Death Row Granny (of course she does!)
 
Sources, show notes, photographs, recipe and drink information are found on Jill’s blog: www.murdershelfbookclub.com. Leave comments!
Email Jill:    jill@murdershelfbookclub.com and leave a 5 star review wherever you listen!
AND- Jill is on PATREON! Now you can support the podcast, and zoom with Jill, getting her take on new developments in true crime! Help her choose the next book too! 
Check out Jill’s merch store on SpreadShop with new warm weather designs!
 
By Jill, All Rights Reserved.
 
 

Episode 64: ‘Poisoning the waterhole’ – Pt.2 Death Sentence- The True Story of Velma Barfield’s Life, Crimes and Execution by Jerry Bledsoe

In Part 2, on trial for premeditated murder, Velma Barfield’s attorney, Bob Jacobson has an uphill battle—she confessed to poisoning Stuart Taylor- and 3 other people. With the defense team facing the “World’s most deadly prosecutor” Joe Freeman Britt, only Velma could explain herself.
Was she too impaired from her drug abuse to understand what she was doing?  Would she sway the jurors? Could this risky decision save her life? Or was she a cold-calculating serial killer as the Prosecution presents? 
 
Sources, photographs, recipes and wine pairings are found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com
Email Jill:    jill@murdershelfbookclub.com and leave a 5 star review wherever you listen!
AND- Jill is on PATREON! Now you can support the podcast, AND zoom with Jill zoom, getting her take on new developments in true crime! Help her choose the next book too!
Check out Jill’s merch store on SpreadShop with new Spring designs!
 
By Jill, All Rights Reserved.

Episode 63 ‘Broken Hearts and Hearths’- Death Sentence- The True Story of Velma Barfield’s Life, Crimes and Execution by Jerry Bledsoe Pt 1

After a childhood of poverty and abuse, 17-year-old Margie Velma Bullard eloped with Senior Thomas Burke while they were both in high school. Building a happy life, they welcomed a son and daughter, becoming a normal American family. That is, until addiction reared its ugliness, triggering a cascade of painful, inexplicable deaths. Why did so many people around Velma die? Then, the world imploded with devastating shock—Velma was arrested for murder, and the investigation would reveal- it wasn’t the only one.
 
Sources, photographs, recipes and wine pairings are found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com
AND- Jill is on PATREON- where you can share in behind the scenes zoom with Jill! and get her take on new developments in true crime!
 
Check out Jill’s merch store on SpreadShop with new Spring designs!
https://murder-shelf-book-club.myspreadshop.com/
 
By Jill, All Rights Reserved.