063 - The Mysterious Death of Norman Ladner

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2018

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Seventeen year old Norman Ladner loved spending his free time on his family's land. He would walk through the 122 acre plot, exploring the open pastures and dense forestry. Fishing and hunting were two of his favorite activities, but on the night of August 21st, 1989, Norman didn't come home.

After searching for over an hour, Norman's father made the terrible discovery of his son's body. Norman had died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and while investigators initially considered it an accidental shooting, the final ruling was suicide. Unable to accept this, Norman's parents began an investigation of their own.

Over the next several weeks, the Ladner's discovered a blood stained bullet, too large for their son's rifle, a radio transmitter they were told was often used by drug smugglers and were even threatened by an unknown individual not to reopen the case.

What happened to Norman Ladner, was this a tragic case of a teenager taking his own life, a terrible accident or a case of homicide either covered up, or poorly investigated? Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines the details of this disturbing and complex case.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/norman-ladner

Transcript

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0:38.0	17-year-old Norman Ladner grew up in a tight-knit family with two loving parents and six siblings.
0:46.0	The eldest son of the bunch, he took it as his responsibility to look out for his siblings,
0:52.0	as well as doing what he could to contribute to the family's store and farm.
0:56.0	When Norman wasn't helping his family out, there were two true passions that grabbed his attention,
1:02.0	woodworking, and exploring the vast network of pastures and wooded areas on his family's 122-acre plot of land.
1:12.0	Norman would often spend entire days in the woods,
1:16.0	exploring the property, watching wildlife, and when he could,
1:20.0	he'd squeeze in a little fishing and hunting, too.
1:23.0	For a boy growing up in rural Mississippi, there was no better way to spend his time.
1:28.0	And thanks to all of the hours he'd spent in the wilderness, he knew his family's land better than anyone else.
1:35.0	Typically, he'd arrive at his parent's store in the evening to tell them about all the excitement he'd experienced that day.
1:43.0	But one warm summer day, in 1989, Norman didn't come home.
1:49.0	When Panic finally said in, Norman's father called a friend,
1:53.0	and together they began searching the dense forestry wielding flashlights against the blackness of the night.
	...

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