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Casefile True Crime

282: Case 239: Peggy Carr

Casefile True Crime

Casefile Presents

True Crime, Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.741.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When 41-year-old waitress Peggy Carr succumbed to a mysterious illness in October 1988, doctors in Alturas, Florida struggled to figure out what was wrong with her. As other members of Peggy’s family became sick too, one neurologist came to suspect they were dealing with a case of poisoning. Tests soon confirmed the family had been deliberately poisoned with the rare heavy metal thallium, but no one could understand why.

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Narration – Anonymous Host
Research & writing – Erin Munro
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Production and music – Mike Migas
Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support,

0:19.0

please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support,

0:24.0

please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website.

0:36.0

41-year-old Peggy Carr was employed as a waitress at the Nicholas family restaurant in South Central Florida.

0:43.0

On October 23, 1988, she was working the Sunday morning shift when she started feeling unwell.

0:51.0

A strong pain seared in the middle of her chest. At first, Peggy thought she might be having a heart attack,

0:59.0

but one of her regular customers assured her that couldn't be the case.

1:04.0

Peggy's breathing and pulse were both in the normal range and the bright pink shade of her fingernails indicated she was receiving plenty of oxygen.

1:14.0

As the day wore on, Peggy continued to feel sick. Around lunchtime, her adult daughter, Jelena, arrived at the restaurant.

1:24.0

The two worked together and Jelena was scheduled to cover the lunch shift.

1:30.0

Jelena noticed something was wrong with her mother almost right away. Peggy, who rarely complained and was never unwell, told Jelena that her hands were numb and her legs were aching.

1:43.0

Jelena touched her mother's hands. They were ice cold.

1:48.0

She told Peggy to sit down and rest. Peggy did so, but the pain continued. Eventually, she decided to leave work early.

1:59.0

Perhaps a nap at home would cure whatever was ailing her.

2:13.0

Later that afternoon, Peggy's husband, Perry Ellen Carr, better known as Pi, returned home from a hunting trip.

2:36.0

He found Peggy sprawled on the living room so far. As she greeted him, she looked sick and her voice sounded weak.

2:45.0

The two had only been married for six months. It was a remarriage for both of them, the result of a whirlwind courtship.

2:54.0

After the wedding, Peggy moved into Pi's home, a remote property surrounded by orange groves in the Florida town of Outouros.

3:04.0

She brought two of her grown children with her. Her oldest Jelena, 17-year-old Duane, and Jelena's two-year-old daughter.

3:13.0

Peggy's other son, Alan, was stationed at a naval base in Tennessee.

3:19.0

Two of Pi's children also lived at the home, 18-year-old Tammy, and 16-year-old Travis.

3:27.0

It was an adjustment as the large blended family got used to their new living arrangements, but Peggy and Pi did their best to make it work.

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