Chasing a Shadow: The Stalking of Joanne Chambers

True Crime Campfire

Society & Culture, History, True Crime

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the early 1990s, a beloved first-grade teacher in Pennsylvania began receiving harassing, threatening letters from an anonymous sender. Her school principal, fellow teachers, and the parents of some of her students soon began receiving them too. As the ordeal wore on, the stalker slowly escalated from taunts to vile accusations and death threats—and then, finally, violence. From early on in the case, the police thought they knew the tormentor’s identity, but it took 18 months to finally gather the evidence needed for an arrest. The trial to follow would be one of the most bizarre the state had ever seen. The case took twist after twist before reaching a conclusion nobody saw coming. Sources:Forensic Files, episode "Sealed With a Kiss"The Morning Call: https://www.mcall.com/1996/01/21/accused-stalker-says-victim-framed-her/The Morning Call: https://www.mcall.com/1997/01/30/custodian-says-teacher-was-often-upset-testimony-continues-in-pocono-mountain-stalking-case-at-school-fellow-instructors-job-is-at-stake/Pocono Record: https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/2000/12/14/pm-pays-600000-to-settle/51084692007/https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/2000/11/04/odd-teacher-harassment-case-returns/51083383007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&Forensic Files Now: https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/2020/06/27/joanne-chambers-and-paula-nawrocki-strange-lesson/Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=enTwitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, campers, grab your marshmallows and gather around the true crime campfire.
0:04.8	We're your camp counselors. I'm Katie. And I'm Whitney.
0:08.1	And we're here to tell you a true story that is way stranger than fiction.
0:12.0	We're roasting murderers and marshmallows around the true crime campfire.
0:20.2	In the early 1990s, a beloved first-grade teacher in Pennsylvania began receiving harassing, threatening letters from an anonymous sender.
0:29.3	Her school principal, fellow teachers, and the parents of some of her students soon began receiving them too.
0:35.6	As the ordeal wore on, the stalker slowly escalated from
0:38.9	taunts to vile accusations and death threats, and then finally violence. From early on in the case,
0:45.7	the police thought they knew the tormentor's identity, but it took 18 months to finally gather
0:50.7	the evidence needed for an arrest. The trial to follow would be one of the most
0:55.2	bizarre the state had ever seen. The case took twist after twist before reaching a conclusion
1:00.5	nobody saw coming. This is chasing a shadow, the stalking of Joanne Chambers. So, campers, for this one, were in Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania, 1993.
1:21.9	The principal of the Coolball Learning Center School got a strange anonymous letter in the mail.
1:27.4	The typewritten letter was all about
1:29.1	one of his most popular employees, Rockstar First Great Teacher Joanne Chambers. Joanne was one of those
1:35.8	teachers kids remember forever, the kind who makes class so much fun that they forget they're actually
1:40.2	learning something. She was always doing something fun and creative, like making big paper
1:45.0	palm trees for the classroom or showing up to class in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and shorts.
1:50.1	At the end of every class, Mrs. Chambers told her students, you are wonderful and beautiful and
1:55.4	you make my heart happy. Her students loved her, and so did their parents. But apparently not everybody loved Joanne. Whoever wrote this letter sure didn't. The author roasted Joanne up one side and down the other, blasting her for everything from her career choices to her dress sense. Now what do you think of Miss 1977, the letter said? I'm not sure what that means,
2:19.2	but you can hear how contemptuous the tone is right away. I'm sure she didn't tell you about her
2:25.0	mistake. She didn't fulfill a parent plan, Miss wannabe superteacher. The letter went on about
	...

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