Deathbed Confessions: Diane Crawford Smith
Once Upon A Crime | True Crime
Esther Ludlow
4.6 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 26 July 2021
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Resources:
“Thomas Free on Bond; Hearing Slated Oct 27”, The News Leader, Oct 17, 1967. “Prosecution Rests in Thomas Hearing”, The News Leader, April 10, 1968. “Getting away with murder? Former cop has serious questions about why Staunton’s most infamous killer almost got away”, Lindsay Barnes for The Hook, Jan 8, 2009.
Sharron C. Smith, Obituary, retrieved from Legacy.com.
“Woman confesses to 1967 slayings”, Ashley Broughton for CNN, Jan 24, 2009.
“Motive in Double Killing 42 Years Ago is Revealed”, The Associated Press, retrieved from The New York Times, Jan 24, 2009.
“We just want the truth; Connie Hevener’s family wants to know why a cop allegedly hid her killer for 40 years”, Lindsay Barnes for The Hook, Feb 26, 2009.
“Bound by blood? Were cop and killer father and child?”, Lindsay Barnes for The Hook, April 23, 2009.
“A $200M Wrong? One-time suspect in ‘67 slayings says Staunton cops framed him”, Brad Zinn for The News Leader, Dec 23, 2010.
“High’s case featured on Investigation Discovery”, Augusta Free Press, Feb 17, 2013.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast details true crime cases. |
| 0:03.0 | It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence. |
| 0:07.0 | It is not intended for children. |
| 0:09.0 | Listener discretion is advised. Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime. |
| 0:20.0 | We're in the series Deathbed Confession. joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime. |
| 0:23.2 | We're in the series Deathbed Confessions. |
| 0:25.7 | And I've saved the most interesting story |
| 0:27.7 | in this series for last. |
| 0:29.6 | It's a case where just when you think the story |
| 0:31.9 | couldn't get any stranger, you find yet another |
| 0:34.9 | odd and unbelievable detail. |
| 0:37.5 | In 1967, a double murder shocked a small town in Virginia. |
| 0:42.0 | A suspect was quickly rounded up, but the case wasn't truly |
| 0:45.3 | resolved until decades later when a chance encounter led to a series of events that would |
| 0:51.4 | ultimately bring about a deathbed confession. |
| 0:54.0 | Come along and listen to this one-of-a-kind true-crime case in our final chapter of death-bed confession. Staunton, Virginia, was the epitome of small town America in the 1960s. |
| 1:17.0 | Located in the heart of the Commonwealth of Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Valley, |
| 1:22.0 | some of Staunton's now 23,000 residents are |
| 1:25.1 | descendants of the first settlers to the area. As in many small towns in America, |
| 1:30.5 | Staunton just feels like home to those born and raised here. Many remain working |
| 1:35.9 | and raising their own families where they grew up. Some leave for college, jobs, or |
| 1:41.2 | marriage, but find themselves returning to their hometown that feels safe and |
... |
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