Episode 207: The Eastburn Family Murders | Discovery

True Crime Couple

True Crime Couple Podcast

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Mother's Day 1985, a call came into the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department that neighbors had not seen a mother of three, nor her three children in days. When they had gone to check on the welfare of the family, they could hear the youngest of the daughters crying. When they had looked through her window, they saw the toddler alone, wailing, desperately seeking comfort. A deputy came to respond to the distressing call, but it would not be the condition of the poor child that would shock the city of Fayetteville, it would be the horrors that lay beyond her room.

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Sources:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/14/three-trials-for-murder
Three trial for murder By Nicholas Schmidle

Innocent Victims: The True Story of the Eastburn Family Murders by Scott Whisnant
Open Roads Media
https://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf/opinions/2019OctTerm/170263.pdf
https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/hennis-v-united-states/
https://5clpp.com/2020/02/10/the-relationship-between-dual-sovereignty-and-double-jeopardy-the-trials-of-tim-hennis/
https://www.stripes.com/news/soldier-on-death-row-will-ask-the-military-s-highest-court-to-overturn-his-conviction-1.603983
https://www.foxnews.com/us/25-years-later-widower-recalls-slain-family
https://abcnews.go.com/2020/3rd-trial-master-sgt-timothy-hennis-guilty-1985/story?id=10324918
https://www.newspapers.com/image/655987126/?match=1&terms=Timothy%20Hennis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/984728037/?match=1&terms=Timothy%20Hennis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/655994809/?match=1&terms=Timothy%20Hennis
https://abcnews.go.com/US/gary-jana-eastburns-nightmare-odyssey-convict-familys-killer/story?id=11644539

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey guys, welcome to episode 207 of a true crime couple. I'm Kay. And I'm John.
0:06.6	We hope all is well and that you've missed us over the two weeks that have passed since our last episode.
0:12.7	Today, I'm here to tell you a very intense story. And I want to give you and John, as always, a warning before we get into crimes of a specific nature.
0:24.8	Today's crimes include violence against young children.
0:28.8	The discussion of these crimes will be throughout the podcast, so it would be impossible to provide time stamps, so listener discretion is advised.
0:38.8	Today's episode will be part one of a two-part series. We will be keeping up with our
0:44.8	regular bi-weekly schedule, so the next episode in this series will be released on June 29th.
0:51.7	This is a very in-depth case, and a lot happens. I want it to give the victims and the
0:57.7	case the justice it deserves. And just one more short message. If you're new to Patreon,
1:03.9	please stay until the end of the episode, as we will be giving you a personal shout out.
1:09.3	If you would like ad-free episodes and two full-length bonus episodes a month,
1:14.5	please join at patreon.com slash true crime couple.
1:18.7	It's very easy to link the Patreon feed into Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening.
1:26.6	Okay, John, are you ready to hear something crazy?
1:30.1	Of course I am.
1:32.3	Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been a military town since the inception of Camp Bragg in
1:38.4	1918. But this city saw the most growth between the years of 1940 and 1970.
1:47.0	Historically, this makes sense due to America's preparation for an involvement in both World War II and the Vietnam War.
1:56.5	Families of military personnel can choose to live on base or in Fayetteville.
2:02.6	Military towns are interesting ones. They have large populations that otherwise would not have mixed if not for the base.
2:12.6	These populations are diverse, people from all around the country in one town, something that can cause problems.
2:21.9	If you think about it, it's different religions meeting, southern ways of life, meeting northern and Midwestern ways of life.
	...

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