S21 Ep8: M*rder In The Graveyard: A Family Cult Tragedy w/ Frank Stanfield
Darkness Radio
Darkness Radio
4.7 • 3.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2026
⏱️ 155 minutes
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Summary
True Crime Tuesday Presents: Murder In The Graveyard: A Family Cult Tragedy with Journalist/Researcher/Author, Frank Stanfield!
The 911 call was harrowing.
"I accidentally killed someone. Please!" the man said, his voice rising.
"Who?"
"My stepmom. My name is Ian Anselmo. Sue-Ellen Anselmo, she's in the car with me. My dad is going to kill me. I guess I strangled her. I don't remember doing it. I remember the argument."
The call disintegrated quickly, with the 20-year-old howling and sobbing so pitifully that the dispatcher could not understand what he was saying, except that he was calling from a cemetery.
The graveyard had its own lurid past as the site of a murderous teen vampire cult initiation 20 years earlier, now it was a bloody crime scene, and would later become the site of the pregnant woman's burial, more family violence, and the removal of her body.
The call was just the beginning. Investigators would discover a family cult stained with allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, brain-washing, and total patriarchal control.
Frank Stanfield, a 50-year newspaperman, covered the case from the beginning. It is one of the most twisted tales he has covered, including the vampire case, alligator attacks, murdered cops and countless "Florida man" stories.
On today's TCT, we talk to Frank Stanfield about the unusual family dynamic of the Anselmos. The prominent role that mental illness plays in the entire family, the role that the insanity defense would play in the trial and the complexity of even trying to use it in this day and age. And, we will talk about how a family turns slowly into a cult!
Get your copy of "Murder In The Graveyard" here: https://wildbluepress.com/murder-in-the-graveyard-true-crime-frank-stanfield/
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The impact has been devastating — emotionally, physically, and financially. Renee's husband, Mike also serves our country in the Armed Forces. Both Renee and Mike have continued to put others in front of themselves when times are at their darkest, now Renee needs our help to get back on her feet, heal, and get back to helping others, If you can help, please consider donating to her GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/863026bdd
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone, welcome in. It is the best in true crime podcasting. This is True Crime Tuesday. |
| 0:27.5 | I am Tim Dennis, your host. Got a great show for you today. Travis Thorpe in today for Jessica |
| 0:32.4 | Freeberg. We'll have him in for Dump Crime, Stupid Criminals in just a bit. But first I want to tell you folks |
| 0:37.5 | about an incredibly interesting book that I got the pleasure of reading over the weekend with a |
| 0:42.5 | good friend of ours who's back on the program. Murder in the Graveyard, a family cult |
| 0:47.4 | tragedy, is the name of the book by our good friend Frank Stanfield, who's back with us. |
| 0:52.9 | And, you know, I always say on this program, |
| 0:56.2 | some of the best cases I guess we get are from Florida. |
| 0:59.0 | Florida man seems to be an obsession with you guys here on this program. |
| 1:03.0 | And this is no exception. |
| 1:06.5 | Boy, I tell you, this case, folks, is something else. |
| 1:09.4 | And we like to talk about cult mentality, I guess, on the show, too. There's a bit of a cult mentality to this book. There's a murder involved in this book. And much, much more. And we'll get into it with Frank here just a moment. Let me tell you a little bit about Frank and remind you about Frank. Before we bring him in. Frank Stanfield is a veteran newspaper journalist who's worked in central Florida for most of his 40 years in the business. You may remember him from other books that we've had in this program. I'll just drop a couple of things for you here. Vampire case, werewolf, alligators, crocodiles, and much, much more. |
| 1:45.2 | There you go. |
| 1:45.9 | There's your little teaser. |
| 1:47.0 | Let's bring them in right now. |
| 1:47.7 | Frank Stanfield. |
| 1:49.6 | Frank, thank you so much for being back on the program. |
| 1:51.2 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:51.8 | Appreciate it. |
| 1:56.8 | So, Frank, before we launch into murder in the graveyard, a family cult tragedy, |
| 1:59.1 | I've got to ask you this. |
| 2:04.1 | Okay, so would you say the vampire case was the craziest case you've ever covered? |
... |
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