Surviving Gitchie Manitou: The Sandra Cheskey Story
10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories
Joe Kuner
4.8 • 614 Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What began as a carefree evening under the stars turned into a nightmare that would haunt Iowa forever. In 1973, five teenagers ventured into Gitchie Manitou State Preserve for a night of campfire fun, but only one survived to tell the story. This episode delves into the horrifying events of that night—the ambush, the unimaginable brutality, and the desperate fight for justice. We unravel the twisted motives of the Fryer brothers and follow the remarkable courage of Sandra Cheskey, whose memory became the key to solving the case. This is a story of heartbreak, resilience, and a community forever scarred.
#TrueCrimeStories #GitchieManitouMurders #TrueCrimePodcast #SandraCheskey #UnsolvedMurdersHistory #CrimeSurvivors #IowaTrueCrime
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is for mature audiences only, so if you aren't cool with dark, disturbing, and depraved, you might want to keep it moving. |
| 0:09.5 | Welcome to Ten Minute Murder. |
| 0:23.6 | Five teenagers headed into the Iowa woods for a laid-back night of campfire vibes. |
| 0:31.6 | Smoors, laughter, maybe some questionable sing-alongs, definitely ghost stories. |
| 0:36.6 | It's the kind of wholesome fun that would make |
| 0:38.6 | a Norman Rockwell painting blush. By the end of the night, only one of them would walk out alive. |
| 0:45.3 | What unfolded at Gitchie Manitou State Preserve is the kind of horror that makes you question everything. |
| 0:51.0 | Who can you trust? How do you stay brave when your world collapses? And most importantly, |
| 0:56.4 | why did these three random guys with shotguns think playing fake cops was a good idea? We're digging |
| 1:02.4 | into a story about survival, betrayal, and a crime so senseless it defies logic. But before we get |
| 1:08.9 | into that story, if you like your true crime brief and |
| 1:11.8 | bingeable, you have found the right podcast. Tap the follow button now for access to at least two |
| 1:17.0 | episodes per week. Now let's get into it. In 1973, five teenagers headed into the serene woods of Gitchie Manitou State Preserve in Iowa for a night of campfire fun. |
| 1:42.1 | Among them were Roger Esham, 17 years old, Stuart Beatty, 18, his younger |
| 1:48.0 | brother Dana, just 14, Michael Hadrith, 15, and Sandra Chesky, the group's youngest at only 13 years |
| 1:56.2 | old. They were all just kids looking for a little escape, a night of laughter under the stars. |
| 2:02.2 | As the evening wore on, Roger and Stewart stepped away from the campfire, |
| 2:06.1 | gathering wood to keep their fire burning. |
| 2:08.6 | That calm was shattered by the sound of snapping branches, |
| 2:12.0 | quickly followed by two deafening gunshots. |
| 2:15.4 | Both Roger and Stuart crumpled to the ground, lifeless. The sudden |
| 2:19.8 | violence froze Dana, Michael, and Sandra in place, unsure of what to do. Their confusion deepened |
... |
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