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Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal.

Our newest series looks at the Kids for Cash Scandal,

a story about two judges who stood accused of making millions of dollars

in a brazen scheme that shattered the lives of countless children.

Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Something pretty disturbing happened in Circleville,

starting small and flourishing over decades.

Residents began to receive letters,

but accused the citizens of being involved in some pretty terrible things.

Embezzlement, domestic violence, affairs, and even murder.

The Circleville Letter writer knew everything about everyone and knew everyone's secrets.

They were vicious and ugly.

Somebody with some severe psychological problems I would hazard to gas.

The threatening anonymous letters kept coming, hundreds of them.

Most were postmarked from Columbus, Ohio, about 30 miles north,

which is where I grew up and where I was living in March of 1977.

When small town Circleville began to feel under siege,

when just a walk to the mailbox could trigger terror,

especially in the case of one woman who lived here,

a school bus driver by the name of Mary Gillespie.

...