You Never Can Forget: The Gang

Murder Sheet

MurderSheet

True Crime, Murder, Unsolved Case, Killing, Murderer, Cold Case

3.8 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2021

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There's a haunting story in the Burger Chef case, one that you've likely heard before.

A guy named David Cathcart rolled up to a bar in Greenwood, Indiana on November 18, 1978, the night after the employees vanished, before anyone knew the kids were dead. He shot off his mouth about the disappearances of the four Burger Chef employees, telling his fellow patrons that they'd be released unharmed. Later, after being interrogated by police, he revealed that he was part of a robbery gang that had been casing the Speedway Burger Chef.

In the years since, the robbery gang theory has become one of the most prominent theories in the entire case. And it's true that Timothy Piccione, Gregg Steinke, and John Defibaugh perpetrated a number of armed robberies around Indianapolis in the seventies. A few even targeted Burger Chef restaurants.

But the Murder Sheet has uncovered new court documents that raise questions about the story involving Cathcart. In this episode, we'll being laying out the robbery gang theory, but also pointing out where we feel it falls short.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Content warning, this episode contains discussion of violence and murder.
0:08.5	On a rainy Friday afternoon in early autumn, Ani and I drove out to Shelby County, Indiana,
0:15.0	so we could hunt for documents in the Shelbyville Courthouse.
0:19.8	So many documents and files in the Bergerchev case remain top secret.
0:25.0	As far as we know, only one person outside of law enforcement has actually gotten the
0:30.3	chance to read the case file, and we will tell you all about that situation next week.
0:36.2	The rest of us have to make do with whatever Indiana State police officials decide to
0:40.9	share with the public, and, as you will see, sometimes what they choose to let us know
0:47.6	is highly selective and carefully designed to strengthen whatever theory they may happen
0:53.6	to hold.
0:56.1	But there are other sources for at least some of the files in this case.
1:01.2	That's where court records come into play.
1:04.8	Allen Prood's witness statement, for instance, is in the Indiana State police case file, which
1:10.0	they don't allow us to see.
1:12.4	But I found a copy of it lined hidden in a courthouse folder, and so we shared that statement
1:17.7	with you last year.
1:20.4	Earlier this autumn, we were searching for information on one of the robbery gang members.
1:26.8	In the past, police officials like ISP investigators Ken York and Stoney Van gave this man nicknames
1:34.2	like Amigo or Shotgunman.
1:37.2	His real name is Greg Stanky.
1:39.3	He is still alive.
1:42.7	Before the Bergerchev murders, he is known to have been found guilty of a felony involving
	...

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