CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: Brief discussion of murder.
If you’re looking for your newest podcast binge, try Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad, the podcast that makes you the detective!
“The online sleuths can really prove themselves. They can provide a lot of assistance to law enforcement.”
-Paul Holes
“All of the knowledge from all the true crime stories you’ve heard up to this point will now be put to good use.”
-Billy Jensen
The Murder Squad is a true crime podcast that first aired on April 1, 2019 on the Exactly Right podcast network. Captained by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark – the brutally honest and delightfully funny hosts of my personal podcast first love, My Favorite Murder – the Exactly Right network only just officially launched this year and features four other podcasts along with the aforementioned two. The Murder Squad is composed of investigative journalist Billy Jensen (“Facebook Detective, author: New York Times Bestseller “Chase Darkness with Me”) and retired cold case investigator Paul Holes (worked on Zodiac and Golden State Killer cases), who present cold cases and disappearances in hopes of bringing some sort of resolution to these old cases. Holes and Jensen first met while both working on the Golden State Killer case, which was solved with an arrest last year. The Murder Squad uses the age of social media in a positive and productive way; it relies on crowdsourcing, or social media engagement, and social media geo-targeting from listeners to ultimately help them solve cold cases, find missing persons, or identify victims.
“Someone knows something. It’s just getting the information to the right person.”
-Billy Jensen, Fortune
That’s not to say Jensen and Holes haven’t had their share of other social media attention, thanks to Kilgariff’s gushing over- imagine Karen’s shocked voice, my fellow Murderinos: “PAUL HOLES!”- in the form of clever alliterative hashtags. Search #HotforHoles or #JonesingforJensen (alternatively #BurningforBilly) to view tweets from true crime fans who are in awe of these two investigative heroes…and some maybe a little thirsty, too.
Jensen and Holes have published ten episodes in just over two months, with a weekly posting schedule. In their second episode, which aired on April 8, they discussed the Allenstown Four – the discovery of the four bodies found in two barrels in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire. The first barrel, found in 1985, contained the remains of an adult female and female child, and the second barrel containing the remains of two more female children were found in 2000. In 2016, DNA was able to link known serial killer Terry Rasmussen (who died in prison six years prior) to one of the young girls through familial DNA, identifying him as her father.
Yesterday, The Murder Squad’s Twitter and website posted an update for the cold case. The identities of the adult female and two of the female children have been identified as Marlyse Honeychurch and her two young daughters, Marie Vaughn and Sarah McWaters.
The podcast and its reliance on internet sleuths and armchair detectives was not of assistance in this particular case, but there is something very satisfying about seeing that sort of update after listening to Jensen and Holes outline the details of the case only months prior.
Jensen posted a message on his Twitter that included both notes of gratitude and determination as he looked back on his first involvement in the Allenstown case three years ago.
The Murder Squad‘s website is full of information about the cases they cover in each episode to aid listeners in their sleuthing, providing full timelines and locations of crimes or whereabouts, and photos of suspected criminals and possible victims or disappearances. All details released to the public that pertain to the case are posted on each episode’s web page as the episodes are released.
It’s not just people utilizing their skills to solve stuff—it’s an empathy for the entire mission of getting justice for victims.”
-Billy Jensen, Fortune
Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad is an exciting new podcast for true crime enthusiasts that also gives listeners the potential to help solve cold cases. People need to be found, victims named, killers brought to justice, and families given closure – and this podcast is an intelligent use of available resources to raise public awareness so we can help to do just that.