Intro
“Welcome to Murder By Nature, where we discuss True Crime, Mystery disappearances, and unsolved cases! I’m Jazmin Hernandez, your host!
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References:
Jeepers Creepers was a hit horror movie in 2001 that made over $59.2 million during its original release, per Box Office Mojo. Directed by Victor Salva, it told the story of a brother and sister being stalked by a demonic, flesh-eating creature nicknamed The Creeper who embarks upon an eating spree every 23 years. It's hard to imagine that such an outlandish premise could be at all inspired by real-life events.
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As Jeepers Creepers became more popular who would of known the true murder that took place following the same events as the movie long before it was released.
On Easter Sunday, April 15th 1990, driving through a long lonely road outside of Coldwater, Michigan, Ray and Marie Thornton were out for a Sunday drive It was their weekly ritual a few hours on the backroads in southern Michigan near the Indiana border to unwind without their children before the next week began.
As Ray drove, he saw a large, brown van approaching in the rearview mirror. Ray sped up, but the van sped past him in the wrong lane and continued down the road. Mary laughed and said jezzes they are in a rush. As the two continued to drive down the road they noticed something strange. The van was now pulled over by an old abandoned schoolhouse and the driver was carrying a bloodied blanket. The Thornton’s quickly realised that they had accidentally stumbled upon something quite sinister and to make matters worse, the suspicious driver had spotted them.
Dennis and Marilynn DePue were married for 17 years, raising their children two daughters and a son. Dennis was a property assessor and Marilynn was a Coldwater high school guidance counselor. Great tension started to grown within the marriage; after he became withdrawn, he accused her of turning their children against them. She often told friends that she was unhappy and wanted a divorce. Dennis and Marilynn’s relationship crumbled over time; Dennis was controlling and demanding. Furthermore, they had contradictory personalities, and he didn’t like Marilynn being active within the community.
In 1989, after eighteen years of marriage, Marilynn filed for divorce. She told her attorney that Dennis was trying to ruin her life and would not let her make decisions on her own. He was trying to keep the marriage intact; however, the divorce was finalized in December 1989.
Dennis was granted biweekly visitation rights, but their children were often reluctant to spend time with him. He was also given access to the guest house, which he used as an office. However, it was believed he used that as an excuse to maintain control over his family. Marilynn later changed the locks on the doors, but he still managed to find a way to enter the home.
On Easter Sunday, April 15, 1990, Dennis arrived at the home to pick up two of their children. Their younger daughter, Julie, had already refused to go with him. When he went inside, their son, Scott, was reluctant to go with his father. When Marilynn tried to talk to Dennis, he became angry and started yelling at her. He then grabbed her and pushed her down the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, he beat her repeatly, even after their children pleaded with him to stop. Their oldest daughter, Jennifer, ran to a neighbor's house to call the police to come help. Dennis then carried a seriously injured and dazed Marilynn back up the stairs and into his van. He told the children that he was going to take her to the hospital. It was the last time the children saw their mother alive. Four hours after Dennis left with Marilynn, one of their daughters called the police to report the assault and the planned hospital trip. When police arrived at the hospital, there was no record that the DePues had been there that day and a search for Marilynn started.
Now if you remember the beginning of our story the couple did stumble upon something sinister that would connect these two families together.
As the couple continued to drive down the road and get away from what they just saw Ray again saw the brown van approaching in his rearview mirror. Instead of immediately passing, the driver tailgated dangerously close for several minutes before the van again blazed around their car and sped down the road. Both still in shock, the Thornton’s decided to turn back to verify what they had just seen. Any film fan could tell you that this is how horror films starts and it was not a good idea to go back to where they just saw something bloody come out of the car and being chased down, but the couple turned around. The couple knew they needed to go back to the van and get the license plate to alert the police. As they passed the van, a tall man wearing a white hat was standing at the back of the vehicle with the doors open, changing the number plates. The left the passenger door ajar, and the interior was visibly covered in a large amount of blood.
When the Thorntons saw Dennis by the school, he was disposing of the sheet he’d used to transport Marilynn’s dead body. The animal hole he’d tried to push the sheet down wasn’t large enough and when Ray and Marie went back to see what Dennis had been up to, they found it sticking out of the ground.
When police and forensics arrived on the scene, the Michigan State Police and the Sheriff’s office had already begun their manhunt for Dennis, following the call from Jennifer. The area was taped off and nearby, forensics found tire tracks and a pool of blood. The treads would later be linked to Dennis’ truck and the blood was matched to Marilynn. The next day, Marilynn’s body was discovered in the brush next to a quiet road, halfway between home and the schoolhouse. She’d been shot in the back of the head by her husband.
As a manhunt emerged Dennis went on the run. He would send several letter back to family and friends to try and justify why he killed her and was not at fault. He would sent 17 letters in total with various postmarks from across eastern united states. Three months after Marilynn’s murder, Dennis sent another letter. This time it was 13 pages in length and quoted verses from the bible and contained more rambles. After the letters the leads started to slow down and the case started to grow cold. Until Unsolved Mysteries aired the episode of Dennis DePue’s crime in March 1991, nearly a year after the murder. On that night that it aired “Mary” arrived at her home in Dallas, Texas, surprised to see her boyfriend’s vehicle in the driveway. As she opened the front door, she was confronted by Hank, who told her he needed to drive home as his mother was very ill. He asked Mary to make him some sandwiches for the road, while he packed up his belongings.
In reality, Hank was trying to keep her busy, so she wouldn’t sit down to watch television and see his staring back at her from the screen. Hank packed up his green 1984 Chevrolet van and gave his girlfriend a hug. Mary never saw the man again but would soon find out who he really was.
Mary’s friend was the one to call into the hotline, reporting her friend’s boyfriend as Dennis DePue. She gave the operator his license plate number and where they thought he was going, and just four hours later, Dennis was located. Louisiana State Troopers were the first to spot the truck. They tried to stop the vehicle but instead embarked on a high-speed chase that lasted for 15 miles. Warren County Sheriff, Paul Barrett, told his team to shoot out the truck’s tires if they couldn’t stop Dennis, and they succeeded, hitting both back wheels. Dennis managed to drive on the rims for half a mile before the car eventually gave up and stopped. He shot at officers with his gun, with two going through the windscreen and one through an open window. He then turned the gun around and shot himself.
Outro
That brings us to the end of this episode! As always, thanks for listening to Murder By Nature. If you enjoy our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any streaming platform you are currently on, and be sure to come back Saturday for our new episode. Until then, I am your host, Jazmin Hernandez, don’t forget to stay safe! Don’t get murdered or murder people, you lovely humans!
