We take you through the haunting details of Kelsea Owens' mysterious disappearance on her last evening out with friends Amanda and Josh Whitaker in Hampden, Massachusetts. Despite its outwardly safe appearance, the town's underlying issues come to the surface, shedding light on Josh's odd behavior and the suspicious circumstances leading to Kelsea’s tragic end. Through an exploration of local culture, geography, and personal connections, we paint a vivid and eerie picture of the community's hidden secrets and the devastating events of that night.
The investigation and trial that followed Kelsea's murder are nothing short of chaotic and heartbreaking. Josh's conflicting statements and bizarre behavior, possibly influenced by prescription medication, raise more questions than answers. We delve into the harrowing details of the crime, the perplexing lack of a clear motive, and the broader implications of recent legal changes in Massachusetts that impact Josh's parole eligibility. We also honor Kelsea's memory, reflect on the profound impact of her loss on her family, and introduce a new segment focusing on unsolved cases in the state, starting with the mysterious homicide of Nancy Osborne. Don't miss this gripping episode of Wicked Wanderings.
If you'd like to show your support for Wicked Wanderings and join our community of dedicated listeners, you can start contributing for as little as $3 a month. Your support helps us continue to explore the darkest and most intriguing mysteries, bringing you captivating stories from the world of true crime and the unexplained. Click the link to become a valued member of our podcast family.
We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to email us @ wickedwanderingspodcast@gmail.com.
Wicked Wanderings is hosted by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Jess Goonan. It is produced and edited by Rob Fitzpatrick. Music by Sascha Ende. Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 L...
We take you through the haunting details of Kelsea Owens' mysterious disappearance on her last evening out with friends Amanda and Josh Whitaker in Hampden, Massachusetts. Despite its outwardly safe appearance, the town's underlying issues come to the surface, shedding light on Josh's odd behavior and the suspicious circumstances leading to Kelsea’s tragic end. Through an exploration of local culture, geography, and personal connections, we paint a vivid and eerie picture of the community's hidden secrets and the devastating events of that night.
The investigation and trial that followed Kelsea's murder are nothing short of chaotic and heartbreaking. Josh's conflicting statements and bizarre behavior, possibly influenced by prescription medication, raise more questions than answers. We delve into the harrowing details of the crime, the perplexing lack of a clear motive, and the broader implications of recent legal changes in Massachusetts that impact Josh's parole eligibility. We also honor Kelsea's memory, reflect on the profound impact of her loss on her family, and introduce a new segment focusing on unsolved cases in the state, starting with the mysterious homicide of Nancy Osborne. Don't miss this gripping episode of Wicked Wanderings.
If you'd like to show your support for Wicked Wanderings and join our community of dedicated listeners, you can start contributing for as little as $3 a month. Your support helps us continue to explore the darkest and most intriguing mysteries, bringing you captivating stories from the world of true crime and the unexplained. Click the link to become a valued member of our podcast family.
We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to email us @ wickedwanderingspodcast@gmail.com.
Wicked Wanderings is hosted by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Jess Goonan. It is produced and edited by Rob Fitzpatrick. Music by Sascha Ende. Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 L...
Jess:
are you guys like from dracula? You guys are vampires, aren't you? I mean? Look at my teeth oh yeah, look at that one oh just on the bottom, though.
Hannah:
No, on the top too. Yeah, on the left. Yeah, so does that answer your question? Yeah, it does I glitter in the sunlight do you think they would glitter?
Rob:
no, do you think they would glitter?
Jess:
No or do you think?
Rob:
they would just explode, they would burn, they're supposed to burn.
Jess:
Yeah, I mean, granted, I loved the Twilight series. I got nothing to say, but.
Rob:
So was that the only series.
Jess:
Where they glitter. Yeah, okay, yeah, she made that part up. So, why would she change it? Because it's supposed to be like for a YA series.
Rob:
YA, what's that?
Jess:
young adult ah not gonna tell him, and then he exploded into flame like it's not really kid friendly, you know what's a young adult 30, 40 and under?
Rob:
no, we're like teenagers yeah, oh okay, a very, very young adult like 11 to 25.
Jess:
I don't know.
Rob:
So we're not young adults.
Hannah:
No, no we're adults, supposedly someone told me one day okay, no, no, we're adults supposedly Someone told me one day Debatable. Okay, Hi, I'm Jess and I'm Hannah. Join us as we delve into true crime, paranormal encounters and all things spooky.
Jess:
So grab your flashlight and get ready to wander into the darkness with us.
Hannah:
This is Wicked Wanderings. All right, Hello Hannah, Hello Jessica and hello Robert, Hello.
Jess:
How's it going, everybody? Oh, it's going. My stomach is full of Chipotle and ice cream. Best day ever.
Hannah:
Yes, so are we ready to get going today?
Rob:
Yes.
Hannah:
Ready skitty. This case was brought to you by Rob and you have a close connection to this case today.
Rob:
Yes, I do.
Hannah:
You went to what went to school with Elementary school.
Rob:
I was in special ed growing up, so I was in a couple different ones. I don't remember exactly. I was in special ed growing up, so I was in a couple different ones. I don't remember exactly where I was in school with him, but I know for a fact I was in the school with him and I took a bus.
Hannah:
With him. With him, yes. So I am titling this episode the Senseless Murder of Kelsey Owens. For a reason and the so Rob knows the defendant or murderer for this case. So let's get going. On the night of August 15, 2006, 16-year-old Kelsey Owens was getting ready to hang out with her friends Amanda and Josh. Josh was leaving the following morning for basic training and told the girls that he could get some marijuana. Before walking out the door, kelsey asked her mom, stephanie, mom, do I look pretty?
Hannah:
And then did a little twirl. Stephanie told her that she did and Kelsey asked Are you going to wait up for me? They both laughed and then Kelsey said don't answer that. She wrapped her arms around her mom and walked out the door.
Jess:
What a beautiful memory.
Hannah:
Right. Little did Stephanie know that that would be the last time she would see her daughter alive. At approximately 6.46 that evening, kelsey had called her friend Amanda and made plans to go to Kelsey's friend, 20-year-old Josh Whitaker's home. They arrived at his house around 7.30 and found Josh waiting in the backyard for them. As I mentioned, he was headed to basic training in the morning and he told them that he could score some pot for them that night. Side note I don't know why he would have thought about this, because you get drug tested in basic training?
Jess:
I was just going to ask that.
Hannah:
And not only do you get drug tested. There has to be someone in the stall with you if you were female and right next to you if you were male, watching the stream come out of your body.
Rob:
Oh.
Hannah:
One of the most, one of the worst things like can you pee when someone's standing no?
Jess:
it's very difficult and I was gonna ask him like that just why that night before you left? Yeah, you know, like I know you're like, yeah, last bash, but that probably should not have been and that stuff stays in you for 30 days yeah, so he would have been kicked out, just saying.
Hannah:
Anywho, when kelsey and amanda met up with Josh, he told them that his mom was still home and he couldn't leave yet. He said that she was going to get him some medication and was going to wait until she had left so he could go in the house and get some money. Sounds a little shady, but OK. So they waited around for a little bit at the pool and eventually the girls went back to their car to smoke a cigarette, while Josh went into the house to see when his mom was leaving. He then came out to the car and said maybe if they left, then his mom would leave, because she gets sketched out if there are cars there. Keep in mind this is Wilbraham, massachusetts. I forgot to mention that.
Rob:
No, relatively safe. He lived in Hamden. Whose house are they?
Hannah:
at they're at his.
Rob:
They're at his house, yep. Oh, it was in Hamden, it's in Hamden, right on the East Longmeadow line.
Hannah:
Oh, okay. He came out to the car and said if they left, his mom would leave because she gets sketched out.
Rob:
But still, hamden's a good. But Hamden is, come on, Hannah. Hannah knows people from Hamden.
Jess:
Hamden has a lot of drugs, unfortunately. Oh okay, small town with nothing really to do, so there are kids there that get into mischief that they should not, but I've been to some really good bonfires in Hamden so it can be a good time 's.
Rob:
It's very woodsy, yeah, and so a lot of the people think they're um, I don't know, rednecks, I guess hillbilly kind of neck as redneck as you can get in western massachusetts like yeah, I mean, have you been to like the hill towns? Yeah, middlefield, yeah, so they think they're a Hilltown, but they're so close to Springfield that they're not. But it's like the beginning of Hilltowns.
Hannah:
So there want to be Hilltowns? Okay, anyone in those areas, we love you. We love you.
Rob:
There's a lot of hunting going on, a lot of dirt, biking, atv and that kind of stuff just like with any city or town.
Jess:
The demographic is just a certain way compared to, like, if you were in somewhere like springfield or if you were in somewhere like north adams or belgertown.
Hannah:
It's just kind of like yeah, well, they had a pool in a pool house.
Rob:
So for the town.
Hannah:
No, in his backyard.
Rob:
In his backyard. Yeah, that house is pretty big. I pass it when I'm going to a customer in Hamden once a week and every time I pass by that house I think of this case. Really, it's always sat with me because I went to school with this kid and my cousin, tony, actually knows him too because he grew up in Hamden.
Jess:
I think I I don't know why now I'm remembering, but I think I remember people talking about him and the case that went on. So it was a big disruption to a very small community, Definitely.
Hannah:
Oh, I can imagine.
Rob:
So yeah, there definitely could have been a pool in the backyard. I don't ever remember seeing a pool, but I've never been to the house, I've just driven by it. Is it the one with the big white fence? No, there's kind of a, if I remember correctly, a wraparound driveway, and it's right where the power lines cross that road. It's like right next to it. I think, yeah, it's literally right next to it. The power lines go right here and this is the house anyways interesting.
Hannah:
Thanks for all that input, because I have no idea where it's at. So he got into the car with the girls and they drove down the road behind his house. They waited for a short time, then went back to his house and his mom was still there, like as we go forward.
Jess:
None of this shit makes sense to me, at least, I mean I feel like my mom would do the same thing, like I'm going to have people over my house Like I want to, why would I leave?
Hannah:
my house. Yeah, good point, good point. So he told the girls that if they left then she would leave. The girls decided to drive around until Josh called them to come back. So, like I said, I don't know about you guys, but this kind of seems a little shady and to me it seems like his mom was never planning to leave and that she had no clue that the girls were there or anything. Josh was planning, in my opinion. Also, josh was 20 years old and it seemed like he was worried about his mom a little too much. Or maybe he had something planned all along and was trying to create a diversion to get rid of Amanda and get Kelsey alone. I don't know, this is just me theorizing.
Jess:
Do we?
Hannah:
have a picture of Josh. We will on the social medias, but we can Google him real quick. Keep pulling up. I didn't find that information anywhere. That's just me conjecturing. But however, Josh does something next that kind of supports that. At approximately 825, Josh called Amanda and told her that Kelsey should come back and be a lookout. They returned around 830. Josh told Amanda to leave because again his mom gets sketched out over cars parked at their house. Amanda agreed, but Kelsey told her to come back in 45 minutes, which kind of makes you wonder if Kelsey's spidey senses were going off. If, telling her to come back, Amanda drove and parked somewhere that was only five minutes away, and this makes me think that Josh was purposely trying to separate them to get Kelsey alone. Like, oh go, she needs to come back and be a lookout, but you need to leave. Like it doesn't make sense to me.
Jess:
I'm sorry.
Hannah:
So how old. He's 20. And the girls were 16. I'm sorry. What year did this happen?
Jess:
2006. So the girls were my age.
Rob:
And he's my age.
Jess:
So that's probably why I have a feeling I know more about this than I thought I did. So please sorry, continue.
Hannah:
Well, no, that's fine If you have any input, by all means. So at 9.05, we are only an hour and a half into the evening. The girls didn't show up to Josh's house until 7.30. And at 9.05, amanda calls Josh's home and his mom answered Weird, she was supposed to be gone. Josh's mom told Amanda that Josh was swimming. Okay, it doesn't make sense. He was supposed to be buying weed.
Hannah:
Amanda had waited long enough and decided to go back to Josh's house. She parked between the house and the pool and when she got out of the car she noticed the backyard was all dark, so he wasn't swimming. I can imagine Amanda getting really frustrated trying to figure out what the hell is going on, getting really frustrated trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Josh's mom must have seen her and came out and Amanda told her that she was there to pick up Kelsey. Josh's mom told her that Kelsey was there a while ago but that she left and Josh was upstairs going to bed. But Amanda was only parked five minutes away. Like why would she have just left away? Like why would she have just right? And I I'm getting frustrated just reading this.
Jess:
Like, okay, you leave, she stays here, my mom's gonna leave, but you're gonna call and she's gonna be here and I'm swimming, but I'm, you know, there's definitely a lot of conundrums to this, but I will say that I guess sorry, mom I guess if I was 16 and driving and my friend wanted to be alone with a guy for a bit, I probably would just park down the street for a bit and then come back. I mean, but is that not the part you're questioning?
Hannah:
well, no, just all of the different stories like okay, are you getting some pot, are you not? Or why are you waiting for your mom to leave? Why can't we leave, just out of curiosity where did you get the information? If I wasn't just, it's actually no, it's from his appeal case.
Jess:
This was from the court papers okay that I've taken most of this from huh that was very interesting was this in palmer court, then right, because it was hamden I have no idea hamden, no hamden springfield well I guess if it's murder, I mean in springfield, right, you can't do that out of well, I know east long meadow.
Rob:
East long meadow goes to palmer belgium belgium no palmer, okay I don't know, maybe because this was a big case yeah I think I've heard that, yeah.
Jess:
Yeah, one of that big, big, big Springfield.
Hannah:
Well, I know some of the articles I read. It talked about Springfield and Mayor Serrano oh Sarno.
Rob:
Mayor Serrano.
Hannah:
Let's cut that out. Dom, dom, mayor Sarno.
Rob:
Yeah, Mayor Dom Dom.
Hannah:
Mayor Dom Dom, no, not Dom Dom, I said Dom Dom.
Jess:
Dom.
Hannah:
Dom.
Rob:
His first name is Dominic and there's a local radio station. If you're, if you live in the greater springfield area, you know the stations rock 102. In the morning show, steve nagel says mayor, dom, dom.
Hannah:
So we're not making fun of him so the mayor of springfield wrote a letter to her family later on, which I will briefly mention. So I'm thinking it was Springfield Courts, okay. So Josh's mom came out and Amanda told Josh's mom that she was there to pick up Kelsey. His mom told her that Kelsey was there a while ago, but she left and Josh was upstairs going to bed. And I'm just getting frustrated reading all this back and forth about what's going on. So I don't know what's going on with Josh's mom during all of this. Either she is trying to cover up for her son and is just doing a shitty job, or she doesn't even know what the hell is going on. Maybe I don't know.
Rob:
I don't think she knows what's going on.
Hannah:
Josh's mom invites Amanda in and Amanda hears Josh upstairs crying. He then comes downstairs wearing only shorts and is still crying and upset. Amanda asks Josh where Kelsey is and Josh says he doesn't know and continues to cry. I'm sorry, josh, but you're not very convincing. Then Josh says Tom Messier, did it Okay random? Did you have something to add?
Rob:
I was just going to say that name sounds so familiar.
Hannah:
It does sound really familiar.
Jess:
I thought the same. Thing.
Hannah:
Amanda asks what Messier did. I'm assuming that's how you pronounce your name and I'm sorry if I'm missing it.
Rob:
No, that's exactly how you pronounce it, because I've definitely heard that name before.
Hannah:
Okay, same. So Amanda asks what Messier did, to which Josh replied that Messier kidnapped and beat Kelsey. When Amanda asked why, josh stated that he owed Messier money for gambling, at that point Mama Whitaker decided to call the police and report Kelsey missing. At this point don't you think they would call her parents, maybe, and say, hey, did Kelsey make it home? Parents, maybe, and say, hey, did kelsey make it home? Or don't you think they would call the police and say, hey, this girl's reported taking by this person. Like it just seems weird to me that she called and reported kelsey missing maybe she knew her son.
Hannah:
That's what I'm saying yeah, meanwhile, the conversation between j and Amanda continued. Josh said that he didn't help because he thought Messier would come after him. Okay, how are you going to handle the military if you can't even? Stand up for a friend that's being beat.
Jess:
This guy is not making very smart decisions because he was going to smoke pot.
Hannah:
Free with the basic and he's not making any sense. So Amanda reported that Josh was acting weird. He was incoherent and dazed and still upset and nervous and Amanda probably figured talking with him was less than helpful. So she went outside, started looking for Kelsey and yelling for her, but did not find anything or get a response. When police arrive, they find Josh curled up on the couch sobbing hysterically. It was reported that Josh kept repeating over and over I'm supposed to go into the army tomorrow, Not now, Not now.
Hannah:
Josh told police that he didn't know where Kelsey was, even though he had already told Amanda that Messy had her. When pressed further by police, he said that he was in the pool house with kelsey and that some guy came in and assaulted him. Still doesn't answer where kelsey was. He eventually told the police that the assailant was messier. Who was tom messier, you ask? He was josh's neighbor who lived across the street, which makes me wonder why the hell josh would be telling this story. That wasn't true if police could easily investigate it. Like. Obviously, if he's gonna blame his neighbor, he knows the police are gonna go over and talk to him. But I'm also not a criminal, so maybe I just don't understand. I don't know.
Hannah:
It was at this point that good old Mama Whitaker told police that Josh May had taken a whole bottle of prescription meds, and so the police called for an ambulance.
Hannah:
Oh God, While they were waiting for the ambulance, the officers checked out the backyard in the pool house there was no sign of a struggle. Then one of the officers walked across the street to talk to Tom of a struggle. Then one of the officers walked across the street to talk to Tom. Again, there was no sign of a struggle in Messier's home, and Messier was at home with his girlfriend. They reported that they had started a movie around 7 pm that had just finished 20 minutes before the officer showed up. The officers questioned Josh again, telling him that they didn't find any sign of a struggle. Josh told them that Messier had beat him up and said now I've got you alone, I'm going to kill you, and then kidnapped Kelsey because you know that makes a lot of sense. But I'm wondering if he really tried to lie again or if it was the drugs he had taken that were starting to take effect, because this makes like zero sense.
Hannah:
Josh was taken to the hospital in the ambulance and the officers continued to search the property, and that is when they found Kelsey's body in an overgrown area of the Whitaker's backyard. Kelsey was lying on her back, her face bloodied and chest exposed. Her shirt was around her wrists and her bra was above her chest. Her jean skirt was raised up and she was not wearing any underwear. The officers found a blood trail drag marks that started at the back of the barn and ended where the body was found.
Hannah:
Between the barn and where her body was, there was an impression in the ground the size of a human skull that was full of blood. A few feet away from that impression there was a ball-beam hammer that had a clump of hair and clotted blood stuck to it. Police also found two 10-pound barbell weights, a log, a long-handled hedge trimmers, all with blood on them near the drag marks. Her underwear were found in the brush near the drag marks as well. Kelsey had suffered numerous severe fractures to her school, receiving five to six blows to the head, which caused her death. Her body had large bruises on her abdomen and there were shoe prints on her right side and on the cloth of her bra. Despite the way her body was left, there was no sign of a sexual trauma, which I'm also wondering.
Jess:
if her clothing was pushed up from dragging, maybe he like drug her by her feet yeah, I guess I also thought that maybe because they didn't find underwear right, it was just they did, but in the bushes, so they were off of her oh, okay, I mean it could have been. I guess I also think that, like maybe she thought that they were going to have or maybe he did.
Rob:
Are you saying they didn't have sex?
Hannah:
Yeah, there was no sign of sexual trauma.
Rob:
No semen was found, so unless he used a condom, but there's no forceful I guess that's what I thought Always happened is they had sex and then she said something and he snapped and killed her with the hammer.
Hannah:
Does he say why he did it. I really couldn't find much information, like any of the news articles didn't, and this one was the appeal case.
Jess:
Not that it makes it any better, but that's just so senseless.
Hannah:
It's so sad it is. The ambulance carrying Josh to the hospital stopped in Springfield before making it to Bay State and two police officers entered the ambulance and handcuffed Josh, telling him that they were going to do it for his own safety and that of the officers. Josh then told the officer I'm a murderer and they read him his Miranda rights and he agreed to talk to them. He told the officers he had gotten in a fight with Messier in the side lot near his yard, still going with that story.
Hannah:
And then ran into his house and took some sleeping pills, because, again, that makes sense, like what does this have to do with Kelsey?
Jess:
Yeah.
Hannah:
When the officers asked if he had killed anyone, like a girlfriend or a sister, all he said was he didn't have a sister and he didn't want to be tied down. Well, you should have thought about that before you killed someone. Police found substantial physical evidence that linked Josh to Kelsey's death. There was a pair of blue jeans and shoes that were discovered in the barn with blood on them that matched Kelsey's, and there was a DNA swab from inside the jeans that matched Josh. The shoe prints on Kelsey's abdomen and bra matched Josh's left shoe prints on Kelsey's abdomen and bra matched Josh's left shoe. There was also blood found on the latch of the barn door, the exterior screen door, the knob on the inside kitchen door and on the door handle of the second floor bathroom in the house.
Hannah:
The trial began on October 16, 2007. Josh pleaded not guilty, but he was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. You would think that would be the end, but unfortunately it was not. In 2009, Kelsey's parents filed a wrongful death suit against Linda Whitaker, Josh's mom. The family claims that Linda had negligently and carelessly failed to properly monitor, supervise and observe Josh, who she knew had a history of violent, delinquent behavior, which also he was 20 years old.
Jess:
So yeah, if he's going into the military, she's like all right, like this is my son he's 20. He's going to the military.
Hannah:
Which, also, if he was that dependent on medication to act not aggressive, I don't see how he'd be going into the military anyway.
Jess:
Right, that's also a question. So um Rob, was this for LPVAC kids Like was he?
Rob:
part of the. What did you just say?
Jess:
We call it LPVAC where I work, so was he part of the lower partner Valley collaborative.
Rob:
Lower partner Valley educational collaborative where I work. So was he part of the lower partner valley collaborative. Lower pioneer valley educational collaborative. I'm trying to remember where and when and how old I was when I was in school with him. I want to say it was when I was in eighth grade at glenbrook, but it could have been when I was at the children's study home before that do you remember him being violent?
Rob:
oh yeah, I mean, there was an incident on uh the bus one day where he kicked the shit out of the kid in front of us, like I was sitting next to him, and he reaches over the seat and he just starts beating the shit out of this kid. I don't remember why, but we were in one of those little sped buses, not the yellow ones, but like a van, so there was just the driver and no monitor and us as passengers.
Rob:
Yeah, no monitor. I want to say we were between the ages I know this is pretty broad, but between the ages of 8 and 12. So it had to have been at children's study home in springfield, but it also could have been in eighth grade, which was LPVEC, a classroom for special need kids in Glenbrook, which is in Longmeadow.
Hannah:
Interesting. So you were a witness to some of his violent behavior.
Rob:
Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely yeah. Rode the bus with the kid and that incident has always sat with me and that's how I knew where he lived.
Hannah:
I mean, I guess that would make sense.
Rob:
Yeah.
Hannah:
The lawsuit alleges that Linda was home at the time of the murder, which sounds like she was from all the back and forth telling the girls to leave. And Linda should have known that her son wasn't complying with his treatment and medication regimen for some time, and I looked for if there was a decision made in this case, and I couldn't find one either.
Jess:
But if this kid has had these kinds of behaviors for that long and he is competent enough, I feel like by 18, he should know how to take his medications in one time?
Hannah:
Yeah he's an adult.
Jess:
I don't know how that falls on the mom, yeah so I don't know.
Hannah:
I don't know what happened. However, there was a more recent development which opened the wound again for the Owens family In an article from Western Mass News dated March 21st 2024.
Rob:
Really.
Hannah:
So this year, and I quote Western Mass News in a four to three ruling in the Commonwealth versus Mattis, the state Supreme Judicial Court raised the age for first degree murder without the eligibility for parole from 18 to 21. As a result of this ruling, those from 14 to 20 can be considered what they call emerging adults and will be eligible for parole if convicted of first-degree murder, and so this new ruling is retroactive, so emerging adults that were between the ages of 14 and 20 when they committed the crime that have been sentenced to life without parole will now be eligible. Josh Whitaker was 20 years old at the time of Kelsey's death and automatically qualifies. Kelsey's parents, along with hundreds of other families, will be backing in the courtroom. Stephanie, in the article, stated this is devastating and it's like going through her murder trial again.
Jess:
I can't even imagine I can't either and like I said before, it was, it's a senseless murder, no matter what but not to even know, like, what the motive possibly could have been, which is like, oh, like, I felt like it like yeah it's awful.
Hannah:
I mean, you and I are both in the mental health field and we know about triggers and behaviors, and to me it seems for him to explode like that. She must have done something. I'm not like blaming her by any means, I'm just explaining that she must have done something to set him off and he just lost it it literally could have been something so small like a statement, or him having like a flashback or a smell, anything type of rejection.
Jess:
It just it triggered him.
Rob:
Well, the story that I remember is they had sex. It wasn't consensual sex and she said she was going to leave and go call the police and say he raped her, but he, as he always does does, went crazy, grabbed the hammer and smashed her head in, and then he freaked out and dragged her into the woods behind the house. That's the story that I remember hearing from all those years ago so who knows? It's got to be some truth to some of those.
Hannah:
Yeah, I know I have mentioned in my previous episodes that I get so frustrated when I can barely find any information about the victims and it's all about the perpetrators. And it was similar with kelsey, and I know that before 2006 and before facebook and social media weren't that big. And when you look up the case, more comes up about Josh and he even has a profile at the jail like looking to meet people.
Hannah:
I mean it hasn't been written like I didn't see any activity for a while, but it's to meet people while he's in prison.
Rob:
Is this the blog?
Hannah:
Mm-hmm, but I wanted this episode to be more about Kelsey and how her murder was completely senseless. I want to end the episode about talking about her, and I found her obituary online, and I want to share some things that her parents mentioned about her. At the time of her murder, kelsey had just started working at KFC in Palmer. She enjoyed singing and was told by many people she had a beautiful voice, she loved to cook southern food and kelsey loved all her family members and friends and will truly be missed by all those who knew her.
Jess:
and that, my dear wanderers, is the story of the senseless murder of kelsey owens that's heavy yeah I just felt like there should have been kind of like a moment of silence after that. I'm sorry, yeah, just a little quiet work for a life, not lived.
Hannah:
She was also buried in the same cemetery as Danny Croteau. Really I think Parker Street. How many cemeteries are on there?
Rob:
That's it.
Hannah:
Also her older. Her brother died in 2020. So the family buried two kids.
Rob:
Wow, covid.
Hannah:
It didn't say. I saw his obituary too. That poor family. Thank you, jess.
Rob:
Yes, thank you Jess.
Hannah:
Thanks guys, and thanks Wanderers.
Rob:
Yeah, so we are going to start something new. We have a deck of cards, 52 cards. They're playing cards from the Massachusetts Unsolved Cases, Homicide and Missing Persons.
Hannah:
We thought it would be cool if we just mentioned one card per episode.
Hannah:
Because they're from the state that we're in yes absolutely All right, closing my eyes and picking a card. This is the Queen of Clubs Unsolved Homicide Nancy. Okay, all right, closing my eyes and picking a card, this is the queen of clubs, unsolved homicide Nancy Osborne. On April 29, 1991, the victim was found in the woods off of Great Hay Road in Mashpee with blunt force injuries to the head and neck. The victim was last seen on April 7 and lived at the River Bend Motel 1.5 miles from where she was found. If you have any information about this case, please call 1-855-MA-SOLVE.
Rob:
Well, thank you very much, Jess. And hey, wanderers, if you want to text us, just go down into the show notes. It says send us a text message and you can text us. We've only received one text. Please do, Heather can text us. We've only received one text, please do.
Jess:
Heather text us again, and don't hate on me this time.
Rob:
And it's not like we'll have your phone number. We literally just get the last four digits of your number and it comes up on our app on Buzzsprout, who is our host for the podcast, and we're not selling your information. Yeah, we're not going to sell your information, yada, yada, yada us, and we're not selling your information. We're not, yeah, we're not going to sell your information and we can't text you back, so uh the only way to respond is on an upcoming episode.
Hannah:
So yeah, send us a text right now, because we're a little lonely here, talk to me please. I need friends, am I not?
Jess:
enough for you.
Rob:
You're more than enough well, thank you all for uh sticking around and uh around, and we'll see you on the next one.
Hannah:
Night Wanderers, or good day, good day. Thanks for listening today. Wicked Wanderings is hosted by Hannah Fitzpatrick and me, jess Goonan.
Rob:
And it's produced by Rob Fitzpatrick.
Hannah:
Music by Sasha End.
Jess:
If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to leave us a rating and review.
Hannah:
And be sure to follow us on all our socials.
Jess:
You can find the links down in the show notes and, if you're looking for some Wicked Cozy t-shirts or hoodies, head over to our merch store.
Hannah:
Thank you for being a part of the Wicked Wanderings community. We appreciate each and every one of you. Stay curious.
Jess:
Keep exploring and always remember to keep on wandering.
