On this special season finale of Dead Before Deadline, Jaclynn interviews her father Robin Yocum, the host of Dead Before Deadline to give listeners a better understanding of his backstory, his incredible career as a reporter, and much more! Listen in to hear all about Robin and what to expect moving forward with Dead Before Deadline! Listen now!
Welcome to season two of Dead Before Deadline. This season hosts Robin Yocum and Jaclynn Yocum Wilson will take a deep dive into the singularly most fascinating case of Robin’s career as a journalist – the Just Sweats Case. This story had everything – murder, multi-million-dollar scams, theft, international intrigue and manhunts, beautiful women, sex of every variety, beautiful women, crazy people, evil people. It goes on and on. It was a reporter’s dream, and it dominated Robin’s life for well over a year. In this episode, we’ll discuss the background and establish the foundation for this complicated story, in which even Oprah Winfrey makes …
John Spirko has been in prison for the murder of Betty Jane Mottinger for 40 years. Dead Before Deadline host Robin Yocum believes he has spent four decades of his life incarcerated for a crime that he did not commit. Spirko, Yocum says, had nothing to do with the murder. He’s the only guy Yocum has ever met who inserted himself into an investigation into a murder he did not commit and talked himself into an indictment, was convicted, and then told the jury to give him the death penalty. “In retrospect, not one of my smarter moves,” Spirko now …
John Hawkins and Gene Hanson have a potential gold mine in the chain of retail clothing stores they have opened in Columbus, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky. But Hawkins and Hanson were con men before they were businessmen, and old habits are hard to break. In this episode, we’ll explore the history of insurance scams this duo pulled off before creating Just Sweats, including a massive scam in New York City that netted them more than $100,000, which they used as seed money to establish their chain of clothing stores. Operating a seemingly successful business wasn’t enough for Hawkins and Hanson. As they grew …
John Hawkins is in a panic. By this point in their scheme, Dr. Boggs was to have killed a man to be the “dead” Hanson, and Hawkins could begin collecting on the $7 million in life insurance that Hanson carried and to which Hawkins was the beneficiary. With his business partner technically dead, Hawkins would have no way to collect the $2 million Hanson had taken from the company, but Boggs had not come through with a corpse, so Hawkins must pretend to locate Hanson and return to Columbus with most of the money his partner had taken. This of course is necessary …
In the heart-pounding second episode of “Dead Before Deadline,” Robin Yocum takes us deep into one of the most baffling and intense cases he’s ever covered: the enigma that is Billy Milligan. With an astonishing 24 distinct personalities, Billy’s case was not just a puzzle to the police and psychologists, but a labyrinthine journey for any journalist daring enough to venture inside. Robin was not just an observer on this one. He found himself inextricably drawn into the investigation, spending considerable time with Billy, trying to decipher the intricate web of personalities that spanned from the innocuous to the downright …
In this emotionally charged episode of “Dead Before Deadline,” Robin and Jacqueline are back with another powerful story to cover. Listen in as they unravel the haunting story surrounding Kelly Prosser, a name that would become synonymous with heartbreak in the annals of crime reporting. Kelly’s disappearance and subsequent discovery shook the very foundations of the community, but the twists didn’t end there. Enter Walter Mitchell, an enigmatic figure whose connection to Kelly’s story remains riddled with questions. Through meticulous recounting, Robin paints a somber picture of the events leading up to and following that fateful day. Drawing on archived …
In this riveting debut episode of “Dead Before Deadline,” Robin Yocum delves into one of the most enigmatic cases from his years at the Dispatch – the mysterious death of Linda Marsick. At first glance, it seemed like any other tragic incident, but as Yocum peels back the layers, a strange connection to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, emerges. Was Linda Marsick’s fate inexplicably linked to her undying admiration for Elvis? Did her obsession lead her down a perilous path, or is there more to the story than meets the eye? Robin takes listeners on a suspenseful …
In a chilling new installment of “Dead Before Deadline,” Robin and Jaclynn Yocum delve into the deeply unsettling tales of two teenage boys who, despite their young age, committed heinous acts that would leave communities in shock and disbelief. Bradley Porter, a seemingly regular 16-year-old, whose actions would catapult him to infamy, and Jeffrey McDonald, an 18-year-old with a story that’s as horrifying as it is perplexing. What drives someone so young to commit acts of such brutality? And how do communities grapple with the aftermath? Robin, with his seasoned journalistic perspective, revisits the evidence, the scenes, and the chilling …
In this evocative episode of “Dead Before Deadline,” Robin and Jaclynn Yocum transport listeners to the streets of Columbus, Ohio, painting a vivid yet somber picture of Mary Hebeler. Known to many as the town drunk, Mary’s life was layered with struggles, sorrow, and a quest for belonging. “The Lost Soul” dives deep into Mary’s life, a woman often dismissed by society yet carrying a world of pain and stories that went unheard. While her label as the town drunk defined her for many, behind it was a soul yearning for understanding, acceptance, and perhaps redemption. Robin and Jaclynn journey …
