Hell And Gone is a true crime podcast from iHeartPodcasts and School of Humans that follows journalist and private investigator Catherine Townsend as she invest...
On January 17, 2023, 53-year-old William Vick was recovering at home in Clarksville, Arkansas. William was in good health. He loved making videos for his YouTube channel. But William had gone in for tonsillectomy operation the week before, and had been experiencing some complications. He had texted his daughter, Ashley to say that he believed that something inside him was broken and that he was throwing up a large amount of blood in the sink. Ashley was worried, and told her dad that this didn't seem normal to her - she encouraged him to go see the doctor. But LaRenda had worked as an ER nurse and Ashley believed that her stepmother was taking care of her father. A lot of what we know is pieced together after the fact from coroner’s reports and case notes. We do know that at 11: 22 PM, the Johnson County deputy coroner Dave Cogan arrived at 1954 County Road responding to an unexpected death. They spoke to LaRenda who, according to the coroner’s report, told the deputy coroner that she had been staying in a separate room because she had been sick recently and was worried about COVID. The deputy coroner noted that William was already in full rigor mortis; meaning that he had been dead, lying on that floor, for a long time. William Vick was fifty three years old. He went in for what was supposed to be a routine operation, and a few days later, he was dead. And this was just the beginning of an investigation that involves charges of insurance fraud, two mysterious deaths, and a family torn apart. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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25:11
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 4
Last week, we talked about the mystery regarding whether or not Deputy Blake Hassell ever went out to the area in Kingston where on August 5th at 12:34 AM, a 911 caller reported that she heard a woman screaming - that it sounded like she was being raped or tortured. The dispatch report reads, "A caller advised she believes that she heard a woman in the woods behind her house yelling. Stated she believes at one point the woman screamed for help. Caller advised there is not a physical address but it is in area where a bunch of homeless people were camped out.” We know that the caller waited all night for the Madison County's Sheriff’s Office to respond, but no one ever came. And that a few weeks later on September 9, Taylor Barksdale’s remains were found just a few hundred feet from where that 911 call was placed. Her death was labeled a homicide. The Madison County Sheriff’s Department said that only one deputy, Blake Hassell was working the overnight shift from August 4 to August 5. And Sheriff Ronnie Boyd said that Blake Hassell told dispatch that he responded to the call when he didn’t. Later that same day, August 5 when his supervisor Sergeant Drew Scott questioned him, he said that he didn’t respond to the call because he ‘had just been out to that area 30 minutes or an hour earlier.” But is that true?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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24:12
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 3
We’ve been trying to figure out what happened to Taylor Barksdale in the last few weeks of her life that led her to Kingston, Arkansas At 12:34 on August 5, a 911 caller reported that it a woman was screaming on a rural property in Kingston and that she sounded like she was being raped or tortured. Just over a month later, on September 9, Taylor’s remains were found in a field near where the 911 call was made. We have made some headway in finding out what was going on in Taylor Barksdale’s life during the last few weeks of her life. We know that she had been staying on and off with her ex-boyfriend, Kenny. Apparently, Taylor and Kenny got into an argument. After that, Kenny's neighbors say that they didn't see her come back to Kenny's residence. After July 20th, Taylor was staying on and off with different friends, and two of those friends who she was hanging out with were men. Men who were also, and two of those friends who she was hanging out with were mutual friends of hers and Kenny's. One of the men lived in a camper on a piece of land near where the 911 call originated from. So who are these men? How do they know Taylor, and what happened to Taylor on that last day of her life that ended with her remains being found in a field? If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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28:45
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 2
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call in the early morning hours of August 5, 2024 from caller who heard sounds that she believed could be from a woman being raped or tortured. But the police never came. Then a few weeks later, people were expressing concern about Taylor Barksdale, a 30-year-old woman who had been living in Huntsville and who had gone missing. When police finally went to the area of the 911 call to investigate on September 9, they went out to a residence in Kingston, and they found Taylor's remains. Taylor was a mother of two young children, someone who was loved by her friends and family and someone who was vulnerable. Someone who died screaming in a dark field, desperately waiting for help that never came.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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25:48
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 1
On September 9, 2024, searchers on a property in Madison County in the area of Kingston, Arkansas, broke open a hay bale and found a body. Police have shared almost no information about this investigation. And while Sheriff Ronnie Boyd at the Madison County Sheriff’s office has publicly denied this, some people in Madison County think this body was discovered while the police were searching for Jason Lierl. We did several episodes about that case: 41-year-old Jason Lierl was going through a tough time. His 14-year relationship with his wife Jamaica had deteriorated and they were divorcing. Jason had had issues with drugs in the past and then sometime in the winter of 2022, it seems he relapsed. In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County. He was last seen at various residences in Huntsville and then...Jason disappeared. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas. His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri, but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. And some people a serial killer is on the loose. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hell And Gone is a true crime podcast from iHeartPodcasts and School of Humans that follows journalist and private investigator Catherine Townsend as she investigates unsolved deaths.
Now in its fifth season, Hell and Gone is going weekly.
Over the past five years of making true crime podcast Hell and Gone, host Catherine Townsend has received hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking for help with an unsolved murder that’s affected them, their families and their communities.
In past seasons of the show, she’s only been able to focus on one case. But now, she’s hosting a new weekly show called Hell and Gone Murder Line. Every Thursday, Catherine features a new case, adds updates to old ones, and helps as much as she can to get the word out about unsolved murders.
If you have a case you’d like Catherine and her team to look into, you can call the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.
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