FILE 63 / 29 March 2018 / 142 MIN / full

Team Murder Lunch

Edgewood, KentuckyListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

James says they are going to Edgewood, Kentucky, the northern tip of Kentucky, in Kenton County, across the river from Cincinnati about 0:05:56

History, in brief

1840

Kenton County was established in 1840 from land given by Campbell County.

about 0:14:58

1812

The county is named for Simon Kenton, a Kentucky pioneer, frontiersman and soldier who served in the Revolutionary War, the Northwest Indian War and the War of 1812 and was a friend of Daniel Boone.

about 0:15:05

1778

In 1778 Simon Kenton survived the gauntlet and ritual torture while being adopted into the Shawnee people.

about 0:17:21
All 11 history facts

1840

Kenton County was established in 1840 from land given by Campbell County.

about 0:14:58

1812

The county is named for Simon Kenton, a Kentucky pioneer, frontiersman and soldier who served in the Revolutionary War, the Northwest Indian War and the War of 1812 and was a friend of Daniel Boone.

about 0:15:05

1778

In 1778 Simon Kenton survived the gauntlet and ritual torture while being adopted into the Shawnee people.

about 0:17:21

1771

In 1771, aged 16, Kenton fought over a girl, believed he had killed a man, fled to West Virginia and Ohio and lived as Simon Butler for about four years until he learned the man had survived, then went back to his own name.

about 0:18:07

Town note

The area is mainly German and Irish in origin and still rural, with Cincinnati across the river.

about 0:19:43

Town note

A ferry crossed the Ohio River until a suspension bridge, described as a prototype of the Brooklyn Bridge, was built; river land values quadrupled once it opened.

about 0:20:41

Town note

There was a lot of growth in the area in the 1970s, with rail, river trade and industrial parks outside Cincinnati.

about 0:21:14

Town note

About 80% of the US population lives within 800 miles of the area, which makes it a major site for distribution centres.

about 0:22:00

Town note

Local legend says a phantom police officer in a 1950s police car haunts Narrows Road and pulls over living drivers; he is said to be the spirit of a cop hit and killed by a car during a traffic stop in the 1950s, though some reports say it is only a legend.

about 0:22:57

Town note

Edgewood covers 4.2 square miles, all of it land, and was given land by Campbell County without river frontage; it is an hour and a quarter from Lexington and an hour and a half from Louisville.

about 0:09:07

The figures, as told

Religious

46 or 49 percent

Biggest faith: Catholic, 26.89%

about 0:25:50

Who lives here

White 98.78% · Black 0.14% · Asian 0.70% · Hispanic 0.12%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ about 25% lower

about 0:30:54

Violent crime
▼ about half the rate

about 0:31:00

Money

Median home value$196,500
Two-bedroom rent$720 on average
Cost of living98

For sale

$179,900

Listing: three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,100 square feet

about 0:29:08

For sale

$200,000

Listing: four-bedroom, three-bath house, 1,500 square feet

about 0:29:22

For sale

$699,900

Listing: four-bedroom, six-bathroom brick mansion, 4,800 square feet

about 0:29:50
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2018

Population

"8,769"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:43

Population change since 1990

"up 7.7%, but down since 2000"

Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:47

Median age

"about 43"

Comparison: "about six years older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:36

Share of people who are married

"62%"

Comparison: "usually 50%". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:51

Democrat share

"36%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:47

Republican share

"61%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:47

Share of people who are religious

"46 or 49 percent"

Comparison: "right on average". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:50

Catholic

"26.89%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:55

Overall cost of living index

"98"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:50

Housing cost index

"106"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:58

Median home cost

"$196,500"

Comparison: "about $10,000 to $11,000 over the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:00

Two-bedroom apartment rent

"$720 on average"

Comparison: "about $400 cheaper than the norm". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:53

Listing: three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,100 square feet

"$179,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:08

Listing: four-bedroom, three-bath house, 1,500 square feet

"$200,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:22

Listing: four-bedroom, six-bathroom brick mansion, 4,800 square feet

"$699,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:50

Property crime

"about 25% lower"

Comparison: "average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:54

Violent crime

"about half the rate"

Comparison: "average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:00

The reviews

No rated reviews

No reviews recorded.

In Kentucky

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The story

Edgewood is a small city in Kenton County at the northern tip of Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. It has a population of 8,769, is almost entirely white, and has lower than average crime. The episode tells the murder of a Delta pilot there in 2000.

Stephen Craven came from a good family and in 1988 joined the Coast Guard to train as a pilot. Both families disapproved of the match. After about six months they married secretly on Long Beach in 1989. In 1992 Stephen got a job flying for Delta Airlines and the family moved to the Edgewood area of Kentucky. The couple were deeply religious and were seen outside the Vineyard Christian Church greeting people. The community saw Stephen as a role model.

Behind that, Stephen was controlling. They went to marriage counselling and Stephen wrote goals for himself as a husband in a binder by his bed. Through the spring of 2000 everything seemed to be working.

A couple of weeks before the murder an Edgewood patrolman caught them having sex in a church parking lot. She told eight people she wanted Stephen dead, asked one whether she knew a hit man, and discussed a hit man with her sister. Her mother had given her $3,000 for a divorce. He agreed to kill Stephen for $15,000. The plan was to beat Stephen with a crowbar and ransack the house to look like a burglary.

Stephen was at home sick, planning to fly to New York that night for a Broadway show. The older boy was at day camp and the younger had gone to the shops with a neighbour. He did. In all he was shot three times, twice in the head and once in the body.

The three then had lunch. She told the police her husband was in New York. Officers searching the house found Stephen at the bottom of the basement stairs.

Detective Wayne Wallace noticed she shed no tears. Her friends told police what she had said. The weapons were never found.

The Commonwealth sought the death penalty against all three and the judge ordered separate trials.

Stephen's brother Bill Craven, who runs an office furniture business in Atlanta, said Stephen would not have wanted her to face the death penalty and said he welcomed her admitting guilt.

The two sons, then ten and twelve, were living with a paternal uncle out of state and had not been told the circumstances.

The case

Murder of Stephen Craven

Victims

Stephen Craven. Delta Airlines pilot and former Coast Guard pilot trainee, churchgoer and father of two, killed in the basement of his home

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 29 March 2018.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Daniel Craven. elder son, born 1993
Joseph Craven. younger son, born 1995
Wayne Wallace. City of Edgewood detective and lead investigator
Christina Brown. Attorney General's office prosecutor who cross-examined
Luke Morgan. Attorney General who said all three deserved the death penalty
Bill Craven. Stephen's brother, runs an office furniture business in Atlanta, filed a wrongful death suit

The timeline

  1. 1988 Stephen Craven joins the Coast Guard to train as a pilot and in California meets Vicuna of Long Beach (Long Beach)about 0:31:30
  2. 1989 After about six months together the couple marry secretly on Long Beach (Long Beach)about 0:38:32
  3. 1992 Stephen gets a job as a Delta pilot and the family moves to the Edgewood area of Kentucky (Edgewood)about 0:39:10
  4. 1993 Son Daniel is bornabout 0:40:32
  5. 1995 Son Joseph is bornabout 0:41:08
  6. spring of 2000 After complaints about controlling behaviour the couple are in marriage counselling and Stephen writes husband goals in his binderabout 0:51:32
  7. June 2000 affair with begins; her sister visits and leaves early because of the fighting (Craven house)about 1:25:20
  8. a couple of weeks before the murder An Edgewood patrolman catches and having sex in a church parking lot (Church parking lot)about 1:00:21
  9. June 8th, 2000 Stephen and go boating togetherabout 1:23:16
  10. the next day and meet at a bowling alley and plan the killing for July 12th; agrees to do it for $15,000 (Bowling alley)about 1:24:04
  11. the night before the murder (July 11th) buys a crowbar and phones on the cell phone he gave herabout 1:33:48
  12. July 12th, 2000, 9 a.m. and meet and wait at a local cemetery for call (Cemetery)about 1:35:08
  13. July 12th, 2000 calls and to the house because Stephen is home sick; is hidden in the basement, lures Stephen down with the ferret signal, and beats him with a crowbar about twelve times (Craven house)about 1:38:02
  14. July 12th, 2000 fetches Stephen's .38 and shoots him; she reloads and he shoots again, three shots in all (Craven house)about 1:40:48
  15. July 12th, 2000 takes a $4,000 cash advance on Stephen's card, pays $1,308.36 Verizon bill, gives $1,000 for , and they lunch at a Waffle House (Verizon Wireless store)about 1:43:06
  16. July 12th, 2000, about 8:30 p.m. returns from shopping with the children, finds the front door open, goes to a neighbour's and calls 911; police find Stephen dead in the basement (Craven house)about 0:51:51

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode