FILE 128 / 18 July 2019 / 136 MIN / full

Follow That Blood Trail...

Guide Rock, NebraskaListen

The town

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

"This is Guide Rock, Nebraska... it's in south-central Nebraska, right on the border to Kansas down there" about 0:05:04

History, in brief

Town note

Guide Rock was named after a prominent rock bluff which they called Bluff Parher, a French name.

about 0:09:21

Town note

The bluff was an important landmark to early trappers and to the Pawnee Indians in the area.

about 0:09:34

1870

The town itself was first settled in about 1870.

about 0:09:48

Town note

It was named after a French trapper who saw the bluff and used it as a guide.

about 0:09:57
All 15 history facts

Town note

Guide Rock was named after a prominent rock bluff which they called Bluff Parher, a French name.

about 0:09:21

Town note

The bluff was an important landmark to early trappers and to the Pawnee Indians in the area.

about 0:09:34

1870

The town itself was first settled in about 1870.

about 0:09:48

Town note

It was named after a French trapper who saw the bluff and used it as a guide.

about 0:09:57

Town note

The city council voted between Guide Rock and Spotted Tail as the name for the town, and it was a 6-6 deadlock.

about 0:10:59

Town note

The secretary, George Simpson, cast the deciding vote in favour of Red Cloud, so Guide Rock became a different town.

about 0:11:06

1881

The railroad came through Guide Rock between 1881 and 1882.

about 0:12:36

1871

A settler family who arrived around 1871 built a cabin on the homestead from walnut logs hewn and notched with an axe, with the cracks plastered with sand and lime; snow still drifted onto their beds through the walls.

about 0:13:36

Town note

That first cabin was still standing a century later, after a second and third house had been built on the same hill.

about 0:14:03

Town note

In the fall the family made sorghum molasses by pressing juice from cane and boiling it in large open kettles; cornbread, molasses and meat or game was the common diet.

about 0:15:18

Town note

Droughts, bugs and grasshoppers were ever-present threats to the early settlers.

about 0:15:51

Town note

Later, larger farms came in and the farm population decreased as farms were consolidated, and the town has shrunk ever since.

about 0:16:05

Town note

Many people in the county drive about 40 miles to Hastings, Nebraska, where the jobs are.

about 0:16:38

1922

Webster County is represented by the licence plate prefix 45 because it had the 45th largest number of vehicles registered when the system was established in 1922.

about 0:17:14

Town note

Webster County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L, which is the highest potential level.

about 0:17:49

The figures, as told

Religious

about 72%

Biggest faith: Protestant share, over 50%

about 0:22:13

Who lives here

White about 200 out of 215 · Hispanic 11

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ just low

about 0:28:12

Violent crime
▼ just low

about 0:28:24

Registered sex offenders
five

about 0:28:46

Residents per registered sex offender
41 to one

about 0:28:52

Deaths per 1,000 residents
number 37 on the list of top 101 counties in America

about 0:29:54

Money

Median home value$22,975
Median household income$37,128
Cost of livingabout 77

For sale

$7,000

Two-bedroom, one-bath house, 1,420 square feet

about 0:25:18

For sale

$53,000

Three-bedroom, one-bath house, 1,296 square feet

about 0:25:59

For sale

$30,000

Four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath house, 1,738 square feet

about 0:26:09
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2019

Town area

".50 square mile"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:06:36

Population peak

"690"

Comparison: "1930". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:18:45

Population

"215"

Comparison: "down 13% since 2000". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:19:05

Population decline 1950 to 1960

"35%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:19:08

Population decline 1960 to 1970

"28%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:19:15

Average age

"about 40"

Comparison: "a little older than the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:19:32

Male population

"52%"

Comparison: "111 males and 102 females". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:20:19

Married population

"about 41%"

Comparison: "50-50 is the normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:30

Widowed population

"double"

Comparison: "normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:31

Divorce rate

"double"

Comparison: "normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:33

White population

"about 200 out of 215"

Comparison: "93% or so". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:49

Hispanic population

"11"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:51

American Indian population

"three"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:51

Two or more races

"two"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:51

Religious population

"about 72%"

Comparison: "a lot for this area". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:13

Protestant share

"over 50%"

Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:19

Catholic share

"about 20%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:43

Republican vote

"78%"

Comparison: "last presidential election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:46

Democrat vote

"18%"

Comparison: "last presidential election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:46

Unemployment rate

"2.9%"

Comparison: "unhealthily low". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:52

Median household income

"$37,128"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:08

National household income

"about $58,000"

Comparison: "average for the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:14

Poverty rate

"33%"

Comparison: "a third of the population". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:19

Construction jobs held by men

"34%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:48

Agriculture and forestry jobs

"19%"

Comparison: "usually about 1%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:08

Manufacturing jobs

"15%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:13

Cost of living

"about 77"

Comparison: "100 is the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:34

Median home cost

"$22,975"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:39

Average rent

"about $507"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:05

Two-bedroom, one-bath house, 1,420 square feet

"$7,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:18

Three-bedroom, one-bath house, 1,296 square feet

"$53,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:59

Four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath house, 1,738 square feet

"$30,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:09

Property crime

"just low"

Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:12

Violent crime

"just low"

Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:24

Registered sex offenders

"five"

Comparison: "41 to one ratio". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:46

Residents per registered sex offender

"41 to one"

Comparison: "205 to one last week". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:52

Length of residence since moving

"well above the state average"

Comparison: "Nebraska state average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:30

Age of houses

"significantly older"

Comparison: "Nebraska state average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:35

Oldest houses ranking

"number five in Nebraska, number 59 on the list of top 100 cities"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:48

Deaths per 1,000 residents

"number 37 on the list of top 101 counties in America"

Comparison: "2007 to 2013". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:54

The reviews

No rated reviews

No reviews recorded.

In Nebraska

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The story

From 1997 onwards she built a long criminal record of theft, receiving stolen property, forgery, bad cheques, identity theft and prescription fraud, mostly around Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Davidson County, Tennessee.

Ronald's mother, Virginia Barone, 68, lived one house over.

They eventually reached Guide Rock and went to their separate houses.

She admitted going to Marihue's house and taking several items, and leaving town in Virginia's Pontiac.

By then the pair had begun spending Virginia's money. During the day they used the card at Walmarts in Hastings, Grand Island and York, taking more than $2,000 in purchases and cash back. At 1:30 p.m. they sold a television, a video game system with 13 games and a guitar amp at a pawn shop in Grand Island for $309.

At 7:40 p.m. they were stopped for a traffic violation on Interstate 80 near Plattsmouth, Nebraska. A state patrolman escorted them to the Fitzgerald Hotel around midnight, where they paid cash. The next morning staff found cigarettes burning on the carpet and the room in disarray, collected the receipts they had left behind and called the police. The manager also said they had walked south with their bags. About ten minutes later an older Jeep with the keys still in it was reported stolen from the Dollar General down the street.

Meanwhile Trevor Marihue had returned home at about 9:30 p.m. to find his house burgled: his television, game system and 13 games, two laptops, two guitars and a guitar amp were gone. The following morning a neighbour asked for a welfare check at Virginia Barone's house. A sheriff's deputy found her car missing, her telephone ripped out and lying in the driveway, and possessions scattered about. Inside, furniture was broken and knocked over, and a trail of blood led into a back room, where Virginia's body lay under a pile of assorted boards. She had multiple stab wounds, cuts on her fingers consistent with defensive wounds, and blood droplets on her face. The autopsy found 22 stab wounds, ranging from half an inch to eight and a half inches deep, 20 to the chest, torso and stomach and two to the back. Seven wounds angled downward and 13 upward, suggesting more than one knife or grip. The cause of death was stab wounds and blood loss.

The stolen Jeep contained a bag with Marihue's name on it, two laptops, a guitar and a knife with a four-inch blade in the glove box. At booking both had cuts and bruises.

She said she threw the knife into a cornfield. She said she had been under the influence of prescription drugs during the earlier interview.

Prosecutors assured the judge that life meant his entire natural life. The appellate court rejected each ground: the evidence was sufficient, the letter was properly authenticated, the knife objection had been waived and the knife was plainly relevant, and the instructions were correct.

Ronald Jemalowski still lives in Guide Rock, with three houses and plenty of open space.

The case

Murder of Virginia Barone

Victims

Virginia Barone (68). Ronald Jemalowski's mother; lived next door to

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 18 July 2019.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

The timeline

  1. 1972 Lynn Budziak is bornabout 0:31:36
  2. about 1990 Her son is bornabout 0:37:20
  3. a few months after moving to Guide Rock moves out of Ronald Jemalowski's house into the house next door, which he also owns ( 's house)about 0:43:03
  4. October 3, 2013 drives to Hastings, Nebraska, with his friend Trevor Marihue to run errandsabout 0:51:07
  5. October 4, 2013 On the drive back to Guide Rock, and Ronald fight in the back seat and Virginia Barone tries to push out of the carabout 0:55:12
  6. October 4, 2013 and go to Virginia Barone's house; Virginia blames for Ronald's problems and threatens to knock her out (Virginia Barone's house)about 1:29:45
  7. October 4, 2013 stabs Virginia Barone 22 times (Virginia Barone's house)about 1:40:40
  8. October 4, 2013 Virginia Barone's body is dragged into a back room and covered with a pile of boards (Virginia Barone's house)about 1:30:50

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placePublic placeTown 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