FILE 291 / 11 June 2022 / 63 MIN / express

Nicknames Of Death

Hillsdale, WyomingListen

The town

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

I'm gonna call it Hillsdale... this is Wyoming we're going to... it's around Cheyenne; Hillsdale wasn't even a town until about 2013, and the story took place on unincorporated land east of Cheyenne about 0:02:48

History, in brief

2013

Hillsdale was not a town until about 2013; in the 1980s the area was unincorporated land east of Cheyenne.

about 0:02:39

Town note

The settlement began as a railroad stop, a place where engineers could take a break.

about 0:05:21

Town note

The area was built on agriculture and livestock, especially cattle, and 'other types of animal husbandry also occurred'.

about 0:05:29

Town note

German immigrants started the farming in the area.

about 0:06:22
All 5 history facts

2013

Hillsdale was not a town until about 2013; in the 1980s the area was unincorporated land east of Cheyenne.

about 0:02:39

Town note

The settlement began as a railroad stop, a place where engineers could take a break.

about 0:05:21

Town note

The area was built on agriculture and livestock, especially cattle, and 'other types of animal husbandry also occurred'.

about 0:05:29

Town note

German immigrants started the farming in the area.

about 0:06:22

Town note

The town sits at 5,600 feet in elevation, about a mile high.

about 0:04:23

The figures, as told

All figures and comparisons, as told in 2022

Population of the Hillsdale area

"47"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:03:54

Population of Cheyenne, the state capital

"65,000"

Comparison: "most populous city in Wyoming". No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:02:58

The reviews

3.0 / 5 · average of 1

3 stars

“The county can be beautiful, but the community and culture are a bit withdrawn; it is hard to get into anything or meet anyone, especially if you have just moved there.”
about 0:06:33

In Wyoming

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The story

In July 1985 Lawrence DeGroff, known to everyone as Diggy, was living east of Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the unincorporated area the episode calls Hillsdale. Diggy received a monthly stipend of $1,400, and the court record described his entitlement cheques as not insubstantial; it called him the goose who laid the golden egg.

Around noon a fight broke out between Lizard and Diggy, and Lizard slammed Diggy's head into the wall hard enough to dent it. A woman named Sue took Lizard away from the party. Diggy went to the bathroom to be sick.

The group then decided to make Diggy endorse his cheque before he died. Blood got on the cheque, so Sherry Newell, the only one without a nickname, was told to clean it. She scrubbed it so hard that it tore, and it was thrown into the fireplace. He died at about 9.15 that evening with about twenty stab wounds, any one of which, the pathologist later said, could have been fatal.

Sherry was sent to fetch Chainsaw Leonard and some firewood, and the pair returned at about eleven that night. Diggy's clothes and wallet went into the fire; only his driving licence was kept, so that his cheques could still be cashed. The house and the car were cleaned.

He used Diggy's licence to cash them, paid Diggy's bills so that he appeared to be alive, and kept about $400 from each cheque, which he said he probably drank. Part of the December cheque went on Christmas presents.

In January 1986 Chainsaw Leonard needed a copy of his GED for an apprentice training programme. He had obtained the GED while in a federal penitentiary, and he went to the United States Marshal's office for the record. While talking to a deputy marshal he had known for years, he said that there were dead bodies out there and that he knew where they were and who had put them there. The deputy reported the conversation to his sergeant, who was a police detective, and on January 24, 1986, the sergeant met Chainsaw, who told him everything.

The body was recovered from the haystack. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the thorax and upper abdomen, from the front and the back; the internal organs were gone because of insect or animal activity, the depth of no single wound could be measured, and any or all of the twenty could have been fatal.

The case

Murder of Lawrence 'Diggy' DeGroff

Victims

Lawrence 'Diggy' DeGroff. Known as Diggy; received a $1,400 monthly stipend and was the group's source of money

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 11 June 2022.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Sherry Newell. girlfriend, the only one with no nickname; told to scrub the bloody cheque and later testified against
Richard 'Chainsaw' Leonard. Fetched the chainsaw and firewood, then told the deputy marshal about the bodies and testified against
Sue. Took Lizard away from the party after the fight
Tramp. Diggy's former roommate, who made him pay for everything
Stash. Diggy's former roommate, who made him pay for everything

The timeline

  1. July 1985 Diggy is living with Tramp and Stash, who make him pay for everythingabout 0:18:46
  2. End of July 1985 Diggy moves out and in with and Sherry Newell ('s house)about 0:20:31
  3. October 2, 1985 Diggy receives a cheque and the group parties at house on his money ('s house)about 0:27:04
  4. October 2, 1985, around noon Lizard slams Diggy's head into the wall during a fight, denting the wall ('s house)about 0:30:35
  5. October 2, 1985 follows Diggy to the bathroom and stabs him a couple of times with a buck knife ('s house)about 0:33:26
  6. October 2, 1985 tells he started it and had better finish it; stabs Diggy again ('s house)about 0:34:47
  7. October 2, 1985 , and make the dying Diggy endorse his cheque ('s house)about 0:36:32
  8. October 2, 1985 Sherry tries to wash the blood off the cheque, tears it, and it is thrown into the fireplace ('s house)about 0:39:36
  9. October 2, 1985 stabs Diggy again several times; Diggy dies at about 9.15 p.m. ('s house)about 0:40:50

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