FILE 384 / 29 April 2023 / 69 MIN / express

Dismembering Grandma

Trail Creek, IndianaListen

The town

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

the town is Trail Creek, Indiana, here that we're going to; northern Indiana, up near Lake Michigan, about an hour and 15 minutes from Chicago about 0:04:25

History, in brief

1924

Trail Creek was incorporated in 1924, when it was known as Roskyville, after a pair of German immigrant brothers, the Roskeys; there were only about 150 people then.

about 0:04:30

1831

The Michigan Road, completed in 1831, opened northwest Indiana to settlers and ran through what was then forest to this place.

about 0:04:53

1834

In 1834 a man built a dam across Trail Creek, then a sawmill, and sold it to the German immigrants the Roskies, which is how the town got its name.

about 0:05:16

Town note

The Roskeys had brickyards on the lake so the bricks could be loaded onto boats; the site of the brickyards is now the Michigan Fish and Game Club.

about 0:05:56
All 5 history facts

1924

Trail Creek was incorporated in 1924, when it was known as Roskyville, after a pair of German immigrant brothers, the Roskeys; there were only about 150 people then.

about 0:04:30

1831

The Michigan Road, completed in 1831, opened northwest Indiana to settlers and ran through what was then forest to this place.

about 0:04:53

1834

In 1834 a man built a dam across Trail Creek, then a sawmill, and sold it to the German immigrants the Roskies, which is how the town got its name.

about 0:05:16

Town note

The Roskeys had brickyards on the lake so the bricks could be loaded onto boats; the site of the brickyards is now the Michigan Fish and Game Club.

about 0:05:56

Town note

The town now has a thriving plant producing economical building materials.

about 0:06:30

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$199,600
Median household income$64,063
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population

"1,954 people"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:03:57

Median household income

"$64,063"

Comparison: "a little above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:03

Median home price

"$199,600"

Comparison: "a little bit less than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:03

The reviews

3.5 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“I live in a small town; it is quiet and peaceful, everyone knows everybody, which makes a safe neighbourhood, and people watch over each other's property and report suspicious behaviour.”
about 0:06:43

3 stars

“There are a few abandoned lots throughout the area, but mostly occupied lots, even if they are not the most beautiful looking ones.”
about 0:07:12

3 stars

“Michigan City's crime rate typically fluctuates; some days it is pretty decent and other times it hits an all-time low, just like it would anywhere else.”
about 0:07:42

3 stars

“The town used to be lower on a scale of one to five but has definitely improved; while certain areas of Michigan City are not great, the reviewer's particular neighbourhood is nice, quiet and safe.”
about 0:08:39

In Indiana

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The story

At 15 she met Paul Whitty, a steel worker and volunteer firefighter about eleven years older, at that camp; they married in 1964, when she was 16 and he was 27. The family lived in Beverly Shores, Indiana. In the summer of 1981 the couple borrowed money for furniture and Marie spent it on something else, and Paul demanded to know when the furniture would arrive.

Marie came home and called the Beverly Shores police, saying she had found her husband dead. The autopsy by Dr George Azar found the muzzle had been held against the top of Paul's head, and the only foreign substance in his body was Tylenol. Marie collected a small life insurance policy and moved with the boys into the home of Paul's stepmother, Elaine Whitty, at son Road in Trail Creek.

Over the next three years Marie forged Elaine's signature on Social Security cheques and discussed killing her with her sons, considering poison, strangling, a staged break-in and pushing her from a window. She also put poison in Elaine's food, without effect. He shot the sleeping 74-year-old in the rib cage with a medieval-style crossbow. The family told neighbours Elaine had gone on a long vacation.

Marie spent months trying to find someone to take the body parts. In May 1984 a neighbour who had not seen Elaine for months called police, and a welfare check produced only the vacation story. Detectives found Marie had sold Elaine's car, that no long-distance calls reached the house, and that Elaine's Social Security cheques were still being cashed locally; Marie had taken more than $11,000 from her accounts.

Elaine's estate, appraised at $60,000, raised only $16,625.24 for the state school fund after the house sold at auction for $26,750.

The case

Murder of Paul Whitty

Victims

Paul Whitty. steel worker and volunteer firefighter; Marie's husband

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 29 April 2023.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

James Bonfield. police detective who collected evidence at the house

The timeline

  1. April 20th, 1948 is born in Pittsburghabout 0:13:13
  2. 1964 Marie, 16, marries Paul Whitty, 27, whom she met at her father's nudist camp in Florida when she was 15 (Delray nudist camp)about 0:18:30
  3. 1965 Their first son, , is bornabout 0:19:11
  4. 1970 Their second son, , called , is bornabout 0:19:38
  5. late 1970s Marie's mother moves in with the family after Marie's father dies (Whitty family home)about 0:22:30
  6. summer of 1981 Marie and Paul take out a loan for furniture and Marie spends the money on other thingsabout 0:24:04
  7. September 1st, 1981 Marie tells 15-year-old he must shoot his father, threatens to kill herself and leaves the house (Whitty family home)about 0:27:55
  8. September 1st, 1981 Paul is shot in the head with a .357 Magnum while asleep on the couch (Whitty family home)about 0:29:50

Murder of Elaine Whitty

Victims

Elaine Whitty (74). Paul's stepmother, in her early seventies; Marie and the boys had moved in with her

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 29 April 2023.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Paul Whitty. Elaine's stepson, killed in 1981
Alane Whitty. also named as Elaine; Paul's stepmother and the victim
James Bonfield. detective who had investigated Paul's shooting and recognised the family name

The timeline

  1. January 7th, 1984 Marie tells her mother to fill out a withdrawal form to take $6,000 from Elaine Whitty's bank account (Elaine Whitty house)about 0:38:57
  2. January 8th, 1984 Marie wakes 15-year-old and tells him he has to kill his grandmother, offering strangling or his crossbow (Elaine Whitty house)about 0:39:12
  3. January 8th, 1984 shoots Elaine in the rib cage with a medieval-style crossbow while she sleeps in bed (Elaine Whitty house)about 0:41:19
  4. January 1984 The family plots at a local motel; is told to say Elaine has gone on a long vacationabout 0:40:29
  5. January 1984 Marie, and dismember Elaine using a hammer, chisel, deep fat fryer, saw, microwave, circular saw, knives and acid, and store the remains in a freezer (Elaine Whitty house)about 0:41:43

Places and phrases

N ↑Public 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