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.
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FILE 384 / 29 April 2023 / 69 MIN / express
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
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 0:04:30The Michigan Road, completed in 1831, opened northwest Indiana to settlers and ran through what was then forest to this place.
about 0:04:53In 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 0:05:16The 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 0:05:56Trail 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 0:04:30The Michigan Road, completed in 1831, opened northwest Indiana to settlers and ran through what was then forest to this place.
about 0:04:53In 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 0:05:16The 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 0:05:56The town now has a thriving plant producing economical building materials.
about 0:06:30"1,954 people"
No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:03:57
"$64,063"
Comparison: "a little above the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:03
"$199,600"
Comparison: "a little bit less than the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:03
3.5 / 5 · average of 4
“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
“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
“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
“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
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.
September 1, 1981 / the family home in Beverly Shores, Indiana
As told in the episode, on 29 April 2023.
Accused
Accused
January 8, 1984 / her home at son Road, Trail Creek, Indiana
As told in the episode, on 29 April 2023.
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 0:28:18crime scene
about 0:34:41business
about 0:06:11landmark
about 0:11:04landmark
about 0:11:04other
about 0:13:30other
about 0:46:09other
about 0:51:45