FILE 585 / 3 April 2025 / 179 MIN / full

Serial Killer's Secret Graveyard

Kingston Township, PennsylvaniaListen

The town

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

We're going to Kingston Township, Pennsylvania, about a half hour outside of Scranton, in Luzerne County. about 0:04:32

History, in brief

1790

Kingston Township was one of the original townships formed by the Susquehanna Land Company of Connecticut in 1790.

about 0:06:25

Town note

It was named after Kingston, Rhode Island, and was originally called King's Town.

about 0:06:34

Town note

The township was later downsized when whole regions were stripped away to form new municipalities.

about 0:06:42

Town note

Its motto is the gateway to the Back Mountain.

about 0:06:09
All 4 history facts

1790

Kingston Township was one of the original townships formed by the Susquehanna Land Company of Connecticut in 1790.

about 0:06:25

Town note

It was named after Kingston, Rhode Island, and was originally called King's Town.

about 0:06:34

Town note

The township was later downsized when whole regions were stripped away to form new municipalities.

about 0:06:42

Town note

Its motto is the gateway to the Back Mountain.

about 0:06:09

The figures, as told

Who lives here

White 96.8% · Black 1.1% · Asian 1.3% · Hispanic 0.5%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ less than half the national average

about 0:17:36

Violent crime
▼ about one-third under

about 0:17:43

Money

Median home value$181,000
Two-bedroom rent$1,030 a month
Median household income$75,285 a year
Cost of living$80.6
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2025

Property crime

"less than half the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2025 about 0:17:36

Violent crime

"about one-third under"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2025 about 0:17:43

Population

"7,076"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:08:27

Women

"52.7%"

Comparison: "usually about 50.1%". No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:08:34

Median age

"about 48"

Comparison: "10 years higher than the rest of the country". Direction: above.

As told in 2025 about 0:08:44

Married

"about 56%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:08:48

Unemployment

"9.6%"

Comparison: "compared to the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:09:19

Median household income

"$75,285 a year"

Comparison: "slightly above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2025 about 0:09:33

Cost of living

"$80.6"

Comparison: "$100 being regular average". Direction: below.

As told in 2025 about 0:09:46

Median home cost

"$181,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:09:58

Average two-bedroom rental

"$1,030 a month"

Comparison: "a couple hundred under the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2025 about 0:10:24

The reviews

3.7 / 5 · average of 3

4 stars

“In the largest part a great place to grow up and settle down, though those in between may find it too slow-paced and quiet.”
about 0:06:50

4 stars

“Right down the road, just rebuilt and up to date, visited almost every day because it carries every essential needed.”
about 0:07:19

3 stars

“Not many opportunities; the people who live here are all very wealthy but there are few options for the up-and-coming generations.”
about 0:08:03

In Pennsylvania

Closest episodes

  1. Mr. Hot TubRoss Township, Pennsylvania · 21 January 202162 km / 39 miShow on map
  2. Why Let One Live? in Weisenberg, PennsylvaniaWeisenberg Township, Pennsylvania · 15 August 201975 km / 47 miShow on map
  3. A Murderous Love SquareEaston, Pennsylvania · 17 July 202685 km / 53 miShow on map
  4. Maybe A Serial Killer, Maybe A LiarSunbury, Pennsylvania · 12 April 201888 km / 55 miShow on map
  5. Murderous Male StripperWantage Township, New Jersey · 15 February 2025105 km / 65 miShow on map

The story

Michael Jason Kerkowski Jr. grew up in the Back Mountain area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in a middle-class family. He graduated from Lake Lehman High School in 1983 and from Temple University in 1988, and he became a licensed pharmacist in Pennsylvania on 16 August 1988. He worked at the Trucksville Pharmacy and then at the CVS in Dallas, Pennsylvania, where in 1989 Kim came in to have a prescription filled and the two recognised one another from the pharmacy where they had both worked as teenagers. They became engaged in 1992, signed a contract in November 1992 to build a $150,000 house at Pritchard Road in Hunlock Creek, and married on 9 April 1994. Their sons Tyler and Connor were born on 25 September 1996 and 6 May 1999. In March 1999 Michael and Kim signed a franchise agreement with the Medicine Shop on State Route 29 in Eaton Township, Wyoming County, and Michael ran the pharmacy.

From November 1999 Kerkowski sold Lortab and OxyContin on false prescriptions, using refills of old legitimate prescriptions as cover, and people drove for hours to buy from him. The episode says he cleared more than $3 million, after the cost of the pills, from drug sales and insurance fraud. He kept Kim out of the shop and chased her out when she came, and he was having an affair with her first cousin, who was godmother to their son. Kim filed for divorce on 30 April, was granted custody, and the divorce ran through 2001 and 2002. He was on bail until then.

They closed on 30 April 2002 without enough money for the closing costs of about $10,000.

Kerkowski said there were two bags holding about $60,000 in the house and that his father had another $60,000. Days later he asked the seller of the house to leave the property for a day.

His parents, Geraldine and Michael Kerkowski Sr., paid $40,000 of his cash to the bail bondsman. Everyone assumed Kerkowski had fled with his drug money.

He began to cooperate and said there were bodies buried at the house on Mount Olivet Road. They found Kerkowski and Fassett buried in a mixture of natural earth, bought topsoil and coal remnants, and a burn pit containing the remains of at least three more people. Bone fragments suggested as many as twelve people in all. Two of the burn-pit victims were identified as Frank James, 29, known as Rudy, and Adaya Keillor, 22, known as Redman.

No one has ever identified the fifth body, and the bone fragments of up to seven more people remain unidentified.

The episode ends with a linked story. ine Thomas, Felicia's mother, and her friend Judy Fisher still keep case books of tips.

The case

Murder of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett

Victims

Michael Jason Kerkowski Jr.. Licensed pharmacist who owned the Medicine Shop pharmacy in Eaton Township; killed at his home
Tammy Fassett. Kerkowski's girlfriend, killed with him

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 April 2025.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Kim Kerkowski. Kerkowski's estranged wife, who filed for divorce and was granted custody
Michael Kerkowski Sr.. Kerkowski's father, robbed of $100,000 by
Christina Strom. girlfriend, also called Heather, in whose name the Mount Olivet Road house was bought
Carrie Bartu. Kim's cousin, who was seeing
Marianne. sister, present when police searched the house
Brooke. younger sister, who testified nothing was off limits on the property
Rodney Sampson. Witness who said offered him $20,000 to help take care of Kerkowski
Samuel Guse. Drug dealer robbed by and in a similar home invasion
Louise Bensikin. Kerkowski's neighbour, who saw a man leave the house in a brown car
Ernie Culp. Man who lived in a trailer on property
Scott Bolton. cellmate and escape partner, paralysed in the fall

The timeline

  1. 1983 Michael Kerkowski graduates from Lake Lehman High School (Lake Lehman High School)about 0:20:21
  2. 1988 He graduates from Temple University (Temple University)about 0:20:48
  3. August 16th, 1988 He becomes a licensed pharmacist in Pennsylvaniaabout 0:20:48
  4. 1989 He meets Kim again when she comes to the CVS in Dallas to fill a prescription (CVS Pharmacy)about 0:21:22
  5. 1992 Michael and Kim become engagedabout 0:21:38
  6. November 1992 They sign a contract to build a $150,000 house at Pritchard Road (Kerkowski house)about 0:21:42
  7. April 9th, 1994 They marryabout 0:21:57
  8. September 25th, 1996 Son Tyler is bornabout 0:22:01
  9. March 1999 Michael and Kim sign a franchise agreement with the Medicine Shop on State Route 29 (Medicine Shop pharmacy)about 0:23:16
  10. May 6th, 1999 Son Connor is bornabout 0:22:06
  11. November 1999 Kerkowski begins selling Lortab and OxyContin on false prescriptions, starting with Shirley Richter (Medicine Shop pharmacy)about 0:27:19
  12. September and October 2000 An undercover state trooper makes several buys from him (Medicine Shop pharmacy)about 0:29:02
  13. April 20th, 2001 Police raid the pharmacy and seize thousands of pills and records (Medicine Shop pharmacy)about 0:29:14
  14. April 30th Kim files for divorce and is granted custody of the childrenabout 0:34:33
  15. April 30th, 2002 and Christina Strom close on Mount Olivet Road but cannot cover about $10,000 in closing costs (Mount Olivet Road house)about 0:51:44
  16. May 1st, 2002 Ronald Jr. lends his 16-gauge shotgun to , supposedly to shoot skunksabout 0:52:01
  17. May 3rd, 2002 and go to Kerkowski's house, bind him and Tammy Fassett, and kill them (Kerkowski house)about 0:56:25
  18. May 4th, 2002 deposits $9,900 in cash into Strom's checking account, which held $400.46about 0:55:08
  19. the following Monday A cheque for $10,079.50 is drawn on Strom's account for the closing costsabout 0:55:42
  20. May 2002 takes $60,000 from Kerkowski's father for supposed new lawyers, then returns and takes $40,000 at gunpoint (Kerkowski parents' house)about 0:59:39
  21. after May 14th, 2002 His parents pay $40,000 of his cash to the bail bondsman (Kerkowski parents' house)about 0:54:33
  22. June 5th, 2003 Police search the Mount Olivet Road property and find the bodies of Kerkowski and Fassett and a burn pit (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:05:16

Murders of Frank James and Adaya Keillor

Victims

Frank James (29). Known as Rudy; drug dealer lured from a Wilkes-Barre hospital
Adaya Keillor (22). Known as Redman; drug dealer held overnight and shot in the yard

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 April 2025.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Yurita Bradford. Frank James's girlfriend, collected from hospital with their newborn
Christina Strom. girlfriend, at home the night of the first shooting
Adaya Keillor's mother. Told she forgave him for testifying

The timeline

  1. March 2002 shows a shoebox holding about $60,000 to $80,000 in cashabout 2:17:57
  2. May 13th, 2003 collects Frank James and Yurita Bradford from a Wilkes-Barre hospital after she gives birth (Wilkes-Barre hospital)about 1:09:20
  3. May 13th, 2003 He drives them to a Rite Aid, then to her Sherman Hills apartment, where Adaya Keillor joins them (Sherman Hills apartment)about 1:09:50
  4. May 13th, 2003 They go to home on Mount Olivet Road and eat pizza; is there (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:11:24
  5. that night shoots Frank James in the garage with the 16-gauge shotgun (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:12:32
  6. that night Keillor is handcuffed and held in the garage and then inside the house overnight (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:13:20
  7. the next morning After Strom leaves for work at about 7.30, interrogates Keillor about another drug dealer (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:13:25
  8. the next morning shoots Keillor outside, then shoots him again when he tries to get up (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:14:06
  9. the next morning The bodies are burned in the burn pit and the remaining bones put in garbage bags (Mount Olivet Road house)about 1:14:26

Disappearance of Felicia Thomas

Victims

Felicia Thomas. Eldest of seven children; disappeared while investigating her friend's disappearance
Jennifer Barzlowski. Felicia's friend, missing for three years before property was searched

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 April 2025.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

ine Thomas. Felicia's mother, who keeps case books of tips
Judy Fisher. Family friend helping compile the case books
Tom Kelly. State police trooper who investigated both disappearances

The timeline

  1. three years before the backyard was found Jennifer Barzlowski disappears; is the last person known to be with herabout 2:38:43

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placePublic 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