FILE 720 / 24 July 2026 / 73 MIN / express

Family Murder Tree

Post Falls, IdahoListen

The town

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

This is Post Falls Idaho, two words. Post Falls. Northwestern Idaho, panhandle. about 0:03:24

History, in brief

1871

Post Falls is named after Frederick Post, a German immigrant who built a lumber mill along the Spokane River in 1871 on land he bought from the chief of the Coeur d'Alene tribe.

about 0:04:55

Town note

The purchase of the land is preserved in a pictograph on a granite cliff in Treaty Rock Park.

about 0:05:10
All 2 history facts

1871

Post Falls is named after Frederick Post, a German immigrant who built a lumber mill along the Spokane River in 1871 on land he bought from the chief of the Coeur d'Alene tribe.

about 0:04:55

Town note

The purchase of the land is preserved in a pictograph on a granite cliff in Treaty Rock Park.

about 0:05:10

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$457,200
Median household income$38,162 a year
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2026

Population

"about 44,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:15

Median household income

"$38,162 a year"

Comparison: "about $30,000 less than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:22

Median home cost

"$457,200"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:35

The reviews

2.8 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“Loves the mountains and the easy access to the wilderness, plenty of restaurants and things to do, and people are generally nice.”
about 0:05:39

3 stars

“Really pretty scenery, but the town does not like you unless you are Mormon or grew up there; it does not know how to forgive anybody, is stuck up and is a terrible place to raise a family.”
about 0:06:00

2 stars

“Tires have been slashed and vehicles vandalised where the reviewer lives and the police do nothing about it.”
about 0:06:45

1 star

“There are always loud neighbours screaming and yelling at other neighbours, to the point where the reviewer wants to move.”
about 0:07:01

In Idaho

Closest episodes

  1. The Zombie Apocalypse Has BegunCoeur d'Alene, Idaho · 4 August 202211 km / 7 miShow on map
  2. You Are... Not The FatherDeer Park, Washington · 15 December 202346 km / 29 miShow on map
  3. Talkative Serial KillerKellogg, Idaho · 15 May 202564 km / 40 miShow on map
  4. Mystery Of The Fake DadSandpoint, Idaho · 3 February 202468 km / 42 miShow on map
  5. Bits Of Flesh & Mysteries SolvedAddy, Washington · 14 July 202297 km / 60 miShow on map

The story

Gary Charles Loesch was born in Sacramento, California, on 3 October 1939. He served in the Air Force and in 1969 married Barbara Dean Stultz, six years younger than him. The family moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1979 and settled in Post Falls, Idaho, in 1986, where Gary worked for the Dilly Amusement Company and, from June 1992, delivered about 300 copies of the Spokesman Review every morning. His brother Randy joined him in September 1995, taking the next route over.

On Monday 13 November 1995 Gary began his round at about 3.30 a.m. Neighbours heard a gunshot and a car leaving fast. At 5.50 a.m. Russ Greenfield saw Gary's Toyota Camry standing in the middle of the road, lights on and the driver's window open in the rain, and telephoned the police at 6.50. Gary was dead in the car, shot once in the head, with two stacks of newspapers untouched behind him. Nothing had been taken and there was no struggle. Cigarette ends at the scene carried a woman's DNA, which cleared Randy and Chuck, who had been questioned because they knew the route, and left the case without a lead.

Barbara was last heard from in early January 1998. On 11 January Randy and his wife Laura found the back door open and called the police. She was floating face down in the hot tub behind the house, a television submerged beside her, run from a 25-foot extension cord out of the garage that was not plugged in. The body was too decomposed for toxicology and the medical examiner recorded an undetermined cause, possibly accidental drowning.

After their release they ran a renovation business on more than $100,000 of Barbara's money.

Dorothy was found dead in her Military Hill condominium on 21 July 1996, a towel round her head, asphyxiated; the ring and a few other items were gone and nothing else was disturbed.

The women were named persons of interest in 2006. In October 2008 warrants were issued so that America's Most Wanted would take the case. Christopher, who would have been seventeen, was not mentioned.

Christopher had lived with the Spokane defence lawyer Julie Twiford in 1999 and 2000 and was enrolled at Shiloh Hills Elementary as Christopher Robinson until he stopped attending. Police found hundreds of dryer sheets laid under boxes in the Tucson garage and cadaver dogs gave hits, but no remains were found. He had still not been found in 2024.

The case

Murder of Gary Loesch

Victims

Gary Charles Loesch. newspaper carrier for the Spokesman Review, shot once in the head on his morning route

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 24 July 2026.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Randy Loesch. Gary's brother, a carrier on the next route, questioned and ruled out
Chuck Loesch. Gary's son, questioned and ruled out
Barbara Loesch. Gary's wife
Russ Greenfield. neighbour who heard the gunshot and called the police

The timeline

  1. October 3rd, 1939 Gary Charles Loesch is born in Sacramento, Californiaabout 0:11:47
  2. 1969 Gary marries Barbara Dean Stultz in Sacramentoabout 0:12:17
  3. 1970 Their son Chuck is bornabout 0:12:42
  4. November 6th, 1971 Their daughter Rose is bornabout 0:12:49
  5. 1979 The family moves from California to Spokane, Washingtonabout 0:13:02
  6. 1986 The family settles in Post Falls, Idahoabout 0:13:34
  7. June 1992 Gary and Barbara begin a newspaper route, distributing about 300 papers a dayabout 0:14:19
  8. September 1995 Gary's brother Randy moves to the area and takes the route next to hisabout 0:15:57
  9. November 13th, 1995 At about 3.30 a.m. neighbours hear what they take for gunfire, then a car leaving at speedabout 0:17:17
  10. November 13th, 1995 At 5.50 a.m. Russ Greenfield sees Gary's car standing in the middle of the road, lights on and the driver's window down in the rainabout 0:18:35
  11. November 13th, 1995 At 6.50 a.m. Greenfield telephones the policeabout 0:19:48
  12. November 13th, 1995 Police find Gary dead in his Toyota Camry, shot once in the head, two stacks of newspapers undisturbed in the back (newspaper delivery stop on Ohio Match Road)about 0:21:34

Murder of Barbara Loesch

Victims

Barbara Loesch. Gary's widow, found floating face down in her hot tub with a television submerged beside her

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 24 July 2026.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Laura Loesch. Randy's wife
Chuck Loesch. Barbara's son, left nothing in the will

The timeline

  1. April 7th, 1945 Barbara Dean Stultz is born in Sacramento, Californiaabout 0:12:19
  2. January 11th, 1998 Barbara has not been heard from for about three days; Randy and Laura find her back door open and call the police (Barbara Loesch's house)about 0:29:42
  3. January 11th, 1998 Detectives find Barbara floating face down in the hot tub with a television submerged in the water (Barbara Loesch's house)about 0:31:04
  4. January 1998 The body is too decomposed for toxicology; the medical examiner records an undetermined cause, possibly accidental drowningabout 0:32:23

Murder of Dorothy Martin

Victims

Dorothy Martin (89). widow who lived alone; killed for her white gold and diamond ring

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 24 July 2026.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

The timeline

  1. 1974 Dorothy Martin's husband dies and she lives alone for the next twenty yearsabout 0:43:36

Disappearance of Christopher Loesch

Victims

Christopher Loesch. son, born in 1991, last seen as a boy; police suspect he was killed

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 24 July 2026.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Chuck Loesch. Christopher's uncle, who believes the boy was killed
Julie Twiford. Spokane defence attorney Christopher lived with in 1999 and 2000

The timeline

  1. 1991 Christopher is born to about 0:14:05
  2. 1999 Christopher is living in the Tucson area with his mother and about 1:04:43
  3. October 1999 and are last seen loading an RV in Seattle, with Christopherabout 0:57:49
  4. 1999 Christopher lives with the Spokane defence attorney Julie Twiford and is enrolled at Shiloh Hills Elementary as Christopher Robinson (Shiloh Hills Elementary School)about 0:58:02
  5. 2000 He stops attending the school one day and his transcripts are never forwarded (Shiloh Hills Elementary School)about 0:58:30
  6. about 2000 says she has sent him to live with his father, whose identity nobody knowsabout 1:04:47
  7. 2002 Tucson neighbours tell investigators Christopher had been living with his mother in 2002about 1:02:55
  8. November 15th, 2008 and are found dead; the suicide note does not mention Christopher, who would then have been 17 (road northwest of Tucson)about 1:02:19

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.

newspaper delivery stop on Ohio Match Road

crime scene

about 0:21:34

Heard in this episode