Town file
Fairfield, Ohio
Fairfield, Ohio (Butler and Hamilton counties, Ohio) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 191, "Like Severed Legs At A Wedding..." (1 October 2020). Monica Lemon was 21 years old in the winter of 1987.
- Town
- Fairfield
- County
- Butler and Hamilton counties
- State
- Ohio
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 191
- Approximate location
- 39.331, -84.543
Episode 191 / 1 October 2020 / 166 min / full
Like Severed Legs At A Wedding...
"We're going to Fairfield, Ohio, the suburbs of Cincinnati, in both Butler and Hamilton counties, southwestern Ohio, 30 minutes outside Cincinnati" about 0:05:31
The case: Murder of Monica Lemon (February 1987). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 42,589
- Median age
- 38
- Median household income
- about $62,000
- Median home value
- $169,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $970
- Cost of living
- 87
- Religious
- 38%
- Property crime
- right about average
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half the national average
History, in brief
- Before white settlement the area was home to the Shawnee, the Miami, and the prehistoric Hopewell and Adena peoples, who built earthworks around the city. about 0:08:27
- Most of the earthworks were ploughed over by early settlers making farm fields, without the settlers realising they were there. about 0:08:50
- Battles with Native Americans kept people from settling permanently in the area. about 0:09:53
- An early settler account said going onto Native American lands was almost certain death, and that settlers without employment were brought to the verge of starvation. about 0:10:11
- Families whose lands were contiguous formed associations for mutual protection, and each party built a strong blockhouse with cabins and enclosed log pickets. about 0:11:04
- A sentinel watched for attack during the day, and at sunset everything of value was brought inside the fence. about 0:11:30
The reviews read out
2 stars
"Police take some time to respond and there are potholes everywhere that do not get fixed."about 0:14:52
2 stars
"Mostly safe and quiet, but the city government is corrupt and considers the city above the law, and the police are lazy and inept."about 0:15:08
3 stars
"The school system overlooks bullying; too many students are bullied and it turns a blind eye."about 0:15:39
1 star
"Nobody in the apartment complex knows each other, there are no community events, and dog owners do not clean up or train their dogs."about 0:16:43
2 stars
"Most of the Asian restaurants have very little selection and what they do have is not very good."about 0:19:21
"The reviewer loves the fair, its games, exhibits, animals and demolition derby, and has gone every year for over ten years."about 0:26:23
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Shawnee Township, Ohio18 miles
- Highland Heights, Kentucky21 miles
- Edgewood, Kentucky22 miles
- Waynesville, Ohio28 miles
- Eaton, Ohio29 miles
- Dillsboro, Indiana35 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.