Town file
Raynham, Massachusetts
Raynham, Massachusetts is the town in 2 episodes of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 2, "A Kidnapping & Murder" (25 January 2017), and episode 3, "A Kidnapping & Murder" (1 February 2017).
- Town
- Raynham
- State
- Massachusetts
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 2, 3
- Approximate location
- 41.930, -71.046
Episode 2 / 25 January 2017 / 58 min / full
A Kidnapping & Murder
"It's the town of Rainham, Massachusetts... in the southeastern corner of Massachusetts." about 0:01:42
The case: Kidnapping and attempted murder of Jacqueline Bussieri (June 1968); Disappearance of Mary Lou Aruda (September 1978). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2017
- Population
- 13,575
- Cost of living
- 137
- Religious
- 61%
- Property crime
- 23.27 per 1,000 people
- Chance of being a victim of property crime
- 1.43
- Murders, 2015
- zero
- Rapes, 2015
- one
- Robberies, 2015
- seven
- Assaults, 2015
- 17
- Violent crime
- 1.81
- Chance of being a victim of a violent crime
- one in 552
History, in brief
- Settled in 1639. about 0:02:28
- Founded by Elizabeth Pole; the first town in the United States founded by a woman. about 0:02:47
- Mainly iron workers lived there at first after a big iron ore discovery. about 0:02:55
- 23 people formed a local iron works that the town rallied around. about 0:03:06
- The town seal proclaims it the first iron works in America, which is not true. about 0:03:12
- Incorporated in 1731. about 0:03:39
- The iron works operated until 1873, when the iron dried up. about 0:03:45
- Shipbuilding became a big industry, with trenches dug in the river beds and wood rolled down to the water. about 0:03:57
- Later industry included several shoe manufacturers and a straw hat factory. about 0:04:26
- There was also a bleachery and a tack factory. about 0:05:35
- One farm in the area raised 39 different varieties of apples. about 0:05:47
- About 40 minutes and 36 miles from Boston, just outside the city. about 0:06:00
Episode 3 / 1 February 2017 / 59 min / full
A Kidnapping & Murder
" says they head back to Raynham, Massachusetts, and later calls it 'poor Rainham, Massachusetts'; the Bristol district attorney prosecutes the case." about 0:00:00
The case: Kidnapping and murder of Mary Lou Aruda (September 1978); Kidnapping and attempted murder of Jacqueline Bussieri (1968). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2017
- Population
- 13,000
- Rape
- ▼ half as likely
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Sharon, Massachusetts15 miles
- Pawtucket, Rhode Island17 miles
- Warren, Rhode Island18 miles
- East Providence, Rhode Island18 miles
- Barrington, Rhode Island20 miles
- Marshfield, Massachusetts22 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.