When a cryptic poem landed on the editor's desk at the Fort Fairfield Review in 1984, it would be the beginning of the end of a 20 year saga that cast a dark shadow over the small Aroostook County town. Two highly publicized murders would go unsolved for two decades until the spider himself got caught in the tangled web he believed he was weaving.

43 years have passed since that dark, cold New England night when someone stole the life of Julie Campbell. 43 years have passed without knowing who is responsible for her murder. Here to tell Julie’s story is her younger sister, Lori Manning.

Emma J. Turnbull was the widow of Charles Turnbull and mother of eight children. When Harold Turnbull returned home on August 4, 1916 to an alarming scene and his mother nowhere to be found, the frantic search for Mrs. Turnbull became a community-wide effort.

When Zenovia Clegg's killer confessed to his crime, he also revealed small scraps of the secrets he’d been keeping throughout the decades. These are the complex, dark, and interwoven stories of Shirley Coolen, Donna Kimmey, Zenovia Clegg, and Patricia Wing.

The case that unraveled from that 1958 June afternoon would reveal secrets, kept from spouses, an imperfect investigation in a small, rural county dealing with a spike in violent homicides, and a compelling case by the defense that is still questioned to this day -- Was it all a big, unfortunate accident?

On the night of July 23, 2013, 21-year old Mainer Kayleigh Ballantyne was randomly attacked as she walked into her apartment in Southie. As her attacker made clear his plans, Kayleigh told herself she was going to survive.

One of the victims in this case, from nearly 100 years ago, is unlikely to ever see a resolution. All of the major players in the story have passed, and the key suspect? She died before a verdict could ever be reached. This is the story of Lottie Cote, the most murderous woman in North Gorham.

13-year old Mary Catherine Olenchuk left the beach before her family for a bike ride into town. She was last seen alive just 200 yards from her family's Ogunquit summer home, getting into a maroon car with an unknown man.

Today, February 16, 2021, marks 30 years since beloved Portsmouth, New Hampshire residents Stella Bolton and James ‘JJ’ Moore were found dead, victims of an attack in their own home. This is a special release mini-episode of Dark Downeast.

The murders of Dr. James G. Littlefield and his wife, Lydia Littlefield, became one of Maine's most sensational and confounding cases of the early 1900s. Who really killed the couple, and why?

12-year old Sarah Cherry disappeared while babysitting on July 6, 1988. A clue laying in the driveway of the house where she was last seen pointed investigators to their primary suspect, Dennis Dechaine. Retired Detective Dan Reed joins me in the telling of this story.

Leslie was just 27-years old when she set off to Bar Harbor in the summer of 1977, hitchhiking from Vermont with her scruffy mutt Taylor by her side. Her beaten body would be found just a day after she left for her adventure, along the walking trail at Asticou Gardens in Northeast Harbor. To this day, over 40 years later, Leslie’s family is still searching for answers -- Who took the life of their sweet sister and daughter?