logo
episode-header-image
May 2018
1h 15m

Episode 115

Sword and Scale
About this episode
31-year-old Nicole VanderHeyden was substitute teacher and mother of three. She lived with her boyfriend and father of her infant son, Doug Detrie, in Bellevue, Brown County, WI. The Green Bay metro area. Her body was found naked and strangled in a farm field on May 21, 2016. Her skull was fractured and she suffered blunt force trauma to the left side of her head breaking and dislocating her jaw as well as injuries to her esophagus, trachea, and neck consistent with strangulation. Her clothes were found off the side of a highway on-ramp. Doug reports her missing that same morning. Police arrest him a couple days later after Nicole’s blood is found on the pavement and the murder weapon, a “black cord,” outside his home.

Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com
Up next
Nov 17
Episode 328
In a quiet Ohio town shaped by coal and tradition, Brad McGarry is found dead in his basement. At first, it looks like a break-in. But as detectives dig deeper, they uncover a complex friendship, a hidden relationship, and a web of lies that unravels in the interrogation room. Th ... Show More
1h 8m
Nov 6
Episode 327
When Kajavia Globe disappeared, her family’s worst fears came true in a city hardened by loss. As frustration with police mounted, the community - neighbors, a sanitation worker, a mother who refused to give up - kept pushing forward. In the end, justice came not from the system, ... Show More
58m 1s
Nov 2
Episode 326
A night of celebration at a remote cabin takes a horrifying turn when a fight breaks out and a young father steps in to calm things down. Within moments, the party descends into chaos, and a single act of violence changes lives forever.Get instant access to all episodes, includin ... Show More
1h 16m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
199: The Legs Murder Scandal
One of my most requested cases for Spooky Season: The Legs Murder Scandal On a rainy and cold January day in 1935, a rabbit hunter came across a sugar sack on a rural road in Laurel, Mississippi. He opened it up and found a pair of legs and part of a lower torso of a white female ... Show More
53m 54s
Aug 2023
Spoiled
Not hearing from her sister in a while Pamela Powel called the police. Upon a welfare check the police would discover her home was empty. It wasn’t just Alison Sapikowski that was missing, it was her husband James, and her high school-aged son Adam. When the police began canvassi ... Show More
29m 49s
Dec 2023
203: The Hicks Babies
More than 200 babies, known as the “Hicks Babies,” were sold by Dr. Thomas Hicks from the back of the Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia during the 1950s and 1960s. Until his actions came to light, he was a respected and beloved doctor in McCaysville, known for helpin ... Show More
25m 5s
Aug 2022
Episode 140: The unsolved mystery of the Northern Irish newborn found dumped in a plastic bag
HIS career has seen him head up investigations into terrorism, corruption, human trafficking, drugs and homicide.The one-time head of Organised Crime for the PSNI in Northern Ireland and Deputy Director at the National Crime Agency in the UK, Roy McComb has had a decorated..But s ... Show More
47 m
Dec 2020
Unsolved Mysteries Ep 11: The Lady in the Lake
FAM!!! THIS ONE WAS DIRECTED BY OUR FRIEND SKYE BORGMAN (Director of "Abducted in Plain Sight" and Patrick's colaberator on the podcat "Obsessed With: Abducted in Plain Sight). On the night of January 12, 2010, JoAnn Matouk Romain vanished from the parking lot of her church after ... Show More
49m 49s
Sep 2019
Portsmouth: The Murder of Linda Cook
On the 9th of December 1986, the half naked body of Linda Cook was found in the grass and scrub of a pathway in Buckland, Portsmouth. She had been repeatedly kicked in the face, head and body after being raped. The only clue the Hampshire Constabulary had to go on was a footprint ... Show More
42m 52s
Oct 2020
S1 Ep1: The Murder of Mary Phagan
<div>At 3:00 am on April 27th, 1913, the body of 13 year old Mary Phagan was found in the basement of the factory where she worked in Atlanta, Georgia. Her dress was up around her waist and a strip from her petticoat had been torn off and wrapped around her neck. Her face was bla ... Show More
44m 8s
Mar 2024
REMASTERED Ep66: Tex & Diane McIver: Accident or Murder?
Late on a Sunday night in September of 2016, Atlanta power couple, Tex and Diane McIver, were driving back into the city and got caught in Atlanta’s notorious traffic. Diane’s best friend was driving as Diane rode in the passenger seat and her husband, Tex, sat directly behind he ... Show More
48m 5s
Jan 2024
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Billie Jean Phillips Part 1
<p>On Saturday September 3, 1994, a federal poultry inspector named Chic Philips was taking his seven-year-old son MacKenzie back to the home of his mother and Chic’s ex-wife, 35-year-old Billie Jean Philips. </p> <p>When they arrived, Billie Jean’s son ran inside the house and w ... Show More
36m 19s