The Skeleton Key Chronicles

15 hours ago

It took 43 years to put a name to the mysterious man found inside a Boise church in December of 1982. What investigators have learned since may have just given them a new lead in another mystery that has gone unsolved for just as long, the Chicago Tylenol case.

Known for all those years as the “Unknown Wanderer,” he was finally identified this month as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, an organic chemist. And having his name has allowed investigators to start filling in the parts of his life they could never get to before, including where he had lived, the kind of work he had done and how Chicago fit into all of it.

Which brings the story to the Tylenols cases. So, over the course of September 29th and 30th, 1982, seven people in the Chicago area passed away after taking Tylenol capsules that had been tampered with. No one was ever charged in connection with what happened.

As it turns out, Betkouski had worked in pharmacies and had spent time in Chicago. Some of what he left behind in the church that day pointed there too, including photos taken in the city and a map of Chicago. Now investigators have since been able to confirm that he was definitely there in late 1981.

There was something else investigators already knew about the Unknown Wanderer, and once they began looking at him through the lens of his actual identity, the potential connection to thise cases became difficult to ignore. Mainly because the same substance connected to what happened to him had also been used in the Chicago Tylenol cases just a few months earlier.

And that’s where all of this starts to come together. But there's still a pretty big piece missing here. Investigators can put Betkouski in Chicago in late 1981, but they haven't been able to establish that he was there when the Tylenol incidents happened. And even though Betkouski is now considered a viable suspect, there is still a pretty big piece missing here because they haven't been able to establish that he was there when the incidents happened in September 1982.

What Idaho investigators have uncovered is now in the hands of Chicago-area authorities, and some of the evidence behind their interest in Betkouski isn't being made public yet. There is also a stretch of his life they're particularly interested in learning more about, from October 15th through December 4th, 1982.

If you have any information about Mathew Betkouski or his whereabouts in 1982, please contact the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

21 hours ago

After 31 years, Christa Pike is now down to what could be the final legal avenue standing between her and what’s scheduled to happen Wednesday morning.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced today that he will not intervene in Pike’s case. After considering her request for clemency and reviewing the case, Lee said he is upholding the sentence and does not plan to step in.

Pike’s attorneys are still asking the courts to halt Wednesday’s proceedings, but with clemency now denied, the options available to them are quickly narrowing.
Pike was 18 when 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer lost her life in Knoxville in January 1995. She was convicted later that year, bringing a case that has stretched across more than three decades to this point.

And while so much of the attention over the past few weeks has centered on Pike and the efforts to stop what is scheduled for Wednesday, Colleen’s mother, May Martinez, has been trying to bring some of that attention back to her daughter.

Thirty-one years later, May is still making sure Colleen doesn’t disappear from the conversation surrounding Christa Pike.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

The Caleb Flynn trial took an unexpected turn this afternoon in Troy, Ohio. Both sides have now rested, and Caleb’s attorneys did not call a single witness.

Last week brought some of the testimony people following this case had been waiting to hear, including several hours from Alleigha Botner about her relationship with Caleb, a former pastor and American Idol contestant. And somehow, two AI-generated love songs connected to that relationship ended up being played for the jury.

By Friday, the jury was listening to Caleb himself describe what he says happened inside the family’s Tipp City home during the early morning hours of February 16th, moments before his wife Ashley Flynn was found unresponsive inside the couple’s bedroom.

Caleb told police that he had been sick and coughing, eventually left their bedroom and later fell asleep in the bottom bunk in his daughters’ room. He said he later woke up, went back into the bedroom and tried to wake Ashley before turning on the light.

Prosecutors believe Caleb was responsible and then made the scene look like someone had entered the home. He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys maintain that someone else came into the Flynn home that night and was responsible for what happened to Ashley.

A good portion of last week was spent hearing from Alleigha, who testified about the relationship she had with Caleb for roughly a year and a half. Jurors learned that the two had exchanged more than 100,000 messages during that time.

Prosecutors also played two AI-generated songs found on Caleb’s phone and connected to his relationship with Alleigha. As the love songs played, the camera caught plenty of reactions around the courtroom, from snickers and smiles to a few people covering their mouths and rolling their eyes.

Friday brought everything back to the morning of February 16th, when prosecutors played portions of two police interviews with Caleb. Jurors also heard messages recovered from Ashley’s phone, giving them another look at what was happening inside the marriage during that time period.

Just a few days earlier, Ashley had reached out to Caleb about their plans for the evening, asking where they were going for dinner, what he wanted her to wear and whether they would spend some time in the hot tub afterward.

Prosecutors finished presenting their case this afternoon. When it was the defense’s turn, Caleb’s attorneys rested without calling anyone to testify. Closing arguments are now scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:15.

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