Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where
Speaker 1: for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories
Speaker 1: and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make
Speaker 1: it into the previous show. In last week's episode, slide Away,
Speaker 1: we journeyed into the so called Bennington Triangle in the
Speaker 1: Green Mountains region of Vermont in the United States to
Speaker 1: hear the tragic story of eighteen year old Paula Jean Weldon,
Speaker 1: who disappeared around there in November nineteen forty six. The
Speaker 1: term Bennington Triangle was coined due to a spate of
Speaker 1: unexplained disappearances that occurred in the region between nineteen forty
Speaker 1: five and nineteen fifty. Weldon was one of four who
Speaker 1: vanished without trace during this time. To make things a
Speaker 1: little more eerie, the third person to vanish after her,
Speaker 1: James Tedford, who was last seen on a bus heading
Speaker 1: to the town of Bennington in nineteen fifty, disappeared precisely
Speaker 1: three years to the day that Paula went missing. Further
Speaker 1: to this, there was in fact a fifth individual named
Speaker 1: Frieda Langer, who also disappeared in nineteen fifty. However, her
Speaker 1: body was eventually found a year later. Other reports of
Speaker 1: strange vanishings have also entered the narrative, including the tale
Speaker 1: of three men said to have mysteriously disappeared while out
Speaker 1: hunting near Glastonbury Mountain in nineteen forty eight, and a
Speaker 1: thirteen year old boy named Melvin Hills who went missing
Speaker 1: in nineteen forty two. As others have pointed out, the
Speaker 1: hunters in fact emerged safe and well the day after
Speaker 1: being declared missing, having been stranded on the mountain for
Speaker 1: just one night. As for Melvin Hills, or Hill Even,
Speaker 1: he was eventually found riding his bicycle in Massachusetts a
Speaker 1: few weeks after his supposed disappearance. There are plenty of
Speaker 1: other stories, however, that successfully lent themselves to the Triangle mystique,
Speaker 1: such as the report of a stagecoach that was apparently
Speaker 1: attacked by a huge and terrifying creature sometime in the
Speaker 1: nineteenth century while en route between the towns of Woodford
Speaker 1: and Glastonbury. But perhaps the strangest and most mysterious story
Speaker 1: of all was that which took place in the early
Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, which ultimately led to the first officially recorded
Speaker 1: case of the wrongful conviction for murder in the United States,
Speaker 1: but was it. The year was eighteen twelve in the
Speaker 1: town of Manchester, one of the recent spate of towns
Speaker 1: alongside Bennington that had been established in the area by
Speaker 1: the colonial governor of New Hampshire. Bennington Wentworth. Like most
Speaker 1: European settlers who came to the area, the family were
Speaker 1: people of the land who'd worked hard to establish themselves
Speaker 1: as successful sheep and potato farmers. The job was very
Speaker 1: much a family business, with family patriarch Barney Bourne keen
Speaker 1: to involve both sons and daughters on the farm, at
Speaker 1: least until his daughters could be married off. Things became complicated, however,
Speaker 1: when his second older's daughter, Sally, became involved with the
Speaker 1: local man named Russell Colvin. Described as a flighty drunk
Speaker 1: who struggled to hold down work, Colvin could not be
Speaker 1: relied on to support his wife, a situation that only
Speaker 1: became worse when the couple had children. In an effort
Speaker 1: to help, Barney is said to have offered the couple
Speaker 1: the opportunity to live rent free on the farm, while
Speaker 1: also giving Colvin a job there for as long as
Speaker 1: he needed it. Needless to say, this did not go
Speaker 1: down well with Sally's brothers, twenty three year old Stephen
Speaker 1: and nineteen year old Jesse, both of whom had to
Speaker 1: pay their own way elsewhere. Added to the fact that
Speaker 1: both despised the way Colvin treated their sister, constantly walking
Speaker 1: out on her for months at a time without telling
Speaker 1: her where he was going, it was clear to many
Speaker 1: that trouble was steadily brewing. When Colvin disappeared suddenly on
Speaker 1: May tenth, eighteen twelve. No one at first thought anything
Speaker 1: of it, after all, he'd done it countless times before,
Speaker 1: but when a few months turned to years, some began
Speaker 1: to wonder if the born brothers might have had something
Speaker 1: to do with it. In eighteen fifteen, Sally got pregnant again,
Speaker 1: this time to another man, the problem being that, since
Speaker 1: she was still technically married to Russell, the other man
Speaker 1: had no legal requirement to provide any child support. But
Speaker 1: Sally wasn't to worry. According to her brother, Stephen allegedly
Speaker 1: tell her that her husband was long dead and had
Speaker 1: been put deep in the ground. Whether potatoes don't freeze,
Speaker 1: Whether there was any truth to this, however, or whether
Speaker 1: it was just talk, as Stephen later claimed, would take
Speaker 1: a few more years to come out, and it all
Speaker 1: started with a dream. It was sometime seven years after
Speaker 1: Russell Colvin's disappearance in eighteen nineteen that his uncle Amos
Speaker 1: awoke in a cold sweat one morning, claiming to have
Speaker 1: been visited by his nephew in a dream. The visits
Speaker 1: occurred over a number of nights, during which Amos was
Speaker 1: apparently informed by Russell's ghost that not only had the
Speaker 1: born brothers murdered him, but he could also lead Amos
Speaker 1: to the precise spot where they'd buried his body. Sure enough,
Speaker 1: after alerting the authorities, Amos led them out into the
Speaker 1: middle of one of the Bourne's fields to the place
Speaker 1: he'd seen in his dream, an old cellar hole about
Speaker 1: four foot long, where a farm building had once stood.
Speaker 1: That morning, Russell's wife, Sally, watched expectantly as pile after
Speaker 1: pile of dirt was dug out of the hole, but
Speaker 1: no body materialized. Instead, they found only some crockery, a penknife,
Speaker 1: a jackknife, and a floral shaped button within the dirt.
Speaker 1: But when Sally was called over to examine the pieces,
Speaker 1: she gasped in horror the items all belonged to her husband.
Speaker 1: She claimed it was only a few days later, when
Speaker 1: a devastating fire mysteriously broke out on the Born farm,
Speaker 1: destroying an entire sheep barn. One morning soon after, a
Speaker 1: young boy was walking his dark when the dog became
Speaker 1: suddenly excited at the base of a tree stump close
Speaker 1: to where the ruins of the barn were still smoldering.
Speaker 1: When the boy went over to investigate, he was horrified
Speaker 1: to find what looked like charred human bones protruding out
Speaker 1: of the ground. When a team of physicians later confirmed
Speaker 1: that the bones were indeed human, the Born brother's fate
Speaker 1: was sealed clearly on hearing about Amos's dream. They'd moved
Speaker 1: Russell's remains to the barn and set the whole thing
Speaker 1: on fire. When that hadn't destroyed them completely, they attempted
Speaker 1: to hide them elsewhere. By then, Stephen appeared to have
Speaker 1: fled the state, so only Jesse was arrested. Over the
Speaker 1: next few days, law enforcement officials tried unsuccessfully to extract
Speaker 1: a confession. Jesse's cell mate, Silas Merrill, however, claimed to
Speaker 1: have succeeded in doing the job for them, and in
Speaker 1: return for his release, he promised to tell them everything,
Speaker 1: to which the county agreed. According to Merrill, Jesse told
Speaker 1: him that it was Stephen who first attacked Brussell, hitting
Speaker 1: him over the head with a wooden club. Their father, Barney,
Speaker 1: had then finished the job by slitting his throat after
Speaker 1: he heard the men fighting and came over to see
Speaker 1: what was happening. Confronted with this version of events, Jesse
Speaker 1: finally confessed to the crime, perhaps hoping for a reduced
Speaker 1: sentence and that Stephen wouldn't be caught. However, he amended
Speaker 1: Merrill's story to say that Stephen had orchestrated everything and
Speaker 1: that their father had nothing to do with it. When
Speaker 1: Stephen was eventually arrested himself a few weeks later, Jesse
Speaker 1: recanted his confession, but the damage had already been done.
Speaker 1: What makes a Murderer's Mind tick? Killer Psyche is a
Speaker 1: true crime podcast from Wandry that explores these types of
Speaker 1: questions about the crimes that killers and criminals commit. Killer
Speaker 1: Psyche covers high profile cases that shocked the world, and
Speaker 1: host Candice de Long uses her five decades of experience
Speaker 1: as a clinical psychiatric nurse and FBI criminal profiler to
Speaker 1: dissect the motivations and behaviors of the most terrifying felons
Speaker 1: in history, and you'll definitely want to listen to a
Speaker 1: recent episode of Killer Psyche where Candice looks into the
Speaker 1: mysterious murder of Ted Ammon, a wealthy Wall Street financier.
Speaker 1: Ted had been going through a divorce with his wife
Speaker 1: of thirteen years, Generosa, and child custody and millions in
Speaker 1: assets were at stake. Generosa and her new boyfriend Danny
Speaker 1: Pelosi were the prime suspects, but Generosa died of cancer
Speaker 1: before police could prove her involvement. In twenty oh four,
Speaker 1: Danny was convicted of second degree murder, but still maintains
Speaker 1: his innocence. How does hatred drive a person to murder
Speaker 1: the father of their children? Listen to Kill a Psyche
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or you can listen to
Speaker 1: one Week and Free by joining Wandry Plus in the
Speaker 1: Wandry app As it transpired, a second examination of the
Speaker 1: bones found by the tree stump concluded that they weren't
Speaker 1: human after all. However, owing to Jesse's confession, the Born
Speaker 1: brothers were promptly put on trial for murder. Stephen's constantly
Speaker 1: changing story didn't help either, After first stating that he
Speaker 1: and Jesse weren't even working the same farm when Russell disappeared,
Speaker 1: before saying they had, in fact all had dinner together
Speaker 1: the night that Russell got up to leave the table
Speaker 1: and was never seen again. Multiple witnesses came forward to
Speaker 1: attest to the fractious relationship between the men, and when
Speaker 1: Russell's own son, Lewis, testified that he'd seen Stephen strike
Speaker 1: his father over the head with the club, the game
Speaker 1: was up. In the end, Stephen too confessed, claiming he'd
Speaker 1: merely acted in self defense. It took the jury just
Speaker 1: over an hour to find both defendants guilty of murder.
Speaker 1: Although at first sentenced to hang, Jesse's sentence was eventually
Speaker 1: reduced to life imprisonment, but Stephen was not so lucky.
Speaker 1: He was sentenced to hang on January twenty eighth, eighteen twenty.
Speaker 1: As the ominous day drew nearer, Stephen, who despite his
Speaker 1: confession maintained his innocence, attempted one last throw of the
Speaker 1: dice to prove it, and so it was that in
Speaker 1: November eighteen nineteen, he instructed his lawyer to place an
Speaker 1: advert in the paper asking any one to come forward
Speaker 1: who might have seen Russell Colvin a lie in the
Speaker 1: last seven years. Then, incredibly, somebody replied in a letter
Speaker 1: written to the New York Evening Post who syndicated Stephen
Speaker 1: Bourne's plea. A man named tab Or Chadwick claimed that
Speaker 1: he was in the lobby of a hotel in New
Speaker 1: York when he overheard a group of men discussing the
Speaker 1: Bourne's case. Chadwick was writing because he believed the description
Speaker 1: of Russell Colvin in the advert matched the description of
Speaker 1: a man who was living in Dover, New Jersey with
Speaker 1: his brother in law at the time. Chadwick's letter was
Speaker 1: published on December sixth, where it was in turn read
Speaker 1: by another man named James Wellpley, who came forward as
Speaker 1: one of the men that Chadwick had apparently overheard talking
Speaker 1: about the case in the hotel lobby. Wellpley was originally
Speaker 1: from Manchester and was well aware of Russell Colvin. It
Speaker 1: was late in December when news reached Manchester that Wellpley
Speaker 1: had not only managed to locate the man that Tabor
Speaker 1: Chadwick believed to be Russell Colvin, but that the man
Speaker 1: was in fact Russell Colvin. On December twenty second, only
Speaker 1: a month before Stephen Bourne's execution date. A stagecoach pulled
Speaker 1: up outside the Black Tavern in Manchester in front of
Speaker 1: a heavy and expectant crowd, from out of which stepped
Speaker 1: James Wellpley and the apparent Russell Colvin, returning to Manchester
Speaker 1: after being assumed dead for seven years. It is said
Speaker 1: that Colvin recognized people in the crowd and even conversed
Speaker 1: with a number of them, who all happily verified his identity.
Speaker 1: Colvin did, however, failed to recognize his own children when
Speaker 1: they stepped forward to greet him, and when asked about
Speaker 1: his wife, stated simply that that was all over now,
Speaker 1: all of which was quickly washed over. When a few
Speaker 1: minutes later Stephen Born was presented to him with his
Speaker 1: hands and feet in chains, Colvin reportedly looked on confused
Speaker 1: and asked what on earth he was in chains for,
Speaker 1: to which Stephen replied frankly, because they say I murdered you.
Speaker 1: Colvin screwed up his face and made plain to all
Speaker 1: who were there that Stephen and his brother Jesse had
Speaker 1: done no such thing. Clearly, as most concluded, a terrible
Speaker 1: injustice had been meted out to the Born brothers. As
Speaker 1: a result, the pair were quickly retried and acquitted of
Speaker 1: all charges before finally being set free. As for the
Speaker 1: newly returned Russell Colvin, he remained in Manchester for a
Speaker 1: little over a week before leaving again, never to return
Speaker 1: and there, according to many, the story is said to end.
Speaker 1: According to Michael Dooling, however, writing in his twenty eleven
Speaker 1: book Clueless in New England, it was some forty years
Speaker 1: later when an undercovered Deputy US Marshall, attempting to infiltrate
Speaker 1: a gang of counterfeiters, got talking to one of the gang,
Speaker 1: who went by the name of Jesse Bourne. At some point, Borne,
Speaker 1: who would have been in his late fifties by then
Speaker 1: got to talking about past crimes, recalling with a slight
Speaker 1: twinkle in his eye, the crazy time that he and
Speaker 1: his brother murdered their brother in law and got away
Speaker 1: with it by using an impostor to claim the man
Speaker 1: was still alive. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like
Speaker 1: to help supporters, you can now do so via Patroon.
Speaker 1: To receive access to add three episodes, just go to
Speaker 1: patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained,
Speaker 1: the book and audiobook featuring ten stories that have never
Speaker 1: before been covered on the show, is now available to
Speaker 1: buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
Speaker 1: and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including
Speaker 1: the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts,
Speaker 1: and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts
Speaker 1: or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like
Speaker 1: to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast
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