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Newlyweds, Secrets & a Deadly Knock at the Door: Rick and Gail Brink
They were young, in love, and barely a year into marriage when someone walked in and took their future.
Rick and Gail Brink were settling into the rhythms of newlywed life in rural Michigan when they were suddenly found murdered, execution-style, in their home. No signs of a break-in. No forced entry. Just silence, and two lives cut short.
The investigation stretched decades, through dead ends, re-opened files, links to two other murders, and whispers that never quite went away. And at the centre of it all? A man who’d always insisted he knew nothing… until he didn’t. The expolive secret that followed would shock a community, a courtroom and divide family members.
In this episode of Cup of Coffee and Crime, I unravel a case that starts with promise, ends in bloodshed, and took nearly 30 years to crack wide open.
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Music from #Uppbeat :
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License code: OCHNSIEQIVR5SLQ7
★ To see todays case photos head over to the Cup of Coffee and Crime Facebook Discussion Group
★ To support the show and keep me caffeinated, you are now able to Buy Me a Coffee :)
★ Taking a few minutes to complete a quick survey is such a huge way to help http://bit.ly/cupofcoffeeandcrime-survey
Music from #Uppbeat :
https://uppbeat.io/t/ak/midnight-stroll
License code: OCHNSIEQIVR5SLQ7
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8. UNSOLVED: Ambushed on Route 68; Brittany Stykes
25:00||Season 6, Ep. 8Brittany Stykes was 22 years old, pregnant, and driving along a familiar stretch of road in Brown County, Ohio, with her young daughter in the car beside her.She was heading to see her family. Except she never arrived.Somewhere along U.S. Route 68, someone opened fire on her vehicle in what investigators later described as a targeted attack. Brittany was killed. Her unborn child died. And her 14-month-old daughter survived a gunshot wound to the head.More than a decade later, no one has been arrested.This episode explores the timeline, the investigation, the theories, and the unanswered questions that still surround the murder of Brittany Stykes, an unsolved Ohio case that continues to haunt her family and the community she left behind.Someone knows what happened that night.To support Brittany's family: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AjDZE94Xg/?mibextid=wwXIfrTo contact the Brown County Sheriffs dept:Sergeant Terry EshmanBrown County Sheriff's Office750 Mt. Orab PikeGeorgetown, OH 45121teshman@bcoso.us937.378.4435 EXT 127
7. MURDERED: Fatal Trust; Amber Gibson
41:08||Season 6, Ep. 7Amber Gibson had survived a childhood shaped by instability, trauma, and years in care. Despite that, she was a kind, creative teenager who was still trying to build a “normal” life.So when, aged sixteen, she went out one evening in Hamilton, Scotland, to meet someone she trusted, there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t come home.But she never did.What followed would uncover a devastating betrayal, a murder investigation that shocked the community, and a second crime that added another layer of horror to an already tragic case.
6. Survival and Loss: Mary and Beth Stauffer
23:39||Season 6, Ep. 6Mary Stauffer was a schoolteacher and mother living a quiet life in Saint Paul, Minnesota. So when she and her eight-year-old daughter Beth disappeared in May 1980, it made no sense.What followed was a fifty-three-day ordeal of captivity at the hands of a man whose obsession had been building for years. But why?As police searched for answers, another family was facing an unthinkable loss, unaware their tragedy was connected to the same man.This episode explores the kidnapping, the stalled missing persons investigation, a child’s murder, and the rare story of survival that followed.A true crime case about control, endurance, and a mother who never stopped fighting to bring her child home.
5. MURDERED: Almost Home; Helen McCourt
25:44||Season 6, Ep. 5Helen McCourt was twenty-two years old, known for her routines and her reliability.Living at home in Merseyside, England, she worked full time, stayed close to her family, and was looking forward to a night out with a new boyfriend.When Helen stepped off a bus just a few hundred yards from her front door and never made it home, panic set in quickly. This wasn’t a disappearance that made sense.The investigation that followed would hinge on evidence alone, becoming one of the UK’s most significant murder cases without a body, and leaving one question unanswered forever.
4. MURDERED: Death on a Snake Farm; Ben Renick
40:30||Season 6, Ep. 4Ben Renick was known for breeding snakes, something most people are terrified of. From a farm in rural Missouri, he built a successful reptile business and a life with his family. When Ben was found dead inside his own reptile facility, the assumption seemed obvious. But it was wrong. Ben had been shot eight times. The investigation that followed exposed a case far more complicated than it first appeared.
3. MURDERED: A Map, A Car, and a Missing Boy; Daniel Handley
26:00||Season 6, Ep. 3Nine-year-old Daniel Handley was last seen riding his bike on a quiet East London estate. Friendly, trusting, and well known in the neighbourhood, there was no reason to think he was in danger. Then he didn’t come home.Months later, the truth emerged far from London, revealing a crime shaped by fantasy, planning, and devastating cruelty.
2. MURDERED: When Love isn't Enough; Rick and Susie Wamsley
35:00||Season 6, Ep. 2Rick and Susie Wamsley appeared to have everything; a stable marriage, a comfortable life, and a quiet home in suburban Texas.In December 2003, they were found brutally murdered inside that home. There was no forced entry. Nothing stolen. And it quickly became clear this wasn’t a random crime.As investigators dug deeper, a killer's resentment and entitlement was exposed, along with a plan that had been forming far longer than anyone realised.This episode of a Cup of Coffee and Crime examines how a family collapsed from the inside, and what happens when love is mistaken for something owed.
1. MURDERED: A Lie Told in Her Name; Jenny Nicholl
47:13||Season 6, Ep. 1Jenny Nicholl was nineteen. On a warm summer evening in June 2005, she kissed her mother goodbye, picked up her camping gear, and promised she would be home the next day.She never was.Her disappearance left behind more questions than answers. Her car was found abandoned. Personal belongings were hidden in woodland. And days later, text messages arrived claiming she had run away and started a new life. Case closed, or so it seemed.But something about those words felt wrong. And soon detectives would uncover a secret that ultimately cost Jenny her life.
BONUS: Megan Huntsman & Darnell Taylor
13:24|Motherhood is often seen as a guarantee of safety. A bond that protects without question. But in rare and devastating cases, that "guarantee" falls apart completely.This episode of a Cup of Coffee and Crime examines two troubling cases, both involving mothers, but unfolding in very different ways.In Utah, a garage exposes years of secrecy, addiction, and violence at the hands of Megan Huntsman, whose crimes went undetected for over a decade, buried among everyday belongings, unnoticed by those closest to her.In Ohio, five year old Darnell Taylor was already known to the system. Removed once for his own safety, he was placed into care, only to still be unsafe. His death has raised questions about oversight, warning signs, and how a child already flagged as vulnerable could still be failed.