BONUS: Celebrate Halloween with "The Monkey's Paw"

BONUS: Celebrate Halloween with "The Monkey's Paw"

Author: William F. Thomas and Kristin M. Dilley October 30, 2025 Duration: 35:59
Hosts Kristin Dilley and Bill Thomas of the "Mind Over Murder" podcast celebrate Halloween with a reading of "The Monkey's Paw," the horror classic by British author W.W. Jacobs, the writer who taught us all to be careful what we wish for. This bonus episode of "Mind Over Murder" originally ran on October 20, 2022.

The Monkey's Paw by William Wymark Jacobs

Different versions are available.

https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ01001083/Centricity/Domain/2259/The%20Monkeys%20Paw%20-%20text.pdf

Sound effects by Zapsplat.

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Join the discussion on our Mind Over Murder and Colonial Parkway Murders pages on Facebook.

Mind Over Murder on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindoverpodcast

Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook page with more than 15,000 followers: https://www.facebook.com/ColonialParkwayCase

You can also participate in an in-depth discussion of the Colonial Parkway Murders here:
https://earonsgsk.proboards.com/board/50/colonial-parkway-murders

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Virginia Gazette: 35 Years Later, Victims’ Families in Colonial Parkway Murders Still Searching for Answers, Hope DNA Advances will Solve Case By Em Holter and Abigail Adcox

https://www.dailypress.com/virginiagazette/va-vg-colonial-parkway-murders-anniversary-1024-20211022-76jkpte6qvez7onybmhbhp7nfi-story.html

Medium: The Colonial Parkway Murders — A Tale of Two Killers? By Quinn Zane

https://medium.com/unburied/the-colonial-parkway-murders-a-tale-of-two-killers-1e8fda367a48

Washington Post: "Crimes of Passion"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1997/08/15/crimes-of-passion/0a38e8f9-6d04-48e4-a847-7d3cba53c363/

Feature article in the Daily Beast: "Inside the Maddening Search for Virginia’s Colonial Parkway Serial Killer" By Justin Rohrlich

https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-happened-to-cathleen-thomas-and-rebecca-dowski-inside-the-hunt-for-the-colonial-parkway-killer

Citizens! Check out our new line of "Mind Over Murder" t-shirts and other good stuff !

https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mind-over-murder-podcast?ref_id=23885

Washington Post Op-Ed Piece by Deidre Enright of the Innocence Project:

"The FBI should use DNA, not posters, to solve a cold-case murder"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/25/julie-williams-laura-winans-unsolved-murder-test-dna/

Oxygen: "Loni Coombs Feels A Kinship To 'Lovers' Lane' Victim Cathy Thomas"

Loni Coombs felt an immediate connection to Cathy Thomas, a groundbreaking gay woman who broke through barriers at the U.S. Naval Academy before she was brutally murdered along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia.

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/loni-coombs-feels-a-kinship-to-colonial-parkway-victim-cathy-thomas

You can contribute to help "Mind Over Murder" do our important work:

https://mindovermurderpodcast.com/support


Four one-hour episodes on the Colonial Parkway Murders are available on Oxygen as "The Lover's Lane Murders." The series is available on the free Oxygen app, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, and many other platforms. https://www.oxygen.com/lovers-lane-murders

Oxygen" "Who Were The Colonial Parkway Murder Victims? 8 Young People All Killed In Virginia Within 4 Years" https://www.oxygen.com/lovers-lane-murders/crime-news/who-were-the-colonial-parkway-murder-victims

Washington Post Magazine: "Victims, Families and...

Behind the microphone of Mind Over Murder are William F. Thomas and Kristin M. Dilley, two voices shaped by profoundly different yet converging paths. Bill is not just an entertainment executive; he carries the personal weight of a family tragedy, having lost his younger sister Cathy Thomas and her girlfriend Rebecca Dowski to the still-haunting Colonial Parkway Murders. Kristin brings her background as a researcher and teacher to the table, applying a meticulous and thoughtful lens to each story they explore. Together, they move beyond the sensational headlines to examine the human cost of violence, the intricate process of investigation, and the long, often painful road toward resolution. This isn't a passive listening experience. Each episode of the Mind Over Murder podcast is built on a foundation of advocacy and deep, personal investment, offering a perspective that only those directly touched by such loss can fully provide. You'll hear detailed analysis of cases, conversations that grapple with the complexities of justice, and an unwavering focus on the victims and the families left searching for answers. It's a careful, respectful exploration of true crime, where the emphasis rests on understanding over exploitation, making it a distinct and compelling entry in the genre.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Mind Over Murder
Podcast Episodes
NEW: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:34
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Caroline Fraser joins "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her new book "Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers." The work explores th…
BONUS: Silent Witness: Ashley Spence and DNA Justice Project [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:06
Author and advocate Ashley Spence joins "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her new book "Silent Witness: How DNA Uncovered the Truth and Empowered My Healing." Ashley, a sexual assault…
NEW: Junk Science and the American Justice System [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:18
"Mind Over Murder" hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley are joined by Chris Fabricant of the Innocence Project to discuss his new edition of his book, "Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System." Chris descri…
BONUS: The Sinners All Bow with Kate Winkler Dawson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:29
Author and podcaster Kate Winkler Dawson joins "Mind Over Murder" hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her new book, "The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder and the Real Hester Prynne." We also touch on…
NEW: The D B Cooper Vortex (Part 4) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:42
"Mind Over Murder" hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the mysterious case of D B Cooper with Darren Schaefer, the host of "The Cooper Vortex" podcast. Dan "DB" Cooper, who successfully hijacked a Northwest Airl…
BONUS: L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:30
Join "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley as they meet award winning author and historian Anne Soon Choi to discuss her new book "L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood," which tells th…
NEW: The D B Cooper Vortex (Part 3) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:54
"Mind Over Murder" hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the mysterious case of D B Cooper with Darren Schaefer, the host of "The Cooper Vortex" podcast. Dan "DB" Cooper, who successfully hijacked a Northwest Airl…
BONUS: Shaken Baby Syndrome: Controversial Diagnosis May Be Wrong [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:02
Join "Mind Over Murder" podcast hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley as we discuss the New York Times Magazine article by Pamela Colloff: "He Dialed 911 to Save His Baby. Then His Children Were Taken Away. The controvers…
NEW: Skyjacked with D B Cooper (Part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:33
"Mind Over Murder" hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the mysterious case of D B Cooper, who successfully hijacked a Northwest Airlines passenger jet and parachuted into the dense forest of the Pacific Northwes…
BONUS: McMillions: The Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:14
James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, writer/producers of "McMillions: The Absolutely True Story of How and Unlikely Pair of FBI Agents Brought Down the Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History" join "Mind Over Murder…