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This week, we discuss Oxygen’s The Lady of the Dunes: Hunting a Cape Cod Serial Killer. For almost 50 years, the woman found brutally murdered in the dunes outside Provincetown in 1974 was known only as the Lady of the Dunes. Three generations of investigators became obsessed with giving her back her name, surviving lost evidence, institutional resistance, red herring suspects. Eventually, forensic genetic genealogy did what decades of traditional investigation could not: identified her as Ruth Marie Terry. And once Ruth had her name back, the mystery of who killed her became considerably less mysterious. Because, once again: it was probably the husband. We discuss his suspected crimes, his unhinged cookbook and why you don't want to marry a sociopath. We also focus on the detectives who wouldn't give up, like  Meredith Lobur, whose determination to identify The Lady of the Dunes cost her her career. 

There are plenty of detours along the way: Tony “Chop Chop” Costa, Hadden Clark, Whitey Bulger, a woman who apparently sawed her way out of prison and vanished forever, outrageously expensive 1970s dental work, a possible connection to Jaws, why you should never throw away cold-case evidence in the name of minimalism, and whether genetic genealogy is an incredible crime-solving tool and/or a dystopian privacy nightmare.

More than anything, though, this is a story about what it means to restore someone’s identity. Ruth Marie Terry spent almost five decades reduced to a nickname based on the place where her body was found. The documentary finally gives the story back to her, ending with the family, journalists and investigators gathering to remember the person behind the mystery.

Spoiler Alert and Trigger Warning:

In addition to spoiling the documentary and revealing the identity of both the Lady of the Dunes and her suspected killer, we discuss domestic violence, murder, disappearances, unidentified bodies, decomposition, dismemberment, decapitation, mutilation, sexual assault, abuse, child abuse, serial killers, missing children, suicide, wrongful convictions, homophobia, misogyny, racism and failures within law enforcement and the justice system.

The documentary repeatedly shows crime-scene images of Ruth Marie Terry’s body, and we discuss the extreme injuries inflicted on her, including damage to her skull and the removal of her hands.

Recommendations:

• Jaws  because Joe Hill suggested that the unidentified Lady of the Dunes might have been the extra wearing a blue bandana. If you are that woman, please come forward! 
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark -for another case transformed by advances in genetic genealogy.
• Buried Bones with Paul Holes – for more forensic investigation, historical cases and the painstaking work required to revisit old evidence.
• Gattaca – where I got my dystopian fears about the misuse of DNA. 
• The Devil in the White City  – because Guy Muldaven made us think of H.H. Holmes 
• ’Salem’s Lot – for another evil antique dealer
• The Crucible  – for the importance of our names 
• Superbad – for the most scientifically inaccurate discussion of DNA databases in cinema history
• Lady in White  – another unsettling title involving a mysterious woman
• Crime of the Truest Kind  podcast episode on Rory Gene Kesinger if you'd like to know more about her
• True Crime Obsessed also covered the Lady of the Dunes case.
• Dawson’s Creek  – because Cape Cod! And Widow's Baybecause 'Fuck Cape Cod!'

Palate Cleanser:

Billy Madison, Although it has aged as gracefully as you would expect from a 1990s Adam Sandler comedy, but Caroline's kid declared it the best movie he had ever seen. 

Homework:

Next up: Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman.

The upcoming adaptation, Other Mommy, is on the way, so now is the time to meet Bela, Other Mommy and one of the creepiest imaginary friend horror novels ever. Warning: if you listen to the audiobook, you might struggle with the child narrator (or it might enhance the scares).

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for the podcast cover art. Find her on Instagram at @nancyazano.

Thanks also to Harry Kidd for the opening and closing music. Find him on Instagram at @harryjkidd and on Spotify.