PNW Haunts & Homicides

In honor of Pride Month, we're resharing this very important unsolved murder. 🌈 We'll see you next Thursday!Loni Kai was a vibrant, friendly, well-liked young woman. She has also graced the 5 of Hearts in a cold case deck of cards. Loni was born Lorenzo Okoruru in the Mariana islands, but by 2001 she was living in the Hillsboro/Aloha area of Oregon with some of her extended family that lovingly supported her whole heartedly. This one hits close to home, quite literally. On August 26th as she tried to make her way home in the early morning hours after a fun night out on the town the unthinkable would happen. Across the country, tragedy would strike again just a few days later and though she’s not been forgotten by those that loved her, Loni’s case made very little progress. All these years later Loni’s family still have no answers and have yet to see justice done for the heinous crime. We may not have solved the case but we have to believe that it’s never too late. If you have any information about this case, please reach out to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at (503) 846-2500 or call Crime Stoppers Oregon (503) 823-4357.In loving memory of Kate Wallinga, the host of Ignorance was Bliss. We were so lucky to have her unique perspective as a forensic psychologist. Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources

In this episode we examine the history behind one of the world’s most persistent superstitions. Friday the 13th has long been associated with fear and bad luck—but where did that reputation come from, and why does it keep resurfacing across the centuries?Join us as we delve into the fear of Friday the 13th – known as paraskevidekatriaphobia – tracing the date’s uneasy legacy from medieval power plays to modern financial panic and how it became embedded in culture. Along the way, we explore how superstition, greed, and human behavior have repeatedly collided on the same allegedly cursed calendar date.Then, we shift from history to storytelling with a narrated account from one of the scariest corners of Reddit, r/nosleep, shared with permission from its author, RoséBlack2222. Sometimes Friday the 13th horror doesn’t arrive with curses or disasters — sometimes it starts with something much smaller, and spirals from there.If you enjoyed the story please check out and support RoséBlack2222 on Patreon & Substack!Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

On April 21st 1955, a deadly act of violence shattered the quiet grounds of Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club on Marine Drive. After an evening at the club attending a stag party, attorney and WWII veteran Oliver Kermit Smith returned to his car and started the engine. A bomb hidden beneath the driver’s seat detonated, killing him instantly.Investigators quickly determined the explosion was deliberate. The device had been wired directly into the ignition system, ensuring detonation the moment the car was started. With no evidence of business disputes or outside enemies, attention soon turned to Smith’s personal life — including a recent remarriage and an affair involving Victor Laurence Wolf, a local electrician living in the boarding house owned by Smith’s wife.Dubbed the “Sex Slave” murder case by papers of the day, the story became a salacious tale of infidelity and betrayal that ended in murder. Wolf ultimately confessed to constructing and installing the bomb and was convicted of first-degree murder. Smith’s wife, Marjorie, was also charged but later acquitted, with the jury finding insufficient evidence that she met Oregon’s legal threshold for criminal responsibility. The Columbia Edgewater car bombing was a calculated murder carried out in silence — long after the party had ended.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Due to the content guidelines of the platform we are unable to publish our source list via Pastebin for this week's episode. If you are interested in learning more about the case you may contact us to request the complete list of sources.

This week we're showcasing our friend Alecia of Truly Twisted. On Christmas Eve 1945, in the rural outskirts of Fayetteville, West Virginia, George and Jennie Sodder tucked their children into bed for the night with the anticipation of spending Christmas together the next morning. Tragically a fire quickly engulfed the home forcing the family to leave, but 5 of the children were still inside. What would unfold that evening is still one of the greatest mysteries in the true crime world today, leaving us to wonder, what happened to the Sodder Children?Join Alecia on social media @itstrulytwisted on Instagram and @trulytwisted on TikTok, and personally @littleleesha.Recourses used in todays episode:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-happened-sodder-children-siblings-who-went-up-in-smoke-west-virginia-house-fire-172429802/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearancehttps://allthatsinteresting.com/sodder-children?utm_campaign=fbpdgg1&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialVisit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! If you have any true crime, paranormal, or witchy stories you'd like to share with us & possibly have them read (out loud) on an episode, email us at pnwhauntsandhomicides@gmail.com or submit a Google Form. There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts.