Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network

Show Name: Real Cases, Fictional Minds

Episode Title: BTKeystone Killer

You are listening to Real Cases, Fictional Minds, the podcast with your host Jaylli Kushi.

In this episode of Real Cases, Fictional Minds, the Podcast, we discuss Season 1 Episode 15, titled “Unfinished Business,” and how it mirrors the BTK Killer.

Former FBI agent Max Ryan is hosting a meet-and-greet for his new book, one of his biggest unsolved cases, the Keystone Killer. Back in the 1980s, he murdered 7 women around Philadelphia and then just disappeared. During the event, Ryan handed a letter that looked exactly like the ones the Keystone used to send, same handwriting, same crossword puzzle. The letter says that he is still alive. Inside are 2 driver's licenses: One from Amy Jennings, the last known victim back in 1987, who was strangled to death in 1987, and another from a woman named Carla Bromwell. The BAU is called into their own office and begins to review all the evidence, which is now considered a new development in the Keystone Killer case. While looking at the evidence, Agent Reid finds something, hidden within the crossword puzzle, are details about what Amy Jennings was wearing 20 years ago when she was found dead. When the police go to the address on Carla Brownell's license, they find her dead in her apartment. She's been suffocated with a plastic bag, but this time the killer used flex-cuffs instead of rope. The old victims were strangled with a specific knot, so the team realizes something's changed. At the new crime scene, the BAU starts noticing weird inconsistencies. For example, the crossword mentioned a “ rear window,” but Carla's room was in the front of the house. Then they find another note in a completely different room. It feels like someone's copying the killer, or maybe the real killer is trying to mess with them. They build a profile for the local police: While male in his late forties, he is organized, probably with a military background. Someone who lies in control collects trophies, and enjoys playing games with law enforcement. But the new murders totally line up. The killer is getting older, and so are the victims; the crimes are less controlled, and his signature, the tied knot, is gone. The team starts to wonder if something happened to him, maybe an injury that forced him to change his methods. While going over evidence with the team, Reid finds a name in the crossword puzzle in the new letter, Scott Harbin, which is also a name on Ryan's original suspect list. Scott has been in jail for 30 years, making him halfway through his sentence. He was put on parole 3 months ago, and he missed his last appointment, making him a prime suspect. The team, accompanied by law enforcement, storms his house, and after a short chase through the house, they catch him. They inspect his house and realize he is super neat and organized, and his clothes were folded with military precision, total control freak vibes, but when they check under his bed, they find a woman tied up and still alive. It's disturbing, but something still doesn't add up. As they are leaving Scoot's house, Ryan sees he's received another letter, placed on his car, this time from the real Keystone Killer. It reads, “Scott Harbin isn't the man you're looking for,” bringing them back to square one. Since they figured he must have been injured sometime after the killing, maybe losing mobility on one side, they started searching for men who fit the profile and have had major injuries in the past 18 years. Then they find something, an old car accident on I-95 near the airport. One of the drivers was a man named Walter Kern, a 48-year-old man who used to serve in the Air Force and now works as a home alarm installer. Due to his car accident he lost partial movement on his right side. It turns out, Walter worked with Scott Harbin, the guy...