The Murder Police Podcast
The Murder Police Podcast
Who Killed Letha? With Beverly Gumm & Patches Rutherford | Part 1 of 2
In the latest episode of the Murder Police Podcast, we delve into the heart-wrenching story of Letha, a young woman whose life was cut tragically short. This episode stands out not only for its compelling narrative but also for the emotional depth provided by our special guests, Miss Beverly and Patches, who were Letha’s aunt and cousin, respectively.
From the outset, listeners are cautioned about the graphic nature of the content, which includes violent assaults and murder. This warning sets the tone for an episode that is as raw as it is revealing. Miss Beverly and Patches take us back to their childhood, sharing fond memories of Letha, who was more like a daughter to Miss Beverly and a sister to Patches. These recollections paint a vivid picture of a vibrant young girl who loved playing in the creek, catching crawdads, and spending time with her family.
As Letha grew older, the dynamics within her family changed dramatically. Her father's sudden death from a heart attack left her feeling lost and anxious. This sense of instability was exacerbated when her mother remarried and moved away, leaving Letha and her brother to fend for themselves. The episode poignantly captures Letha’s struggle to find her footing in a world that seemed increasingly uncertain.
One of the most gripping moments comes when Miss Beverly recounts the last time she saw Letha. She describes how Letha seemed unusually anxious and sad, a stark contrast to the lively girl she once knew. This sense of foreboding only deepens when Patches reveals that Letha had confided in her about being afraid of certain people who frequented her home. Despite these warning signs, no one could have predicted the tragic turn of events that would soon unfold.
The investigation into Letha’s disappearance is meticulously detailed, highlighting the exhaustive efforts made by her family and the police to find her. From missing posters to search parties, the community rallied together, but it wasn’t until months later that the grim reality of Letha’s fate was confirmed. This search for answers and the subsequent discovery of her body is a sobering reminder of the fragility of life and the devastating impact of violence.
Throughout the episode, the host, Wendy Lyons, handles the narrative with sensitivity and respect, ensuring that Letha’s story is told with the dignity it deserves. They also provide valuable insights into the broader implications of such tragedies, emphasizing the importance of community support and the relentless pursuit of justice.
For true crime enthusiasts, this episode is a must-listen. It offers a compelling blend of personal anecdotes, investigative details, and emotional depth that will leave listeners both moved and informed. Tune in to the Murder Police Podcast to hear the full story and honor the memory of Letha, a young woman whose life and legacy continue to resonate.
Shop for Murder Police Podcast swag by clicking HERE today! 10% of ALL swag and merch proceeds are donated to the DNA Doe Project.
See what you have been missing on YouTube!
I didn't really pay that much attention to what she was going through. Maybe when she'd come over and talk, I felt like that last time she came and sat on the couch and talked to me. I always thought about our last conversation and always felt like, well, I should have said this or I should have you know, hated it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you second-guessed what you should or could have done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you know you had no idea it would be the last time you'd see him, and then it just but yeah, she wasn't real happy, she seemed real sad that night Warning.
Speaker 2:The podcast you're about to listen to may contain graphic descriptions of violent assaults, murder and adult language. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to the Murder Police Podcast. We have with us today two very special guests, ms Beverly and Patches, and these two lovely ladies were family of Letha Rutherford. Ms Beverly, you were her aunt and Patches, you're her first cousin. Is that right? Yes, well, why?
Speaker 3:don't aunt and Patches. You're her first cousin, is that right?
Speaker 2:Yes, well, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselves? And then, ultimately, we want to know about Letha. That's why we're here today. Just begin telling us about you all and growing up with Letha.
Speaker 1:Well, of course I knew Letha from the day she was born. Of course you know they lived close from the day she was born. Of course you know I was close. They lived close to us when she was born and as she grew older she was always at my house. So she was more like a daughter than a niece. As a matter of fact, she would even tell everybody that, you know, I was her mom. She just because she just loved being at our house and you know she played with my kids and everything and of course they were just always there and I was with her, you know with her almost on a daily basis her whole life. So I was very close to her and she was close to us and she loved, you know, my children like they were her siblings. So we pretty much would always know stuff that's going on with her pretty well and Patches.
Speaker 2:I guess she was probably like a sister to you. You all grew up together is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we grew up together. Like I said, I'm about a year older, I think, than her and she was always at the house. They would walk from their house to our house. They would walk when they were little. Like I said, we didn't live far from them, but it was closer to go over the hill through the woods than it was to go around the road and they would walk over the hill when they were little, little little.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one Sunday morning when I was going to church.
Speaker 3:They would walk over the hill and come hang out with us.
Speaker 1:We was on our way to church one Sunday and it was cold and Lethal was probably about two, which one made Little Hawk about four, and we started up the hill and here they come, walking over the hill. It was cold, all she had on was a diaper. And no parents with them? No, and I stopped. I said what are you doing? We was coming to your house, we were hungry.
Speaker 3:And we played in the creek together, we caught crawdads together, we played games together, we fought over stuff together. You know, I mean just you know. She was, just you know, part of my family.
Speaker 2:Like a sibling.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Really more than a cousin probably. She really was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, when we were little.
Speaker 1:We were very, very close. She was kind of goofy. I remember when she was little, one day she was riding with one of her friends I live kind of down the hill from them. She was probably 10, maybe and I took the kids for a walk because you know, it was just out in the country. We was just walking. Well, directly here she come flying over in here with her arms out.
Speaker 1:On her bicycle, Not on her bicycle handlebars. And this old man that lived down from us, he was coming out and I was like, oh no, because it was in a curve. I thought he's going to kill her.
Speaker 2:Oh, he's going to hit her.
Speaker 1:And I tried to holler at her. Of course she was hollering and laughing and singing. She didn't hear me.
Speaker 3:Arms wide open and she bam.
Speaker 1:Singing and she bam Singing. He hit her. He hit her but it didn't hurt her. Really, the way he hit her, it made her fall off her back.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, he hit her. Yeah, he hit her.
Speaker 1:He got out and he was, like I said, he was pretty old.
Speaker 2:He was probably nervous wreck, wasn't he?
Speaker 1:Oh he was, it just tore him up pieces and he was just like, ah, I didn't see her. I said well, no, because she was in the curb, the way she come around that curb. I said it wasn't your fault, there's no, you know, he had no way of knowing, but it didn't really hurt her. I called her mom and told her she needed to take her to the hospital to check her out, and she did, but there wasn't nothing really wrong with her.
Speaker 2:She she was a little bit banged up, but I'd say so oh my God. So then, I guess, as she got older, you all probably still remained close as teenagers.
Speaker 3:Is that right? Yeah, for the most part, we still saw each other a lot. She had a lot more freedom as a teenager than I did. My mom and dad were really, really strict my dad would have chopped my little head off and so she had more freedom than me. But yeah, we still. You know, we went to school together. We went to high school together, you know. I mean, we still saw each other like every single day. And you know we still hung out together. And you know about the time of her passing I was 19. I had been married for a couple of years and I had left home, but I still saw her, you know, on a regular basis. I didn't see her every day once I got married, but I saw her regularly.
Speaker 2:Beverly, did she still come over, even after Patches left? And hang out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she would still come over and hang out and just always always be there and um, and you know she just loved our family and we was more like like she'd always say I was more like a mom to her than a real mom because I babysit her all the time, you know she just and her dad, you know he just always going about how that she would mind me better than she would them.
Speaker 2:You know Well, she probably knew from patches that you all would get a hold of her.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so she didn't want to test that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, she probably knew from patches that you all would get a hold of her. So she didn't want to test that. So I guess take us up to when she. Well, actually before she went missing, had you all noticed any kind of changes in her or?
Speaker 1:was everything fine. And then she just started missing one day. No, I noticed that she seemed anxious and just like she was just a little scared or something. I don't know. She just seemed anxious Because probably the last time I saw her, you know, I told her, I said well, you know, you can come over here and stay with us. You know, she was just seeming like she was anxious Because by this time her dad had died and then her mom had remarried somebody else and moved off.
Speaker 1:So she basically just lived there with her brother and his name was Maurice, but everybody called him Little Hog. It was just a nickname that they all called him. But they lived in the house that she was raised up in and of course she worked there on the farm. They stripped tobacco and stuff like that, you know. But I still would see her a lot and my husband. He would go there and cut wood and stuff because they lived down in the woods it's like a forest back there and so he would go over there and cut wood and stuff sometimes. As a matter of fact, the last time he was over there it was around Christmas time, because she came missing on December 16th, but he'd been over cutting wood and she had put a Christmas card in the glove box of the truck for us while he was cutting wood. And then I didn't even find that card until about July, after we'd already found out that she had died of that car to about July, after we'd already found out that she had died.
Speaker 1:Well, when she was seeming anxious or nervous, had you asked her what's troubling you? Yeah, she just she had friends. I think that I don't know that she wasn't really comfortable with or something. And you know, she was 18. She was a very pretty girl, she was 18. She was a very pretty girl. She didn't really have stability with her mom and her dad at home, because it's different when you still live at home with your parents. If you're still young.
Speaker 1:It was just her and her brother, so I think people would come around and stuff that she wasn't real comfortable with. She just kind of seemed a little anxious. And she was kind of mad at her mom because her mother was kind of like she felt like she had abandoned her, you know sort of Because after she remarried it's kind of like she just sort of didn't think about Letha a whole lot.
Speaker 2:Started a new life and kind of left the old one behind. Maybe is how she felt, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think so, and I guess she figured when Letha was 18, she was just like oh well, you're on your own now or something I don't know, but she wasn't real. They didn't seem like a real good relationship by this time.
Speaker 2:So, patches, before she went missing, had you talked to her up to that point, or had you all kind of lost a little touch? I saw her.
Speaker 3:She came to my house probably about a week before she had went missing. Like I said, I was married and I was living on East Hickman. She just was upset, you know, her dad had died and she had just felt like that. You know that had been her home. She was born there her entire life and then they had come in and you know people would come mainly men had come in and they just kind of took over. So, like you know, it was like it was still her house and her stuff was there but like almost like somebody else was in charge of her life and she was, you know, frustrated about it, people just in and out all the time and some of the things that were going on there she was frustrated about and she was afraid of one of the people and she had told me that she was very afraid of this person and she had, you know, she, you know, just wished her, you know, they wouldn't treat her like that if her dad was still alive.
Speaker 3:You know, of course her mom had left and she told me she had asked her mom to come with her mom and she told her no. And you know she and I told her that day I said look, just we'll go get your stuff and you can stay here with me and my husband. You can stay here, you don't have to go back. And she was like no, I don't know. She said, let me think about it. So she said she would think about it and stuff, but I don't think she wanted to leave. It was her home. She wanted the people who had taken over her home, because when her dad was alive he was in charge. She wanted her home back and so that was the last time I saw her. It was about a week before she went missing.
Speaker 2:Now the dad. He was your husband's brother.
Speaker 1:Yes, he was my husband's brother and he died. What was his name? His name was Maurice. His name was Maurice, but we called him.
Speaker 2:Big.
Speaker 3:Hog.
Speaker 2:And the son was Maurice.
Speaker 3:Well, there was Junior, but they called him Hog. There was Big Hog and Little.
Speaker 2:Hog.
Speaker 1:Son was.
Speaker 2:Big and Little, but I didn't know if he was called Maurice.
Speaker 1:Big Hog and Little Hog yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, beverly, I wanted to ask her dad, letha's dad. He was Maurice and he was the brother to your husband is that correct?
Speaker 1:Yes, that's right.
Speaker 2:So when he passed, what did he pass from, and how did that affect Letha and the family?
Speaker 1:Well, it affected her really bad because he died of something. He had a heart attack Because the day before he died he was working on a tractor tire. It was on a Sunday and it was really hot. He died like July the 16th or something, because it's just real hot. And we went up there and he was out there fixing that tire for that big tractor. We came over to the house later that evening and he was just talking and playing with the kids like he always did. It didn't seem like anything was wrong. He was just sitting in the living room talking to my husband. Then I had a really bad headache so I said I'm going to lay down, my head's hurting because it had been really hot that day and he was sitting in the living room talking and he was just like, oh well, if I had a head like that and it didn't hurt, I'd think something's wrong.
Speaker 1:You know, just acting goofy. So I went and laid down and then I dozed off asleep and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing and it was his wife crying, saying he was dying. I'm like, how did he be dying? He's sitting in the living room, you know. I just I didn't realize they had left. But as soon as they had left they went home because they didn't live far from us and he had asked her she had made a cherry pie or something. He'd asked her bring a piece of that pie and he was eating it and he just started having a heart attack.
Speaker 3:That was my pie. Thank you, I baked that pie. You baked that pie.
Speaker 2:Yes, that was your pie and he ate it.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, he was killing him with cherry pie and you know she was like, come on, then I'm going to take you to the hospital. So she was like driving really fast and he was like, well, don't kill us while we're there and then when they took him in there they didn't let her go in immediately, you know.
Speaker 1:And then she said she heard him fall off the table and then she went in and he was dead. So we went up to the hospital, you know, while he was still at the hospital and he just died real sudden. So it was really really hard on Letha because you know, she was young and just lost her dad like that. She was real close to her dad a lot more than she was her mom.
Speaker 2:Now was the mom and dad. Was he married to her at that point or had he remarried?
Speaker 1:No, it was Letha's mom that drove him. Yes, it was her mom.
Speaker 2:So he died so suddenly and then I guess at that point where she maybe had more of a relationship with her dad, I guess that even put more of a strain on her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because her mom didn't seem like she waited real long until she remarried and I think Letha felt like wow, you know my dad's not even calling yet and you done married somebody yet and I think that bothered her, because she did get married so soon after he died and she didn't really like the person she married that well, and then, of course, when she started getting unconfident at her house, she did call and ask her mom could she move in with her? And she's like, no, there's no room here.
Speaker 2:Did you Patches have much of a? Were you much of a support system for her when she lost her dad?
Speaker 3:I don't again. Like I said, I was fairly young, I was 19, and I had a new husband and I was recently pregnant, and so I don't think I could have. I wasn't there for her like I probably should have been. I do know she was devastated. She was a daddy's girl Both of us were and like he was the, he was the rock in her family, he was the foundation, he was the constant. I felt like in her life and I felt like that. You know, when he passed, she felt lost, like it was just, you know, she just didn't have a direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I felt that way too, and I had had just had had a baby not long before that, because when she died my baby was nine months and I was super busy with just taking care of baby. And you know, of course I had other kids because I got eight all together. You know, I was just really busy. So I think that I didn't really pay that much attention to what she was going through. Maybe when she'd come over and talk, I felt like that last time she came and sat on the couch and talked to me, I always thought about our last conversation and always felt like, well, I should have seen this or I should have, you know, hated it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you second-guessed what you should or could have done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you know I hate it. Yeah, you second-guess what you should or could have done. Yeah, because you know he had no idea when it would be the last time he'd see him, and then it just. But yeah, she wasn't real happy, she seemed real sad that night Because everybody was talking and laughing and then I would just always carry on. It's like every time we had a party, everybody had a big family, you know, everybody just talking, eating, laughing, kids playing. It was just. And I had noticed that that night she seemed really sad and because I sit down with Sarah, I was like what's the matter, honey? She just didn't really go into detail and she was sitting there playing with my youngest baby Christina was her name and of course she's what 33 now, it's been so long ago but she kind of played with her a little bit, but I could tell that she just didn't see herself.
Speaker 2:How long was it when you last saw her at your house that night, or you patches before she turned up missing?
Speaker 1:It was probably, maybe not hardly, a week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because she was kind of like there on the weekend and then, like I said, she got missing, like kind of during the week and I'm not sure exactly, maybe like on a Wednesday or something. Because her brother came on Saturday and I was like cleaning the house, sweeping and mopping it up and he was like, have you seen Lathan? I'm like, I'm like no, honey, I haven't seen her why. And he said, well, I've not seen her for two or three days. I'm like, well, just where'd she go? He said I don't know. He said, um, you know, she'd went to work that day stripping tobacco and she had come in and he told me he said her purse is there. But he said her knife, saw it's missing out of it, but her purse is there. And I said, well, that's weird. And he said, well, she takes her purse with her everywhere she goes. So I said, well, she may have just left with one of her friends or something you know, but it's almost like we knew, because she just didn't do that, she didn't just take off.
Speaker 1:Nobody knew where she was because, you know, this was like about the middle of December, and then they didn't find her until about the middle of April.
Speaker 2:Wow, so after her brother told you that he hadn't seen her in a couple of days, did he just report back to you all the next few days? After that said I still hadn't seen her in a couple of days. Did he just report back to you all with?
Speaker 1:the next few days after that said I still haven't. Yeah, he kept looking for her. He put out missing posters of her. They started putting missing posters around asking everybody that knew her had they seen her? And by this time it was getting really scary. Because you're not wow, you know. But like I was telling you, she had kind of had an argument with her mom and I thought she's just maybe trying to get back even with her you know like trying to just make her say I'll show you.
Speaker 1:Nothing comes to you yeah that's what I kind of thought, because I didn't ask him. That's what? Maybe she just met her mom and she just kind of let, and then when christmas came and nobody heard from her at christmas because, like I say, it was a couple weeks before Christmas or 10 days or something before Christmas when Christmas came and nobody heard from her it was like there's something.
Speaker 2:Something went right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, Patches, I know you had moved out and gotten married. How did you come to learn that she was missing?
Speaker 3:Um, my mom. My memory is not nearly as good as my mother's, but, um, I honestly think mom is the one who told me. Um, she asked me. She was like, have you seen you know, again has she been over to your house? And I told her about a week ago she stayed all night with me, but no, I haven't seen her. Um, and again, I was kind of like mom. I thought she's mad at her mom and she's, you know, went up in the state with one of her friends or whatever, and she'll come rolling in any day now, you know, with some crazy story and well, I'll laugh about it. But again, like my mom, when Christmas came and she didn't show up for Christmas, I thought, yeah, she's not punishing her mom at this point, something's wrong. So, yeah, I think mom's the one that told me that little hog was looking for her like he wasn't there the night.
Speaker 3:You know that she was missing it's because he had to stay with uncle rob.
Speaker 1:He couldn't go home and then that really left her just alone, by herself, with whoever wanted to hang out.
Speaker 2:By herself when her brother was not able to come over.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And you've said earlier that a lot of people were coming in and out. So I'm sure if it's like most groups of friends, you know when your friend's in trouble they can't come back because you get the story.
Speaker 1:So maybe people knew she was going to be really alone and she had stripped him back of that name with some people that lived nearby Because, like I said, it was in the wintertime and they would come and pick her up and take her back home. So they took her back home that evening, I don't know five or six or whatever. And then the next morning when they come to pick her up, you know, they blew their horn. She didn't come out and they said the door was open about a couple inches her back door. So they kind of went and knocked and knocked. Nobody ever come to the door. So then you know, they left because they thought she was just gone. And then they left. And then her brother was telling us about that. He said, yeah, when they kind of picked her up, they said that the door was kind of open, but they didn't go in, they just knocked. And then, when nobody came to the door, they left.
Speaker 2:Wow, so it's sometime from when she got through stripping the tobacco. The night before and the next morning is when she.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sometime during the middle of the night, sometime during the night.
Speaker 2:So fast forwarding. So these months go by, and it's January, and it's February, and March and April. Now it's springtime again in Kentucky. So what I guess during this time was the family just at a loss, didn't know what to do.
Speaker 1:Well, they looked for her, Everybody looked, Everybody looked, Everybody looked and would ask questions and you know they had police out there with dogs and looking all around where she lived. Like I say, they lived kind of in the woods all back down through the trees and just everywhere and they couldn't find anything.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like my dad and my cousins they walked all around down in the woods looking for her, went around and asked people, everybody that they thought that you know, she might know or anybody that she was friends with her. Friends. I mean, like everybody looked, you know, because everybody liked her. I mean she had literally zero enemies, everybody loved her.
Speaker 2:Hey, you know there's more to this story, so go download the next episode, like the true crime fan that you are.
Speaker 4:The Murder Police Podcast is hosted by Wendy and David Lyons and was created to honor the lives of crime victims, so their names are never forgotten. It is produced, recorded and edited by David Lyons. The Murder Police Podcast can be found on your favorite Apple or Android podcast platform, as well as at MurderPolicePodcastcom, where you will find show notes, transcripts, information about our presenters and a link to the official Murder Police Podcast merch store where you can purchase a huge variety of Murder Police Podcast swag. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which is closed caption for those that are hearing impaired. Just search for the Murder Police Podcast and you will find us. If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe for more and give us five stars and a written review. On Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcasts, Make sure you set your player to automatically download new episodes so you get the new ones as soon as they drop, and please tell your friends Lock it down.
Speaker 4:Judy.
