))
Early on the morning of March 26, 1990, Elizabeth Mackintosh was murdered on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary in Creve Coeur, Missouri. To date it's the only unsolved murder in the city’s history. True Believer examines the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's murder and speaks to the people affected by it as they, and the men suspected in her death, search for answers.
…
continue reading
A couple quick announcements. First, Ruth and TJ will be in Richmond, Virginia the week of June 9th, for the PCA General Assembly. If you’re going to be there and you’d like to meet up with us, or if you have any information that you’d like to share, if you know someone who’ll be there that you think we should meet, visit www.truebelieverpodcast.co…
…
continue reading
In this episode we begin to talk about David Winecoff, the pastor of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church, which Elizabeth Mackintosh attended. David was something of a lightning rod in St. Louis Presbyterian circles, and his death in 1993 enshrined him as a sort of a mythic figure, especially for those who attended his church. But despite his e…
…
continue reading
We’ve talked about some of the interesting characters around Covenant Seminary in 1990. But as we enter the final phase of this series, we’ll explore the most interesting, and potentially most important, characters yet. In this episode, Detective Worth will start to lay out his own theory of the case, which differs pretty dramatically from everythi…
…
continue reading
We’ve spent this series mostly focusing on Michael, Elizabeth Mackintosh’s supervisor on the Covenant Seminary house cleaning staff. In the eyes of the police, Michael was the prime suspect in Elizabeth’s death, literally from Day One. But he wasn’t the only person they looked at. In any large group of people, even at a seminary, there are going to…
…
continue reading
Sandra was one of the few unmarried, female students at Covenant in 1990. And she had a class *with* Elizabeth, which turned out to be incredibly influential on the rest of her life. She also went to Grace and Peace Church with Egon Middleman, whom we’ve briefly mentioned before in this series. Sandra’s story provides a fascinating look into what i…
…
continue reading
Michael and his family left Covenant's campus in May of 1990, but the stigma of Elizabeth Mackintosh's murder followed them the rest of their lives. In this episode we hear from Michael's two oldest children, Karl and Kirsten, as they talk about the effect the murder had on them. Here are some resources if you or someone you know needs help with a …
…
continue reading
For this week’s bonus content we have the rest of our two interviews with lawyer Ryan Davidson, whom you’ve heard in the last couple episodes. Ryan reached out to us in February because he had some critiques of how he thought we were characterizing Covenant Seminary, in terms of how they have or haven’t responded over the years, and the legal advic…
…
continue reading
A couple months after the murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh, Michael left Covenant Seminary (under "duress" as he described it) and moved his family to California. But his contentious relationship with Covenant has continued to this day. Using letters sent back and forth between Michael and Covenant, we examine what went wrong and how there's not much…
…
continue reading
Today's bonus content release happened to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh, so we wanted to take a moment to honor and remember her. Read the full text (and a brief history) of "The Sands of Time Are Sinking" here. Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get…
…
continue reading
After Elizabeth's death, police ask a suspect, Michael, to sit for a polygraph exam. Reluctantly, he agrees, hoping that it will help clear his name. Ruth and TJ examine why that didn't happen. Click here to read a transcript of the polygraph clips heard in this episode. Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each …
…
continue reading
In this week's bonus content you'll hear the rest of our interview with Liam Adams, religion reporter for The Tennesseean. Liam talks about some specific cases of abuse and misconduct the PCA has dealt with, his reporting on the Nashville Presbytery, the PCA’s 2022 Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault report, also known as the DASA report, the PCA’s S…
…
continue reading
In this episode we zoom out to examine the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination of Covenant Theological Seminary. What does the reaction to Elizabeth's murder tell us about how Christian institutions handle tragedy? And how should they talk about Elizabeth going forward? Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional material…
…
continue reading
1
Bonus Content: Ruth Serven Smith Interview
33:13
33:13
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:13
In today's bonus content you'll hear Ruth and TJ's first interview from June 2023, about Ruth's background and interest in Elizabeth's case, and some of their personal feelings about what they'd uncovered up to that point.
…
continue reading
So far we've spent this series examining the details of Elizabeth Mackintosh's murder and the subsequent investigations. We'll come back to more of that later, but in this episode we focus on the way that the murder was handled by Covenant Seminary. Some people at Covenant felt free to talk about Elizabeth. Others felt that Covenant administrators …
…
continue reading
To appease everyone dissatisfied with our every-other-week release schedule, we're going to start putting out some bonus content on the weeks in between. Today we start with the leftovers from our interview with theologian and former Covenant Seminary professor, Jerram Barrs. He talks about his backstory, his time a L'Abri in Switzerland, some addi…
…
continue reading
We’ve spent this series so far examining what happened to Elizabeth Mackintosh, but in this episode we focus on Elizabeth herself. Who was she? What was she like? What was she doing at Covenant? And what were her plans for the future? Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.…
…
continue reading
The Covenant community reacts to Elizabeth’s death. Police travel around the country to investigate leads. Then they find out important information might have been saved by seminary lawyers and stored in a barn… or might be lost forever. Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us…
…
continue reading
Police quickly understand that they have responded to a homicide at Covenant Theological Seminary, not a suicide (as the original 911 call said). As the investigation begins, police become interested in one man, a fellow student of Elizabeth Mackintosh. A choice made that day continues to haunt investigators. Click here to review the transcript of …
…
continue reading
About a dozen people were around Elizabeth on the morning of her death, but no one saw anything incriminating. Ruth and TJ walk through the morning of March 26, 1990, minute by minute, examining who was where and when. We hear from former Covenant students and staff who were on the campus that morning, and also from two retired Creve Coeur Police d…
…
continue reading
Elizabeth Mackintosh was killed in the chapel basement at Covenant Theological Seminary. The right tour guide will point out the spot, but Covenant hosts no memorial for her. And it’s not like Elizabeth was a stranger passing through… she was a well-respected student at the time she was killed. It’s been 33 years since her death, so why are some pe…
…
continue reading
Coming December 19th... Early on the morning of March 26, 1990, Elizabeth Mackintosh was murdered on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary in Creve Coeur, Missouri. To date it's the only unsolved murder in the city’s history. True Believer examines the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's murder and speaks to the people affected by it as the…
…
continue reading
