The Strange Case of the Circleville Letters

True Crime Campfire

Some of y’all may be too young to remember, but in the days before email, getting a handwritten letter in the mail was fun. Somebody had taken the time to write out a message just for you and sent it through time and space. It could be from an old friend, a lost love, or a secret admirer. You couldn’t wait to get inside and discover what was so important that it needed to be personally drafted for your eyes only. But when school bus driver Mary Gillispie opened an envelope addressed to her in 1976, she had no idea that it would mark the beginning of a bizarre campaign of terror that would dominate her life for decades. One that would include blackmail, obscenity, harassment, threats against her family, attempted murder, and letter after letter, drafted to disturb in the most intimate ways imaginable. And it wouldn’t stop with Mary. The hysteria spread through the sleepy town of Circleville, Ohio like a plague. Secrets were exposed. Threats were made. Sometimes there were toxic powders in the envelopes, too. When the TV show Unsolved Mysteries got involved, they got their very own threatening letter—don’t air the episode, or else. Join us for one of the most twisted tales we’ve ever covered.
Sources:
Paul Freshour’s WordPress: https://circlevilleletters.wordpress.com/
Whatever Remains Podcast: Welcome to Circleville:
https://www.whateverremainspodcast.com/circleville
Invisible Ships Podcast: https://invisibleshipspodcast.wordpress.com/episodes/
Unsolved Mysteries, Season 7, Epiosde 6
ABC6 News: https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/circleville-police-looking-for-tips-in-unsolved-1980-homicide-of-25-year-old-teacher
Mental Floss, Jake Rossen:
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrii5iBXTBlBYgFqTFEDN04;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzUEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1697697282/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fm.imdb.com%2ftitle%2ftt0737542%2f/RK=2/RS=74RxpCcEm_B1s56K9cWTjMtY0n8-
CBS News: The Circleville Letter Writer: You’ve got Hate Mail:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/pictures/circleville-letters-mail-gallery/
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