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Unsolved: Worcester

With a wave of true crime and cold case podcasts exploding across Spotify, iTunes and other streaming services, it’s time to shine some light on the dozens of unsolved homicide and missing persons cases in Worcester.

 

Unsolved: Worcester, a series of narrative episodes examining over 70 unsolved cold cases on file with the Worcester Police Department. New episodes will debut on Tuesdays over five-week periods in 10-episode series.

Season 7

season 7 – episode 8

The Gardner Fugitive and the Murder of Breanne Pennington

October 2023

The Gardner Fugitive and the Murder of Breanne Pennington

by Unsolved Worcester

The Murder of Breanne Pennington

 It’s around 9:15 a..m. on Sunday, October 22, 2023.

A call is placed to the Gardner Police Department. The woman on the line reports to police that her neighbor’s four children have just appeared at her door.

The children told her that they couldn’t find their father, and that their mother was in bed crying.

In under five minutes, first responders arrive at the children’s home on Cherry Street in Gardner. 

Upstairs, they find the body of 30-year-old Breanne Pennington lying in bed. 

She had been shot in the head.

Breanne’s husband, Aaron Pennington, was nowhere to be found.

He had fled the home roughly 30 minutes earlier. And he hasn’t been seen since.

season 7 – episode 7

Trouble in Townsend: the Murder of Judith Viewig and the Disappearance of Deborah Quimby

1973 + 1977

Trouble in Townsend: the Murder of Judith Viewig and the Disappearance of Deborah Quimby

by Unsolved Worcester

Trouble in Townsend

Townsend, Massachusetts is a small town of less than 10,000 residents bordering New Hampshire.

Townsend is part of Middlesex County, but it borders the Worcester County line and the cases we explore in this episode may be closely connected to each other, and other unsolved murders from the same area and during the same time period.

We again return to 1973 and the unsolved murder of 31-year-old school teacher Judith Viewig in Townsend. Then we move forward four years to the same small town and the disappearance of 13-year-old Deborah Quimby in May 1977.

season 7 – episode 6

The Double Murder of Jo-Anne Muldoon and Deborah Johnson

September 1973

The Double Murder of Jo-Anne Muldoon and Deborah Johnson

by Unsolved Worcester

The Double Murder of Jo-Anne Muldoon and Deborah Johnson

It’s just before 9 p.m. on September 30, 1973.

Jo-Anne Muldoon’s parents arrive at her apartment on Intervale Road in Fitchburg after a call from a neighbor saying they could hear Jo-Anne’s three month old son crying. 

 When they get to the second floor apartment, the door is unlocked. When they enter, the lights won’t come on. The power in the apartment is out.  

Using light from the flame of a cigarette lighter, the Muldoons find baby Christopher safe in his crib. 

 It would be their first and only sigh of relief. 

They found their daughter’s roommate Deborah Johnson dead on the sofa bed.

In the kitchen, their daughter Jo-Anne was dead on the floor. 

Both young women had been stabbed to death. Their throats had been cut. 

More than 50 years later, their murders remain unsolved.

season 7 – episode 5

The Murders of Maureen and Jennifer Moynihan

June 1973

The Murders of Maureen and Jennifer Moynihan

It’s just after 12:30 PM on June 5, 1973.

32-year-old Maureen Moynihan and her 4-year-old daughter Jennifer have just dropped off Maureen’s 6-year-old son Timothy for afternoon kindergarten in West Boylston.

Maureen and Jennifer have a day full of errands planned.

Roughly 24 hours later, Maureen and Jennifer’s bodies were discovered along a dirt road in Rutland State Park.

The mother and daughter had been stabbed to death.

And their throats had been slashed.

Maureen was found lying on the ground outside of her Ford sedan. Jennifer’s body was on the floor of the front passenger seat.

More than 50 years later, their case remains unsolved.

season 7 – episode 4

Jampy Rivera – Double Shooting on Sturgis Street

July 2018

Jampy Rivera - Double Shooting on Sturgis Street

by Unsolved Worcester

Double Shooting on Sturgis Street – Jampy Rivera

 It’s Sunday morning, July 29, 2018. It’s around 2:15 AM.

A fight involving several people has broken out in front of a three-decker home on Sturgis Street.

Witnesses told police a man came running from the side of the Sturgis Street home and rapidly fired several gunshots, striking two people: one a 28-year-old man, and the other, 23-year-old Jovanexen “Jampy” Rivera.

The shooter fled the scene, leaving Jampy and the other man laying on the sidewalk…each suffering serious gunshot wounds.

Minutes later, Jampy would be pronounced dead. It’s been nearly six years and his case remains unsolved. 

season 7 – episode 3

Jessica Jones and the Chocolog Shuffle

November 1989

Jessica Jones and the Chocolog Shuffle

by Unsolved Worcester

Jessica Jones and the Chocolog Shuffle

It’s around 9 a.m. on November 8, 1989.

A heavy fog across Central Massachusetts is finally lifting and a tragedy begins to reveal itself.

A retired construction worker is traveling along Chocolog Road in Uxbridge when he spots a large object along the road opposite of the Route 146 south bound exit ramp.

He discovers it’s an open sleeping bag, and it appears something is packed inside of it.

Police roll back the front of the sleeping bag to find the body of 17-year-old Jessica Jones inside.

Jessica had been beaten to death and stabbed multiple times. 

Her body was stuffed inside the sleeping bag and dumped along Chocolog Road.

Nearly 35 years later, Jessica’s murder remains unsolved.

season 7 – episode 2

Sidney Krow – Killed in Worcester’s Webster Square

May 2018

Sidney Krow - Killed in Worcester's Webster Square

by Unsolved Worcester

Sidney Krow – Killed in Webster Square

It’s Saturday night in Worcester. May 26, 2018. Memorial Day Weekend.

Five teenagers are walking together along Holland Road, heading toward Main Street in the city’s Webster Square neighborhood.

At around 11:15 p.m., a vehicle pulls over on Holland Road. A man gets out of the car and fires 10 gun shots in the direction of the five teens.

16-year-old Sidney Krow Junior tries to run from the scene, but soon collapses in the road on Main Street.

He has been shot. Thirty minutes later, Sidney is pronounced dead at a local hospital.

season 7 – episode 1

What Happened to Holly Piirainen?

August 1993

What Happened to Holly?

It’s been more than 30 years since 10-year-old Holly Piirainen was abducted and killed.

Holly disappeared on August 5, 1993.

Holly was vacationing with her father and brothers at her grandparents cottage in Sturbridge. She had last been seen by her father around 11:45 a.m., heading toward a neighbor’s house to play with puppies.

It wasn’t until October 23, 1993, 11 weeks later, when Holly’s remains were found by pheasant hunters in an Army Corps of Engineers flood control forest off of a dirt access road along Five Bridge Road in Brimfield.

Unsolved: Worcester – New Episodes Drop on Tuesdays.

Dan Yeager
Host of Unsolved: Worcester

Dan is an actor, stuntman, writer, producer, and director. He has a voice we promise you will enjoy listening to.

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This program is supported in part by a grant from the Worcester Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

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