Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
I'm Kristen Sevey. This is Murder, She Told. This is part two of Teresa Corley's story. If you haven't listened to part one, I suggest going back and starting with that one first. This episode contains discussions of sexual assault. Please listen with care.
In Corley family photos, children turn into teenagers in the sepia tones of the 1970s. The photos capture their early years in urban Boston and their later years in rural Bellingham. You step into their history with first communions and wedding celebrations. They show a close-knit family with a penchant for being caught on film mid-laugh in playful, candid shots.
One black-and-white image shows three little girls on a blanket. In the summer of 1962, the children were playing on a busy beach, crowded with families. The oldest girl, Karen, squints directly into the camera as a piece of hair blows over one eye. She's maybe five years old. Three-year-old Teresa looks down at baby Jerry, patting her head with one hand while the other holds a striped paper cup, the kind you often get boardwalk fries in.
Baby Jerry wears a white onesie and a perplexed look on her face. Little Teresa looks contemplative, wondering how this brand new human was going to fit into her life. She had no idea that this little baby would someday grow up to be a champion for her, or that she would need a champion.
Geraldine Corley Hood drives around with a sticker on her back bumper that says, Justice for Teresa Corley. The words are centered around a photo of Teresa, her senior portrait, smiling and looking just past the camera. It's a daily reminder to herself and others that her sister's case has not been solved and is not yet forgotten.
Geri followed Therese's footsteps into the medical field. For nearly 40 years, she's been a nurse, working in intensive care units, cardiac rehab facilities, stress labs, and finally in recovery rooms, where she still works part-time. She's drawn to care for others. Over the years, she's watched her older sister Linda serve as intermediary between the family and law enforcement.
Linda followed up on loose ends and collected article after article about Teresa's murder. There was the episode of New England's Unsolved with crime reporter Bob Ward that aired in 1999.
So I said, "Well, what do you want me to do?" And they said, "Just pick four cases and have them for February. They can be anything you want." They gave me a lot of leeway, which is really surprising. And I picked a couple of well-known cases, and I wanted to do Teresa's case because I wanted to find out what happened to her. She was somebody I knew, and I wanted to find out what happened. So that was in 1999, and that's when it all started.
He did another segment on Teresa in 2007. Jerry commented to a reporter from the Milford Daily News that it keeps it in the public's eye. Maybe it'll remind the person who did this that it isn't going away. But in another sense, for me, I have this personal connection to her. And I just promised myself that I will do whatever I can in the time that I have that I'm working to keep her case alive and keep her spirit alive so that something does happen.
Eight more years passed by with little word on how the case was progressing. Because it was technically still open and active, the authorities shared little about their investigation. Even though the Corley family wasn't happy with the glacial pace at which they received updates, they were patient. Because they had faith that the police were doing all they could to bring the murderer, or murderers, to justice.
But in 2015, an incident happened that tested Jerry's patience. One of her nephews was involved in a minor car accident. His car careened into a stone wall and dug up a patch of grass in a neighbor's yard.
A few weeks after the incident, one of the owners of the property happened to bring their dog to Jerry's sister, Diane, who was a dog groomer. They mentioned that someone from the prosecutor's office had knocked on their door and encouraged them to press charges against the nephew. Diane told Jerry, and something inside her snapped.
At that point in time, I remember just being so mad that I ended up contacting the Bellingham Police Department and saying, if you really need a case to look at, why don't you look at Teresa's case? If you really are trying to charge somebody, if you really don't have any work to do, how about you work on Teresa's case?
And so I think to have them then turn around and be going after my nephew for such a minor offense, it really slaps you in the face. And there's so much you can take as a person. And that got me going. That's what motivated me.
It wasn't about a patch of grass. It was about 37 years of being told to wait. It was about the fact that prosecuting a minor property crime took precedence over Teresa's case. This is TV reporter and Franklin native Bob Ward. I truly believe her case should have been solved in 1979. The more I learn about it, the more I realize that this should not have ever gone unsolved for this length of time.
And it makes you wonder, you know, why that is. It makes me wonder why people were so quick to kind of get away from it. This was around the time that Jerry became the family spokesperson for Teresa's case. She was still working through her sister's files on the investigation, imposing order on a decades-long collection of newspaper articles, family notes, and communications with law enforcement.
Jerry asked the Bellingham PD what had happened to the evidence taken from the crime scene where Teresa had been found. She was told that the vaginal swabs, which were held at the old Boston mortuary by the state police, were destroyed in a fire. Not only was there fire damage, the water used to extinguish the flames caused water damage too. Jerry wanted to see the files for herself, so she filed FOIA requests. She wanted to know what the cops had done.
In response, lawyers from the town and from the state sent her legal letters, denying her access. Jerry appealed. She had a small victory when the state's master of records agreed to grant her access to the log of individuals who had been interviewed. However, the records did not provide context for what was said during those meetings.
Around the same time, Jerry turned to social media. A friend who is a former police officer encouraged her to start a Facebook page. That's how Justice for Teresa Corley Bellingham Mass 1978 was launched. People were invited to post their memories of Teresa and information about the case. Old friends chimed in, and they shared it with their networks of Bellingham and Franklin locals.
So most recently, I went to a conference and I went to like just the Target during a lunch break. I was talking to my husband on the phone and there was a car with one of my bumper stickers on it. And I was so excited. I said to him, oh my God, there's a Teresa sticker to my husband. It's a nice feeling to know that there are people out there driving around.
with her bumper stickers, you know, keeping her name out there. And I got back to the conference and I saw the same car and I waited for the woman to get out. And I just said, Oh, is that your car? And she said, yeah. I said, I have that same sticker. I wasn't trying to reveal who I was. I just wanted to have that same sticker. And she looked at me and she teared up and
And she said, are you Jerry? And I said, yeah. And we just started talking. She was telling me how she's followed the case for all these years. And she's told her daughter about my sister and just as, you know, a way to raise awareness. And she follows it really closely. And, um,
She had a hard time controlling her emotions. She was upset, you know, seeing me and knowing what had happened to my sister. She was upset. But then she was like, I'm so glad I met you. And, you know, it's just to know that Teresa's case has affected people the way it has. It gives a lot of meaning to what I'm doing.
The page generated more than just moral support. Through comments and direct messages, Jerry began to hear rumors about the men who picked up Teresa and took her to the presidential arms, about the group who assaulted her as she slept in one of the bedrooms. People named names. Jerry suddenly had access to a flood of long-held beliefs, rumors, and speculation. The
The Facebook page created chaos, but Gerri didn't mind a little chaos if it meant new leads. Soon, the four or five names on her list of suspects grew to 15. She dutifully passed each new nugget of information to the police. Initially, the authorities were open to the idea of a Facebook page. Gerri had sought their approval prior to its creation, and they were supportive.
The Franklin PD and the town of Bellingham even shared posts to their own pages. But Jerry, like many other victims' families, discovered that the police wanted her to stick to a certain script. When Jerry shared news of the broken promises and endless delays on her page, the DA's office called her in and gave her an earful about her criticism.
Eventually, Jerry found a private investigator, Ken Maines, through some online searching and reached out for help. He studied the case and produced a 9,600-word report with his analysis and conclusions.
Ken came to believe that the person who killed Teresa was a serial killer who was passing through or operating in the area. He believed that Teresa, after being given rides by the Gurelick truck drivers, decided to get some food at Marie's Diner, which was in the heart of Bellingham and likely would have been open very early. This would possibly explain the presence of undigested eggs in her stomach later discovered by the medical examiner.
He figured that a predator, perhaps eating at the restaurant at the same time, noticed the disheveled young woman and took a nefarious interest. He may have offered her a ride, luring her into his vehicle before assaulting and killing her. Ken believed that the location of the body on the side of 495 suggested a stranger on their way out of town.
After all, he asked, wouldn't a local know a more remote place to dispose her body? He suggested that the authorities working Teresa's case should search for similarities amongst nine Massachusetts murders that occurred between 1977 and 1981. At least two of those nine cases he cited, though, have been solved, Mary Lou Arruda and Michelle Kelly. It
It's unclear if any analysis was done to see if those killers could have been responsible for Teresa's death. Also, Ken pointed out that Bellingham is only about 50 miles from New Bedford, where in 1988 and 89, 10 years after Teresa's death, at least nine women were murdered and dumped by the side of Route 140. These murders are still unsolved, and they're dubbed the New Bedford Highway Murders.
Kent suggested that the brazen disposal of Teresa's nude body in such a public place revealed the confidence of somebody who had killed before and would probably kill again. While it's possible Teresa was victimized twice in one night in two totally unrelated violent acts, it seems more likely that the two events were related and that her sexual assault led to her murder.
I think it's important to examine the men who were present in the apartment and who were implicated in sexually assaulting Teresa, as they would have the greatest motivation to keep her silent. Though it's also important to note that none of them have ever been publicly named as suspects.
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I'm sending my brother money directly to his bank account in India because he's apparently too busy practicing his karaoke to go pick up cash. Thankfully, I can still send money his way. Direct to my bank account.
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He said, yes, they did get into an argument. She got mad. But what I think is, in my different conversations with people, there was a woman by the name of Karen who was an ex-girlfriend, and he was talking to the ex, according to this girl, Karen. The boyfriend couldn't really recall what the argument was, but she, at one point, said to him that she was leaving. I don't want to say she threatened him, but she said something about, you'll see what I'm going to do, or something to that effect.
He claims he doesn't recall what the argument was about, but he knew it was because of him she left. And something stupid he did is what he said. After trying to get a ride home from a friend and failing, she left on foot.
No, these people that she hung out with, when you think about it years later, like all the people have thought, oh, we really loved her. Yeah. Well, she was drunk and she walked out and nobody thought to go after her, but you really loved her. And then if Teresa drank on her own, she was probably drinking. But to get that inebriated, I don't think so, because that wasn't her. I.
I never remembered a time when she came home drunk. Never. And it was never an issue. I do believe, and even though the state police won't let me have the autopsy report, I think she was drugged somewhere along the way. I think somebody slipped her something. It was during that walk that she was picked up by a group of guys. Some accounts suggest three men and others say four. And she was taken to the Presidential Arms Apartments. She likely arrived around midnight.
She was at the presidential arms with perhaps four men for four hours, leaving on foot around 4 a.m., during which time it's believed that she was sexually assaulted. If the presence of Quaaludes in her system is accurate, then she was likely both drunk and under the influence of a powerful drug. When she left the train stop, she was likely staggering and somewhat incoherent.
I suspect that when she got to the apartment, she may have wanted to immediately lay down because she was on the verge of passing out, which is why she ended up in a bedroom. What happened at the apartment has been told many different ways by different people.
At this point, we don't know the unit number of the apartment, the number of tenants, the number of bedrooms in the unit, who the leaseholder was, who lived there, and who, for sure, was present that night. All of this information is probably very clear from the original 1978 interview notes. Notes that Jerry couldn't get access to.
When Teresa's body was recovered, she was missing her shoes. In the missing person notices in the newspaper, she was described as having been last seen wearing brown shoes. One of her shoes was later recovered from the Presidential Arms apartment.
It was remarkably similar to a man's shoe that was also there. It's theorized that Teresa, in her haste to leave, grabbed her left shoe and a man's left shoe. This would have left at the apartment her right shoe and the man's right shoe, which is what police recovered and still have in evidence. An informant told Jerry that the men's shoes belonged to a man named Steve, one of the men rumored to be at the presidential arms that night.
This same person told Jerry that Steve had admitted that Teresa had scratched his face during sex. It's actually called rape. Steve, though, was only one of the four men rumored to be at the presidential arms. As the men sobered up, perhaps one of them realized what trouble they'd be in if Teresa reported her assault. This is a possible scenario for what may have happened.
The killer or killers went looking for Teresa, found her in the last mile of her walk in the dark to her home on North Main Street, pulled over and offered her a ride. She was desperate to get home, but instead of taking her to safety, he drove her to a secluded spot where, using a ligature, he strangled her to death. He drove to the highway and pulled over at a steep embankment.
After checking for oncoming traffic, he moved quickly, carrying her body down the incline out of view and leaving her face up in the grass. As the days went by and he could see the growing panic to find her, he decided to give the police a clue and do just that. Which brings us to the man who is rumored to be at the center of this story, a man named Ronnie.
A dispatcher with the Bellingham Police Department said that Ronnie arrived at the police station shortly after they got the anonymous tip from the man who called himself John Burlington of Connecticut. Ronnie asked if they had found Teresa. The dispatcher said that Ronnie arrived before there was any chatter on the radio about it and before the body had been identified. He also said that Ronnie's voice sounded like the anonymous caller, John Burlington.
I mean, I've never come across anything like that in another case where the suspect walks right into the police station and says, oh, is that the victim out there on the side of the road? I mean, just put himself in the middle, in the crosshairs of the police and nothing happens to him. He was investigated. I do know that they went to Florida. The state police went to Florida to try to talk to him. My understanding is that he was in really bad shape and he was coked out or something and they got nothing out of it.
And then he died a short time later. Some people have said that Ronnie was part of the group that picked up Teresa as she was stumbling home. They also placed Ronnie at the presidential arms and claimed that he was one of the men who sexually assaulted Teresa. According to Bellingham detective Kevin Ranieri, Ronnie was arrested for a DUI and brought into the station. He then asked for Kevin by name and said that he had something he wanted to tell him about Teresa's case.
Kevin wasn't on duty at the time, so the chief asked him to come in. After settling into an interview room, Ronnie told Kevin, I didn't do it, but I know who did, in reference to Teresa's murder. Kevin tried to coax Ronnie into elaborating, but the chief interrupted the discussion and insisted everything be recorded right away, at which point Ronnie clammed up, saying, I don't want to be a rat.
Geri was furious to learn, upon receiving the interview logs as a result of her FOIA request, that the first formal interview of Ronnie didn't occur until 1989, nearly 11 years after her sister's murder.
In his report, Ken recommended that any remaining physical evidence should be tested for DNA. This, he believed, would be the last and only chance for the Corley family to find answers. He even offered to do the testing pro bono. Through his organization, the American Investigative Society of Cold Cases, it was an offer that Jerry was happy to take him up on.
The only trouble was that she didn't have access to any of the evidence to have it independently tested.
We had wanted to see because she had scratched somebody. Teresa was a fighter. You know, she could pull my hair. She could certainly defend herself trying to scratch somebody and fight back. So the thought was that perhaps she scratched somebody. And because other cases, one other case in particular, was solved with DNA from under the girl's fingernails, we had hoped that if we exhumed her, we would be able to get some DNA from under the nails.
Jerry thought that the police might be willing to support this investigative step.
In one of the very first meetings, the DA's office, we asked them if they could consider exhuming the body. And what that first assistant DA said to my sister Diane and I was, well, that's a completely bizarre idea. We have perfectly good DNA. And I said, well, it was just a thought in other cases and whatever. So no, absolutely not. They weren't willing to exhume the body.
With or without support from law enforcement, Jerry was determined to press on. So, in the fall of 2016, Jerry and her siblings decided that they would independently exhume Teresa's remains. But the exhumation would be expensive, perhaps more than $20,000.
Jerry told the media, For the past year, I've been trying to advocate for her without turning to the public for funds. There are many names involved with what happened to Teresa from that time in 1978. I'm hoping to narrow down the names by having her body exhumed and the forensic evidence that was not obtained retrieved. The Corley family created a GoFundMe page to raise $15,000.
To say we would be thankful to reach our goal is an understatement. The time is now to make things right. Even without the support of the DA's office, Jerry took inspiration from other victims' families, particularly that of Joyce McLean, a 16-year-old murdered while jogging in East Millinocket in 1980. We covered the story of Joyce's murder and her brief but remarkable life in 2021.
Her mother, Pam, successfully had her body exhumed and independently evaluated by medical experts. Jerry thought if Pam could do it, perhaps she could too. Jerry told the Boston Globe that they owed it to her sister to try.
The fundraiser was an overwhelming success. The family decided to host an event at the Bellingham Sportsman's Club on November 25th. They had tables of food, raffle items, and two bands that played. At $20 a person, the family was able to raise enough money to reach their target with a little extra to spare.
And I was shocked and really overwhelmed that so many people from town turned out that night. So much so that there were almost too many people. It was at a small venue that we sort of had to, you know, let some people in and have other people go. But the town turned up overwhelmingly in a show of support.
There were other obstacles to overcome. Jerry had to apply for an exhumation permit from the town of Milford, which took months to secure. And initially, they believed that they would have to transport Teresa's remains to Pittsburgh, where a forensic pathologist had agreed to collect any remaining evidence that might be on her body and conduct a second autopsy. This process would be fraught with attorney's fees, transportation costs, and paperwork.
However, early in the spring of 2017, the DA's office reversed its decision and offered to perform the DNA collection right at her graveside. The family decided to take them up on the offer and dispense with the idea of a second autopsy. At 9:30 a.m. on May 3rd, 2017, with the weather finally warm enough to break the ground, a team of state police detectives and forensic experts gathered at St. Mary's Cemetery
Tall screens were erected around Teresa's grave to protect it from public view. A section of road facing the grave was also cordoned off. With a barrier raised, a backhoe approached the grave and dug into the soil over Teresa's casket. And I still think about it. I took pictures of it. I still have pictures. And to watch that casket come up out of the ground after all that time, same casket I knelt at,
Later in the day, Jerry would tell the Milford Daily News how emotionally and physically draining the process had been.
I've been crying every day this week thinking about today. We knew that when this day would come, it wouldn't be easy. It feels like our hearts are breaking all over again. There's not a lot of joy right now, and it feels like we're violating her grave. We were raised Catholic. Our sister was given her last rites, and we feel like we're violating that. But if this somehow leads to a prosecution of her case, then it was worth it.
During the exhumation, Jerry and Diane sat in a car about 100 yards from the cemetery. It wasn't their intention to be present all day during the exhumation, but ultimately, they decided that they needed to be nearby. Not too close, but present. If only to bear witness for Teresa.
At the grave, it became clear that it was saturated with groundwater. The waterlogged remains were carefully examined, and a state police chemist collected physical material, including nine fingernails and a sample of hair.
Right after they got the nails and they were done with what they needed to do, the assistant district attorney came over and let us know what he got. And he seemed like he was so hopeful that they might be able to get something. He was pleased that they were able to get nine fingernails. But then he did tell me that the casket was wet.
After the forensic team had finished their work, Teresa was returned to her casket and lowered back into her grave. The backhoe smoothed the dirt over her resting place, and the screens were taken down. Jerry and Diane were advised that they might not hear about the results of the DNA analysis for eight to nine months. The hard part was seemingly over, but another long stretch of waiting had only just begun.
Is your vehicle stopping like it should? Does it squeal or grind when you brake? Don't miss out on summer brake deals at O'Reilly Auto Parts. The months rolled past, and Massachusetts braced itself for another cool fall. At the end of November of 2017, Jerry and her family got the news.
The end result was that they didn't get anything. The casket was too wet that it probably washed away whatever DNA might have been there. But in reality, I'd do it again.
It was sad. My sister and Diane and I were there together. It was sad to go to such lengths because you don't want to disturb somebody's resting area. But, you know, at the same time, I've always said, like, the body is just a shell. Afterwards, she was reburied. I had a priest come back out and do a blessing. And I have to live with knowing I deserved it, but I think it was for a good cause.
But then a surprising piece of good news came to them on the 1st of December of 2017. A chemist from Bellingham who had taken an interest in Teresa's case was now working in the state crime lab. She had found in evidence the genes that were with Teresa's body by the side of 495. The Norfolk County DA's office told the family that state police investigators were able to produce a DNA profile from semen found on the genes.
In October of 2022, the family was told that there was a match to a man named David, one of the men present at the presidential arms. According to another man who has admitted to Jerry being there that night, it was David's room that Teresa was in. Criminology professor Sarah Stein, who worked with the family at one point in time, reported that in her discussion with him, he said that he didn't rape Teresa, but others attempted to.
If that is the case, how is it that his semen ended up on her jeans? It was a bombshell. Jerry thought that this could be sufficient evidence to pursue charges. She was outraged when the DA told her, ejaculation doesn't mean penetration, doesn't mean rape. Because he admitted to having sex with her, the DA's office felt they could do nothing with that DNA.
Just because it was found with a dead body didn't mean he killed her. Also, the jeans are rumored to be men's jeans. Does that mean they didn't belong to Teresa? Did she grab a pair of David's jeans as she fled the bedroom? Jerry feared that there would never be any consequences for the men who had assaulted Teresa in the early morning hours of December 6th. We're still confused why there were no charges brought back in 1978 or 1979 for rape.
Perhaps their absence is an indication of the confusion that the police had about who was in the bedroom with Teresa and what had happened. If that's the case, it's doubtful that the ensuing 44 years have cleared things up. Or perhaps the only charges that they were ever interested in were for murder. It seemed like another dead end for the case. Jerry wondered what else was in evidence that could be tested.
We had some leftover funds that were raised through the GoFundMe. And because I had excess money and because it wasn't my money, it's like we have to do something with it. And I wanted to actually give it to the state toward testing, and they declined it. The state police and crime lab consistently refused, stating that it wasn't a matter of money.
The only thing I can surmise is that would that be considered a payoff or something? I don't know. You know, legally, probably they can't take it and it probably wouldn't look good if they took the money. With the remaining money, Jerry donated toys to the Bellingham PD toy drive, to local food pantries, and placed a memorial cross on the highway where Teresa's body was found.
December 6th, 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of Teresa's death. For a time, the remaining quarterly siblings offered a $25,000 reward. They eventually took it down in 2020 after deciding that anyone who would have been enticed by the money would have come forward by then. They were also discouraged by the notion that it would take money for someone to do the right thing.
Jerry speaks pretty freely about Teresa's case. She's given many interviews before, and she spent many hours talking to us about Teresa. She also speaks with people in person as well. At one point, she tracked down Steve, one of the men rumored to have assaulted her sister.
She'd come in contact with him before, sent him letters and included her phone number. He even called her once, years past, and offered what she considered was a watered-down version of what he remembered that night. As Teresa's birthday approached in June of 2021, Jerry felt the urge to meet him face-to-face. Her husband waited in the car while she approached the house that Steve shared with his wife. He answered the door in a wheelchair.
Jerry, a nurse, noticed that his legs seemed to be swollen and his color was bad. She thought maybe he had heart problems. Surprisingly, he was open to speaking with her. He said that David had raped Teresa, but he didn't think he could have raped her himself. Steve said that he had been so drunk, he didn't think he could have performed.
Jerry was shocked at his lack of remorse about the assault, at his lack of responsibility for his actions, and those of his friends. "'You knew she was impaired, though, right?' she asked him. His response? "'Well, maybe she shouldn't have gotten so drunk.'
And I'm thinking 1978 to at the time 2021, you're still blaming the girl for four men taking advantage of this girl. You know, you think you know evil. I saw evil. I saw this evil, immoral person. And at that point, I, you know, I left and I walked away.
The next year, Jerry came back on Teresa's birthday. And this time, she brought a sign. She stood across the street from Steve's house with the words, No means no. She stood on public land across from his house for 44 minutes. One minute for each year that Teresa had been gone. Eventually, Steve's wife came out and asked what Jerry thought he was supposed to do with the apartment.
Should he have hit the other guys over the head and told them not to do that? Incredulous, Jerry responded that that was exactly what he should have done. Just as Jerry was getting in her car to leave, a pair of police cruisers pulled up, and the cops asked what was going on. She told them why she was there. They apologized for her sister's experience and let her go on her way.
A week later, a Bellingham police officer showed up at Jerry's door, serving her with some paperwork Steve had filed. He wanted a no-contact order to be granted to legally remove Jerry from his life. According to Jerry, the judge didn't seem very interested in Steve's petition. He denied the request and told Steve that Jerry had every right to be on public land expressing her freedom of speech.
Against her better judgment, Jerry did feel a degree of pity for Steve. God has not been good to him, she said. In February of 2022, Teresa was added to the Massachusetts Cold Case Unit's deck of playing cards. Her high school portrait was placed on the Queen of Hearts. Jerry hoped that her case would be transferred to the Cold Case Unit, but the Norfolk County DA's office had retained it.
Norfolk County believes that they have a chance of processing more evidence through advanced DNA MVAC testing. According to DA Michael Morrissey, once they get up and running with that system, we're in line to get it done.
Jerry heard from the DA's office in March of 2023 that there's new forensic testing in the works. Jerry said on the Justice for Teresa Facebook page that the DA's office told her that they would have an update on the DNA in October of 2023. But it's now December, and that date has come and gone.
On November 15th, Jerry posted a picture of a blue double helix. Under it, she wrote, It is hinging on this. Three new samples obtained from the genes. More analysis to be done. No promises made. But when the investigators are excited, you have to go with it.
It really will be amazing if this nearly 45-year-old case gets answers, especially since I can still see the DNA helix Teresa drew for a class and remember how in awe she was with something called DNA way back then.
how long it takes to test DNA evidence. I don't know. But my wishful thinking and my praying is that they did find something and they're in the process of trying to come up with some sort of case, you know, but it's probably wishful thinking.
The apparatus of justice, to her, seems designed to let difficult cases fade with time. My biggest fear, I would think, is when there's a huge time lapse between them contacting me. Because to me, that's either they're trying to wear me down, let's say, or have me go away. Because that's what happened in the beginning. We went away. My family went away. We didn't
We didn't inquire. We didn't push. Well, back then, of course, there was no DNA testing, none of the current forensic stuff that they can do today. But my fear is that if I don't keep contacting them, they're just as happy not to contact me. Like I said, it was March 1st was our last conversation when they were planning on sending something out or to do some testing. And this is three months later with no contact. And I
And I did call two weeks ago today, left a message for the advocate, just asking if there's been anything, any results. And I have not gotten a call back. So part of me is thinking maybe she didn't get my message and I'll call again. They're waiting me out. You know, I think they're just waiting me out. They're waiting for me to die. I don't know. So, you know, and I just really fear if too much time passes, they don't do anything with the case.
Jerry is optimistic about the current investigator, who she describes as kind, caring, and enthusiastic to solve the case. If anyone can do it, she says, it will be him. But new investigators come on board all the time, and the process of becoming familiar with the case starts all over again.
Blink, and you have a new lead detective. And I think right from the beginning, I've asked the DA's office, when you feel like you've hit that last thing that you could possibly do, and you're pretty much done with the case, can you let me know? Can you just be honest and say there's nothing more we can do?
But they tell me, well, it's never done because it's an unsolved murder. And I think on some levels I want that closure for myself. But from the state's point of view, it will be forever an unresolved murder. Jerry would like victims' families to have access to cold case records once a certain amount of time has elapsed.
We hit another dead end with Teresa's case. I would like to see families be able to more or less sign off on the case and be able to have access to the case file for themselves to review, whether that be 20 years, 30 years. I would think if a family signs off on the case, gets to have access to the case files, that then absolves the state from trying to solve it.
Because at this point, is Teresa's case going to get to court? Probably 95%. It won't. But I would like to see what they worked on. And I'd like to see how things were lost. If there's another investigator out there that could privately take a crack at this or just an analysis. You know, at this point, I'm 61 years old.
We asked Jerry what she would say to Teresa's killer, if he's listening.
Well, I would actually say maybe for their own souls to come full as hard as it might be. You know, I truly believe if anybody believes in the afterlife and heaven, however else you want to put it, they're not going there. But I have to believe at this point, some of them, their life right now is hell on earth. To have this hanging over them all these years, it has to be hell on earth. ♪
If you have any information on the murder of Teresa Corley, please contact the Bellingham Police Department tip line at 508-657-2863 or the Franklin Police Department at 508-440-2680.
Thank you so much for listening. Murder, She Told is celebrating its three-year anniversary. And truly, I couldn't be here without you for tuning in to every episode, for sharing it, for leaving reviews. I am very grateful. If you want to help celebrate, leaving a five-star review wherever you listen always makes my day. You can also share it with your friends on social media and help the show grow. I appreciate you, and I am so excited for 2024.
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A detailed list of sources and amazing photos can be found at MurderSheTold.com. A special thanks to Jerry for spending so much time with us and for sharing all of her memories about her sister. Thank you to Bob Ward of Boston 25 for taking time to chat as well. Thank you to Morgan Hamilton for her writing, Byron Willis for his writing and research, and Erica Pierce for her research. If you have a case suggestion, a correction, or you just want to say hi, you can always email me at hello at MurderSheTold.com.
I love getting mail. My hope is that I've kept the memories of your loved ones alive and shared their case with someone new. I'm Kristen Seavey. Thank you for listening.