Click here to listen to the rest of The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs Bear Brook has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential.Bear Brook, hosted by Jason Moon, is the critically-acclaimed true crime podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio. Season 1 - Two barrels. Four Bodies. And a cold case that’s changing how murders will be investigated forever.Season 2: A True Crime Story - Jason Carroll is serving life in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit. The only evidence against him? His own taped confession. More than 30 years later, is it possible to get to the truth – and who gets to tell it?Stephen King called both seasons “the best true crime podcasts I've ever heard. Brilliant, involving, hypnotic.” The New Yorker said season one “stands out for its ambition, complexity, and thoughtful tone.” Photos, transcripts and more at bearbrookpodcast.com.Do you have information about the Bear Brook murders or the Sharon Johnson murder case? Email us.
Chapter 1: What is the new podcast series introduced by Jason Moon?
Hey, this is Jason Moon. I'm just popping in the feed to introduce you to the latest podcast series I've been working on. It's called The Final Days of Sergeant Tibbs. Sergeant Tibbs is the name of a cat who goes missing and who then winds up at the center of an absolutely epic dispute between neighbors. The series is hosted by my friend and colleague Todd Bookman.
I've been helping out as a producer and by creating original music for the series. And look, obviously I'm biased, but I really recommend this story. It is a wild ride. And, you know, while I wouldn't call it true crime, it's actually not that far from it. There's a mysterious death, an investigation, police reports, even a courtroom scene.
It also manages to be funny while also moving and serious at the same time. Ultimately, it's a story about the lengths people will go to out of love for their pets. We're going to put the first episode in the Bear Brook feed for a while. To listen to the next three episodes, look for the link in the show notes or just search The Final Days of Sergeant Tibbs in your preferred podcasting app.
In the meantime, we are still following the stories behind both seasons of Bear Brook. We hope to have an update on season two out sometime this year. Okay, with that, here is part one of the final days of Sergeant Tibbs.
Just a heads up before listening. There's explicit language throughout this series that might not be suitable for all ears. Also, if you're interested, we have photos, links and more at NHPR.org slash Tibbs.
I want to start by playing you a little sound.
It's from a protest. I'll do my best to describe what's happening. But it's not easy. It's a strange scene. I wasn't there, but I've spoken to people who were, and there's plenty of videos. The protest takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire, bright sunny June day last summer. There are five people standing on a sidewalk, evenly spaced in front of a business.
Maybe you think there's a lot to protest these days. Maybe you don't. But this is not a protest you've seen on the news before. This protest is about someone's pet. If the internet didn't teach you anything, you don't fuck with people's cats. It gets weirder. A woman drives up, parks her car, gets out. Apparently, she's the target of the protest.
But rather than say anything to the protesters, she just stands near them, looking at them, twirling her keys. Six people on a sidewalk, five protesting one. It's 3 p.m. on a Sunday. Traffic streams by. Hey! If an alien came down to Earth and this is what they saw, they'd be right to wonder, is this typical human behavior? The cat at the center of all this is 19 years old, practically ancient.
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Chapter 2: Why is 'The Final Days of Sergeant Tibbs' recommended by the producers?
Rose spends days searching for Tibbs and then starts to come to terms with it. Remember, he's really old, 19. Just a week before Tibbs went missing, Rose had to rush him to the vet. He was having trouble breathing. She says the vet told her that Tibbs was not long for this world. He has arthritis, asthma. He's rapidly losing weight. He can't really groom himself.
So Rose has been shaving mats out of his fur, the kind of elder care we all deserve. So when Tibbs goes missing, Rose starts to think he went off to die on his own, the way some animals do. They'll hide at the end, even from the people they love. But what Rose didn't know is that Tibbs was not dead, wasn't even lost. Something that would turn out to be so much worse for Rose had happened.
you
My name is Todd Bookman. I'm a reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio, also a cat guy. And I've been investigating the final days of Sergeant Tibbs, which I have to say did not initially make sense to my editor. Generally, I'm covering news, like news news in New Hampshire, the governor, the legislature, court cases, that sort of thing. But Tibbs, Tibbs was impossible to let go.
This story about a cat lost and a cat found. A story about what we owe our pets and what we owe our neighbors. A story about what happens when a dispute between two people, IRL, becomes fodder for the internet. And maybe what all this says, or doesn't say, about the way we relate to each other these days. Tibbs is not news news.
But for a few chaotic days last summer, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Tibbs was the biggest story around. And for whatever reason, I just wanted to figure out what happened. The west side of Manchester is largely residential, across a river from the city's downtown. A lot of multifamily units in a dense street grid, vinyl siding, working class.
And I found myself in an apartment here with two women, a mother-daughter pair, We can stand here. It's fine with me. Is everybody comfortable with that?
We can all sit. The floors are clean. Shall we sit? You want to sit on the floor? Sure.
Debbie Ann Valente invites me to sit down in an echoey apartment. Debbie is the landlord here. The unit's being renovated. There's no furniture, so we pop an uncomfortable squat.
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