After a woman goes missing, it’s up to law enforcement and her children to make sure justice is served. But listen closely, because we think there might be more crimes out there connected to this case that are yet to be solved…If you or a loved one is experiencing domestic abuse of any kind, you are not alone. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 for help. Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-charlotte-grabbe/Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.The Crime Junkie Merch Store is NOW OPEN! Shop the exclusive Life Rule #10 Tour collection before it’s gone for good! Don’t miss your chance - visit the store now! Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuckTikTok: @crimejunkiepodcastFacebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllcCrime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawatTwitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawatTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!
Chapter 1: Who is Charlotte Grabbe and why is her case significant?
So Jenny hops in her car, drives the few miles to the farm in Marshall, Illinois. And together, she, Cindy and Jeff head to the soybean field where Charlotte had been working. Now, even though she's nowhere to be seen when they show up, they know she was here because they look in the shed that's nearby and they find Charlotte's tractor. They find Charlotte's lunchbox sitting on it.
And inside the lunchbox, they find Charlotte's migraine medicine. But again, no sign of Charlotte and no sign of her car, which like you could say would be all the more reason to think maybe she left on her own. But if she did that, why not take the medicine that she needs with her?
I get that, but, like, farm kid here.
Truly. Sounds like your episode.
Sometimes stuff happens fast, and you've got to move, like, just as quickly. I can totally see her popping out, leaving everything to take care of whatever emergency farm thing happened somewhere else.
I knew you were going to say all of this. And, yes, you are not wrong, but I haven't given you the full context for why everyone is so worried. Charlotte is actually in the middle of a really nasty divorce with Jeff and Jenny's dad, Fred, which should be marking the end of years of abuse that Charlotte endured at his hand.
I mean, even shortly before the filing, he'd recently been charged with battery for assaulting her. So Fred's clearly not been willing to let go of Charlotte. And while not many people outside of the family know what's been going on behind closed doors, Charlotte doesn't hide these ugly truths from her kids. They're grown adults and she looks to them for support.
In fact, she had just told her family like days ago that if she ever didn't come home for any reason... Something was up and they should come look for her.
Ashley, I feel like you should have led with all of that information.
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Chapter 2: What happened on the day Charlotte Grabbe went missing?
And this feels so similar to where I grew up.
Oh, yeah.
I just remember like miles and miles of fields with like these little houses peppered here and there, some wooded areas. Sometimes they're like separating the field. Sometimes they're just like in the middle hanging out.
Right. It's not like there's a lot out there. And when you think about like even like cornfields and stuff too, like the corn is high this time of year. It's not like you can just like peer far and wide.
Yeah. And again, like there's not much going on. There's not a lot out there. But if you're looking for something, the land can just seem endless to a point.
And for everyone who did not grow up on a farm like you, Emily actually went out there with Jenny to like look at the property where she was last seen. So we're going to have photos up there today. It's still even very rural today. So you guys can kind of get a sense of what we're talking about for our city folk.
Now, by September, probably feeling a tug of desperation, the police actually call in a psychic to make sure they're just leaving no stone unturned. But even then, they have no luck locating Charlotte. Or should I say Charlotte's remains? Because Jenny and Jeff are sure, sure, sure, sure that their mother is gone. And they're so sure who is responsible. Right.
So it's like salt in the wound for them when their father does an interview with the Herald and Review and now publicly says that he thinks his wife is alive.
Okay, Fred.
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Chapter 3: What are the suspicions surrounding Fred Grabbe?
And she said that he admitted this to her. It was maybe an attempt to get the insurance money, possibly with Fred, maybe on his own. Like, that's not totally clear. According to her recollection, though, that was never actually paid out. And it sounds like, at least according to the Journal Gazette and Times Courier, these homes were caught up in some kind of legal mess at the time anyway.
So whatever the plan was, I'm not sure that it worked for whoever had that plan. But it's important to point out that it doesn't appear police could ever connect Fred or anyone else, not Jeff, to these fires. All they could do was speculate at the time. About a week after this fire, this is when Fred does get sentenced, and he gets sentenced to life in prison.
So at this point, for law enforcement and the Grabby family, justice is finally served. But that feeling is short-lived. Roughly a year after his original sentencing, Fred's case gets overturned on appeal. This is in September of 1986, and a new trial gets ordered.
According to the Journal Gazette, it's overturned because the courts find jurors were given improper instructions concerning Vicky's testimony specifically.
I mean, all a good defense attorney needs is to find one small crack, and it sounds like they found one.
Well, that and... get the right judge in the right county. Because, I mean, I've seen like other cases where there's like a gaping hole you could run a truck through and those get denied. But here, overturned. So while prosecutors wait to retry Fred for Charlotte's murder, they decide to go after him for his possible involvement with the escape attempt back in 1985 to keep him locked up.
Now, initially, they knew Fred would go away for a long time. So remember, they didn't see the point in taking him to court on those minor charges. But now with his ruling overturned, like, OK, let's get him on something. But their plan doesn't work. First, there's a mistrial for that. Then Fred is acquitted for that.
So the stakes in Fred's retrial for Charlotte's murder hold even more weight now. In March 1988, the new trial is about to begin. And much like the first time, Fred's children, Jenny and Jeff, are supposed to testify against their dad. But there's a problem. Jeff's wife, Cindy, hasn't heard from Jeff in days. He's like fully MIA, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Like he was scheduled to testify again.
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