find everything your imagination craves on Audible stay up late with a tense Thriller listen in on a swoony romance or get some new inspiration and motivation from the pros and so much more it's all there in just one app audiobooks popular podcasts and exciting new Originals there's thousands of included titles with more added every week so you can always find something new you'll find all the best audio entertainment at audible the home of Storytelling sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible. com Laramie years ago when I was a teenager I lived in Laramie Wyoming I've always remembered it as a mean town uncommonly mean a place of jagged edges and cold people where the wind blew so hard it actually whipped pebbles at you actually pushed trucks off the highway Laramie stood at an elevation of more than seven thousand feet and got so socked in by winter storms it felt like we were trapped like there was no way out my family moved away before my senior year in high school I never wanted to go back [Music] the town's only High School Laramie High was Grim even by normal high school standards one of my classmates killed someone other students killed themselves some boys were held down and branded with letters like they were livestock coaches who caught guys fighting in the hallways made them fight for real in a makeshift ring Laramie wanted to raise its men as Macho Cowboys weakness wasn't tolerated and the girls had to look a certain way act a certain way wear a certain kind of eyeliner have a certain kind of bi-level haircut I was bullied for the way I spoke the way I dressed I can still hear some boys mock barking my name Kim Barker down the hallway [Music] whenever I talk about the roughest place I'd ever lived I'd always say Laramie not Kabul even though I reported there from the middle of a war not Islamabad even though suicide bombs exploded there regularly there's a good chance that if you've heard of Laramie before it's because of Matthew Shepard a gay University student who was tortured there and later died when I first heard about his death I thought of course that happened in Laramie [Music] has always stuck with me the defining cruelty and the Litany of them was a young woman I had never met named Shelly Wiley in the fall of 1985 when I was a high school sophomore Shelley was murdered in her apartment she was a few years older than me and had gone to Laramie High she went to college the nearby University of Wyoming and earned money waiting tables at a truck stop she was 22. white a pretty brunette living a version of the life me and my friends imagined for ourselves one day the details of her death were less clear to me at 14 and the brutality was there were whispers about stabbings and blood I'd heard that whoever had killed Shelley had burned her apartment to the ground I remember the shock of her murder arriving at my high school some students became suspects others play The Guessing Game and one particularly terrifying round of Ouija with friends we asked for a sign if the spirit knew who killed Shelly Wiley at that very moment a knock came on the basement window even the boys screamed Shelley's murder was never solved every few years after I moved away after I became a reporter I'd search her name for news almost as an idol reflux there's never anything then came January 2021 I was cooped up in my apartment just me my dog Lucy and a global pandemic like almost everyone else I was going a little bit stir crazy I also owed my newspaper some story ideas and truthfully I was Tapped Out so with a special kind of desperation I Googled Shelley's name again this time there was news in 2016 31 years after Shelley's murder the police had actually made an arrest in the case a guy named Fred lamb he was a one-time cop a former sheriff's deputy in Laramie police officer according to news reports on the night Shelley was killed in 1985 Fred lamb had been staying in the apartment two doors down from her his blood had been found at the scene and after being confronted with DNA evidence in 2016 he had even told police that quote I'm not denying that I did it and Fred lamb did it but then a few months after charging him prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the case an article in the local paper headlined possible delay in Cold Case quoted the prosecutor who said her office needed more time to get test results back she said they were dropping the charges against Fred but only temporarily they planned to refile soon that was an early 2017.
to this day prosecutors haven't refiled which means a former cop had been arrested his DNA had been found at the scene he'd even apparently given something like a confession and then nothing the whole thing seems so laramy I doubted this was a story my editor would be into a random 36 year old Cold Case for my time in high school that might have a perfectly reasonable explanation for where it stood but I decided to make some calls anyway pull some string I figured what's the harm in a little side project from cereal Productions in the New York Times I'm Kim Barker this is the coldest case in Laramie [Music] think of all the places you can go with audible while summer may seem far off you can take a trip right now powered by best-selling audiobooks popular podcasts and exciting new Originals let your mind wander and wonder or get inspired with the very best stories and truly Innovative voices that are changing the world when you listen the possibilities really are endless maybe you want to get lost in a chilling True Crime mystery or a sweeping romance maybe you want to blast off to another dimension who doesn't or maybe you could use some Pro hacks on how to better your business better your relationships or just get better sleep and there are always knockout performances from your favorite celebs to listen to the best part is you don't have to choose because you can have it all with audible there are thousands of titles that you can listen to all you want and more are added every week so come to the home of Storytelling and try it free for 30 days you can sign up right now at audible. com Laramie I'm Elena Bergeron I'm John Branch we write for the New York Times when I look at a basketball sneaker I think about my reporting on Stick slip it's a science behind why sneakers squeak I came to understand that we hear this type of sound all around us when I look at a basketball sneaker I think about its impact on culture I wrote about Melody asani and how her work designing sneakers for the biggest male athletes can open doors for other women designers the New York Times explore how we bring more of Life To Life at nytimes. com life I read through the handful of articles about Fred lamb I could find on the internet and then I started looking for Shelley's family I didn't find much an obit for Shelley's father and a pleading Facebook post from a young woman named Brandy saying she was Shelly Wiley's niece she didn't name lamb but she said a former sheriff's deputy a quote monster had never had to answer for his crime Brandi said that she and her family needed help I messaged her we set up a time to zoom along with her mom Lori Shelly Wiley's younger sister hi can you hear me yes I can you hear me yeah I'm just moving over to the zoom yeah um thanks so much you must be Lori I am good to meet you um obviously and I'm obviously Kim and that's uh hi Brandy good to see you hi hi so um like I figured we should start out with you guys asking me questions about what I'm doing and like uh you know I I would imagine that you would have questions yes absolutely what what are you writing about exactly so what I would be interested in doing is basically trying to find out what happened with um the case uh against uh Fred lamb right um like just get records do all the sort of uh things that you do um I just I feel like that there could be something there especially given like the Red Lamb was a cop um well there is something there I'm sure I'd hesitated before reaching out to Lori directly for one thing I could see from LinkedIn that she was the director of nursing at a nursing home in California in the middle of a pandemic I figured she was busy I didn't want to do this story without talking to her and I knew my call could open up Old Wounds but Lori was blunt and matter of fact and willing to talk so why don't we start with what your your understanding is with what happened with Fred lamb um so what happened with Fred lamb is well like when they arrested him a few years ago I know it's very political and I know they had to keep things a secret from a lot of people in the police department at the time but I did sit down with him about oh I'm going to say three four years ago and looked at most of the case with them well not most of the case for I was there for like three hours and looked at a lot of it and what did what did you see like what did they show you oh good lord it's a long story but when we went in so I went to Laramie um and actually I'm really good friends with my sister's roommate at the time Michelle oh I would love to talk to her yeah I'd seen mentions of Shelly's roommate Michelle in an old news story in the Casper paper in the few articles I could find online Michelle was the only person quoted who actually knew Shelly the only friend mentioned I've sure Michelle would probably talk to you too okay um so actually Michelle with I hadn't seen her in a long time but I had flown from my dad's house and Michelle picked me up but we drove to Laramie and she'd already talked to him but I went there and I talked to the detective he we were in the room and I know somebody was on the camera watching or guiding him I could tell but they just went over the story and they basically said so so his apartment was two apartments down the basics As I understood them from talking to Lori and reading about Fred Lamb's arrest back in 1985 he had just left the sheriff's department and joined the National Guard full-time married with a kid living just outside of Laramie but on guardrail weekends he stayed at his friend's place in town which happened to be in the same apartment building as Shelly and Michelle Just Two Doors Down the weekend of Shelley's murder was a drill weekend so Fred was staying over as usual Lori told me the last time she saw her sister Shelly was just a few hours before she was killed Shelley and a girlfriend had spent the evening talking and drinking tea in her living room Lori stopped by after getting off of work but soon Shelley sent Lori and her friend home Shelly had to get up early for a waitressing shift Michelle was gone for the night so Shelley was alone at some point in the early morning hours of Sunday October 20th someone got inside of Shelley's apartment and attacked her in her bedroom it looked like she'd tried to escape she made it out the front door put on the sidewalk just outside of her building her attacker caught her stabbed her repeatedly dragged Chelly back inside before setting the apartment on fire at about 5 20 in the morning Witnesses saw flame shooting out of Shelley's apartment engulfing the living room and the front door Fred was there one of the few people at the scene police interviewed Fred late that afternoon he told them he had guard Duty the next day and would be heading to Arkansas for a couple weeks of training and then as far as Lori knew the cops never looked at Fred again not until three decades later in 2016 when Laramie investigators keyed in on Fred for the murder they gathered evidence and called Fred in for an interview this one lasted more than seven hours near the end according to news reports is when Fred referred to himself in the third person and said things such as Fred lamb did it and bottom line is I killed a girl after Fred was charged Laurie said the lead detective brought in her and Michelle and walked them through the early mistakes in the case why did the crime scene tape only go to the first apartment and when he looked at the picture sure enough they didn't even go to the second or third apartment even though there was more evidence further down so anyhow yeah they let Fred go but there was he did have some blood spatter on his door and he had a cut on his hand and he said he cut his hand I can't remember what he told them knocking on the door do I can't remember how he got that but I know he went behind the building at one point cut the whole phone line I mean what's it like to find out they they arrested guy Two Doors Down I think Michelle was like I knew he may have had something to do with it Michelle said that from the beginning um I don't know if she knew it was him but she questioned Lori says they all knew Fred lamb he used to go to Fosters a huge truck stop off of Interstate 80 where Lori Michelle and Shelly all worked they'd see Fred at Fosters meeting with other cops to drink coffee and shoot the phosphorus was just across the dirt road from Shelley's apartment building the building itself wasn't much five low slung units arranged in an L shape it was the kind of building that looks like a strip of crummy motel rooms but is in fact a strip of crummy rental units along a sidewalk and parking lot that's the other place Lori remember seeing Fred sometimes when she was over at Shelley's apartment building we would sit outside sometimes we'd sunbathe out there because that's what you did in the 80s I know when they said it in the report I'm like oh my God you're trying to make us look like aren't you I pretty much told him that I'm like that's not how it was then that's not really where we were but they came home but I remember I was I don't even think we were sunbathing this time but we were standing outside and I must have been leaving but I remember Michelle's smacking me and telling me look at those weirdos there's my neighbors he's a weirdo but I remember a couple weeks before their screen kept coming off their window different screens and somebody uh they had somebody put it back on or he offered to put it back on and Michelle turned him down one time but I remember their screens in the front would come off and then in the back would come off but they never knew who it was they weren't too worried about it at the time right what did you think about the fact that he was a former police officer and he used to be in the sheriff well first I had to really I was like hmm I didn't have a lot of feelings by the way and then I'm like well they're because they wouldn't really answer any of our questions but yeah I was pretty naive then I'm not nearly as naive now or these days you know I would have hounded them or called him more but yeah no they didn't tell us they had any suspects or that they really talked to him or that I remember the detective who was in charge of it now is not somebody who is originally a police officer at the time he's not from Laramie okay so so he's like he's not familiar with the case I'm I'm now sitting inside my bathroom because my dog's being super loud oh okay he's familiar with the case he um he ended up with the case and he investigated and he's the one who got the warrant to arrest Fred the first time okay and then I don't know he's now like the assistant chief of police but he kept the case so he sounds like he's very invested in it then he's very invested in it he's the only one that'll help me with anything nobody else will go further he's the only one that tries to get them to press charges or to move forward or to do any of that nobody else will really help and what's his name the deputy uh the detective area that he may be the I'm not even sure his title now the assistant chief his name is Robert Terry Robert Terry okay and how did you find out that they were gonna drop the charges at least for now against lamb I read it in the paper oh they didn't call you and tell you oh no no anytime I call any of the attorneys they have only had victims witness call me like twice I called a lot though I hounded the police station when he was arrested and the first police officer that answered at the jailhouse and she was really rude and she was like I don't know what case you're talking about so she transferred me to another police officer and he told me that he wasn't allowed to discuss the case but then it got really quiet and it was like he was whispering in the phone and he said you need to purse through this don't stop and then he hung up the phone but at one point um Peggy Trent was the prosecutor for it and I called her a few times and she wouldn't answer the phone and then I kind of got on a kick of you know calling I thought in my head I'm like I feel like Laramie is really a bad place to try it so I wonder if there's something that I could do you know where to get it transferred out of Laramie to maybe Cheyenne so I remember calling Cheyenne and asking them you know if they knew about the case and that I was her niece and um how they get it transferred or whatever and the lady that I spoke to she said I can't just um take the case she said it has to be given to us by Peggy Trent but she was like can I call you right back in 15 minutes and I'm like yeah and I didn't think she was gonna call me back well she called me back really quickly and she was like yeah I just spoke to a judge and we're we want it but we can't just take it so I called Peggy Trent back and I told her you know like Cheyenne wants it in the case and I feel like it would be better to be you know tried outside of Laramie and she was so angry with me she told me um how who do you think you are just trying to take my case away so I was really frustrated with her and I would call her office every day you know just to ask questions and eventually I was sharing on my Facebook um the article you know and saying this is my aunt everybody please share so um it started to get you know around a little bit and then Peggy Trent called my grandmother on me and told my grandma that I was jeopardizing the case and to make me stop she called my grandma on me I talked to Peggy Trent about this story she told me she didn't remember Brandy calling her office nor did she remember calling Brandy's grandma Peggy has since left the prosecutor's office she told me she wouldn't talk about an open investigation thank you get immersed in the latest stories on Audible it's got everything you want to hear juicy Memoirs sizzling romances chilling Mysteries and mind-blowing 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com Laramie Lori graduated high school a few months before Shelley was killed she told me she spent much of her time at Shelley's even spent the night there sometimes they were four years apart but Lori told me they were really close they drank beer went to University football games in A Garfield notebook they kept on Shelley's dresser they wrote about their lives from the perspective of a cat when Lori spoke to me about Shelly she did it without a lot of sentimentality she seemed like she put her memories of her sister and what happened into a box that she never opened kept a charm bracelet of Shelley's with a dangling ballerina in a bag in a drawer where she rarely saw it Lori told me that Shelley's death devastated her family for Vicky Shelly's mom the murder of her oldest child became the divider of life into before and after life before Vicky gave birth to Shelly just after high school and the two pretty much grew up together they looked alike like sisters even talked all the time even after Shelly's dad and Vicki divorced life after Vicki became more of a recluse according to Laurie more depressed more off on her own Shelley's dad kind of disappeared after his daughter's murder spent much of his time alone in the mountains didn't want to talk about Shelley's murder didn't talk much about her at all he seemed to walk away from his second marriage without actually leaving and after the couple finally broke up Shelley's father left Laramie for good he died alone in Buffalo Wyoming leaving behind Shelley's funeral notice tucked inside a book and a bitter hatred of the Laramie police one of Shelley's Brothers started drinking after Shelley's death he never stopped he died shortly before my first conversation with Lori and Brandy when I asked Shelley's family about her what she was like who she was they tended to lean on the platitudes of the long dead she lit up a room with her smile she was smart beautiful inside and out and it makes sense Shelly is in their minds forever 22. a pretty woman who liked John Denver Who Loved animals especially cats who worked out at the gym regularly before that was really a thing for women who is often in fact the only woman in any of her engineering or industrial management classes in truth the most important parts of who Shelly Wiley was were still in the process of being ironed out her family Mourns this just as much as they mourn the person they loved that she was murdered right at that precipice before she or anyone else had a chance to find out who she was going to be um well I've talked to you guys for like more than an hour this evening's I I don't want to be to take too much of your time up in the very beginning but like and I hate to say that I'm giving homework right but like there's homework here if you guys could get me like if you could talk to Michelle and see if she'd talk to me and I think that she would be really important to talk to just because she would be more familiar with what his role was in the building at the time and all that stuff I'm sure Michelle will talk to you that'd be great okay all right and we'll just stay just stay in touch um and we'll see where this can go okay okay thank you thank you so much thank you but I gathered from talking to Lori and Brandy was that they didn't actually know a lot more about what happened with this case then what appeared in news reports in that vacuum they'd started developing some theories they were pretty clear that the whole thing was mishandled from the start that Fred didn't get a close look as a suspect back in 1985.
