What Had Happened Was podcast: Inside Dayton’s 1992 Christmas Killings

Deep wounds are hard to heal. Some wounds never completely heal.

More than 25 years ago, a gang of youth led by a 16-year-old girl described as a cold-hearted terrorist, left a lasting scar on Dayton around Christmas.

>> PHOTOS: Infamous ‘Christmas killings’ spree shook the Dayton community more than 25 years ago

What Had Happened Was podcast host Amelia Robinson sat down with retired Dayton police Sgt. Stephen C. Grismer, educator Judith M. Monseur and Dayton Detective Dennis A. Murphy.

The trio's book "The Christmas Killings: 40 Hours to Justice (Dayton Police History Foundation, 123 pages, $23.50)"  reveals how police tracked down the Downtown Posse behind the 1992 murder spree dubbed the Christmas Killings.

>> 5 shocking details about one of Dayton’s most notorious crimes detailed in ‘Christmas Killings’

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

The book details how Sgt. Larry Grossnickle and detectives Wade Lawson, Tom Lawson and Doyle Burke, now retired Dayton homicide investigators, worked the case that still haunts the city today.
>>  RELATED: The notorious 'Christmas killings' of 1992: Map and timeline

But that’s not all.

Amelia and the authors talk about the spree that left six dead, the stresses involved in law enforcement, the Moraine Embassy and how Grismer and Murphy are working to preserve Dayton history as part of their work with the Dayton Police History Foundation.

Bet you can’t guess where the nation’s first speeding ticket was written and who removed dead horses from streets following the 1913 Dayton Flood?

>> FROM THE DAYTON DAILY NEWS: Vick Mickunas reviews “The Christmas Killings”

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ABOUT THE PODCAST

"What Had Happened Was" is a podcast for Dayton, powered by Dayton.com. You won't believe the stories that come from right here. Host Amelia Robinson shares the best tales from the Gem City, Land of Funk and Birthplace of Aviation: Dayton, Ohio.

This podcast is brought to you by Cox Digital Marketing.

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