101 Serial Killer and Sadist, Larry Gene Bell

Crimes, Killers, Cults and Beer: A True Crime Podcast

Filling in on this episode is A.B. from the incredible show, Momma Murdered A Podcast. Don't worry, Paul is coming back next week!

In Lexington, SC, 1984, a 17 year old girl, Shari Smith was abducted. Nobody saw anything of use to the investigation. An extensive search began. The FBI, and John Douglass himself were on the case. And, nothing was turning up. Then, the phone calls started.

A man was calling, claiming to have Shari. He began taunting the Smith family relentlessly, and they had to maintain their cool, and keep this guy on the phone as long as possible. The abductor made Shari write out a last will and testament, which he mailed to the Smiths. The calls were traced, and by the time the police got to the location, the caller was long gone. Shari's time was running out, and the taunting calls kept coming. At one point, he threatened that he would get to Shari's older sister, Dawn. He began saying incredibly sick things, making it obvious that Shari was not only dead, but that he had raped her as well. He finally gave the location as t where he had dumped Shari.

About that time, 9 year old Debra Helmick was abducted. The caller continued to taunt the Smiths, and gave directions on where to find Debra's body.

Finally, a break came when Shari's will was further analyzed, and the caller/killer was identified as Larry Gene Bell, a scumbag loser who John Douglass had perfectly profiled.

Join us in this cat and mouse game with a sadistic killer, who turned out to be a bumbling idiot. He was sloppy, but it was rock star level police work that solved this case.

Thank you, A.B. for filling in! This is an intense story, with one of the more satisfying ways that the killer was brought down.

Check out Momma Murdered A Podcast. Its great!

Facebook Instagram Twitter(X) YouTube Website