Did Wilkes-Barre police brass purposely ignore evidence in the 1972 Juanita Todd murder investigation? If so, why? Six years after the 22-year-old Black woman’s barbaric killing, Wilkes-Barre Patrolman Don Smith swore under oath that Captain of Detectives John Lowe neglected crucial information that might have helped solve the Todd case. Smith also told investigators […]
We watched excited children lick dripping double-dipper cones as their parents matched them scoop for scoop or ate top-heavy sundaes loaded with whipped cream and bright maraschino cherries – happy families out for ice cream on a hot summer day. Low-key, the four of us sat at a red wooden picnic table beneath a green […]
More than 20 years ago Odetta Todd stood alone knocking on the front door of the small brown-shingled house on a narrow Wilkes-Barre street. After waiting and feeling the increasingly frequent stress that often made her wonder if anyone was listening, she turned away in frustration. A solitary figure fighting the world all by herself, […]
“I picked up the baby, Odetta, in my arms,” said Wilkes-Barre police detective Thomas Bird, his eyes staring into space like he was seeing a ghost and I wasn’t there. That March day we talked almost 30 years ago marked the first time in 22 years the cop whom colleagues called “T-Bird” publicly shared his […]
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown knows the terrible details of Juanita Todd’s story. City Police Chief Joe Coffay does, too. So does Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce. In addition to these three public officials, I also sent emails and my first five columns about the 1972 unsolved Wilkes-Barre murder of Juanita Todd to Wilkes-Barre city […]
