EP 62 | Justice For Beth Brodie, Crime of the Hometown Kind, Groveland, Massachusetts with Beth's brother, Sean Aylward

Case Update: Beth Brodie's story.  Beth's killer is up for parole in May. 

CALL TO ACTION below....

I first shared Beth's story in the spring of 2021 in episode 16. I am from the small town of Groveland, Massachusetts, Beth and I went to the same school, walked those same halls. What happened to her stayed with me. I think of her every time I drive through my old hometown, about her family, and how they had to drive by the house where she took her last breath on November 18, 1992 when she was just 15 years old. 

Beth's killer was a teenager, someone who she had been friendly with for a short time and whose feelings she did not share. Teenage love, for lack of a better term, is fleeting. He had left Groveland and moved to Peabody. Learning that Beth did not return his affection, he decided to act in a brutal and merciless way. There was no evidence of abuse between the two teenagers. Beth's family knew of nothing that could have led to what happened to Beth that day. The boy had been around the Brodie home and acted in what was best described as shy around adults.

Now, 30 years later, Beth's killer, is seeking parole with a hearing scheduled for Thursday, May 16, 2024. Once again, Beth's family is facing the prospect of this man being released. It is retraumatizing to a family who has had to live with the reality of their child being violently taken from them.

Your help is needed! Call to action:

• Letter writing campaign: To the parole board, to Governor Healey, letters to the Editor of local publications. Let them know you support the Brodie family and oppose the release of Richard C. Baldwin, currently housed at Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater, Mass. 
• Support and follow Justice for Beth Brodie #justiceforbethbrodie
• Share posts about the upcoming parole hearing of Beth's murderer

In the spirit of community and advocacy, I extend an invitation to join the collective effort to honor Beth's legacy as we prepare for the upcoming parole hearing. Your voice matters, whether it's through writing heartfelt letters, amplifying our message on social media, or simply being present to stand with a family. Beth's story is not over.

Transcript

Anngelle Wood: 0:00

Well, hello, my name is Angelle Wood and this is Crime of the Truest Kind. Hey, everybody, welcome back. I recorded a bit and my dogs just would not stop barking. I can often overlook some of it, and I often do, because when I sit down here in my studio and I work, they're almost always with me. I don't sit in like an isolation booth and all of that nonsense. I find that to be pretty unnecessary. However, they do make a lot of noise. So, take two.

Anngelle Wood: 0:55

For those of you who follow on the social platforms, you may know that I am in the middle of a nine-night music festival that I plan here in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I live. It is called the Rock and Roll Rumble. For locals, it is the Rock and Roll Rumble, the same Rock and Roll Rumble that originated on 104.1 WBCN and the Rock of Boston back in the late 70s Predates me by many, many years, but we're doing it. This is episode 62. 17. It is about a girl named Beth Brody. She was from a small town in northern Massachusetts where I grew up. The first many years of my life were spent in the town of Groveland, massachusetts. It's very small. My life were spent in the town of Groveland, massachusetts. It's very small.

Anngelle Wood: 2:07

I'm reviewing the script from the 2021 episode about Beth, and the population of Groveland, massachusetts is about 6,400 people. Still no grocery store in sight. Jerry's Variety is still there in Elm Park. I recommend that you go and listen to episode 17,. Beth Brodie, Crime of a Hometown Kind, Groveland, Massachusetts, with Beth's brother, Sean Aylward, from May 5th 2021. We are revisiting Beth's case this week because Beth's murderer is seeking parole. Beth's murderer is seeking parole. When Beth was murdered in November of 1992, Beth was barely 15 and didn't ever get the chance to even realize the person that she would become. And we do talk about that a bit in episode 17, and we'll talk about that now in episode 62. For a refresher on Beth's case and yes, I will mention the name of the person who murdered her for a couple of reasons One that person is seeking to be paroled.

Anngelle Wood: 3:21

Two his name is mentioned in the subsequent interview with Beth's brother, sean. Beth Brody had just turned 15. She had a brand new set of braces when she was murdered in the fall of 1992. She was 15. Remember being 15? I knew nothing. I knew nothing about the world. Being 15, I knew nothing. I knew nothing about the world. I knew I wanted to, but I hadn't really had the chance yet.

Anngelle Wood: 3:51

I know Groveland, Massachusetts. It is a small town, as I have said time and time again when talking about it. I love Groveland. When I go I drive through my old neighborhood and I drive around and I look at places that bring back the good memories. My family life there was not awesome, but I do remember my 160-pound bullmastiff Duke scaring the daylights out of the mailman just for simply sitting in the yard. My parents had to get a PO box. That beautiful blind-in-one-eye Bull Mastiff would regularly take a stroll down to the Donut Grove all the way down Union Street down the hill and eat delicious, greasy donuts Something we would never dream about now in this day and age. But that was a time when dogs just were dogs.

Anngelle Wood: 4:55

Beth Brody was 15 when she was murdered by 16-year-old Richard Baldwin with a baseball bat. She was born on October 10, 1977, murdered on November 18th 1992. Now, as we will discuss, she didn't really have much of a relationship with this boy, teenage, I don't know. Affection, we'll call it. It's very different than adult romantic love. Apparently, the 16-year-old boy who had moved from Groveland to Peabody, massachusetts, felt something that was not mutual with 15-year-old Beth, beth Ann Brody.

Anngelle Wood: 5:37

Let's talk about Beth. She was shy, she was smart, she was just starting to come out of her shell. She was very smart. Somebody like Beth could really have done anything, gone anywhere. I did have some correspondence back and forth with someone who knew Beth and spent time with Beth and spent time with Beth, somebody who was her age, who had had a friendship with her since elementary school. I wanted to know what Beth liked. She liked some of the oldies when I say oldies like the 50s and 60s music of the time, and I remember much like her friend shared they would make up dance routines to the songs. They gave each other nicknames. Her friend shared that Beth loved animals and she had a dog named Sudsy. Her friend thought maybe it was a bulldog or an American bulldog. Was a bulldog or an American bulldog which to me was very interesting, since I have bulldogs who happen to be quiet right now, surprisingly, there's more to know about Beth, but unfortunately, 30 plus years later after her murder, the only information you really find about her Only information you really find about her, aside from the Justice for Beth Brody website and social channels thankfully they exist is information about the boy who killed her. At the time he was 16 years old.

Anngelle Wood: 7:28

Richard Baldwin's trial began on March 28, 1994. Beth's family were forced to relive every detail about the violence and brutality that Beth suffered that day at the hands of someone who claimed to love her or at least like her. But it very clearly was an unhealthy obsession. And her family has said that that killer showed no remorse in the courtroom and in the 30 plus years since his conviction for Beth's murder he has continued to point the finger everywhere else except at himself.

Anngelle Wood: 7:57

The verdict in the Beth Brody murder case came down on April 4th 1994. Guilty of first-degree murder, life in prison with no chance of parole. April 4th, for those of us who were stuck in our own teen angst, was the day before Kurt Cobain took his own life. On April 4th 1994, the jury found Richard C Baldwin guilty of murder in the first degree based on deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, and, due to changes in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the ruling came down in 2014 that juveniles under the age of 18 could not be sentenced to life in prison. Now I think outside, looking in, when you have no experience or connection with a family who has gone through what Beth Brody's family has gone through, that may seem like, oh yeah, give him a chance. But remember, guilty of murder in the first degree based on deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. He set her up, he planned it. He had a baseball bat. He arranged with an unknowing mutual friend to get her to come to their house. He knew what he was going to do to her In 2019, beth's killer was up for parole and planned to attend the hearing, but canceled it at the last minute.

Anngelle Wood: 9:26

Here we are in 2024, and Beth Brody's killer is looking to be paroled. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation. He offered no mercy to Beth. We need to signal boost. We need to send a message to the parole board that Beth Brody's killer should not be free. I have information from the Justice for Beth Brody Call to Action Letter writing sign holding, sharing and supporting All everyday regular people. Advocates can do that. I talked to Sean Beth's older brother. It's evident how painful this is for their family. We break down the case a bit and we talk about the impact and what their family is going through today. This is an update. Beth Brody crime of a hometown kind revisited Groveland, massachusetts. I've been reading up a little bit about, you know, just to sort of refresh myself with the SJC ruling and, you know, trying to make sense of it.

Sean Aylward: 10:41

Yeah, how's that going?

Anngelle Wood: 10:43

You know I spent a lot of time a couple of weeks ago. I had no intention on spending this much time on this case, but there's the case of daniel laplante. You're probably familiar with it. Yeah, going back to like, oh shit, what year is it? 1988? I think he was 17 when he killed a family. Same thing, you know, he, he to get out. There's no way that they're going to let him out because of how. I mean. Let's hope.

Anngelle Wood: 11:10

I can't see this kid getting getting out of prison because of the nature of his crimes. I mean, I think that kid in particular was on his way to being a serial killer.

Sean Aylward: 11:20

So you know, what I think I found is that people that haven't experienced it don't know how to separate homicide from premeditated murder, because I mean, people die in terrible ways all the time. Murder happens all the time as well. Victim is just innocent in the whole thing, and it's some sort of scheme or ploy that the predator I like to call them Baldwin lured Beth from our family home. You know that doesn't happen by mistake, and at some point the system needs to be able to separate those that can be rehabilitated and the ones that don't deserve to be rehabilitated.

Anngelle Wood: 12:05

I mean, given the bit of information I know about what led up to when Beth was killed, even some of the things that were reported to be said by him diabolical.

Sean Aylward: 12:18

Right.

Anngelle Wood: 12:19

If you or I did that play by play of what happened that day, we'd never get out.

Sean Aylward: 12:25

Right. And why is that? That, as an adult it's pretty clear. But because they use this junk brain science argument that his brain wasn't fully developed and he didn't know what he was doing, and so on and so forth. I just don't buy it. I can't accept that as a good reason. Well, I just don't buy it. I can't accept that as a good reason. We see stories all the time about you know this 13-year-old graduated from Harvard, is moving on to medical school, you know stuff like that. So the child prodigy counteracts any other argument that the brain sure may not be fully developed. But using that science in such broad strokes would lead me to believe that all brains develop to the same level, and we know that's not true. And they develop at the same rate, and we know that's also not true.

Anngelle Wood: 13:16

There's a lot to be said in a lot of these circumstances and again, I don't mean to imply this is the case with this person, this murderer I get that there are some extenuating circumstances that affect someone's behavior. We see it all the time right, he may have had a very poor upbringing, he may have had some terrible experiences. We know that can affect someone's behavior. But you know what? I know a lot of people that have had really shitty upbringings and haven't done this. There's a whole lot of yeah we can say coping mechanisms and therapies and brain damage and I know all that stuff goes into some of these considerations. But what happened that day and leading up to Beth's murder? It was incredibly cruel. Do you feel comfortable talking about some of those events of that day?

Sean Aylward: 14:09

Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about that day because there's such an age difference between the two of us. I had moved out of the house by then. I was living in Southern New Hampshire. I didn't know anything happened until about an hour after it happened and we're kind of dating the case here. But my sister Dawn left a message on my answering machine because we didn't carry cell phones back then.

Sean Aylward: 14:38

So when I got home from work there was a message that he had hit her and that I needed to come home. And the first thing that popped into my mind is good God, she just got braces, she's going to be pissed. And I had no idea of just how bad it was. And we stopped, my wife and I. We stopped at the police station on the way in. I figured you know, here I am the big brother, I'm going to take care of this. And we stopped there and a good friend of the family was an officer and he saw me in the lobby and with the strangest look on his face he said you just need to go home. And that's when I knew the whole thing had changed.

Anngelle Wood: 15:22

Did you know anything about this person? I mean a lot of the media reports back then in 1992, when Beth was killed, suggested all of those typical newspaper headlines cheerleader killed. You know, all of those sensationalizations that we see. Unfortunately, that still ring true today. My understanding because, sean, you and I have spoken about this before and we're revisiting this case. This case never leaves me. By the way, I always think about Beth and your family quite a lot, being you know two Groveland kids and she and I didn't know each other, but you know we went to some of the same schools before. You know I moved away before I reached high school but we walked some of the same halls. You know what was their relationship that your family is aware of. They dated once. I mean, and dating for a 15-year-old is like maybe going out to a party together. I mean, that's not dating. What do you know about? What best relationship was with this person?

Sean Aylward: 16:24

From what I understand and obviously I wasn't filled in to all the finite details of it, but there really weren't any. As far as I know, and like you hinted at it at that age two people that want to be boyfriend and girlfriend. They kind of sit together at the same lunch table. Maybe they'll hold hands when they walk back and forth to the bus. That to me, as far as I know, was about it. I don't think there was anything out of town or out of the neighborhood or anything like that that ever took place. She had, for whatever reason, this sense that she didn't want it to be any more than that. She had better sense, I guess.

Anngelle Wood: 17:04

She was young and she wasn't really interested in that at that phase in her life, I'm sure.

Sean Aylward: 17:11

No, absolutely not. I mean, she was very, very shy. She was fine with people that she knew, but I think there was a little bit of a slowdown when she got to middle school because all of a sudden there's this whole new group of friends and she was more of a bookworm. She's probably the smartest person in our family. She had great grades. She was very well liked by the friends that she had and boy, I'm really finding out she had some really great friends.

Sean Aylward: 17:39

She started to come out of her shell as a young woman. She spent a lot of time with my other sister, dawn, and they did some cheering together and she was really becoming her own person rather than just, you know, a bookworm school student. And it was nice, you know, to see this bright smile on her face. A lot of the things that come to mind are we threw a surprise birthday party for my mom. Things that come to mind are we threw a surprise birthday party for my mom and there's still some pictures floating around from that night and she had this giant, wide smile, probably the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face. The year that she died was the same year that I got married, so we have some wedding photos.

Anngelle Wood: 18:20

You know, it was just, she was just beginning, just getting started Just trying to figure out who she was going to be Right, and this person just couldn't seem to let go of something that really didn't exist.

Sean Aylward: 18:35

I think a lot of young boys at that age probably feel like you know, this is the relationship I want to have and this is my girl, and she just didn't see it that way and he couldn't accept that.

Anngelle Wood: 18:47

Do you know the period of time from when they were friendly and and she stepped away from whatever the notion of this relationship was until she was killed? I know she was killed in November of 1992.

Sean Aylward: 19:02

Was it a period of time of like the summer to November, or I think it was something that started when school started up that year, so September, so a really short period of time for anybody to gain some feelings. But she knew enough to stay away and then on that day he used a mutual friend to get her to his home and I think that she had trust in him, but not in Baldwin.

Anngelle Wood: 19:30

Because that was sort of a buffer for for probably both of them at that time. Right, the house was in the neighborhood.

Sean Aylward: 19:37

Yeah, it was. It was uh. Naturally it was a home they went to after school. There was no adults around at the time, so they had a couple hours to just hang out and do teenager stuff. Beth was home after school, I'm assuming schoolwork, homework, something like that because it was around dinnertime when it happened.

Anngelle Wood: 19:59

What was the relationship with the neighbor?

Sean Aylward: 20:03

He'd always been around Not a bad kid. I met him a couple of times, probably just in passing. Really couldn't make any judgment on him until after. Obviously, you know, I think my emotions may be misplaced with him because he kind of facilitated it and allowed it to happen. Whether or not he would have been able to stop it I don't know. At the time he's the only person I could blame.

Anngelle Wood: 20:29

I wonder, given you know the neighbor's age where this took place, if they were even aware that this was. They couldn't have been aware that this was the plan with this kid?

Sean Aylward: 20:40

I don't believe he would have allowed it to happen had he known the stories that were told in court. Was he was. He just had to go get her. You know, go to the house and get her, because he wanted to talk one last time.

Anngelle Wood: 20:54

It moved very quickly. Beth was attacked. She did not survive. The person who attacked her was found later the same night at Pentucket right Correct, At the school nearby, which is very close to where Beth was living at the time. Less than a mile he had made some attempt at harming himself went to the hospital. Hale at the time Hale isn't there anymore. No, when we spoke before, you told me about a couple of comments that he had made in the hospital that were pretty twisted too. Do you remember those?

Sean Aylward: 21:34

The one that hangs heavy in my head is when he raised the bat towards her. He said and I wanted to be a baseball star. Oh my God, the key word to catch there is wanted. So he clearly knew that now he wasn't going to be.

Anngelle Wood: 21:54

He had to know that the behavior, the planning and then following through with that plan and ultimately that behavior was going to cancel out anything that he may have wanted to do in the future anything that he may have wanted to do in the future, you would think.

Sean Aylward: 22:14

but here we are and he's somehow looking for some sort of forgiveness.

Anngelle Wood: 22:31

So in 2019, he was technically able to go up for parole and there was a reversal there. Do you feel largely because of the pressure the family was putting on him?

Sean Aylward: 22:37

I do. He first requested it because he's been eligible since 2014. Five years passed, but he'd done no preparation for it at that point. He hadn't taken any programming, spent a lot of time in solitary confinement and then he postponed. So we were kind of relieved. We didn't know if it was a forever postponement or just you know. Maybe I'm not quite ready today, and then a couple of weeks goes by and he's ready again. So now we have to go through all of this for a second time within a very short period of time. And then, closer to a month before, maybe a week or so before the hearing, is when he canceled altogether.

Anngelle Wood: 23:20

You're emotionally trying to prepare yourselves, your entire family, for what you're about to face, and that's a re-victimization by itself, oh yeah. And then he decides, because this is the only control that this person has over anything. Then he decides, for whatever reason, doesn't really matter what the reasons are right. Hopefully it's the pressure that he has felt coming from the family and all of the advocates for the Brodies, your family. Five years goes by. Here we are in 2024, 10 years after he is technically eligible to go up for parole. Right, he is now in his 40s.

Sean Aylward: 24:05

Right.

Anngelle Wood: 24:06

He's been in prison since 1994. Is that when the verdict came down?

Sean Aylward: 24:12

Ironically, on my anniversary, he was sentenced.

Anngelle Wood: 24:15

Oh, my goodness, that's sort of a gift Right, an unwanted gift Right, given the events that led up to that, 1994, he's sentenced to life in prison because he murdered Beth Brody, 15-year-old girl, premeditated, got the neighbor a mutual friend for her to come over, hit her. She doesn't survive the night. Now he is up for another shot at parole. What does that entail that you're aware of, for an inmate to go up for parole?

Sean Aylward: 24:58

Well, it could be very little, because attorneys are hired and paid for by the state. Any expert testimony paid for by the state. The attorney gets paid win or lose. So it's almost like a fishing expedition. If you're a defense attorney, you say, hey, you know, I can go latch on to one of these guys and drag them in front of the parole board. Win or lose, I still get a paycheck Right Right, with no forethought of what that does.

Sean Aylward: 25:31

To the other side of the story, because let me explain the parole office, because a lot of people have the wrong idea of what the parole board looks like.

Sean Aylward: 25:45

Everybody pictures this big, long bench with a whole bunch of judge-type people standing there in this giant courtroom, or even like the courtroom in Haverhill is five times the size of this room that we're going to be sitting in. It is smaller than a classroom you would have had in high school. There's enough room for probably 20 supporters on each side, and the distance between my family side of that room and the chair that he will be sitting in with his back to us is about three steps. So it's intimate, to say the least, and I've been to three of these other parole hearings now for other people that are in the same position we are, and they were juvenile murderers, most of whom were not ready, one of whom has been released since on his second attempt. It's just painful to see these families get put through it all again, and now knowing that my family has to go do it has to go do it.

Anngelle Wood: 26:57

What are some of the steps that we, as supporters, can do? I know that there's been information shared on the Justice for Beth pages which I will continue to share. What are some of the action items that those of us who want to support the family can do? Can we write letters of us who want to support the family can do. Can we write letters? Can we come and, you know, stand out by the parole board location with signs Like what are some of the things that would best help your family in this?

Sean Aylward: 27:24

See, that's a tough call because the letter writing campaign, I think, is probably our best way. Honestly, I think there's going to be hundreds upon hundreds of those letters. They go to the board as a whole. They don't go to individual board members, but we'd been told before that they are obligated to at least consider those letters. I don't think they're going to read them all. They probably won't have time. I'd rather have them spending time on the case than on the letters.

Sean Aylward: 27:52

But I think the sheer volume of those letters is going to make an impact and I think doing other things like this conversation with you and some other news organizations have reached out and we've yet to finalize any of those plans.

Sean Aylward: 28:08

But as we get closer I think the story will get louder and I think a lot more people are going to hear about it and I think just making a buzz on the street that there's people here in opposition. I feel awful for the families that go to parole hearings and they don't have the representation inside that room. So I would have to assume the board at that point says, geez, there's not a lot of people here that oppose this parole and I think we're going to have just the opposite effect and, like you said, if we had people standing outside, whether they had signs or not, I think it's just a show of support. It's a very small area and I think it wouldn't take a whole lot of people to make it look crowded. At the same time, I don't want it to be a circus, but I think it's a good thing to get out there digitally, like we're doing the social media platforms. They gain a lot of traction and obviously, the fan base that you have and sharing the story is pretty crazy.

Anngelle Wood: 29:07

And you know people really do care about these things. I have learned throughout my I'll call it my short-lived career is doing, you know, things in the crime realm like this. People really do legitimately care about these situations. They legitimately do care about what the families are dealing with, care about what the families are dealing with, and they will show their support, whether it means them coming out physically and holding a sign, whether it's sharing something on their social feeds or writing a letter to say we stand committed to this message with the family. I think that it's all of those things and we'll make sure we get that word out to folks, whether they ever knew Beth or knew anything about your family at all. People do want to contribute in a positive way. I believe that wholeheartedly. The pressure is that much greater with just regular everyday citizens, advocates and people who are part of the media organization. That brings a little bit more pressure.

Sean Aylward: 30:21

Without it, it's just another piece of paper, it's another case on a desk. Without that, the human touch, I guess you could say the desk.

Anngelle Wood: 30:34

Without that, the human touch, I guess you could say what, if anything, is your family able to learn about the status of the inmate? Do you get any sort of information through your own advocate about what the status is of this person, whether they have family support, what they could be telling the parole board ahead of this? I don't know how any of that works.

Sean Aylward: 30:55

It's upon request, so they don't give you a continuous update or anything like that. But as long as you're Corey certified, which everybody in the family is, you can request that information. That's a tough call to make. How many times do you want to check in? Because, honestly, we don't care how he's doing, if he's misbehaving or something like that. I guess that would be okay to find out.

Anngelle Wood: 31:21

I'm just curious as to whether he's going through the motions of getting out. Does he have anywhere to get out to Like? Does he have any family support? Does he have anywhere to go If this kid gets out? Well, he's a man now, but what's the likelihood that they would even consider it? Does he have any kind of support whatsoever?

Sean Aylward: 31:39

There must be somebody there that would act as a sponsor. He needs a place to go. I suspect that's probably. He has a sister that's a couple of years younger than he is. I think both of his parents have passed, so I don't think that's an option, but I don't know. But he definitely needs to. He has to do a couple of things before he can even be considered. One of them is accept responsibility for what he's done, and secondly is have a plan in place and secondly is have a plan in place.

Anngelle Wood: 32:16

So what happens after this? You, your family and your supporters and your advocates go to this hearing. Sorry, it's happening on May 16th. Is that correct, correct? You all convene. Does he speak? And his representatives? Really, so you have to sit and listen to this person speak about the last number of decades?

Sean Aylward: 32:54

He can ramble on about whatever the hell he wants, and it's unlimited. He has as much time as he needs. The victims, however. We have the opportunity for five people to testify for five minutes each, and that's it, and whether we want to use one of those five slots for a district attorney or somebody else. I'm pretty sure my stepfather is going to speak. I'd be very surprised if my mom did. I do think, however, the two girls will speak.

Sean Aylward: 33:26

I will definitely speak and we have our eye on a couple of other people. If mom doesn't speak and there's one open slot, there's a few people in mind. Couple of other people. If mom doesn't speak and there's one open slot, there's a few people in mind. But it's going to be critical that the message we get across is Beth, because they know the case and they know the law and they can read up on his incarceration. What they don't know is the person that's not there that's's right.

Sean Aylward: 33:56

So it's up to us to bring that along. Let them know what we're missing and, potentially, what they're missing.

Anngelle Wood: 34:03

I mean, you are her voice now.

Sean Aylward: 34:05

Yeah, and making those statements or preparing those statements is painful. You run the gamut of grief and anger to. I just want justice or vengeance and you can't. You know, I may think about it in all those ways some days and other people treat it differently. I don't think that we can rely on the system to take care of this for us, because the system told us before that we wouldn't have to worry about it and now we have to go through it every five years.

Sean Aylward: 34:41

So, even when that day is over, the panel does not decide that day. It's not like you get a guilty or not guilty verdict, like in a court case or anything you may see on TV. They get months if they need to to review the case. So again we sit in limbo with this, the hammer hanging over our head to find out what happens, and even if he's denied, he gets another five years and he can come back at it.

Anngelle Wood: 35:12

It could be as little as three years if he's already enrolled in some programming, but most times it's five.

Sean Aylward: 35:15

And where is he housed? He's in Old Colony Correctional. At the moment he was in Sousa Baranowski, which is maximum security for the worst of the worst, so it was very suitable. He spends a lot of time in Bridgewater because he has mental health issues.

Anngelle Wood: 35:32

I asked the pointed questions about him not because I think it's important to know just that. It's important to sort of clarify how it works, because I really don't know and you know I'm learning about these things and I become more equipped with information, as I, you know, become more I don't know invested in these sorts of cases.

Sean Aylward: 35:56

Right. So think of the people that don't have an investment like you do and people just leading their everyday lives and stories like this. It goes across a ticker on a news screen somewhere, or the past is past on their news feed on their phone and it just disappears. It doesn't last. So it doesn't mean a lot to a lot of people, but it means a lot to the people that care.

Anngelle Wood: 36:24

You know you get the same. Oh, that's too bad. And then it's, they're onto the next thing.

Sean Aylward: 36:30

Worse than that is so many people and you can't really be mad at them. But they say I know how you feel.

Sean Aylward: 36:37

And honestly, there are very few people that do know how we feel. In Massachusetts, when they changed this law, there was 63 people that knew how we felt. They moved the age up to 25 now. So there's another group, I think another 80. You know, people's hearts are in the right place and a lot of times they scramble for that comment. They don't know what to say. But that's a tough one to take. You know that. You know how we feel.

Anngelle Wood: 37:01

You're part of a club that no one wants to be in. Right, you didn't ask for this. You don't deserve this. Your family has been thrown into something that no one is equipped for. Even all these, many years later, how can you possibly be equipped or prepared for the things that you're going to be forced into facing? I will continue to talk about this. I will be sure to share information and send my own letter.

Sean Aylward: 37:35

You get the link right off the site. I think you already shared it once, right.

Anngelle Wood: 37:39

I did and I will continue to, absolutely. If there are any events, whether it's something that's in Groveland to rally people just in Beth's memory, I will do everything in my power to be there. If it comes down to me, you know, being in the room to support the family on the 16th, yeah, okay, absolutely.

Sean Aylward: 38:03

I'd like that.

Anngelle Wood: 38:04

I would very much like to just be there, just to have my presence as a support, but it's outrageous that we're talking about this so many years later. She's gone. All of the things, all of her wishes, weren't able to come true. What was Beth going to be? You know she was smart, she was headed to college. She could have been a doctor, a scientist. She could have found the cure to something. You know, we don't know. We don't know because she wasn't able to do that.

Sean Aylward: 38:33

And for a long time, all we had was positive, good memories of Beth, and you know now, every time this comes up, of course, the memories come rushing back, but it forces us to think about him more than her, which is not what any of us wanted.

Anngelle Wood: 38:50

And unfortunately that is so often the case with victims of crime and their families. So often, when you search someone, what often comes up? Is the information about the person who committed the crime. So much less of the information is being able to talk about that person and who they were and what they wanted, and that's why it's important for me.

Anngelle Wood: 39:16

I definitely want to have a family member involved in my conversations. I definitely want to make sure that the family, who knows firsthand what's happening, can share that with the public. I mean, that's the most important, most impactful information that can be put out into the stratosphere. You've been an incredible representative for the family and I know how taxing that's got to be for you and your family, and I know that your mom's had to face this unbelievable happening with her little girl.

Sean Aylward: 39:52

It puts us all in this on edge atmosphere. We were all in a group chat the other day when we were talking about putting stuff together and getting organized. You know, strategizing it kind of blows up, puts this unnecessary pressure on each other. The way one person wants to grieve or to tackle this isn't necessarily the way somebody else wants to do it, so we have to find a way that it works for all of us. The last thing we need is to be pissed off at each other or something.

Anngelle Wood: 40:26

You need each other for support, most definitely. Your family needs each other for support. Your family needs each other for support and I get that. Anything you need you, let me know, I will get the message out. I will continue to get the message out however I can. I have developed some relationships with some really great folks who advocate in this space and I will share this information with them and ask them can you give us a signal boost on this?

Sean Aylward: 41:16

If they would like to put something together like what you and I have done, I'm open to that too. Sure as many audiences as we can get to.

Anngelle Wood: 41:24

Absolutely.

Sean Aylward: 41:25

That's what I'm hoping for.

Anngelle Wood: 41:27

That's what I'm hoping for too. Well, I thank you for your time. I want you to go and do something fun Walk your puppy dog.

Sean Aylward: 41:35

Okay, take care, will do.

Anngelle Wood: 41:39

Thank you, sean. Thank you to Beth Brody's family and friends. Visit Justice for Beth Brody. Brody is B-R-O-D-I-E. All of this information I have posted at Crime of the Truest Kind on the episode link and in the show notes of the podcast. The parole hearing for Beth Brody's murderer is Thursday, may 16th. We have one month to mobilize and support the Brody family. As Sean said, there are many other families just in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who are experiencing the same thing and I stand by it. People do care. It is important and it is impactful to get this information out to as many people as possible, as many people as possible.

Anngelle Wood: 42:34

Thank you for listening. My name is Angel Wood. This is Crime of the Chewest Kind New England crime stories and a little history thrown into. You can find the show everywhere. Listen on Good Pods. Good Pods is an independent podcasting platform. Who lately has been showing Crime of the Truest Kinds a lot of extra love. Follow the show at Crime of the Truest Kinds on all the places. Give the show five stars on Apple Podcasts. Share a great review. Send show ideas via email crimeofthetruestkinds at gmailcom. You can support the show four tiers on patreon, starting at just one dollar. I dropped the may monthly mini on patreon, albeit a little late. I'm deep into this festival thing and trying not to miss any shows, by the way, trying not to skip. Thank you to our superstars executive producers Lisa McColgan, rhiannon, thank you Val, thank you Devin, pam K, thank you to all you wicked cool people. Most definitely, I would love the show to be self-sustaining.

Anngelle Wood: 43:51

We're not there yet, but I appreciate all of you. There will be more live shows. I'm trying to sort if I have time to fit them in before everyone sort of disappears for the summer. I'll give a TBD on that one. In the meantime, please help us signal, boost justice for Beth Brody, whether it be you send a letter to the parole board in support of keeping her killer behind bars, whether it be you're sharing things on your social media feeds to make more people aware of the situation, or perhaps be there in person. That is information that I need to get from the family. What that might look like If it's a matter of having an army of supporters outside, that is definitely something we will be talking about. Thank you for listening and never, ever, ever, forget to lock your goddamn doors. We'll be right back. We'll see you next time.