Episode 1: Meet the Quinneys (Season 2)

February 25, 2020·25 min·2 clips

John Quinney was nine years old when he claims to have watched his father lead a satanic cult ritual that ended in two teenage girls being buried in pre-dug graves.

The episode opens with John Quinney's account of a night as a nine-year-old in San Antonio when he claims his father drove to a field where a satanic cult ritual took place, ending with two hitchhiking teenage girls being killed and buried. John describes his father, Melvin, as the leader of the cult. By 1991, this memory would become testimony at Melvin's murder trial. The hosts, Julia Marchese and Sharon Shattuck, introduce themselves and explain they spent two years investigating the case, finding a story connected to a nationwide satanic panic and raising fundamental questions about memory and belief. Before the accusations, the Quinneys were a suburban Christian family in Texas. Melvin worked as an exterminator, played gospel music on Sundays, and told his kids ghost stories using a deep voice he called 'My name is Legion.' John remembers being close to both parents — his mother Debbie loved Patsy Cline and would dance with him in the kitchen. The family's breakdown began in 1989 when financial struggles and marital infidelities led Debbie to ask for a divorce. The day after Thanksgiving 1989, while Melvin was out, Debbie gathered all four children — including a seven-week-old baby — and left the house without warning. John was nine and did not know his parents were divorcing. That night, adults including his mother began asking him questions about his father and his younger sister Sarah. He was told Sarah had been molested, and that his father was a suspect. Melvin, learning of the accusation from Debbie while working on his car, was told by a Child Protective Services worker that he was the only suspect. About a month later, Debbie called the FBI to report that Melvin led a satanic cult and had forced her to sacrifice their newborn baby. Retired FBI agent Mike Appleby met Debbie at a diner, heard her describe rituals with men in robes around bonfires, and flew her to Fort Worth to dig for bodies. Debbie kept changing the location, the digging produced nothing, and Appleby closed the investigation. Meanwhile, John had been placed in therapy and began recalling repressed memories of satanic rituals, including his father saying 'I am legion' at night-time gatherings. His official medical statement described fires in trash cans, devil worship, and ritual murder. John knew his testimony was the key evidence at his father's 1991 trial. The episode ends with a montage of news clips showing the same satanic ritual abuse claims emerging across dozens of American cities in the same era.

As heard by us

A careful family-crime story that lets small domestic details carry the dread.

This special preview opens with John Quinney remembering a childhood ride in San Antonio in the 1980s, then moves into a marriage falling apart and a sudden accusation that changes the story's terms.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a slow-burn family story with real emotional stakes.

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