What happened. Why it matters. Where to begin.

On Friday, October 13, 1989, Jimmie Wade Martin Jr. was beaten to death in Bonne Terre, Missouri — less than twenty feet from someone’s unlocked front door. The porch light remained off. Many on that street heard and saw what happened.

Bonne Terre was a small working-class town of 4,000 people where everyone knew each other. The town motto: Good Earth, Good People. Murder was rare in this once-prominent lead mining town.

Jimmie was 29 years old — less than three days from his 30th birthday. He left behind identical twin daughters who were eleven years old. He was the only son of Jim and Bernice Martin, with three sisters and a tight-knit family that would never be the same.

A man was arrested and spent three years awaiting a jury trial. Three days before it began, the charges were thrown out. He was released. The man now charged in Jimmie’s death remained free for 35 years.

The man accused in 1989 resurfaced in 2020 — helping Jimmie’s daughters, his family, and the Small Town Forgotten podcast find the truth.

Why Should a Stranger Care?

We aren’t special. We didn’t have a network or a budget or anyone telling us we could do this. We had a family that had been fighting for decades and a story that deserved to be heard.

We raised our families while we investigated. We lost family. We didn’t follow the typical true crime podcast rules. We made mistakes. We learned to make a podcast by making one badly first. We never sensationalized the story. We never made things dramatic for the sake of drama. We never named a suspect until law enforcement made the arrest public.

We just did the work — because no one works harder or loves more than family.

If you’ve ever felt like the system failed someone you loved, this story is for you. If you’ve ever wondered what an ordinary family can accomplish when they refuse to give up — this story is for you. And if you want to know what happened in Bonne Terre, Missouri on Friday, October 13, 1989 — this story is for you.

Where to Begin

Start with the case. Then listen to the podcast. Then follow the trial.

1. Read The Case

Start here if you want to understand the full story before you listen. Who Jimmie was. What happened that night. Why it took 35 years. What the podcast did. Who is on trial and why.

2. Listen to the Podcast

Fourteen episodes. Start at Episode 1 and listen in order. This is an investigation told in real time — the story unfolds as we uncovered it.

3. Follow the Trial

Trial begins November 16, 2026. Get updates delivered to your inbox as the case unfolds.

Episode 1 — A Matter of Time — November 13, 2020

Eyewitnesses. A confession. A murder weapon. So how does the death of Jimmie Wade Martin become a cold case? This is where it starts — a family sitting down with a binder thirty years in the making and pressing record for the first time.

Episode 2 — Suspect Suspect — November 24, 2020

The coroner report. The autopsy. The first police confession. Documents the twins had carried for three decades. When we read them out loud, something didn’t add up. Then a surprise guest changed everything.

Episode 3, Part 1 — Everybody Hurts — December 15, 2020

Before the investigation goes further, you need to know who Jimmie was. One month before he died, he wrote his twin daughters a letter. We read it in this episode. You’ll understand why we had to.

Episode 3, Part 2 — Open Wounds — December 18, 2020

This is what a cold case leaves behind. The open wounds carved into a family, a town, two little girls who grew up without their father and never stopped asking why. Listen to Part 1 first.

Episode 4 — Simple Truths — January 4, 2021

The twins tracked down the man once charged with their father’s murder. Then they sat across from him. This episode is about what happened when they did — and what he told them.

Episode 5 — Twin Time — January 19, 2021

Chris makes an announcement. Then he hands the mic to Andrea and Angela. Four episodes in, the twins answer listener questions from people who found this podcast and couldn’t stop. In 2021, we didn’t know if anyone was listening. Turns out, the world was.

Episode 6 — What We Can’t Tell You — February 23, 2021

The case was officially reopened. Chris interviews the St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney. There’s a lot we still can’t say — because saying it could cost the case everything. That restraint is its own kind of story.

Episode 7 — A Life of Fear — March 8, 2021

For thirty years, he stayed quiet. We sit down with David Brian White and try to navigate something delicate — what it might cost him to finally speak.

Episode 8 — See Something, Say Something — March 23, 2021

For thirty years he didn’t talk about it publicly. This episode is about what happens when he finally does.

Episode 9 — Patience — April 13, 2021

This is the episode that explains the silence. We didn’t follow a release schedule. We put out episodes when the story told us to — and went quiet when quiet was the only responsible choice. This episode is about that balance.

Episode 10 — What If — September 29, 2021

The twins speak directly to the people they believe are responsible for their father’s death. Not to law enforcement. Not to the public. To them, directly.

Episode 11 — For the Twins — July 26, 2022

Ten months of silence. Then this. After arrests and releases and nearly a year of staying quiet, we came back — with a forensic discovery from the crime scene that changed the picture of this entire case. DNA evidence. From 1989. In 2022.

Episode 12 — Motivated — October 28, 2022

Why would someone kill Jimmie Wade Martin? We interview a professor of criminal law, review the case from the ground up, and dig into the question the original investigation never answered. Motive isn’t the last thing you ask. It’s the first thing you have to understand.

Episode 13 — Time Is a Killer — October 15, 2023

We came back because witnesses age. Memories fade. People die. Small Town Forgotten returns with an announcement — and an interview with the ex-girlfriend of one of our suspects. Time is running out. So is silence.

Episode 14 — Judgement Day — September 6, 2024

35 years. Then one phone call changed everything. In August 2024, an arrest was made. This is the episode we never knew if we’d get to make. The trial begins November 16, 2026. The documentary is coming. But first — listen to how we got here.