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True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshSeries Update - Garden of Lament and HopeOn March 26, 2025, the 35th anniversary of Elizabeth's murder, Covenant Seminary held a "Service of Lament" and dedicated a new "Garden of Lament and Hope" on the campus grounds. TJ and Ruth discuss the service (which TJ attended) and how Covenant chose to memorialize Elizabeth.
2025-03-2812 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshMorgan's StoryThe main True Believer project is finished, at least until there are any updates on the Elizabeth Mackintosh murder investigation. But we do want to return with a postscript that addresses a different question: What happened to other people who were students at Covenant Seminary in 1990?Many students and professors went on to respected careers in the ministry. One of them was a man named Ian, who in 2023 was deemed unfit to lead his church after a sexual misconduct allegation was made public by The Tennessean newspaper, as reported by friend of the podcast Liam Adams. Ian...
2024-12-1043 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshSeries UpdateThe family of David Winecoff recently reached out to “True Believer” with concerns about recent episodes. After reviewing their concerns, we have made several updates to Episodes 13 and 14. Ultimately, however, we stand by our work and our decision to include an examination of David Winecoff’s death in “True Believer.”Click here to read the statement released by the family of David Winecoff.
2024-07-2309 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 15: It's Also Worth Saying...In this final episode of the series, Ruth and TJ sit down with PCA pastors Doug Serven and Kyle Hackmann to discuss what they all learned from working on this series, and to answer some of the comments and critiques that listeners (and those that haven't listened) have made.We do have some bonus content in the works, so stay tuned for that. And if there are any updates in the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh, we'll publish additional content when appropriate.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or...
2024-06-181h 07True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 14: The Light of DayIn the last episode we heard about David Winecoff's connection to Elizabeth Mackintosh, and his apparent belief that Michael, the prime suspect, had nothing to do with her murder.When we left Norm Reed, he and David were planning a climbing trip to the Sangre de Christo mountains of Colorado. Today we’ll hear what happened on that trip, the fallout that followed, and how, just like with Elizabeth’s murder, administrators at Covenant Seminary wanted everything to go away as quickly as possible.David Winecoff’s death raises questions not only about what he may ha...
2024-06-041h 21True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshSpecial AnnouncementsA couple quick announcements.First, Ruth and TJ will be in Richmond, Virginia the week of June 9th, for the PCA General Assembly. If you’re going to be there and you’d like to meet up with us, or if you have any information that you’d like to share, if you know someone who’ll be there that you think we should meet, visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to get in touch with us.And second, we'll be publishing our next episode this coming Tuesday, June 4th. So you won’t have to wait another wee
2024-05-3100 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 13: A Skilled ManIn this episode we begin to talk about David Winecoff, the pastor of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church, which Elizabeth Mackintosh attended.David was something of a lightning rod in St. Louis Presbyterian circles, and his death in 1993 enshrined him as a sort of a mythic figure, especially for those who attended his church.But despite his elevated status and the high regard that so many have continued to have for him, many questions remain about his knowledge of and possible connection to Elizabeth's murder.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related...
2024-05-281h 07True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 12: The Secret AdmirerWe’ve talked about some of the interesting characters around Covenant Seminary in 1990. But as we enter the final phase of this series, we’ll explore the most interesting, and potentially most important, characters yet.In this episode, Detective Worth will start to lay out his own theory of the case, which differs pretty dramatically from everything the Creve Coeur police had believed before him and, as far as we know, what they still believe today.In December 1989 a married man approached Elizabeth about having an affair. Although she never revealed the man's identity, several peop...
2024-05-141h 01True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 11: Shady CharactersWe’ve spent this series mostly focusing on Michael, Elizabeth Mackintosh’s supervisor on the Covenant Seminary house cleaning staff. In the eyes of the police, Michael was the prime suspect in Elizabeth’s death, literally from Day One. But he wasn’t the only person they looked at.In any large group of people, even at a seminary, there are going to be some people with checkered backgrounds. But as the police started looking into possible suspects, and Covenant began its own internal investigation, some startling things came to light. Not only about people’s pasts, but things...
2024-04-3054 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: Sandra InterviewSandra was one of the few unmarried, female students at Covenant in 1990. And she had a class *with* Elizabeth, which turned out to be incredibly influential on the rest of her life. She also went to Grace and Peace Church with Egon Middleman, whom we’ve briefly mentioned before in this series. Sandra’s story provides a fascinating look into what it was like to be a female student at Covenant Seminary in 1990, and the effect that Elizabeth’s murder had on the people that were there.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials relate...
2024-04-2333 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 10: The Forgotten ChildrenMichael and his family left Covenant's campus in May of 1990, but the stigma of Elizabeth Mackintosh's murder followed them the rest of their lives. In this episode we hear from Michael's two oldest children, Karl and Kirsten, as they talk about the effect the murder had on them.Here are some resources if you or someone you know needs help with a domestic violence or child abuse situation.National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE or text “START” to 88788Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline : 1-800-4-A-CHILDVisit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to s...
2024-04-161h 11True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: Ryan Davidson InterviewFor this week’s bonus content we have the rest of our two interviews with lawyer Ryan Davidson, whom you’ve heard in the last couple episodes. Ryan reached out to us in February because he had some critiques of how he thought we were characterizing Covenant Seminary, in terms of how they have or haven’t responded over the years, and the legal advice they might be following around that issue. We asked Ryan if he’d be interested in doing an interview about that and other topics, and he agreed. Ryan’s voice turned out to be incr...
2024-04-0938 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 09: What Happened to MichaelA couple months after the murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh, Michael left Covenant Seminary (under "duress" as he described it) and moved his family to California. But his contentious relationship with Covenant has continued to this day. Using letters sent back and forth between Michael and Covenant, we examine what went wrong and how there's not much anyone could do about it.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-04-0259 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: 34 YearsToday's bonus content release happened to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh, so we wanted to take a moment to honor and remember her.Read the full text (and a brief history) of "The Sands of Time Are Sinking" here.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-03-2610 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 08: The PolygraphAfter Elizabeth's death, police ask a suspect, Michael, to sit for a polygraph exam. Reluctantly, he agrees, hoping that it will help clear his name. Ruth and TJ examine why that didn't happen.Click here to read a transcript of the polygraph clips heard in this episode.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-03-1954 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshSeries UpdateJust a quick update today. Late last week we learned that Covenant Seminary Admissions Recruiter Sean Davis was found dead of an apparent suicide. Apologies for the delay but we’ve decided to postpone Episode Eight until next Tuesday. A lot of our audience is connected to Covenant Seminary in one way or another, and we didn’t want to be distraction during what is sure to be a difficult week already. So, we’ll see you next Tuesday.
2024-03-1200 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: Liam Adams InterviewIn this week's bonus content you'll hear the rest of our interview with Liam Adams, religion reporter for The Tennesseean. Liam talks about some specific cases of abuse and misconduct the PCA has dealt with, his reporting on the Nashville Presbytery, the PCA’s 2022 Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault report, also known as the DASA report, the PCA’s Standing Judicial Commission (which is the PCA’s internal court), his approach on which stories are worth covering, how the PCA compares to other Evangelical denominations in the larger cultural conversations about abuse, and other topics.
2024-03-0545 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 07: Let's Talk About ItIn this episode we zoom out to examine the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination of Covenant Theological Seminary. What does the reaction to Elizabeth's murder tell us about how Christian institutions handle tragedy? And how should they talk about Elizabeth going forward?Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.More info from this episode...• Read the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault (DASA) Report here.• Luke Davis: Check out his Cameron Ballack detective series, one of which is loos...
2024-02-271h 13True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: Ruth Serven Smith InterviewIn today's bonus content you'll hear Ruth and TJ's first interview from June 2023, about Ruth's background and interest in Elizabeth's case, and some of their personal feelings about what they'd uncovered up to that point.
2024-02-2033 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 06: Don't Talk About ItSo far we've spent this series examining the details of Elizabeth Mackintosh's murder and the subsequent investigations. We'll come back to more of that later, but in this episode we focus on the way that the murder was handled by Covenant Seminary. Some people at Covenant felt free to talk about Elizabeth. Others felt that Covenant administrators wanted her murder hushed up. But everyone seems to agree that more should be done to remember and honor her.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-02-1356 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshBonus Content: Jerram Barrs InterviewTo appease everyone dissatisfied with our every-other-week release schedule, we're going to start putting out some bonus content on the weeks in between. Today we start with the leftovers from our interview with theologian and former Covenant Seminary professor, Jerram Barrs. He talks about his backstory, his time a L'Abri in Switzerland, some additional thoughts about Elizabeth and the environment of Covenant Seminary around 1990, and the history of Grace and Peace Fellowship (the church he helped found around 1970).Enjoy it while it lasts. There's only so much usable content available to release as bonus material...
2024-02-0638 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 05: A Strong-Minded WomanWe’ve spent this series so far examining what happened to Elizabeth Mackintosh, but in this episode we focus on Elizabeth herself. Who was she? What was she like? What was she doing at Covenant? And what were her plans for the future?Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-01-301h 19True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 04: 33 Years and CountingThe Covenant community reacts to Elizabeth’s death. Police travel around the country to investigate leads. Then they find out important information might have been saved by seminary lawyers and stored in a barn… or might be lost forever.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-01-161h 06True Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 03: The Prime SuspectPolice quickly understand that they have responded to a homicide at Covenant Theological Seminary, not a suicide (as the original 911 call said). As the investigation begins, police become interested in one man, a fellow student of Elizabeth Mackintosh. A choice made that day continues to haunt investigators.Click here to review the transcript of this episode.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2024-01-0248 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 02: The ChapelAbout a dozen people were around Elizabeth on the morning of her death, but no one saw anything incriminating. Ruth and TJ walk through the morning of March 26, 1990, minute by minute, examining who was where and when. We hear from former Covenant students and staff who were on the campus that morning, and also from two retired Creve Coeur Police detectives, George Hodak and Dennis Spoerry, as they describe the first day of the murder investigation.Visit www.truebelieverpodcast.com to see additional materials related to each episode or to get in touch with us.
2023-12-1944 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshEp 01: God Only Knows the AnswerElizabeth Mackintosh was killed in the chapel basement at Covenant Theological Seminary. The right tour guide will point out the spot, but Covenant hosts no memorial for her. And it’s not like Elizabeth was a stranger passing through… she was a well-respected student at the time she was killed. It’s been 33 years since her death, so why are some people still finding out about it for the first time? Because for all practical purposes any traces of her, and the fact that a murder even took place, have been wiped from Covenant’s institutional memory. In thi...
2023-12-1952 minTrue Believer: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth MackintoshSeries TrailerComing December 19th...Early on the morning of March 26, 1990, Elizabeth Mackintosh was murdered on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary in Creve Coeur, Missouri. To date it's the only unsolved murder in the city’s history. True Believer examines the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's murder and speaks to the people affected by it as they, and the men suspected in her death, search for answers.Visit truebelieverpodcast.com to learn more.Send us an an email to contact@truebelieverpodcast.com
2023-11-3005 min