The Strange Case of the Circleville Letters

Some of y’all may be too young to remember, but in the days before
email, getting a handwritten letter in the mail was fun. Somebody
had taken the time to write out a message just for you and sent it
through time and space. It could be from an old friend, a lost
love, or a secret admirer. You couldn’t wait to get inside and
discover what was so important that it needed to be personally
drafted for your eyes only. But when school bus driver Mary
Gillispie opened an envelope addressed to her in 1976, she had no
idea that it would mark the beginning of a bizarre campaign of
terror that would dominate her life for decades. One that would
include blackmail, obscenity, harassment, threats against her
family, attempted murder, and letter after letter, drafted to
disturb in the most intimate ways imaginable. And it wouldn’t stop
with Mary. The hysteria spread through the sleepy town of
Circleville, Ohio like a plague. Secrets were exposed. Threats were
made. Sometimes there were toxic powders in the envelopes, too.
When the TV show Unsolved Mysteries got involved, they got their
very own threatening letter—don’t air the episode, or else. Join us
for one of the most twisted tales we’ve ever covered.

Sources:
Paul Freshour’s WordPress:
https://circlevilleletters.wordpress.com/
Whatever Remains Podcast: Welcome to Circleville:
https://www.whateverremainspodcast.com/circleville
Invisible Ships Podcast:
https://invisibleshipspodcast.wordpress.com/episodes/
Unsolved Mysteries, Season 7, Epiosde 6
ABC6 News:
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/circleville-police-looking-for-tips-in-unsolved-1980-homicide-of-25-year-old-teacher

Mental Floss, Jake Rossen:
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrii5iBXTBlBYgFqTFEDN04;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzUEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1697697282/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fm.imdb.com%2ftitle%2ftt0737542%2f/RK=2/RS=74RxpCcEm_B1s56K9cWTjMtY0n8-

CBS News: The Circleville Letter Writer: You’ve got Hate
Mail:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/pictures/circleville-letters-mail-gallery/


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