True Crime All The Time Unsolved · PodcastOne

The Germond Family Murders

·1 hr 2 min·5 clips

Bernice Germond tells the bus driver the house is dark before stepping into an unsolved family massacre.

This episode of True Crime All The Time Unsolved covers the 1930 unsolved murders of the Germond family on their farm in Stanfordville, New York. Hosts Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson examine the brutal stabbing deaths of dairy farmer Husted Germond, his wife Mabel, their 18-year-old daughter Bernice, and 10-year-old son Raymond on Thanksgiving Eve. The hosts detail how Bernice returned from business college via bus, telling the driver the house looked dark before she approached. A milk deliveryman discovered the bodies two days later, finding Husted and Raymond in a wagon shed and Mabel and Bernice in the kitchen. Police theorized an assailant attacked Mabel and Bernice in the house before killing Husted and Raymond during evening chores outside. A bloodstained butcher knife, not belonging to the family, was found nearby but yielded no fingerprints. Husted's empty wallet, missing an estimated $100, was later discovered in a culvert. Early suspects included a laborer who had insulted Bernice two years prior and an escaped inmate from a state hospital. A mysterious man named Florentino Chase left town that night claiming his mother was dying, and witnesses placed him near the scene. He was later identified as Florentino Espiri Irmende, arrested for 55 days, and eventually deported to Spain after a witness failed to identify him in a lineup. In 1933, neighbor Arthur Curry was arrested for Raymond's murder based on affidavits, including one from his wife who claimed she initially lied out of fear. Curry, a barber who had cut Bernice's hair, had a $30 rent dispute with Husted and gave conflicting statements about his whereabouts. His wife's affidavit stated he asked her to confirm he was home at 5:45 PM, though another witness placed a man resembling Curry at the farm around 4:40 PM. A judge freed Curry, declaring the evidence too speculative and lacking motive, with a Pinkerton detective agreeing a conviction was unlikely. The hosts note the case was reopened under Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt but quickly returned to local authorities. Ferguson and Gibson emphasize the personal nature of the attacks and the challenges of 1930s investigation without modern forensics. They highlight the eerie moment Bernice noted the dark house and the odd behavior of various suspects. The hosts maintain a conversational and analytical tone, often interjecting with light humor to balance the grim subject matter. They pose rhetorical questions about timelines and motives, walking listeners through the evidence and legal proceedings. True crime enthusiasts interested in historical cold cases and early 20th-century investigations will appreciate this detailed episode. Listeners who prefer resolved cases or more modern forensic analysis might find the lack of closure and period limitations frustrating.

As heard by us

A patient look at how a family timeline can narrow an unsolved murder without solving it.

True Crime All the Time Unsolved spends this episode doing timeline work on the Germond family murders, and that focus gives the case some shape.

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Why you'd press play

You want a family murder case mapped against a Thanksgiving-week timeline.

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