Footsteps in the Dark Podcast

A missing transcript is found, and his private investigator keeps finding things in strange places. John Woodward tells me about where this all started, and I'll discover new information showing it began long before John thought. A new name leads to a revelation...and two brothers are unmasked.

John Woodward's private investigator goes looking for documents that show up in weird places. We reexamine a failed drug test that landed John back in prison in 2009, leading to his meeting Jackson. A web of connections appear, and the PI finds Michelle McPhillips...and what she said shakes John's reality and gives a glimmer of hope.

John Woodward's private investigator tries to get John freed after being convinced Jackson was trying to scam John, and immediately realizes something isn't right. He turns his focus onto John's first case from 2006, and runs into the same headaches as John's first investigator. As the PI pulls the strings, the ball of yarn begins to come undone.

Jackson made a deal with the devil, and now he had to make good on it. Tasked with getting John Woodward to talk, Jackson goes to work. John would tell his attorney everything...but it was too late, and years later, multiple analyses of the recordings would show something wasn't right.

Through a chance email, I find myself talking directly with Thomas Jackson. After striking a deal for his story, things get weird...then, Jackson cracks and starts talking about John and what happened, and Jackson tosses a couple curveballs.

In 2010, John Woodward finds himself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Thomas Jackson. John has his wife send attorney Jan Tarvestad $2500...but for what? Was it for legal fees? Was it for a truck? Or, was it a down payment for murder?

In early 2010, John Woodward was fighting to overturn a ruling that could get him released, and he meets another inmate, Thomas Jackson. A lifelong criminal, Jackson offers his help. John, being desperate and depressed, accepts. It is a decision John Woodward would regret.

In 2006 and 2010, John Woodward was charged with multiple crimes he claims he is innocent of. Once a self-made millionaire, John has very little beyond a family that never gave up on him or his claims of innocence. In 2018, he'd hire a private investigator to look into his claims. This is the investigation and story of John Woodward.

John Woodward claims he was wrongfully convicted...twice. After a 6-year private investigation, it might be true. What John didn't know, however, is it might not be twice...it might've been three times. 

This is the story...of John Woodward.

After eliminating the impossible, only the possible remains. The private investigator discloses a location and the team visits where the private investigator believes Tammy was injured. Reconsidering the evidence results in a shocking conclusion. A detail in a letter seems to confirm where Tammy died...but only one person knows for sure. 

The remaining theories are examined and an old lead gets a second look. The private investigator opens up about their investigation and takes us through their process. By following Tammy’s footsteps, they narrow down the timeline leading to her death...and come across a location that intrigues them.  

Years go by and the case goes cold. The State of Nebraska had done their part and the case got cold. Despite continued involvement with local South Dakota law enforcement and the FBI, no new leads have developed. Rumors and speculation lead to new theories regarding her death. Friends and family take their case to social media and raise money for a private investigation. Old evidence gets challenged and a new lead is uncovered.  

Introduction to the Footsteps in the Dark podcast featuring the case of Tammy Haas of Yankton,  South Dakota in  1992.