Ep. 54: John Dale Cavaness - Murder in Little Egypt

Dr. John Dale Cavaness was a beloved small-town doctor and respected member of his community, so there was a public outcry when he was accused of murdering his own son, Sean, for insurance money in 1984. It didn’t come out until his trial that Cavaness had murdered ANOTHER of his sons seven years before. And that's not even including the double reckless homicide before that! Sean chips past the “respectable” doctor's exterior to the monster Cavaness’s family knew, and Carrie marvels at the sloppy hubris of this double filicide.________________________________________Connect with us on social media:Facebook: www.facebook.com/aintitscaryTwitter: @aintitscaryInstagram: @aintitscaryPatreon: www.patreon.com/aintitscary___________________________________________Thank you to our sponsors:BetterHelp - Special offer for Ain’t it Scary? listeners: Get 10% off your first month at www.betterhelp.com/aintitscaryAudible - Get a FREE audiobook and 30-Day Free Trial at www.audibletrial.com/aintitscaryBarkBox - Enjoy a FREE month of BarkBox on us when you sign up for a 6 or 12-month BarkBox subscription! Visit www.barkbox.com/aintitscary for more detailsHunt a Killer - Receive 20% off your first Hunt a Killer subscription box at www.huntakiller.com with the code SCARYSQUAD at checkout!--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aintitscary/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Review from one of those lowlife Little Egytians

This episode is basically a well done rehash of Darcy O'Briens great book. I have lived most of my life one county north of Eldorado and am often there and in Harrisburg. While to my knowledge I never met Dr. Dale, I know a lot of people who knew him and were his patients. He did not have the wool pulled over everyone's eyes. I would say most everyone around here thought he was guilty. There are still a few around however who refuse to this day to admit the truth.
I do have a few bones to pick with the presentation though. Cavaness no doubt was a horrible killer, but he definitely had his good points. Smart and driven. Star athlete, president of his junior and senior class, and worked like a madman at some very good schools to become a great doctor. There were reasons his patients loved him. I didn't at all like the way his military service was portrayed. He enlisted at age 18 and served in battles in the Pacific. Nothing to pooh pooh there. O'Brien doesn't go into it a great deal, but he was raised by an overbearing mother. She used to play a game with him as a toddler where she would fall down and play dead until he was crying hysterically. She got great fun doing it over and over. That is sick! No surprise he grew up playing cruel jokes on people. Not trying to apologize for him. No doubt the guy had some serious character flaws and alcohol apparently destroyed his brain. He became a monster.
I really do resent how the area I live in was portrayed. Believe it or not we who live in rural areas are not all stupid and violent. We don't look at peoples license plates and you don't have to live here 20 years to fit in. The Klan doesn't exist here to my knowledge. It may have in the teens and 20s but that was true through out the country. Bootlegging was a major source of crime here during prohibition, but as I recall that happened everywhere. We had Charlie Birger. NY, Chicago, LA and every other city had their thugs.
It is true Little Egypt is in serious decline these days. We have nothing here now. Hospitals closed, theaters closed, restaurants closed. My town of 1500 people doesn't even have a grocery store, a pharmacy, a diner, or even a fast food joint. Gotta drive 20 miles to Walmart for most anything. We were good enough to dig your coal, pump your oil, and feed you city folks for years though. People here worked hard and endured things. I worked hard in the coal mines for 30+ years myself.