Mike Missanelli hosts podcast that reexamines 1962 Bristol cold case murder of 9-year-old girl
Podcast investigates 1962 cold case murder of 9-year-old girl
Mike Missanelli, a former figurehead in Philadelphia's sports radio, joins Good Day Philadelphia to discuss his latest podcast "The Coldest Murder." The series outlines the 1962 cold case killing of a 9-year-old girl in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA - Mike Missanelli, best known for dishing sports takes on Philly sports radio, is re-examining a decades-old cold case killing of a Pennsylvania girl in his newest podcast.
"The Coldest Murder," hosted by Missanelli and filmmaker Vince Mola, looks at the brutal 1962 murder of Carol Ann Dougherty that rocked Bristol Borough.
Missanelli, a Bristol native, joined Good Day Philadelphia on Monday to share why the case that gripped the small Philadelphia suburb is personal to him.
"I lived right around the corner, my uncle was the police chief trying to solve this case," Missanelli explained. "I was playing football in the yard with my brother when my mother came running out of the house because he had called my house to say that there was a murder in the neighborhood and to get the kids in the house."
"The Coldest Murder," hosted by Missanelli and filmmaker Vince Mola, looks at the brutal 1962 murder of Carol Ann Dougherty that rocked Bristol Borough.
Investigators say on Oct. 22, 9-year-old Carol Ann Doughterty was riding her bicycle to return a library book when she stopped at St. Mark's Church to say a prayer. Dougherty was raped and murdered inside the church, and her body was found by her father after he spotted her bike parked outside.
"It was a crime that shocked the town – Bristol borough is a small, ethnically mixed town of about 10,000 people, everybody knows each other – so this was a major crime and it left a mark on a lot of people who lived in that town and even those who moved out."
Missanelli said there were four major suspects, the largest of whom was later found to be a "predator priest" in Lynne Abraham's exposé on the Philadelphia Archdiocese. All four suspects are now dead, but Missanelli hopes investigators will be able to use the latest DNA technology to uncover Dougherty's killer.
"What I'm trying to do in this podcast is kind of re-explore the case, go into the background of the suspects, make it like the listener is following along and have their own opinions about who committed this crime," Missanelli said. "At the end of this podcast, I'm hoping that DNA evidence will finally be able to solve this crime."
The Coldest Murder is currently on its fifth episode. To catch up, you can download or stream the podcast on all major podcast platforms.