Podcasts True Crime Let's Go To Court! 117: The Murder of Skylar Neese & Dr. Ossian Sweet

117: The Murder of Skylar Neese & Dr. Ossian Sweet

Published: April 15, 2020, 11 a.m.

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This week, Brandi makes up for Kristin\\u2019s April Fool\\u2019s Day prank by *actually* covering the murder of Skylar Neese.\\xa0
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It was the summer of 2012, and Dave Neese was supposed to have lunch with his 16-year-old daughter, Skylar. But Skylar wasn\\u2019t anywhere to be found. Dave was annoyed. It wasn\\u2019t like Skylar to be so irresponsible. He called her, but got no answer. Hours passed. Skylar missed her shift at Wendy\\u2019s. Her co-workers were concerned. Skylar always showed up for work. At that point, Dave and Mary Neese called the police.
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Then Kristin tells the story of Dr. Ossian Sweet. Brandi tried to tell this story for our Black History Month episode, but threw in the towel. (In case you couldn\\u2019t tell, this episode is a rough one!) In 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet and his wife Gladys Sweet were ready to buy their first home. As a black couple, they faced incredible obstacles. Restrictive covenants barred people of color from buying houses in white neighborhoods. That spring and summer, mobs of white people harassed black families who moved into white neighborhoods. Despite their fears, the Sweets bought a house at 2905 Garland St, Detroit, Michigan, and prepared to defend their property.
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And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
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In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
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\\u201cThe Sweet Trials\\u201d famous-trials.com\\n
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\\u201cOssian Sweet\\u201d wikipedia
\\n\\u201cSweet Trials: 1925-26\\u201d encyclopedia.com\\n
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The book, \\u201cWe Return Fighting: The Civil Rights Movement in the Jazz Age\\u201d by Mark Robert Schneider
\\n\\u201cDr. Alexander Turner\\u201d by Mariel Watkins for the Black Bottom Archives
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In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
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\\u201cSomething Wicked\\u201d episode Dateline
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\\u201c16-Year-Old Skylar Neese Was Stabbed To Death By Her Two Best Friends Because They Didn\\u2019t Like Her Anymore\\u201d by William DeLong, AllThatsInteresting.com\\n
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\\u201cFrom Best Friends to Killers: Teens Murder Friend Because They \'Didn\'t Like Her\\u2019\\u201d by Gail Deutsch and Alexa Valiente, ABC News
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\\u201cMurder of Skylar Neese\\u201d wikipedia.org\\n
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