When Sandy Bird was found dead in her wrecked car in the Cottonwood River in the summer of 1983, everyone assumed the thirty-three-year-old Kansas mother of three had misjudged the turn on the one-lane bridge and gone over the side, her death a tragic accident.&nbsp;Similarly, when Martin Anderson was gunned down on the side of a Kansas state road just a few months later, the residents of Emporia, KS believed he was the victim of robbery gone wrong—the kind of random violence that investigators often struggled to solve.&nbsp;What no one knew at the time was that the ostensibly accidental death of Sandy Bird and the tragic murder of Martin Anderson were in fact linked by a conspiracy of Sandra’s husband, Tom Bird, and his mistress, Lorna Anderson, designed to rid themselves of their respective spouses. Unfortunately, their plot began unraveling just a few weeks after Martin’s murder and both Tom and Lorna were arrested for the murders, along with their co-conspirators, and eventually went to trial. While the murders shocked the communities in rural Kansas, the most unbelievable aspect of the case was that the killers were a Lutheran pastor and his devout secretary.Thank you to the wonderful, David White of the Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance!ReferencesClose, Dan. 1984. "Minister is accused of soliciting murder."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle-Beacon, March 22: 1.—. 1984. "Minister ordered to stand trial."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle-Beacon, June 1: 1.—. 1983. "Slaying victim's wife held."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle-Beacon, November 24: 1.—. 1983. "Unanswered questions plague K-177 tragedy."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle-Beacon, November 8: 1.Hayes, Jean. 1985. "Jury in bird trial begins deliberations."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle, July 23: 51.Hays, Jean. 1985. "Bird's wife described as unhappy."&nbsp;Wichita Eagle, July 12: 15.Kraft, Scott. 1986. "‘We Don’t Have These Type of People Out Here’ : Murderous Affair Shocks Kansas Town."&nbsp;Los Angeles Times, March 17.—. 2004. "Who Killed Sandy?"&nbsp;Los Angeles Times Magazine, May 2.State of Kansas v. Thomas Bird.&nbsp;1986. 240 Kan. 288 (Supreme Court of Kansas, December 5).State of Kansas v. Thomas P. Bird.&nbsp;1985. 708 P.2d 946 (Supreme Court of Kansas, October 25).United Press International. 1985. "At first no one paid uch attention ."&nbsp;United Press International: Domestic News, August 4.See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

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Episode 531: Tom Bird and Lorna Anderson Eldridge

Morbid