Galion couple recounts brutal Ohio murders in podcast

GALION – The grisly deaths and dismemberments of a young couple still haunt the small city of Logan, Ohio — almost 40 years after the incident. 

Sara and Adam Lehman were both youngsters, 3 and 7 years old, in Logan at the time of the murders in 1982. They have made it their mission to retell the story that haunted their childhoods through their podcast “Township Falls.”

“We both grew up during the era of the case, and I think it’s one of those things that just really stuck with both of us,” Sara said.

“It was like a horror movie walked out onto the streets of our small town. We lived in a place where you didn’t even lock your doors at night … people had very sleepy, quiet, probably boring lives in the country, and then that happened. It was completely shocking.”

The nine-episode podcast tells the story of high school sweethearts Todd Shultz, 19, and his fiancee Annette Cooper, 18, who went missing after a walk in their hometown.

The remains of the two teens were found scattered across multiple locations 10 days later.

Cooper’s stepfather, Dale Johnston, became the prime suspect and was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death in 1984.

“Dale Johnston” quickly became a feared name in the small town. Adam said Halloween festivities only took place during the day for years after the crime in fear of what horrors the night could bring.

“It just changed my childhood,” Adam said.

“We didn’t need like a Freddy Krueger or any of those scary guys because we had this case.”

The podcast follows a narrative style where Sara and Adam are both “characters” in the story – recounting what they were doing in the area when the murders took place and how the case shook up their hometown.

Johnston’s conviction, however, was erroneous. The podcast examines other theories up until the real killers, Kenneth Linscott and Chester McKnight, were found guilty in 2008 – almost 30 years after the crime.

Sara said the Logan community still struggles to accept the truth that Johnston was not guilty after all.

Johnston was exonerated in 1990 when a key witness, hypnotized at the time of his testimony, was deemed unreliable and exculpatory evidence was found to be withheld.  The shocking nature of the case and the relief the community felt when the killer was thought to be caught, however, made the developments hard to swallow.

“It took me maybe until this year when we really started deep diving into the case to say ‘Wait a minute, he didn’t kill those kids,’” Sara said.

“We’ve been fed a narrative literally our whole lives. When we were little, your parents wouldn’t have to threaten you too much other than ‘If you’re not good, Dale Johnston will get you’ and now as an adult, you look at it and think ‘Oh my gosh, he really didn’t do it.’”

With the almost life-long impact the case has had on both Sara and Adam, the two said the podcast has been a long-time coming.

This summer, after some time putting it off, the couple finally decided to sit down and record.

The seventh episode was released July 21, so there is only one more episode until the the ninth episode finale.  The last episode will feature stories and comments from community members who have spent years reflecting on the case.

Sara said that while people have been forthcoming with newspaper clippings and information regarding the crime, the same cannot be said for the victims.

“If you ask people, they don’t want to tell you anything about (the victims),” Sara said.

“They were both bright and young. They had plans for the future … But so much of that is untold. It’s all lost to the scandal and the sensation. But it would be nice to leave some kind of memory of who these two kids were instead of just what happened to them.”

As the 40th anniversary of the case looms overhead, Sara said she hopes the community comes forward with information and stories about the two teens to keep their memory alive.

That’s especially true for Cooper’s mom, who lost all her pictures and records of her daughter in a house fire. Sara said she hopes to collect pictures of Cooper to give her mom something tangible to remember her.

“A lot of (people) want to put the case behind them because it’s a scar in the town where they’re personally involved, but it’s important,” Adam said.

With their first series nearing an end, Sara and Adam plan to cover other Ohio crimes in the future. One case they are interested in pursuing is a cover-up involving the 1995 murder of Sara’s cousin near Hocking Hills.

Sara and Adam both said they were surprised, but grateful, that people listened to their podcast. What started out as a fun project the couple used to pass time, has turned into something the community is loyally listening to and engaging with.

As the last episode approaches, Adam and Sara encourage people to come forward with their stories, comments and pictures from the case. The couple can be reached via email at townshipfallspodcast@gmail.com or by phone at 419-777-1147.