The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "widow" ...
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The Curious Case of Sgt. Drenth
A decorated and highly respected Phoenix police sergeant is found dead on the ground in an alley near the State Capitol complex, the victim of a shotgun blast to the head. The weapon is discovered on his body in a manner which several first-responders later claim looked "staged" by another party or parties. Almost a year after Sgt. Sean Drenth's death, the county Medical Examiner rules that the manner of his death was a "suicide," not a "homicide" or "undetermined." The enclosed two-part series was published after the reporter investigated this complex and ultimately tragic case for several months. A few weeks ago, the county Medical Examiner personally told Sgt. Drenth's widow that he personally will revisit the case in light of the revelations in the story and other relevant reasons.
Tags: Death; police sergeant; shotguns
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World’s Untold Stories: Secrets of the Belfast Project
Forty years ago, during the height of Northern Ireland’s sectarian violence known as "The Troubles," a widowed mother with 10 children disappeared. Today, the answers to what happened could be found in audio recordings locked away in a U.S. college archive. But some don’t want the truth to come out. The audio recordings were collected for the Boston College Oral History Archives, from members of groups on both sides of the fighting. But this history project may contain evidence, that could threaten a delicate peace agreement – and the man credited with helping bring that peace to Northern Ireland, Gerry Adams. Adams, a prominent Irish politician and alleged former head of the Irish Republican Army, has vigorously denied the allegations. But many think the tapes could hold the key to solving the widowed mother’s murder – and more. In this episode of CNN’s documentary series “World’s Untold Stories”, Nic Robertson examines the risks and the benefits of exposing what truths may be on the tapes – and explains the ongoing battle between families, politicians, the courts, and academia, who are either seeking the truth, or seeking to protect it.
Tags: Northern Ireland; Boston College; Gerry Adams; politicians; courts; academia
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Coretta Scott King: Uncovering the FBI's Secret Spy Files
The project reveals how law enforcement agents secretly spied on Coretta Scott King, the wife and widow of Martin Luther King, monitoring her activities and conversations for a minimum of four years after her husband's assassination. "The documents also open a historical window to the paranoid fever-dreams of government in the 60's that led to many rights abuses."
Tags: Coretta Scott King; civil rights; law enforcement; spying; FBI; wire-tapping;
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Return of the Black Widow: Seductress of the Saints
This profile of Sandra Bridewell maps out her cross - country journey of fraud and deceit. Nicknamed the "black widow", Bridewell left a trail of lies, debt and suspiciously dead husbands behind her. Whitley, who has covered Bridewell's story from the beginning, picked up the investigation again once she learned that the aging Bridewell has fallen from a wealthy socialite to a homeless religious fanatic.
Tags: murder; death; suicide; evangelism; evangelists; fraud; lies; insurance fraud; widow
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The Widow-Maker
The Harrier attack jet can take off and land vertically, much like a helicopter. It can also be the single most dangerous plane to fly in the American air force, leading to 143 major accidents and the loss of one-third of the entire fleet. Forty-five marines, including some of the nations finest pilots, had died in the cockpits of these machines. The LA Times uncovered many of these shortcomings, and showed how the military moved haltingly to fix known shortcomings that had taken pilots' lives.
Tags: Aircraft; crash; military; war; Harrier attact jet; airplanes; planes; Marines; United States
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The Good Soldier
KTHV-TV investigates the death of an Arkansas National Guard soldier at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, First Sgt. Michael Gibson. According to military records, his first assignment at the fort when he arrived in June 1998 was to mow a field, "during which he said he ran over something with his mower that created a 'large white cloud.' Within three months, Gibson -- who had never seen a doctor outside routine check-ups for the guard -- was dead of mysterious causes with rashes, respiratory ailments and organ failure." A team of lawyers working for Gibson's widow found that the Army once used Chemical Agent Identification Sets at the fort. The Guard lied about the use of CAIS until the KTHV-TV, although the Guard denies any connection between the white cloud, Gibson's death and CAIS.
Tags: CAIS; Chemical Agent Identification Sets; Army; Fort Chaffee; Arkansas; Michael Gibson; death; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Prophecies of Terror, Attacking bin Laden, The Hunt for bin Laden, The Merchants of Mass Destruction
A four-part CBS News investigative series reports into the "closed world of Osama bin Laden." The first part features an interview with a former Pakistani intelligence officer, mentor and friend of bin Laden, who warns that America has no idea of the might of Islam in a potential holy war. The second report examines the 1998 missile attack against bin Laden, and the role it played to transform the terrorist into a hero. The third part looks at bin Laden through the eyes of the people of his inner circle and other Muslims, and reveals that they view him as an "Islamic Robin Hood," who supports widows and orphans. The fourth part discovers that chemical and biological weapons from the old Soviet Union stockpile are being sold in the Afghan black market.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; charity; orphanages; Islam; Muslims; religion; Jihad; holy war; Saudi Arabia; Sept. 11; World Trade Center
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Miami Cops
A Miami Daily Business Review two-year investigation into police criminality reveals "a deadly scandal at the Miami Police Department." The stories document "flaws and bias in the local system used to investigate police shootings." The series started in 2000 with investigation of the death of a 72-year old widower who was machine-gunned by police during a ferocious 1996 drug raid, and of the following $2.5-million settlement of the lawsuit brought by the victim's family. In a federal investigation, Miami officers involved in the shooting were later accused of "conspiracy, lying and fabricating evidence to cover up misconduct," the Review reports. The series also examines "Miami's costly litigation experience over the last decade defending claims of brutality and lawlessness by police."
Tags: indictments; Florida's public record law; crime; litigation; civil rights; SWAT; homicide; conflicts of interest; law enforcement; justice; Miami Office of Professional Compliance; wrongful death; false arrests; abuse
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Demoulas vs. Demoulas
A Boston Globe investigation looks at the most expensive and most protracted lawsuit in the history of Massachusetts: the court "battle over a $2 billion supermarket fortune" fought by the heirs of the Demoulases, a Greek immigrant family. One of the member of the family, Telemachus Demoulas, was accused of stealing stock and property in DeMoulas Supermarkets from his dead brother's estate, widow and children. The litigation process destroyed the family and entangled the state's legal community, the story reveals.
Tags: courts; justice; lawyers; stocks and bonds; assets; immigrants; accounting; banking; inheritance; investigators; FBI
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Betrayal of Trust?
The Chronicle of Higher Education examines the reasons for the "perception, held by some, that American colleges and universities are hooked on securing money at any cost." The story focuses on a controversial act of Iowa State University, which violated a deceased widow's wishes by selling instead of maintaining 240 acres of land received under the widow's will. The article also looks at the misspending of millions of dollars left to the University of Florida foundation by a wealthy supporter, and reveals "wide-spread abuses by fund raisers for California State University at Fullerton."
Tags: universities; higher education; fund-raising; gifts; foundations; public interest; scholarships; finance; money; wills