‘The Deck Investigates’ gets into the dark details of Darlene Hulse’s abduction and murder in 1984
On audiochuck’s “The Deck,” host Ashley Flowers “deals you in” to hear about some of the nation’s most puzzling and unsolved cases. The podcast is based on the concept that prisons hand out playing card decks featuring missing and murdered people’s photos on the cards, hoping that inmates might come forward with new information. “The Deck Investigates” takes a deeper dive into cases covered on “The Deck” and seeks to uncover new information to serve justice.
This season of “The Deck Investigates” examines the “4 of Hearts from Indiana,” Darlene Hulse. On August 17, 1984, Hulse was taken from her home in rural Argos, Indiana. Her daughters were also at home, and the two eldest witnessed the attack. They did not recognize the man who abducted their mother, and police arrived at the scene directly after Hulse and her captor disappeared.
The day after Hulse’s abduction, a timber buyer found her body six miles away from her home. More questions arose surrounding the home invasion, attack, and killing. The autopsy’s startling results left even more questions unanswered.
After fielding tips, law enforcement focused on two persons of interest that brought detectives to Indiana, Colorado, and Alabama to interview suspects. After a robber shootout in Texas, another suspect emerged. Police searched his Indiana home, and they found a newspaper article about Hulse’s murder along with bloody clothes. Police interrogated Hulse’s husband to learn more about their relationship, family routines, and her life before she was killed. The FBI was brought in for further analysis and examined if Hulse’s case could be connected to two more in Argos, Indiana.
The killer managed to avoid law enforcement for nearly forty years, and the case ran ice cold. This podcast hopes to crack the case wide open once again and learn new details by combing through tips from 1984, uncovering new leads, and sifting through misinformation. The audiochuck team interviewed guests including Hulse’s daughters, prosecutor Nelson Chipman, private investigator Patrick Zirpoli, experts, and others involved in the case. Start all fifteen episodes from the beginning to learn about the entire case and investigation.
The complete season of “The Deck Investigates” is now streaming wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.