Episode 64 – Originally Released October 2018
Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about domestic violence and murder. Listener discretion is advised.
When the Blair Witch Project hit the big screens, many independent filmmakers had aspirations of creating the next big found footage horror movie. That was especially true for 25-year-old Blaine Norris from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Blaine developed a script for a horror movie to be shot in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains. Only problem was Blaine Norris knew nothing about making a movie, nor did he have a camera man or equipment. Luckily for him, Blaine’s friend Brian Trimble signed on as Director of Photography with his camera in tow.
But this partnership faltered. Brian’s wife Randi Trimble, a 28-year-old speech pathologist, wasn’t too keen on Brian camping in the woods for a week filming a horror movie. Brian suffered from MS and both his wife and his doctor thought spending a week sleeping on the ground could be detrimental to his health. That decision may have cost Randi Trimble her life.
Randi was murdered in January 2003. Initially the police suspected her husband Brian Trimble, however Brian had a verified alibi. Detectives had a tough job ahead of them, sorting between fact and fiction, movie scripts and reality, to uncover who killed Randi Trimble and why. After Randi’s death her mother, Nancy Chavez, worked tirelessly to raise awareness about domestic violence, creating multiple charities in Randi’s name to support local domestic violence centers in Cumberland County, PA. This episode is as much Nancy’s story as it is Randi’s.
TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show.
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