Georgia Hardstark

Hardstark said the inconsistencies attributed to Lees could all be logically explained.

“All of the inconsistencies on her that they place on her can be explained”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 42:35

Hardstark argued that theories implicating Lees distract from the most likely killer, who acted as she described.

“it's just all smoke and mirrors to point away from the person who most likely murdered him in the exact way that she said it happened”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 41:27

Hardstark judged that there was more evidence against Murdoch than against Lees, though even that evidence was weak.

“There's more evidence that this guy Murdoch is guilty than she is. And even that is kind of loose”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 39:26

Hardstark argued the police investigation was conducted so poorly that any conviction would leave doubts.

“I think that the police investigation, because of the way it was done, first and foremost, made it so that it'd be really hard to convict someone”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 39:08

Hardstark rejected the claim that Murdoch lacked a motive, arguing the motive was sexual assault of Lees.

“The motive was to murder, was to sexually assault and rape this”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 35:15

Hardstark described Gohde's 2026 anniversary festival culminating in an airplane dropping 1,876 wrapped pieces of beef jerky.

“He has a small airplane drop 1876, which is the year it happened, individually wrapped pieces of beef jerky from the sky”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 1:07:04

Hardstark endorsed the vulture-vomit theory as the only plausible non-paranormal explanation for the meat shower.

“that's the only solution that isn't paranormal that makes sense”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:43

Hardstark criticized the New York Herald correspondent for largely mocking the rural community rather than investigating.

“it does seem like a lot of it is just a reporter making fun of the members of this very rural community”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 54:03

Hardstark argued that Lees's imperfections, including her affair, did not negate her status as a victim.

“She's not a perfect victim at all, which is upsetting to people, but it doesn't mean she's not a victim”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 34:53

Hardstark recommended that very large tips at bars be given in cash so bartenders are not suspected of giving away drinks.

“So if you're going to tip a lot, tip in cash”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 9:52

Hardstark argued that the memoir challenged stereotypes by showing that alcoholism can affect accomplished, well-off women.

“You have this idea of what an alcoholic is, and it's not a professional, smart woman from a good background”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 4:24

Hardstark said Caroline Knapp's memoir had a strong effect on her and she had not drunk since listening to it.

“It's so good. It's changed a lot of things. I haven't had a drink since I listened”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 540 - Battery and Rock Night (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 3:08

Hardstark recounted that Kurt Gohde found the last known meat shower sample in storage at Transylvania University.

“Kurt has found at this fucking college that he started teaching at the last known sample of the meat”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:24

Hardstark explained Nostoc as a bacterium that swells into jelly when it rains, but noted the theory fails because the weather was clear.

“Basically, it's a bacteria that swells up into a jelly-like substance when it rains”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 57:24

Hardstark recommended the novel Yesteryear, describing its premise of a tradwife blogger sent back in time.

“It's about a trad wife blogger who gets taken back into the time when she would have had to actually work as a trad”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 50:03

Hardstark noted that women of the era could not choose their own politics or husbands.

“women don't get to choose their politics or their husbands back then”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 17:45

Hardstark said she values solved cold cases because they reveal killers as ordinary, small men rather than powerful monsters.

“That's why I love cold cases. It's like, let's not make them this big, you know, powerful being”

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: 539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 9:10