MURDERED: Joyce LePage Part 2

Episode of Crime Junkie · July 27, 2026 · 47 min

Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat examine the remaining suspects in the 1971 murder of WSU student Joyce LePage, including her roommate Bruce Bierbaum.

Summary

In the second part of their coverage of the 1971 disappearance and murder of Washington State University student Joyce LePage, Ashley Flowers walked co-host Brit Prawat through three further theories drawn from the case file and Joyce's own letters. The first concerned the Student International Meditation Society group at 400 Howard Street, near where Joyce's car was found: leaders Mike and Celeste Lindbergh and their roommate Mark Wadley, with whom Joyce planned to live. Flowers described nervous behavior during police contact, polygraph results that did not eliminate Wadley, and a letter in which Joyce wrote that Wadley had been institutionalized for trying to strangle people and may have been a drug informant, allegations Flowers said no investigator ever pursued.

The episode then turned to Joyce's roommate Bruce Bierbaum, whom Flowers reported is now the primary focus of the Whitman County Sheriff's Office. She recounted his letter to Joyce's father requesting reimbursement for rent, a broken vase he said shattered in an argument, a missing coat rack, his changing account of when he last saw Joyce, a poem about a dead girl in a river found by a family member, a 2014 domestic battery charge, and veterinary disciplinary actions. Flowers cautioned that none of this proved he was capable of murder and noted holes in the theory, and she questioned the FBI's conclusion that Joyce was stabbed, a doubt she said Sheriff Brett Myers shares.

The final theory involved Steve Solley, who filmed Joyce for a communications class, turned in her typewriter, reportedly called her the source of his troubles, and left school months later. Flowers closed with loose ends, including a campus officer tip and an unexplained long-distance call to Moses Lake, and highlighted a $100,000 reward offered by Joyce's brother Bruce LePage.

Chapters

0:34
Recap of part one
Flowers recaps Joyce LePage's 1971 disappearance and the suspects already cleared, including Mike Finch, the tile setter and Ted Bundy.
1:45
The meditation group theory
Flowers details Joyce's ties to the SIMS group at 400 Howard Street and the behavior and polygraphs of Mike Lindbergh and Mark Wadley.
11:39
Joyce's letter about Mark
A letter in Joyce's handwriting alleges Mark was institutionalized for strangling people and was a drug informant.
13:00
Kay Garrison's account
Former roommate Kay Garrison describes Joyce as fearful of revealing something that could hurt someone.
19:09
The roommate Bruce theory
Flowers introduces Bruce Bierbaum, the car keys found in the apartment, and his odd letter to Joyce's father.
25:09
The broken vase and shifting story
A shattered vase, missing items and Bruce's changed account of when he last saw Joyce raise questions.
29:00
Bruce Bierbaum today
Flowers reports Bruce is the sheriff's primary focus, citing ex-wives' tips, a poem, a domestic battery charge and veterinary discipline.
33:54
Doubts about the stabbing theory
The hosts debate holes in the Bruce theory and Flowers questions the FBI's stabbing determination.
36:00
The Steve Solley theory
Flowers examines Steve Solley, who filmed Joyce for a class, held her typewriter and abruptly left school.
43:13
Loose ends and the reward
Flowers lists unresolved leads and promotes the $100,000 reward offered by Joyce's brother.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Brit Prawat
Prawat suggested Mark Wadley may have passed the car question only because police asked about July 23rd rather than the 22nd.
“I feel like he squeaked by there with that were you in her car question because like they asked him about the 23rd, not the 22nd”
Listen from 8:40 · Polygraph
Ashley Flowers
Flowers argued that the neighbor's sighting of Joyce leaving with two men on July 23rd could not be correct given the carpet timeline.
“like for the record, like I don't think that sighting could be right”
Listen from 9:46 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers said Joyce's letter alleging Mark Wadley had a history of strangling people was apparently never investigated.
“From what we can tell, no past or present investigator has even looked into this”
Listen from 12:47 · Cold case investigations
Ashley Flowers
Flowers speculated that if Wadley was an informant, someone may have been inclined to protect him.
“if Mark was involved in some way, as the polygraph would suggest, maybe someone was more inclined to look the other way and keep Mark out of trouble”
Listen from 13:03 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers reported that Mike Lindbergh appears to have died by suicide in 1988, based on a death certificate.
“I believe that Mike Lindbergh died by suicide in 1988”
Listen from 18:01 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers noted that Joyce told Patty on Thursday night she would not return to Stevens Hall, contradicting Bruce's early account.
“So Joyce is telling Patty at 10 p.m. on Thursday that she's not going to Stevens Hall”
Listen from 28:44 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Linked moment · 29:49Skip to 29:49 using a listen link in the info box.
Ashley Flowers
Flowers reported that Bruce Bierbaum is now the primary focus of the sheriff's investigation.
“today, Bruce Bierbaum has become the primary focus of the sheriff's office investigation into Joyce's murder”
Listen from 29:49 · Whitman County Sheriff's Office
Ashley Flowers
Flowers said a Bierbaum family member told police of a poem he wrote about a dead girl in a river.
“one of Bruce's family members who told police they found a poem that he wrote about a dead girl looking up at him from the river”
Listen from 31:08 · Circumstantial evidence
Ashley Flowers
Flowers cautioned that Bierbaum's criminal and disciplinary record does not prove he is capable of murder.
“friendly reminder that none of these things prove that he's capable of murder”
Listen from 33:48 · Circumstantial evidence
Ashley Flowers
Flowers argued the Bruce theory has holes because a crime involving him would more likely have happened at the apartment than Stevens Hall.
“to me, it makes a lot more sense that if something happened involving him, that it would happen at the apartment”
Listen from 34:31 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers said she believes the FBI's determination that Joyce was stabbed is wrong, given the absence of blood on the carpet.
“I personally think that's like a wrong determination that they made. And I know that's like a bold statement”
Listen from 35:02 · Federal Bureau of Investigation
Brit Prawat
Prawat suggested the untrusted man Joyce described to a tipster was likely someone like Mike Finch rather than Steve Solley.
“it kind of sounds like she's referring to someone else, like maybe like Mike Finch. It doesn't sound necessarily like she's referencing Steve”
Listen from 40:20 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers found it notable that one of the only tips describing Joyce as distressed came right after she was with Steve Solley.
“one of the only tips in the case file that says Joyce was distressed in the days leading up to her disappearance. is one where she had just been with Steve”
Listen from 40:31 · Murder of Joyce LePage
Ashley Flowers
Flowers credited the original investigators for working the case hard from the start and relayed Sheriff Myers's view that modern methods would have caught the killer.
“Sheriff Myers told us that if Joyce had been killed today or even in like this decade, there is no doubt in his mind that they would have caught her killer”
Listen from 43:13 · Cold case investigations
Ashley Flowers
Flowers reported that Joyce's brother Bruce LePage has largely given up hope of learning who killed his sister.
“he told us that he's kind of given up hope. He isn't really expecting to ever find out who killed his sister”
Listen from 46:38 · Murder of Joyce LePage

People

In the conversation

Ashley FlowersCreator and host of the true crime podcast Crime Junkie and founder of Audiochuck
Brit PrawatCo-host of Crime Junkie, introduced in the episode as 'Britt'

Discussed

Joyce LePageWashington State University student who disappeared in July 1971 and was later found murdered
Bruce BierbaumJoyce LePage's 1971 roommate, now a veterinarian and the sheriff's primary focus
Mark WadleyMember of the WSU meditation group and prospective roommate of Joyce LePage
Mike LindberghLeader of the WSU Student International Meditation Society chapter in 1971
Celeste LindberghCo-leader of the WSU meditation group and wife of Mike Lindbergh
Steve SolleyWSU student who filmed Joyce LePage for a communications class
Brett MyersWhitman County Sheriff investigating the LePage case
Mike FinchEarlier suspect in the LePage case cleared by polygraph in 2013
Kay GarrisonFormer roommate of Joyce LePage interviewed by police in 1971
Bruce LePageJoyce LePage's brother, who offers a $100,000 reward
Ted BundyAmerican serial killer newly linked by DNA to a 1974 Utah victim

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From the publisher

In part two of Joyce’s story, we dig deep into the case file and letters left behind by Joyce herself, which reveal even more suspects, including the roommate she’d been avoiding that summer.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 30, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: True Crime