Last Seen in the Twilight Zone

April 21st, 2022 was a day that was cool but seasonable, typical of upstate New York in April. Temperatures hovered in the 50s (°F) during the day and dipped into the 40s or upper 30s by night. People were starting to get outside again, walking, biking, preparing gardens. Sunset occurred around 7:50 PM. The East Side of Binghamton was a quiet, largely residential neighborhood with modest homes and long-established families. Known for being relatively peaceful. It’s not considered a high-crime area. Like much of the U.S., Binghamton was still recovering from the emotional and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were fully reopened, but some students (especially middle schoolers like Aliza) were still adjusting to normalcy. Local softball leagues were starting up. Parks and schoolyards were more active. At the time, Binghamton wasn’t experiencing a spike in gun violence. Crime was relatively low. That’s part of what made Aliza Spencer’s murder so jarring — it felt aberrant, like something that just didn’t happen in that part of the city. People were talking about the opioid crisis, mental health access, and housing costs — ongoing issues in many upstate New York communities. But the streets were not considered dangerous for families or children. There was already a mild distrust of local law enforcement in some circles, especially when it came to transparency and community policing. That tension only deepened after Aliza’s shooting and the perceived lack of communication from police.

When Nicole Marranca stopped calling her family in the summer of 2017, they knew something was wrong. Nicole had struggled, yes—but she was very open about her struggle with addiction. At the time she was without stable housing, engaging in sex work to get her basic needs met. But she always stayed in touch. She saw her mother regularly and called her father regularly, no matter what. Until she didn’t. In the years since, no trace of Nicole has ever been found. 
There are some locals who believe Nicole didn’t just disappear. That she may have been targeted.We don’t know. There are so many unknowns in Nicole’s story. But what we do know is this: her life matters. She was deeply loved. And she was Last Seen in the Twilight Zone.
Our thoughts are with Nicole's family, who just celebrated her birthday on December 11th.
https://ithacavoice.org/2017/11/father-missing-ithaca-woman-im-waiting-worst-id-love-hear-best/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://murderincorp.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/upstate-ny/
Missing Persons podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2L8ObEDb5ggn5c9P4tWmuf?si=3752118de70346e2

Today’s story is one of hate, heartbreak, and horror. But it's also a call to remember those we lost. Today, we go to Buffalo, New York—a proud Rust Belt city known for its snowstorms, football team, and the blue-collar resilience of its people. But on May 14, 2022, something happened that would fracture this community... a hate-fueled act of domestic terrorism. An 18-year-old man from the quiet town of Conklin drove more than 200 miles with one clear, terrifying motive: to kill Black people.
This is the story of the Tops Market Massacre.
It was a Saturday afternoon in Buffalo’s East Side—a neighborhood rich in history, culture, and community, and one that’s predominantly black, which is kind of crazy to me that he drove all the way there because theres quite a large black community right here in Binghamton, or like Syracuse? Why Buffalo?
Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue was bustling. Families shopping for Sunday dinners. Elderly neighbors picking up prescriptions. Regular folks going about their day. Tops was one of the few full-service grocery stores in the area. For many residents, Tops wasn’t just a store. It was a lifeline.
But around 2:30 p.m., that ordinary afternoon turned into a nightmare.
A young white man dressed in tactical gear and armed with an assault-style rifle stepped out of his car in the parking lot. On his weapon were racial slurs and symbols.
He livestreamed the attack on Twitch.He opened fire before even stepping inside.
Within minutes, 10 people were dead. All were Black. Three others were wounded.

A few weeks ago, I was in the car with my husband, driving through downtown Binghamton. We passed a small greenspace; it’s easy to miss & nestled in a busy intersection. It’s the Memorial Park in honor of the American Civic Association. At its center, there’s a broken column, surrounded by thirteen glass birds in flight. Each bird represents a life lost in one of the most devastating events in our city’s history.
There’s something we noticed about Binghamton—it’s that many of our most beautiful public spaces are named in honor of its most tragic moments. Places designed for reflection, built from heartbreak. There’s something eerie about it.
As we drove by, I started telling him about April 3, 2009. It was the day a man walked into the American Civic Association on Oak St. in Binghamton NY & opened fire. I told him about the families hopeful for good news that never came, and the advocates who held them in their grief. I told him about how this one day changed our city, and how it pushed everyone to think differently about emergency planning and how to move in a crisis.
In this episode, we’re going to revisit that day—not just to recount the timeline of events, but to understand what it meant for the people in that room, for the families who lost someone, and for a city that will never forget.
Sources:
https://americancivic.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Binghamton_shooting
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/nyregion/04hostage.html

Who is Stacy Stewart, Christopher Thomason, and Brian Early? Today, we will go down the next rabbit hole of another man, or men, who could also be responsible for her disappearance. We're not going to talk about the entire case again like we did in Part 1 and 2 go give those a listen first. Fasten your seatbelts because we are about to DIVE in hard. Almost all of the information from this episode is taken from the book Reign of Justice, the link to that is down below, there is so much more new information in it. 
Again, if you haven’t listened to part one or two of this series, you should definitely go back and listen Part 1 gave a general overview of this case. In Part 2, we talked about Cal Harris. What evidence made him appear guilty, what evidence might be missing?
https://www.amazon.com/Reign-Injustice-Cal-Harris-Story/dp/B08F74RWVH
 

f you haven’t listened to part one of this series, you should definitely go back and listen to that one first. Part 1 gave a general overview of this case. In Part 2, we are going to dig into Who was Cal Harris? What evidence made him appear guilty, what evidence might be missing? We'll go over both sides of the story. Then in Part 3 we will go down the next rabbit hole of another man, or men, who could also be responsible for her disappearance. We're going to briefly go through some background information of the case for those who may be just listening in for the first time. 
Calvin “Cal” Harris is a wealthy businessman from Tioga County, New York, best known for being at the center of one of the most high-profile and controversial murder cases in upstate New York.  Harris owned car dealerships and was financially well-off. He lived in the rural community of Spencer, NY, with his wife, Michele Harris, and their four children. On September 11, 2001, Michele disappeared. Her van was found at the end of the long driveway of their home, but she was never seen again, and her body has never been recovered. Harris was charged with Michele’s murder multiple times. His first trial in 2007 ended in a conviction, but the verdict was overturned. He was convicted again in 2009, but that conviction was also overturned. A third trial in 2015 ended in a hung jury.Finally, in 2016, during his fourth trial, Harris was acquitted of all charges.The case became infamous because it combined elements of wealth, marital discord (the couple was in the middle of a divorce when Michele vanished), and questions about circumstantial evidence. Media outlets like 48 Hours and Dateline NBC covered it extensively. Harris has consistently maintained his innocence, suggesting that Michele may have been harmed by someone else after leaving the house that night. With no body, no murder weapon, and no direct evidence, the case remains one of New York’s most debated unsolved mysteries.
So lets dig a little deeper...

This is Part 1 of a 3 Part story. September 11, 2001 | While the nation reeled from terror, in Owego, NY, a different kind of panic took hold. Michele Anne Harris 35, mother of four, awaiting finalization of a divorce disappeared without a trace. In this episode, we trace the last known moments of her life, the controversial investigation, the legal battles against her husband Cal Harris, and the unanswered questions that linger more than two decades on. In 2001, Owego, NY was a peaceful rural town, where a young mother of four going missing under suspicious circumstances was not just rare it was unheard of. The tight-knit community was rocked by the case, but overshadowed by the events of 9/11. What happened to Michele Harris became a mystery that haunted not only her family but the entire town for decades. Despite its small size, Owego would become the center of one of New York’s most high-profile and controversial criminal cases.

On November 4th, 1983 Bessie P. Williams took her regular bus route to pick up her paycheck from work. The 19 year old made the short trip from her apartment on Main St in Johnson City, NY to the suburb of Endicott–where she worked at the Quality Inn Lodge & Convention center. She got her paycheck and intended to head home but she never made it. What happened to Bessie P. Williams on that Friday afternoon? There are so few details about the events that led up to her disappearance–but investigators DO have a sketch of someone they think might have some answers. So, we’re all dying to know–do YOU recognize this suspect?
Suspect in question is a white male, about 25 to 30 years old and had a “noticeable potbelly.” He was between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and wore work boots, jeans and a blue windbreaker. The man was driving a white, late 1970s-style hatchback car that may have been a Ford. The car had New York license plates, a reddish-brown interior and a stick shift. Troopers ask anyone with information about the suspect or Williams’ homicide to call (607) 561-7400.
SOURCES:
https://websleuths.com/threads/bessie-p-williams-19-johnson-city-stabbed-4-november-1983-fresh-initiative.436429/
https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2016/08/do_you_recognize_this_suspect_in_1983_death_of_binghamton-area_teen.html
https://imagej.net/ij/download/docs/RollingBall.pdf
https://www.endicottny.com/history
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2019/04/09/cold-case-murder-broome-ny-police-bessie-williams-victim-suspect-latest/3409284002/

At 12:36 in the afternoon on Friday, December 19th, 2014 a 911 call came in to the Broome County Emergency dispatch. The caller on the other end simply asked for an ambulance to be sent & hung up promptly. A sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the Nanticoke Valley Trailer Park, in the town of Maine, just outside of Binghamton, New York. The residence belonged to Michael Fiocco and Shannon Laskaris. One week prior to this moment, Shannon’s sister, Kelly, succumbed to her courageous battle with cancer. For the Laskaris family, a whole different nightmare was unfolding before Christmas; tragically leaving them to be without both of their beautiful daughters for the holidays.
SOURCES:
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2016/10/13/homicide-case-sentencing-today-womans-death/91986616/
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2016/06/02/murder-case-fiocco-claimed-girlfriend-stabbed-him-deputy-says/73503226/
https://www.barbermemorialhome.com/obituaries/Shannon-M-Laskaris?obId=27081574
https://www.pressconnects.com/picture-gallery/news/crime/2014/12/19/gallery-homicide-in-the-town-of-maine/20663477/ 

The stories that Allie is sharing today come from the real patients that sought treatment at the Binghamton State Hospital, which opened in 1879. It is important to acknowledge that while the Greater Binghamton Health Center is currently still functional on the State Hospital campus, these stories are specifically from the patients of the inebriate asylum.
Perched above the Susquehanna River at 425 Robinson Street in Binghamton, New York, stands a Gothic revival behemoth,  once a pioneer in the treatment of alcoholism—this is the Castle on the Hill. Chartered in 1854 under Dr. Joseph Edward Turner, the institution was the first in the United Statesto treat alcoholism as a mental disease Designed by architect Isaac G. Perry, construction began in 1857 and admitted its first patients in February 1864.
Allie and I have a little bit more fun with this episode telling the stories. But we also just wanted to make note that Roger Luther — who has studied the history of not only the Binghamton hospital but also its counterparts in Buffalo, Utica and Willard — said his research about the Castle has convinced him that the overwhelmingly majority of Binghamton staffers wanted to help those they cared for, even if treatments such as electroshock therapy and lobotomies are now discredited. “I couldn’t have more respect for the people who worked there,” he said. “Their intentions were nothing but the best for the patients. They loved the patients — it was like a family atmosphere.” As new drugs like Thorazine — the first effective antipsychotic medication — were introduced in the mid-1950s, societal thinking about institutionalizing the mentally ill began to shift. Also, with the passage of Medicaid in 1965, the federal government encouraged states to move patients out of mental hospitals because the program excluded coverage for people in “institutions for mental diseases.
Thank you Roger Luther and the Souther Tier Preservation Society for keeping these stories accessible, for helping our community remember its history and for the work that keeps Binghamton culture alive and well.
Source: http://nysasylum.com/biadocs2.htm