55 years after WSU student Joyce LePage vanished in 1971, her roommate Bruce Beerbomb has become the Whitman County Sheriff's primary suspect — he changed his story about the last time he saw her, never took a confirmed polygraph, has a domestic battery charge, and multiple ex-wives have called police with accusations. Meanwhile, a letter written in Joyce's own hand revealed that her meditation group housemate Mark Wadley had once been institutionalized for trying to strangle people, a detail investigators never appear to have followed up on.
Key Moments
Ashley Flowers
“He said, quote, I don't know why it would show that, but maybe I am holding back because I feel a certain responsibility towards Joyce.”
Ashley recounts Mike Lindberg's response when pressed after his polygraph flagged concern specifically on the question of whether Mark was involved in Joyce's disappearance.
“I discovered that Mark once stayed at a mental institution for trying to strangle people.”
Ashley reads from a letter Joyce wrote to her boyfriend David, found in her purse at Stevens Hall, describing what she had learned about her future housemate Mark Wadley.
“I just don't know. I'm just so afraid that I'm going to tell people something that I shouldn't, especially when it's someone else's coffin I'm sealing.”
Ashley reads from a police transcript of Joyce's friend Kay Garrison, who recounts the last conversation she had with Joyce shortly before her disappearance.
“Today Bruce Beerbomb has become the primary focus of the sheriff's office investigation into Joyce's murder.”
Ashley reveals for the first time that Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers has shifted modern investigative focus squarely onto Joyce's former roommate Bruce.
Crime Junkie is a weekly true crime podcast hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brett Prawer. The show covers murders, disappearances, and unsolved cases in a clear, no-frills storytelling style that has made it one of the most downloaded podcasts in the world. Ashley Flowers also runs the crime media company audiochuck, which produces and distributes the show.
Takeaways
1
Joyce's own letter named a suspect investigators ignored A handwritten letter found in Joyce's purse at Stevens Hall described housemate Mark Wadley as having been institutionalized for trying to strangle people. Despite this, no investigator on record ever followed up on his institutional history or pressed him about it during interviews.
2
Multiple ex-wives contacted police accusing Bruce after divorces Bruce Beerbomb has been married and divorced five or six times since the 1970s. Nearly every divorce prompted an ex-wife to call the Whitman County Sheriff's Office — one directly accused him of killing Joyce, and another reported that he may have kept a distinctive coat rack belonging to Joyce.
3
Bruce Beerbomb changed his timeline and never confirmed a polygraph Bruce initially told police he saw Joyce asleep on his couch Friday morning July 23rd, then later said the last time he saw her was Thursday evening before her skydiving lesson. He claimed to have taken a polygraph in 1972, but no record of it exists, and he has refused all modern requests to take one.
4
Joyce told a friend she feared sealing someone else's coffin Less than a week before she vanished, Joyce told her former roommate Kay Garrison she was afraid of telling people something she shouldn't — using the phrase 'someone else's coffin I'm sealing.' Kay and investigators both suspected this was tied to drug activity within the meditation group Joyce was close to.
5
The missing carpet had no blood — challenging the stabbing theory The FBI's early determination that Joyce was stabbed is contested by Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers, who believes marks on her bones attributed to stab wounds may actually be animal activity. If she wasn't stabbed, the bloodless missing carpet from Stevens Hall is less incriminating as a body-transport vessel.
6
Mark Wadley's polygraph flagged knowledge of Joyce's fate — but the wrong date was used Mark's heart rate spiked when asked if he knew whether Joyce was still alive and whether he had been inside her car. However, the car question specified July 23rd rather than July 26th when the car was found, potentially allowing him to answer truthfully on a technicality. The officer concluded Mark could not be eliminated as a suspect.