Transcript

Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1

From True Crime Garage TV · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 2 min · 8,954 words · 97 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1", an episode of True Crime Garage TV published January 14, 2026 (1 h 2 min, about 8,954 words). It mentions 15 people, works and ideas, including Tinley Park, Roa McFarland, February 2nd, 2008, Jenny Lynn Bishop, $100,000 reward.

What this episode is about

The content centers on the mystery series "His and Hers," featuring Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist investigating a murder in her hometown, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper, who becomes suspicious of her involvement. The plot explores the complex dynamics between Anna and Harper as their pursuit of the truth intertwines, promising an intriguing narrative of suspense and discovery.

Key takeaways

  • In a small town like Delana, even sleepy settings hide dark secrets—murder included.
  • Netflix's 'His and Hers' turns hometown nostalgia into a twisted whodunit; brace for surprising truths.
  • Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal: the dream duo we didn’t know we needed in crime drama.
  • Emergency contraception is as routine as buying milk; everyone's future should be in their own hands.
  • Tinley Park's shocking murders remind us: sometimes, the quietest places harbor the loudest horrors.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Tinley Park, February 2nd, 2008, Roa McFarland, $100,000 reward
  2. – 20:00: Roa McFarland, Tinley Park
  3. – 30:00: Racketin, Tinley Park, Chicago Tribune, No CD
  4. – 40:00: Tinley Park, Jenny Lynn Bishop, Sarah Saffransky, Roa McFarland
  5. – 50:00: Tinley Park, February 2nd, 2008

Notable quotes from "Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1"

  • Have you heard of this new Netflix series, His and Hers? This mystery series stars Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist in Atlanta, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper.…
    about Tessa Thompson · at
  • On February 2nd, 2008, a man walked into a Lane Bryant clothing store in Tinley Park, Illinois, posing as a delivery man. He announced a holdup and then began taking women to a back room where.
    about February 2nd, 2008 · at
  • Our true crime story this week is from a lovely place called Tinley Park. Tinley Park is a village located in Cook County, Illinois. This is a suburb almost an hour south of Chicago. The population as of 2020 is just under.
    about Tinley Park · at
  • Roa McFarland was the only one that was shot in the forehead, the rest in the back of their heads. The man then walked out the front door and disappeared. And we sit here well over more than a decade.
    about Roa McFarland · at
  • And the suspect left the scene at approximately 10:48. The following morning, the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune led with the headline, Five women slain in store. Police hunt gunmen in shooting at Tinley Park Mall. The.
    about Chicago Tribune · at
  • What's it? It's the real deal. Cash back and savings on almost everything you buy. Join Racketin and start getting cash back at CVS, Instacart, YSL Beauty, and other stores you…
    about Racketin · at
  • And she also worked in the intensive care unit. She had just celebrated her 34th birthday just days prior and she was at the store that day using a gift card that she received from a friend or loved one for her birthday. Her situation's.
    about Jenny Lynn Bishop · at
  • Worker. Her and her husband had been married for just a year and a half before she was killed. Her husband was waiting for her to return home. She was out shopping. He sees the…
    about Carrie Chuo · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Roa McFarland — Person · Victim (store manager) / key timeline anchor · 6 mentions · first at
    Manager of the Tinley Park Lane Bryant; placed the 911 call and was one of the victims (shot in the forehead). Her actions drive the timeline and police response discussion.
  • Jenny Lynn Bishop — Person · Victim (customer) · 2 mentions · first at
    One of the five women killed; episode provides biographical details (nurse, mother of three) to humanize victims and clarify who was present.
  • Sarah Saffransky — Person · Victim (customer) · 2 mentions · first at
    Youngest victim; her recent graduation and shopping for work clothes is used to illustrate randomness and impact of the crime.
    Area traveling for business and she decided to go out for the day while he was working. We also have Sarah Saffransky.
  • Carrie Chuo — Person · Victim (customer) · 1 mention · first at
    One of the victims; her background (social worker, newly married) is included to detail victim identities and circumstances.
  • Tessa Thompson — Person · Advertised actor (unrelated promo) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in a Netflix ad read at the start; not part of the true-crime case discussion.
  • John Bernthal — Person · Advertised actor (unrelated promo) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in the same Netflix ad read; not part of the case narrative.
    Series, His and Hers? This mystery series stars Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist in Atlanta, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper. When Anna catches wind of a murder…

Companies & orgs

  • Chicago Tribune — Company · Referenced media outlet · 1 mention · first at
    Cited for early reporting/headline the day after the murders; used to discuss public narrative and protection of the survivor.
  • Racketin — Company · Advertised cashback service (unrelated promo) · 2 mentions · first at
    Appears in an ad read about cashback and savings; unrelated to the case.
  • Microphone Brewing — Company · Episode beverage collaboration partner · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as collaborator on the featured beer; unrelated to the crime story.
    Saturday in the Park is an Imperial New England hazy IPA. This is a collaboration brew. North Park Beer Company teamed up with Microphone Brewing to create this fantastic, very…
  • No CD — Company · Advertised therapy provider (unrelated promo) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a virtual therapy provider for OCD during an ad read; not part of the crime narrative.
    That's why I want to tell you about No CD. No CD is the world's largest virtual therapy provider for OCD. Their licensed therapists provide specialized therapy virtually and it's covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. If you.

Places & events

  • Tinley Park — Place · Primary location (crime location) · 17 mentions · first at
    Village where the Lane Bryant store murders occurred; episode provides geographic and demographic context and police response details.
  • February 2nd, 2008 — Event · Central event date (crime date) · 3 mentions · first at
    Date of the Lane Bryant murders; anchors the episode’s timeline (10:08 entry, 10:44 911, 10:46 shots, 10:48 departure).
  • $100,000 reward — Event · Investigation incentive / call-to-action · 1 mention · first at
    Reward for information leading to arrest is emphasized as a public appeal; discussed as having increased from earlier amounts and possibly changing sources over time.
    A $100,000 reward has been established for information leading to the arrest of the offender. The reward is not dependent upon conviction. Any information will be kept confidential.
  • Cook County — Place · Geographic/jurisdictional context · 1 mention · first at
    County where Tinley Park is located; helps situate the crime geographically.
    Our true crime story this week is from a lovely place called Tinley Park. Tinley Park is a village located in Cook County, Illinois. This is a suburb almost an hour south of Chicago. The population as of 2020 is just under.

Sponsors

  • North Park Beer Company — Company · Episode beverage sponsor/segment item · 1 mention · first at
    Beer featured during the show’s opening banter; not related to the case.
    Saturday in the Park is an Imperial New England hazy IPA. This is a collaboration brew. North Park Beer Company teamed up with Microphone Brewing to create this fantastic, very traditional hazy, very juicy with white.

Full transcript with timestamps

Have you heard of this new Netflix series, His and Hers? This mystery series stars Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist in Atlanta, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper. When Anna catches wind of a murder in Delana, the sleepy town where she grew up, Anna pounces on the case, and searches for answers. Detective Jack Harper is strangely suspicious of her involvement, chasing her into the crosshairs of his own investigation. The closer they get to each other, the closer they get to the truth, and we cannot wait to see how it unfolds. Watch his and hers now. Only on Netflix.

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Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always is a man who is wondering why you are hogging the lat pull down machine. Here is the captain. I'm not wondering. I know. It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend. This week we are drinking Saturday in the Park by North Park Beer Company. Saturday in the Park is an Imperial New England hazy IPA. This is a collaboration brew. North Park Beer Company teamed up with Microphone Brewing to create this fantastic, very traditional hazy, very juicy with white peach, passion fruit, and juicy oranges.

It's delicious. The can art is superb. ABV 8.5% garage grade four and a quarter bottle caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and praise to our good friends who helped us fill up the old garage fridge for this week's shows. First up, we have a cheers to mean Jean Janette in Gilbert'sville, Pennsylvania.

And a big we like to jib goes out to Dr. D and Littleton, Colorado. And here's a cheers to our good friends up north. This one going to Cindy in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. And last, but certainly not least, here's a cheers to Leanne, also in Windsor, Ontario. Everyone we just mentioned went to trimegar.com and donated to this week's beer fund. And for that we thank you.

Yeah. BW. Are you in beer run? You need more true crime garage for your ear balls? Let me tell you, three out of four doctors say yes you do. And we just released a very interesting off thereord last week. So check that out. And you can check all that stuff out at true crimegar.com. And Colonel, that's enough of the business. All right, everybody. Gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.

On February 2nd, 2008, a man walked into a Lane Bryant clothing store in Tinley Park, Illinois, posing as a delivery man. He announced a holdup and then began taking women to a back room where they were bound with duct tape. One of the brave ladies managed to call 911. The robbery escalated and turned very violent. Before fleeing, he shot all six ladies. Despite police arriving on the scene within minutes of the 911 call, the killer managed to get away. And we still have a lot of questions like, was this a robbery gone very bad or are there bigger motives at play?

We first covered this case with True Crime Garage episodes 200 and 201 back in 2018. And this week, we are taking a new and fresh look at a case that should be closed out. Police have spent millions of dollars trying to catch this man, but still to this day, they need your help to identify him. The public is reminded that the offender remains at large and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. A $100,000 reward has been established for information leading to the arrest of the offender. The reward is not dependent upon conviction. Any information will be kept confidential.

The tip hotline number is 7084445394. You can also email your information to lane bryant.tiplinetinleypark.org. This is True Crime Garage. Our true crime story this week is from a lovely place called Tinley Park. Tinley Park is a village located in Cook County, Illinois. This is a suburb almost an hour south of Chicago. The population as of 2020 is just under 56,000 people. Now, this horrific crime took place back in 2008. Five women killed in one fell swoop. However, this cold-blooded murderer had every intention of killing six and maybe even more. Tinley Park, not unlike so many other wonderful cities and suburbs, is not a place that typically sees this level of violence and homicides. In fact, just the calendar year before these murders that ended just 33 days before these five women were killed, Tinley Park, Illinois in 2007. No murders and only 15 robberies reported.

Now, at the center of this case is going to be a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park. Lane Bryant, according to the company's website, is the most recognized name in plus-size ladies clothing, and their emphasis is on fashion and fit. That is what makes them a style leader. This particular Lane Bryant store that we are discussing today, the Tinley Park Lane Bryant, was located at the Brookside Marketplace, which was built in 2005. This is your typical big box clothing store. For the gentlemen out there listening that may be less familiar with Lane Bryant than the fairer gender listeners, Lane Bryant is smaller than a Walmart or Target.

It's a Kohl'sized store. Today, the company operates approximately 400 stores in 46 US states. This particular one, the Tinley Park Lane Bryant was it's no longer in existence as many would expect. This one was a 23,000 square ft store. Back in 2008, Brookside Marketplace included some storefronts that were not open yet. This making this Lane Bryant store more isolated. The strip mall skirts a major section of Interstate 80, the belt of America with a Holiday Inn and a sleepin hotels quite nearby. No houses are in the immediate area and there are a few apartment buildings about a half a mile away. All right, Captain. Let's go back to Saturday, February 2nd, 2008, which was a very cold day. The ground was frozen. We got snow everywhere. We have 42year-old Roa McFarland. She went to work on this Saturday. She's the store manager of this Lane Bryant. This is going to be a busy day. She's preparing for a busy day as the

corporate office mailed out to their customers promoting a big clearance sale. So, she's anticipating a lot of activity in her store on that day. What she could not anticipate, what nobody could anticipate was what was about to happen shortly after the business opened for the day. The Lane Bryant store opened its doors for business at 10 a.m. and the crime unfolded shortly after. At 10:08, a man entered the store, engaged a store clerk in conversation, asking and talking about a delivery. He's saying he's a delivery man. He's there about a delivery in his hands carrying papers.

Bogus papers, mind you, bogus delivery papers. This man will later be described by Tinley Park PD as a male, black, possibly 29 years of age, wearing a dark colored jacket. Now, to be very clear, this is the description that goes out over the police radios when the officers are responding to the scene. So, as he enters the store, one witness would later say that the man was looking upward and around. And after the crimes, this witness believes that he was looking toward the ceiling for security cameras. Spoiler alert, this store had well, I'll count them for you. Zero.

Zero cameras. That's the highest you've ever counted. Now, in our previous coverage, we went deeper into information about the area, the Lane Bryant franchise, and the victims. Here we have six victims that were present at the time, and then of course countless victims beyond the walls of this Lane Bryant due to this act of just completely senseless murder. The man chatted briefly with Roa McFarland, the store manager and the surviving witness. Both of these workers. We don't use her real name, the surviving witness, but she is called Martha to protect her identity. So, the man spoke to both of these ladies regarding this fake delivery. Roa called another store location to see if there was some type of mixup with the delivery. During this time, two customers entered the store. And it is at this time that police say the man then pulled out a gun, announced a holdup. He's now forcing the four women,

two employees, two customers that were in the store, into the back room, which was a small employee break room where they conducted some of the operations. He forced the women to tape each other's hands and then he bound the remaining women or woman himself. After binding them, he told them to lay face down on the floor. They were bound with duct tape, hands behind their backs. Two more women who later entered the store were also taken to this back room bound and placed next to the others. It has been stated and reported that the man was robbing the customers, these two customers, as they came into the store and as he's taking them to the back. So, he's he's demanding their cash.

And some reports even state that he took some of their personal belongings, jewelry, and such.

Well, like you said, black man, roughly 6 foot tall, he had a husky build. He has a gun. He has corn road hair. And then he has a braid. One of the braids is like going to the right side of his face with these little light colored like light green colored beads. The order in which these customers came into the store is unknown. What is known and believed by many, especially her family and police, is that Connie Wolfk, she's a fighter, right, by nature. At some point, she must have had a physical altercation with the suspect. We know this because she is found with additional injuries. So, this woman, Connie, she was known to be very tough and a fighter. She was more banged up compared to the others. She was struck in the face, possibly with the butt of the suspect's gun. She also had blood under her fingernails, which is believed to have come from the suspect. After he had six bound in the back of the store,

the suspect took clothing from the store. This is several pair of panties, and placed these articles over the heads of the women. This was done to blind the victims so that they one could no longer see him or what was going on and an attempt to further control them and the situation at hand. At some point, the suspect said some degrading comments to one of the women and fondled her.

Somehow during all of this chaos, the store manager, Roa McFarland, managed to call 911. This is from the cell phone using Bluetooth technology at 10:44 a.m. She managed to make the call while the gunman was distracted even though she was bound by tape. On the call, which is posted on the Tinley Park Police website, very brave Roa McFarland calls 911. You know, I originally reported she is calling to report a robbery in progress. Of course, this is true, but truly she is reporting a robbery in progress, a hostage situation. And after more thought, I think she made this call out of pure desperation.

I think at this point in this situation, Captain, she can see, she can hear that this guy is becoming more and more agitated. He's becoming more aggressive. He's getting violent. He's becoming more and more unhinged and totally out of control. This is not going as he had planned. And if someone was going to pay for it, it was going to be those women on the floor. The 911 emergency services officer picks up the call. Lane Bryant, McFarland whispers to the dispatcher. Where at? The dispatcher asks. Tinley Park, McFarland replies.

and she adds, "Hurry." Now, I know you, Captain, like me, we've listened to this call dozens of times. During this call, the suspect can be heard in the background kind of shouting at the women,

right? You do hear him. Some of the words, so we have reports and descriptions by folks smarter than us as to what they think they're hearing him say. But one part that I can clearly hear is he says, "I'm losing it."

Yeah. Like you said, I think she makes the call out out of desperation. But if I'm law enforcement and again, what information, what details do we get from the surviving victim? Did she see the killer make contact with the customers? Did she see whatever escalation happened between him and and the customers? Because to me there there's a calculated plan here because you have a gun. You're trying to control the situation. But to me, he has a plan. And and I think we have maybe some evidence. I I'd like to know what your thoughts are. If one of these individuals, one of the hostages attacks you, he could have easily just shot her then and there, but I think he didn't do that because he had an ultimate plan and then he goes and tries to execute that plan afterwards. So, yes, probably getting irritated as things are not going exactly to his plan. But if this guy was just purely crazy or insane, the moment he is

attacked, the moment he is resisted, he could just kill one or all of them and and not go with a plan.

Yes, it's believed that at some point this suspect heard either heard the phone call to 911, heard Ms. McFarland's Bluetooth phone call or that may have even heard the dispatcher's voice over the phone call. The police are dispatched. A Tinley Park police officer was in an adjacent parking lot at the time of the 911 call. It is approximated that he was about 200 yards away. So, police obviously arriving on the scene extremely quickly. And it's reported that the first officer arrived about 2 minutes after the very, very short 911 call. The surviving witness, Martha, stated that she heard the police sirens before the shooting started.

If I'm law enforcement and I hear this account from this witness, we have no knowledge of his plan. So, he could have just been going to bound them and tie them up and leave. But that plan could have changed completely once he hears the sirens. And once he hears those sirens, it's okay. And that in that moment, I I changed my plan. I'm going to leave no witnesses and I'm going to get out of here. So, this is all going down at approximately 10:46 a.m. And this is when all six women were shot execution style. Roa McFarland was the only one that was shot in the forehead, the rest in the back of their heads. The man then walked out the front door and disappeared. And we sit here well over more than a decade later with no clue as to who he is or where he went.

Do you have any eyewitnesses once he leaves? We do not. if there are the there's been reports of or no reports of such. Five of these ladies were dead when police arrived and then one woman thankfully survived. She too had been shot and left for dead, but she tricked the killer by moving her head at the last second and was shot in the neck. She Martha then played dead until police arrived. A black SUV as well as a black sedan were seen on video leaving the Lane Bryant parking lot at approximately 10:48 a.m. So all of this happens within the time span of about 40 minutes from the time he arrives to the time that he thinks everyone's dead and leaves the store and police are in route and then on the scene. So, suspect arrives at Lane Bryant store at approximately 10:08 a.m. The call to 911 is placed at 10:44.

Shots are fired at approximately 10:46 and the suspect left the scene at approximately 10:48. The following morning, the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune led with the headline, "Five women slain in store. Police hunt gunmen in shooting at Tinley Park Mall." The article reads in part, "A gunman led women into the back of a clothing store Saturday morning, killed them, then he walked out the front door and disappeared." Police say there were no survivors at the Lane Bryant store in a suburban strip mall along Interstate Highway 80 and what they are calling a botched robbery.

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Cheers to you, Captain. This is a case as we said in the trailer today that we have covered before and we if you wish to go back and listen to that coverage know that it's different than what you are hearing today if you've not reviewed those podcast prior and this is also one that we've circled back to at least on one probably several occasions on off the record. Now, you heard it there just before our beer break. A much needed beer break, I must add. The paper said that he led all of the women to the back of the store and killed all the women and there were no survivors. Now, this is weird the way that it's reported, right? It's very smart and they were probably told to do so or at least the information they were getting from the police is probably saying simply unfortunately we have five women that were taken hostage. They were shot and killed. There were no survivors. This is to protect

the sole survivor. I mean she's immediately put into protective custody and care. She's right.

She had to go to the hospital due to her injuries which near fatal. I mean inches away from from her being killed. And she now has to be protected her her and her family. Is this just a a sole operator that was determined to rob maybe even prepared to kill that day and would do it again? Would hunt her down? go after her family or could this be something larger? Were other people involved? Could this be gang related? So, this woman must be protected for a million reasons. And some of those reasons are she is going to be your best provider of information about who the killer is,

right? And we don't have eyewitnesses outside of the store, but we do have camera footage of this SUV. if that was involved in this crime. Was that SUV been being driven by the killer or was there other individuals involved?

We never like to victim blame here. Of course, the franchise itself, Lane Bryant, is in some ways a victim as well, but I just I think it is a huge disservice to your employees to not value their safety and their protection. I I think I say I will say shame on you, Lane Bryant. This is 2008 in a newly developed mall, right? The the marketplace mall was built in 2005. We're not dealing with something that was built in the 70s. We're we're dealing with a newer store. We know that this Lane Bryant, I believe it was open for 2 years prior to this horrible day.

You're putting up a store in 2006. You got people working there in 2008 and it's a nice area, a bad area, whatever. Put some cameras up there. I And I know there's somebody out there listening to me going, "Nick, you're an idiot. That wouldn't have prevented that may not have prevented these murders." Well, couple things. If the witness is correct saying that she believed that the man was looking up, the suspect was looking up and she thought perhaps after the fact he was looking to make sure there were no security cameras. Had he been had he spotted a camera, who's to say he wouldn't have left? Regardless of that part of the story, what we would have is more information about who this guy is. Well, we we probably have footage that was so blurry that we couldn't make out. It's well, they were killed by a a blob

cuz put in surveillance cameras and and make sure it's of decent quality. And shout out to our longtime uh sponsor and our friends over at Simply Safe who do a a hell of a job. They got some of the best equipment out there, some of the best monitoring that you will ever find. Hashtag is a sponsor,

right? We were having this conversation over some beers with some friends and I had said, you know, I said, I'm getting some more cameras from Simplysafe and and one of our friends says, uh, you got a camera out front and a camera out back. How many do you need? And I said, you know what? I don't give a GD about somebody breaking into the house. If somebody if somebody does something to me or my property, I want them caught. I want them caught and I want them to serve time. And I I'll put up 30 cameras if I have to.

Well, and also the your killer probably came from with inside the house. Let that set in.

So, the search, of course, they're going to do a search of the immediate area. This is going to be very intensive with at least eight local police department, law enforcement agency departments on hand quickly descending on the shopping center in the immediate area. They're checking vehicles. They're going doortodoor. We have multiple helicopters in the sky, at least one with infrared technology, the whole nine yards. Now, I've seen some footage. This would be a difficult space to conduct such a largecale search regardless of how many boots on the ground you have, right? You have cars in the parking lots, you have other stores and yes, there were some empty stores, but you you have the interstate that is nearby and they believe that they're they're looking for someone that they know to be armed and dangerous, right?

which is going to complicate your search as well because you have women and men conducting this search that may be in fear of their own lives.

Yeah. I don't I don't mean to very dangerous. I mean, this guy didn't blink. He tried to execute six women.

I don't mean to critique too much, but I saw on several occasions on this footage where they question the driver or passengers in a car. They look through They look through the uh windows, open up some doors, but I saw a couple cars get out of there and a trunk not being searched. And we don't know how this killer entered, where he came from, uh how he got to the the shopping mall, how he got away from the shopping mall. And I keep kind of circling back to that idea because I don't want anybody I don't I think it would be irresponsible for all of us to dismiss any possibility of anyone else being involved.

Right? There could be a getaway driver. There could have been a lookout. Who knows? And we'll get more into that as we continue on.

When a case isn't solved, you have to be open to many possibilities. Stay water.

Is there somebody else involved? Is there more than one person involved? Did he leave by car? Did he leave by motorcycle? Did he leave by bicycle? Did he leave on foot? We we don't know that. The victims we have five killed, one wounded, treated at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields and then released the following day. The survivor was released the following day on Sunday, February 3rd. The survivor does not live in the area anymore and has not for a long time, but does stay in constant contact with police whenever she is needed. The victims, we have Roa McFarland, age 42.

As said, she was the manager of the Lane Bryant store, been there for two years. She was a US Air Force veteran, worked as a nurse at Andrews Air Force Base. She also served as a pastor for a Christian center. Roa was engaged over the holidays. She had just gotten engaged, Captain Over the holidays of 2007 to a man named Stuart Gibbs. She continued to answer her Christian calling while working at Lane Bryant, often using her employee discount to buy clothes for people who are less fortunate. As said, she's the only victim shot in the forehead. This is believed that the killer caught her on the phone talking to 911 and that is why she was facing the killer when shot.

Jenny Lynn Bishop was 34 years old of Southbend. She was a customer. She was married to Brian Bishop and they had three young children. She graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor of science and nursing degree in 1996 and she had been employed at a hospital and she also worked in the intensive care unit. She had just celebrated her 34th birthday just days prior and she was at the store that day using a gift card that she received from a friend or loved one for her birthday. Her situation's a little more unique than some of the other victims being that she was only in the area because her husband was in the area traveling for business and she decided to go out for the day while he was working. We also have Sarah Saffransky.

She's the youngest of the victims, just 22 years old. She was a customer that day. Unfortunately, she had just graduated in 2007 from Northern Illinois University with a degree in finance and she had a new job and she was at that Lane Bryant store that day shopping for work clothes. Connie Wolffulk was the woman who fought back. She was a mortgage lender who lived with her mother and two sons, a single mother. Now, remember the housing market in 2007 did a total tank job. So, she was riding the storm out. She took a second job stocking shelves overnight at the Super Target that was in the same Tinley Park shopping center that morning. She was treating herself on that Saturday to some shopping at Lane Bryant to buy a new outfit. Her family said when told that, "Hey, she had more injuries than the others. She's got bruising that the others didn't have. She She had been beaten. They said they weren't surprised

because they said she would not have gone along with with anything without a fight.

Well, and law enforcement was able to get DNA and fingerprints. So, I'm I'm guessing that they got the killer's DNA through her contact with him is what I'm guessing. Or maybe a possibly possibly that was the way.

The DNA, they've always been a little cy about that. We don't have 100% confirmation that they have DNA. I believe that they do. And yes, you're absolutely right. If if they did have, as stated, it's been reported or at least rumored many times over that blood was found under her fingernails, it the most likely of places that it it would have come from would be the suspect when she fought back. We have Carrie Chuo, uh, age 33 of Frankfurt. She was a customer as well. She was a social worker. Her and her husband had been married for just a year and a half before she was killed. Her husband was waiting for her to return home. She was out shopping. He sees the news report on TV and sadly he saw and observed her car parked in front of the store during this emergency breaking news coverage. I think one of the misconceptions is when you hear overviews of this case and you hear that these two customers come in, I

think a lot of people assume that they knew each other or that they were shopping together and it doesn't seem like they were connected in any way other than just shopping at Lane Bryant at the same time.

Exactly. And we have statements from law enforcement stating we don't know what order the customers came in. Well, we know that the store opened up at 10:00 a.m. Do we have a good understanding of what time the employees got there? And was there uh staggering in process or was it just we all enter the building at 9:00?

I believe it's 9:00. I don't have any hard and fast evidence of that, but I if I had to make a wager, I would go with with roughly 9:00 as the arrival time for at least the manager to get things opened up.

Yeah. But a lot of these retail stores, they don't open with just one employee. No, both both employees were present when the doors opened at 10 a.m.

And so again, it wouldn't be that hard for anybody to figure out that the store opens at 10. We have this killer coming in 8 minutes after opening. To me, this is another piece of evidence of that this is not so random and and actually there was some kind of plan. I have always thought that the intention was to get there very quickly after opening the store so that he could take control of whatever the people inside the store, the store itself. One thing we do know is unless he was just unable to get back to the front door, he didn't lock the door. Whether that was just he didn't have enough time to do so or he didn't want to. And that will be a part of our theories that we will discuss later on because unfortunately there's so much left to question in this case. We also have Martha. Again, not her real name, was the surviving the only surviving victim. She was 33 years old. She was just a part-time employee

at the Lane Bryant store. She was shot along with the rest of the victims, but the bullet went into her neck, missing vital organs. She was enrolled in nursing school and working two jobs at the time. This is a Tinley Park Police Department media release titled Lane Bryant Homicide Investigation. and it reads, "The Tinley Park Police Department is continuing its investigation into the murders of five women at the Lane Bryant clothing store, which occurred late Saturday morning, February 2nd, 2008." Tinley Park Police continue to work with the South Suburban Major Crime Task Force, the Will County Corner's Office, and the Will County States Attorney, as well as several other surrounding agencies in solving this crime. As reported earlier, this incident appears to stem from an armed robbery attempt, which may have been interrupted. As of this morning, so this comes out February 3rd, the following

day, the five victims have been positively identified, and we've already gone through all of their names and ages. The coroner has also determined that each of the five victims died of gunshot wounds. At this time, we are asking that anyone having information regarding this crime or who may have seen anything of a suspicious nature in or around the mall located at 190 at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 2nd to call the Tinley Park Police Department. We should note here, Captain, later in these police requests for information from the public, this time of 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for request for information would be changed to 9:00 a.m.

to 11:00 a.m. And then eventually they would be saying anytime leading up to 11 a.m.

You were saying that they had an officer less than 200 yards away. So, do we have the exact time of when they arrived at the scene?

Yes. All reports state that they were on the scene within 2 minutes of receiving the 911 call, which we we know what time that was placed. the the only variance in reporting on that and keep in mind this is one case where they've been extremely protective of the information that they have and and the information that they don't have. Frankly, the only variance in that reporting would be some reports state that it was 2 minutes after the phone call ended. Some reports state that it's two minutes from the start of the phone call. I don't think that matters either way as the phone the 911 call is extremely short. Ex I mean it's seconds long.

Yeah. I think what matters more is like you said this eyewitness that survived saying hey I heard the police sirens before the shooting started.

Yeah. And if she heard them there's every reason to believe that the killer heard them as well. [clears throat] now in her shock and in that situation and I fault her to a zero degree because I think it would be irresponsible to to think that she's going to get everything 100% correct in a moment where she's hearing people get shot or at least she's hearing I don't know if she's able to see at this point

right but she is hearing gunshots from a very coming from a very angry man. And so, I mean, we're talking split-second stuff here where it it could be sirens go off, boom, boom, boom, or it's boom, sirens, boom, boom, boom. You know, I it's all happening all at the same time. In in my mind, what I think when we talk about time line here and as far as our suspect goes and and demanding and requesting this information from the public is they keep altering the start time. Hey, we want to know if anybody saw anything from this time to 11:00 a.m. or that time to 11:00 a.m. The constant is 11:00 a.m. They based off of this information, they seem to believe 99% to 100% that this guy, the killer, was gone by 11:00 a.m.

leaving the door open for what time he may have came to this area. Right. We know what time he walked into the store, but who's to say he didn't [clears throat] drive around in these parking lots or walk around or as you said, if he were on foot or on a bicycle, I believe he would have had to have something transport him from this location or just have been really damn good at it. I'm I'm a little surprised he didn't leave through the back door. I mean, if he had already heard sirens, what the Even if there's an emergency alarm that's going to go off, why go all the way back through the there? There must be some reason why he went all the way back through the front door.

Yeah. Maybe that's where his vehicle is. Maybe that's where getaway driver, right? And then also I think these little details matter because is this a sign of like I said I I believe there's evidence to point to planning but then how well was it planned? How well was the the facility cased by this indiv individual?

Well, I said it the first time we covered it. If the witness is correct in the thought that he was looking for surveillance cameras once inside of the store. If if that is correct that it's again it's a belief but if it's correct that tells me he's not been in the store before. Now he he may have knowledge of Lane Bryant and the workings of Lane Bryant. He may have knowledge of this general area of the shopping mall, of the parking lot. He may have experience actually conducting deliveries, but if he were to be looking for cameras, I'm guessing he's not been in the store prior to this. Or if he's been in the store prior to this, there's been some time that has gone by, right?

That, oh, I didn't see any cameras last time I was in here. I better make sure. But that was three months ago, six months ago. I better make sure that's still the case.

Yeah. And then you wonder because he's showing up with a gun. We don't know if he showed up with any other weapons. I believe all the items that they were bound with were found in the store.

The tape, it's been reported that the tape he brought the tape to the store with him as well as the gun.

Yeah. And then again, there's some planning. So then you go, well, why wasn't he wearing a mask? So, was the plan all along to leave no witnesses?

That's a very good question and one that needs to be we we may only find that out

once there's an arrest. Yeah. They find this guy or better yet, where's the tipster? They We've received a lot of tips in this case. Where's the one that's going to matter and lead to this guy? Somebody knows this guy. I'm convinced of it. Now, part of this press release as well, they go on to say, "In addition to the cooperation of the surrounding law enforcement agency's Lane Bryant executives have been involved in assisting Tinley Park Police Department in this investigation, adding that the Charming Shops Incorporated and Lane Bryant companies have announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murders. I do, let's get into a little do know and don't know. I do know that this reward was eventually uh made its way all the way up to $100,000 and I believe all of that coming from Lane Bryant companies. There there were

some other reward monies involved, but I believe Lane Bryant increased this to $100,000 at some point. What I don't know, Captain, is as we sit here in 2026, is that reward still available? There is a reward available, but there's no current indicator that it's coming from Lane Bryant. The following day, we get another Tinley Park Police Department media release. This is an update that states at the time of this incident, the suspect was described as follows. And they they are smart. They say however, right? They got to inform the public.

However, he may have changed his appearance since the time of the crime. This is the description that they gave. We're talking February 2nd here, 2 days after the murders. Say male, black, 5'8 in to 5' 10 in tall. Now, as the captain had said earlier, a lot of the reports out there have the height being 5 foot 10 to six feet tall these days. So, I think we can't dismiss this. I think it'd be foolish to dismiss either. So, let's go with 5'8 to 6' tall approximately. He's a stockier guy. This report says 230 to possibly 260 lb.

Yeah. 25 to 35 years of age, medium complexion, broad shoulders, clean shaven, wearing black jeans with writing or embroidery on them with some type of rhinestone decorations on the rear pocket. A dark colored jacket that hung below the waist with no writing on it and a charcoal gray knit cap with hair pulled back with thick braided hair. cornrow, as the captain had said, with a receding hairline. The suspect is wellgroomed and known to have one braid laying over the right side of his face at cheek level that had four light green beads on the end of the braid. The braids on his head were pulled straight back. Yeah, I think the height becomes an issue because we don't have that surveillance footage, but we've seen in other cases like Deli where you have footage, but you don't have really the the proper angles and the and the proper tools to get a more definitive range of height. The next press release that

we're going to get, it starts off very similar to the ones we've already reviewed. So, we'll skip over those portions of the press release, but they they spend a a couple of paragraphs explaining that the information that they have is highly sensitive. It's evidence that needs to be evaluated and they want to ensure the public that any information that is important for them will be released as the investigation progresses. So they're saying we have more information, but it's very sensitive and it's sensitive not only because it's evidence, but it's sensitive to the integrity of the investigation itself.

They're adding, "Our primary objectives will always be to capture this individual and the consideration of our victims."

Yeah. You also wonder too what made one of the hostages feel that they could try to call 911? Was he singling out another victim? Was there any kind of sexual assault? and maybe they thought as that is taking place I can try to make this call. So I think there's there's probably a lot of details that have not been given to the public and then you just wonder how how many years with nothing or is law enforcement's thoughts well we have fingerprints and we have DNA so we'll just keep waiting till technology catches up. Well, I think they can surmise some of what took place based off of physical evidence that they find at the scene,

right? The other part of it is that you only have one living witness. That's very difficult because as described, she's bound. She's on the floor. Her head was covered at one point, may still have been covered for the entirety of the time that she's in the back room. So her level of observance is compromised, right? At the very least, it's compromised. Now, what we do have is a report that has stood the test of time of saying that it is believed, and when I say believed, I got to believe this is coming from the witness. It's believed that and thought that the the killer that the suspect was distracted or as you said, like busy doing something else. And this brave woman wrote us. She thought you again, probably at a at a desperation, it's either now or never, I can call 911. Because you try to walk in the the victim's shoes.

Yeah. If you're in the victim's shoes, think about listeners, think about this for a second. You're face down in a back room in a large big box store. You've had a gun pointed at you. maybe even poked with the the the barrel of this gun. You've been threatened.

You don't know what this individual's intentions are. You don't know if he's going to let you go.

I think it would be natural, Captain for for you to have a a complete change in thought and emotion. Right. it. I can see this being where I'm lying there at one point going, "Okay, if I just if nobody pulls any [ __ ] this guy's just going to leave,

right?" And we're we're all going to be shook up, but we're going to we're going to survive.

And then at some point this changes, and I think it changed for Roa that she goes, I I have to call because this guy is losing it. And if if they don't get here soon or if he does, you're probably praying that maybe even just the hearing the sirens come will be a deterrent for this guy and he he'll want to just up and leave and get the hell out of there. But unfortunately, that is not what happened. Well, again, we don't know what the plan is, too, because why is he getting more irritated? Yes, somebody attacks him. So, at that moment, you could go, "Well, he should be very irritated. Somebody attacked him. He has a gun. I'm the authority.

What the [ __ ] do you think you're doing?" But once they're bound, what was causing him to lose control? Was there supposed to be another in individual that shows up? Was there not the the money he thought there was? you know, what was his motivation here? And and again, we don't know what the the complete plan was. Was he going to bound these individuals up and take money or whatever and just leave and then that he hears the sirens and thinks, "Oh shit." And then just assassinates everybody. And I've thought about this a lot because we've been doing the show for a long time and people, you go out to dinner, what do you do? Oh, well, I do a true crime podcast. Oh, well, let me ask you this. And uh what do you think uh would deter somebody? But it's every situation's different. And so as a victim, you could see somebody coming into a bank or a retail space and and you can then maybe assume that their

motive is not murder, but their motive is robbery. And you could probably assume the same thing in even in a house invasion like the only so it's really hard to give like concrete advice of what I would do or what I would suggest somebody to do because I do think the location of the crime changes what I would do. This is maybe not my advice, but advice I've heard from law enforcement time and time again. If somebody's trying to get you into a vehicle, do everything you can not to get into that freaking vehicle. Like I said, I think the location would change because I think a lot of these individuals actions are all predicated on the location they're in.

I think it's very likely this guy was prepared to kill if he had to, but I don't think he planned to kill. And I can't say that with any great degree of certainty. I think that he thought that once he pulled the gun that everybody would just do what he said, they would become his puppets and they would just lie there still on the ground. And I think he kept he he kept experiencing problems and and issues with that. And I think it kept mounting and mounting. I think he was already probably pretty stressed out before he entered the building and that stress level continued to grow in a very short period of time. And then now you have more people coming in. Again, we we'll get to some of this in in the theories part, but it's in this press release that we were just going through the the February 6th press release that the public learns for the first time where police say, "We can now confirm reports that one of the victims

was a target of sexual advances by the offender in that she was fondled." These are their exact words. there was no further sexual contact beyond that. And they go out of their way to shoot down the idea that the suspect wore a red jacket. That must have been a local rumor at the time. They they they say it as this. Secondly, a clearer picture of the offender is coming to light. He is now described as having three to five inch puffy corn rows that go back from the front of his head with one strand of green beads hanging over his right cheek. He is also described as being large framed with weight proportionate to his height. Some reports have erroneously indicated the subject wore a red jacket. That information is incorrect. The suspect wore a black jacket as was indicated in the initial descriptions. I again not me the report I would like to stress this description is what the offender looked like at the

time of the crime on Saturday morning. We continue to investigate a large number of leads in this case. We continue to request the public to call the tip line. At this time we would like to read a statement written by the surviving victim. Quote, "On Saturday, February 2nd, an unspeakable tragedy occurred and five of the bravest women I have ever met were senselessly murdered and taken from their families. My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to their families and friends. Please know that during the unfathomable events of that day, their thoughts were focused on you and coming home. My heart aches that they were unable to do so and I am working with the authorities in any way possible for all of the victims. I ask that the media please respect all of our families and allow us to grieve and cope privately with the horrific crime that ripped our worlds apart. I also ask that everyone

respect that neither I nor my family can discuss the horrible events of that day. I thank everybody who has expressed concern and ask that any person who can assist in the investigation contact the authorities immediately.

We want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage. Join us back for the next episode as we return to the scene of the crime and we take a deeper dive into the Lane Bryant killings. Join us back here in the garage. Until then, be good, be kind, and don't litter. Heat. Heat.

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Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1"?

Nick (Guest), The Captain (Host), Roa McFarland (Guest), Martha (Guest), Jenny Lynn Bishop (Guest), Sarah Saffransky (Guest), Connie Wolffulk (Guest), Carrie Chuo (Guest).

What is "Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1" about?

The content centers on the mystery series "His and Hers," featuring Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist investigating a murder in her hometown, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper, who becomes suspicious of her involvement. The plot explores the complex dynamics between Anna and Harper as their pursuit of the truth intertwines, promising an intriguing narrative of suspense and discovery.

What is mentioned in this True Crime Garage TV episode?

15 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Tinley Park, Roa McFarland, February 2nd, 2008, Jenny Lynn Bishop, $100,000 reward, Sarah Saffransky. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Lane Bryant Murders 2026 /// Part 1"?

The episode runs 1 h 2 min; the transcript is about 8,954 words in 97 timestamped sections.

More from True Crime Garage TV

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.