On September 9, 2021, the Winchester Police Department’s podcast, DEFROST: Winchester’s True Crime with Behan & Smith, received an Award of Excellence at the 2021 City-County Communications and Marketing Association Conference held in St. Louis, Missouri.
“When this project began, there was an immediate emotional connection to telling this true crime story. The attention the podcast has received is humbling, and I am so grateful for this award our team has received,” stated Deputy Chief Amanda Behan, who extensively researched for, wrote, and hosted the podcast.
DEFROST covers the unsolved homicide of Lenna Robinson, a 71-year-old grandmother who was attacked outside her Peyton Street home on November 11, 1975. Robinson was gathering Christmas presents from her car when she was struck in the head with an unknown object and robbed of her purse. She died as a result of her injuries just days later. The full first season is available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, Anchor, and more.
Though the case remains unsolved today, D.C. Behan is hopeful that the research completed in the last year will lead to closure for the Robinson family. “We are still waiting on the Virginia Department of Forensic Science to accept Lenna’s purse for DNA testing. However, we are hopeful this will occur soon. From the start, our goal in reopening this case has been to bring Lenna’s family closure and peace.”
Video of the reopening of the purse, along with other bonus video content documenting milestones in the new investigation, are available on the City of Winchester’s YouTube channel. Fans are also encouraged to join the DEFROST Facebook group to follow along with exclusive content, new episode announcements, fan discussions, and more.
On the heels of the success of DEFROST, which at launch ranked in the top 200 True Crime podcasts on Apple Podcasts, D.C. Behan is excited to announce that there will be a second season. The new season will focus on a case from the North End and include updates to the Robinson case.
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