When a respected teacher becomes a target | Forensic Files

people think some huge trauma needs to happen before you can use therapy but really you can use therapy to get
the tools before something bad happens visit betterhelp.com case file and learn some new things to
help navigate life 44 year old jeanette castraon suffered from a disability that made it very
difficult to walk and travel on her own in june 2015 while waiting as her mother
took a brief stop at a park restroom jeanette vanished she would not be the last
join investigative journalist otavia mchenry as she uncovers the secrets behind jeanette's sudden disappearance
with interviews from jeanette's family law enforcement and criminal behaviour experts otavia uncovers much more in the
search for jeanette castreon than she anticipated a twisted labyrinth where the most
beautiful scenery hides sinister secrets the labyrinth is a case file presents podcast available now for free only on
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[Music] the young students of the coolbore learning center in pennsylvania were due
to arrive any minute shortly beforehand a teacher entered the school's main entrance and stumbled
across an odd scene scattered on the ground by the front doors were multiple sealed envelopes
addressed to the principal more were found throughout the school grounds haphazardly thrown on the lawn
on the concrete paths and in bushes they were unstamped with no return details each envelope contained a copy of the
same type written letter littered with grammatical errors and profanities it was scathing of a member
of staff and her teaching ability it also alleged that she brought cannabis onto school property quote
then showed it in the faculty room just like it was a big joke the principal summoned the teacher at
the center of the letter's allegations joanne chambers had been employed as a grade one teacher at coolboar elementary
for four years she arrived in mid-1989 with glowing reviews from her previous school where she was praised
for her professionalism and organisational skills joanne was stunned by the letter
given its contents focused on her work it appeared as though it had been written by either a member of coolboar's
staff or someone connected to the school but as far as joanne was concerned she was embraced by the school community and
had a good rapport with her colleagues her somewhat unconventional methods of teaching involved dancing and singing
making her popular with students and parents alike other staff members seemingly embraced
her playful nature in the warmer months joanne would stage water balloon fights with the school
administrators to the delight of her students respected and well-regarded joanne was
nothing like the letter's author depicted joanne assumed that the letters had been
sent by someone out of jealousy as a nasty prank she hoped the author would come forward
so they could resolve the matter but whoever was responsible remained anonymous [Music]
[Music] more letters started appearing around the school over the coming weeks and
months shoved into the teacher's mail slots in the faculty room was a letter accusing
joanne of being an alcoholic and drinking in the classroom on march 14 1994 joanne opened the
drawer to her classroom desk to find an empty bottle of whiskey inside while looking for anything else out of
the ordinary she noticed a framed portrait of her and her son had been stolen from her desk
up until this point the harassment had been confined to the school grounds however it wasn't long before joanne
started receiving hang-up phone calls and letters arriving on her doorstep at home
the letters were becoming threatening one read i can get you in one try no one will ever prove it
they may not think so but i'm smarter than all of you you stupid [ __ ] another threatened to poison joanne
you really are a clueless [ __ ] i had four chances to drug your coffee this week
or did i drug your coffee [ __ ] you make me sick joanne would not be intimidated by her
unknown detractor and continued teaching at the coolboar learning center exactly one month after finding the
whiskey bottle in her desk drawer joanne stood behind the same desk to begin teaching for the day
she was wearing a long dress and as she sat down in her chair joanne smoothed the fabric out from under her thighs
she then felt something unpleasant feces had been smeared all over her seat joanne complained to the coolboar
township police department and chief anthony flugel was assigned to the case joanne relayed the past incidents
including the one involving the photograph taken from her school desk a letter had also been sent to the
school administrators parents and even taped to a local store door it depicted a pornographic image of
three naked women in a bathtub joanne's face had been cut from the photo on her desk and superimposed onto
the face of one of the women written alongside it using a stencil with the words
it's not over you die [Music] chief flugel agreed that joanne was likely being targeted by someone in the
school system a hidden camera was placed in her classroom to try and catch the culprit
red-handed the threatening letters were sent to an fbi lab in virginia who were able to
extract partial prints from some of the envelopes but not enough to make a match
joanne's fellow teachers were called to a meeting where it was explained that police were investigating the attacks
against her if the perpetrator was among them it was hoped this information would scare them
into stopping chief anthony floogal examined the footage taken from the hidden camera in
joanne's classroom at 8 18 one morning before the commencement of class the camera
captured something peculiar joanne could be seen talking to a fellow teacher after collecting a few items the pair
left the classroom a few moments later the other teacher returned to the empty room
she took something from joanne's desk and walked out of the room with it it was fellow first grade teacher paula
noraki and she had taken joanne's coffee cup described by colleagues as diplomatic
honest and peaceful paula nooroki had been a teacher in the monroe county school district for 20 years
unlike joanne who was outgoing and searched for fun and creative ways to teach her class
paula was quiet favored traditional teaching methods and followed procedures by the book
the pair differed not only in personality but in appearance joanne was tall with green eyes and
blonde hair that she wore in loose locks to her shoulders while paula was of a slight build with
hazel eyes and short brown hair she styled into a perm caring and professional paula noraki was
popular with parents and students like joanne she received positive feedback from her superiors
however other staff had commented that they thought paula was jealous of joanne's reputation as the fun teacher
as reported in the newspaper the times tribune another incident also aroused suspicion amongst the teaching staff
in one of the threatening letters sent to joanne a reference was made regarding the school superintendent and his
similarity to german commander colonel clink in the television series hogan's heroes
an employee recalled a conversation with paula norocki in which she made this exact comparison
paula denied any involvement in the attacks against the joanne chambers with no evidence connecting her to the
crimes she was allowed to continue teaching however paula was snubbed by fellow teachers who were convinced of her guilt
and sent to work in a different building joanne was transferred to another school
for her own safety while the investigation was ongoing on may 6 1994 joanne and paula were
subjected to polygraph tests the purpose in testing joanne was to rule out that she was embellishing any
of the vile lacks she had been subjected to joanne's answers indicated that she was
being truthful during paula's polygraph test she was asked were you involved with making or sending
any of the threatening letters paula who voluntarily submitted to the polygraph in the hopes it would clear
her name answered no the polygraph examiner concluded she was being deceitful paula maintained her innocence
she told chief anthony flugal i don't think i am doing it if i am i don't know it
he informed paula that she was a strong suspect and it would be in her best interests to come forward and stop the
harassment paula replied you'll never prove it was me even though chief flugel suspected paula
from the outset a lack of proof left her free to leave a search of paula's home was undertaken
and a typewriter and various stationary suppliers such as paper and envelopes were taken into evidence
on may 27 1994 joanne was leaving work after a long day as she went to open the driver's side
door to her car she recoiled something sharp had cut her finger she discovered a razor blade affixed to
the underside of the handle a few days later joanne received a letter that read you're sliced
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you support case file one day a package was found at the front door of joanne's new school
it was a small box wrapped in pink paper inside was a barbie doll it was wearing a blue dress similar to
one joanne often wore the barbie's blonde hair had been cut to shoulder length and styled into loose
locks in the doll's neck was a razor blade red paint surrounded the blade and dripped down the doll's chest
a few months passed with no new threats in november 1994 joanne was traveling along interstate 380.
it was daytime and a route that she travelled often as she drove joanne gazed up to her rear-view mirror
a car behind her was gaining speed it pulled up alongside her and swerved suddenly running joanne off the road
almost like it was occurring in slow motion joanne was able to brake and pull over to safety while simultaneously
getting a glimpse of the driver who had risked both their lives staging the dangerous maneuver
it was paula noraki joanne later described the incident in the series medical detectives
paul is looking right at me i will never forget that look by january 1995 the monroe county
district attorney's office had enough evidence to arrest paula norrocki she was taken from her first grade class
by police and charged with recklessly endangering the life of joanne chambers by trying to run her off the road
she also faced 78 counts of stalking 24 counts of making terroristic threats and
two counts of assault still maintaining her innocence paula was released on bail
she and her husband hired a private detective james anderson to investigate the charges against her
although skeptical of her innocence james agreed to take on the case given that the letters sent to joanne
and the coolboar learning center formed a large part of the prosecution's case paula suggested that the evidence be
sent for dna testing james warned her about proceeding explaining that this could have an
adverse effect on her case if her dna was found on any of the letters paula maintained she had nothing to hide
she spent approximately seven thousand dollars of her own money to have the testing completed
carefully lifting three stamps off one of the envelopes a dna typing expert was able to extract dna from saliva on
stamps affixed to the envelope it was not a match to paula nor rocky acting on a hunch private investigator
james anderson went to joann chambers home under the cover of darkness he rummaged
through her garbage bins on the curbside for collection finding a few tissues and a used deer
swab james took the items and replaced the lid on the bin he arranged for a dna profile to be
extracted from the discarded items a male sample presumably joanne's husband or son and the female sample
were uncovered the female sample was determined to be that of joanne chambers it was compared to the dna profile from
the postage dams it was a complete match given this development paula's defense lawyer argued for the charges to be
dropped against his client immediately his request was denied joanne was nonchalant when confronted
about her dna being found on the stamps she voluntarily submitted to a blood test for further dna testing to be done
joanne did not deny it was her dna and had an explanation as to how it had gotten there
she explained that during the course of the investigation she had been at the police station for questioning
she had been left alone with a stack of the threatening letters on the table in front of her
joanne picked up an envelope to examine it her handling caused its stamps to fall
off joanne admitted she tried to reaffix the stamps herself with saliva but when that failed she stuck them back
on with a glue stick she kept in her handbag the trial against paula noraki began on
january 15 1996 after an early preliminary hearing determined there was enough evidence for
her to stand trial court proceedings had to be postponed several times due to blizzards and flood
warnings on his way into court paula's defense lawyer joked to local newspaper the
morning call we've encountered blizzards and floods and i hope that pestilence and locusts
aren't far behind courtroom number four was packed with the journalists as well as members of
the general public who were intrigued by the unusual case if found guilty paula noraki faced a
maximum of five years jail time and a ten thousand dollar fine for each count she listened attentively to testimony
from those who examined the dna evidence on the letters and envelopes another dna sample was extracted from
adhesive used to seal an envelope the sample wasn't strong enough to obtain a full profile as had been done
with the postage stamps however it was complete enough to rule out paula noraki as the source
joanne chambers could not be excluded speaking calmly and concisely paula noraki testified that she believed
joanne was harassing herself in an attempt to frame her and to gain attention had an explanation for retrieving the
coffee cup from joanne's desk she stated that joanne had asked her to get it for her
it was determined that paula had been subjected to a different more rigorous polygraph test than joanne
furthermore her comment to chief anthony flugel you'll never prove it was me had
been taken entirely out of context then used against her the jury heard testimony from former
employees who described paula's exemplary behavior and teaching ability analysis of the stationary and
typewriter found in paula's home did not match the letters received by joanne joanne's typewriter was never examined
a chemist discredited joanne's allegation that she affixed the stamps back to the envelope with a glue stick
as the adhesive would turn a bluish color under uv light when he examined the stamps
this was not apparent next joanne chambers took the stand her demeanor as she answered questions
from the defense did little to help her cause the morning call reported her testimony
as uneven with replies that ranged from subdued to testy to sarcastic she also rolled her eyes and courtroom
observers noticed that she seemed edgy mid-trial the principal of joanne's former school provoked an audible gasp
from the courtroom as he recounted an event from joanne's earlier career in the early 80s joanne had approached
him asking to go home early because she had sat in feces private investigator james anderson
hired by paula noraki had found witnesses who'd worked with the joanne chambers at this point in her career
one witness jane pardue told the court that she and the six other teachers at the school were summoned to the library
for a meeting they were told that joanne had received harassing phone calls and threats that
her house would be burned down jane said of joanne she carried tales that weren't true to
the superintendent and she tried to get us in trouble jane added that she wanted to stay as
far away from joanne chambers as possible witness lower surrender a former teacher
described chambers as someone who told tall tales one involved joanne studying to be a nun
she said she'd broken her leg after jumping out a window to escape the nuns who were trying to force her to stay at
the convent also remembering that joanne tried to get other teachers into trouble
lois described her school as a harmonious place until chambers came along private investigator james anderson
listed 16 occasions where joanne complained to authorities about anonymous threats
prior to the incidents with paula noraki paula's defense lawyer suggested that joanne had placed the evidence herself
to frame paula because she hadn't catered to joanne as other teachers had done additionally there were no witnesses who
observed joanne being run off the road by paula noraki joanne's testimony was the only thing
implicating paula in this event on january 22 1996 the six men and six women of the jury
retired to deliberate they returned to the courtroom less than two hours later paula noraki was found not guilty of all
charges the jurors hugged paula after the trial one told her our hearts are with you
[Music] joanne chambers slipped from the courtroom quietly largely ignored by those in attendance
although she was found to not guilty on all charges paula noraki was still required to attend a school board
hearing to determine whether or not she could keep her job held over a series of nights in early
1997 the hearing was to address charges of immorality neglect and other school code
violations in relation to the case unlike the criminal trial that required a unanimous verdict only six of the
appointed eight school directors had to find that paula noraki acted immorally and in dereliction of judy for her to
lose her job mike 11 acting as prosecutor on behalf of the school board opened by saying
this case is a most unusual most tragic case you will hear about 41 profane threatening disgusting letters
you will hear about blood you will hear about feces you will hear about razor blades you
will hear about a barbie doll you will hear about nude photographs everyone involved in the case agrees
that the stalking incidents happened and that the person responsible should be fired
the point of the disagreements with this case is who did it who is responsible for these acts
the hearing largely repeated the information presented at the criminal trial on april 2 1997
paula norrocki was acquitted of the charges against her and permitted to keep her teaching job
when the verdict was read the pact auditorium opened to the public cheered for paula
jiren could be heard at the mention of joanne chambers name but with no evidence proving she was the
cause of the harassment joanne was also allowed to keep teaching in november 2000 paula noraki received a
600 000 settlement from the school district she was also awarded a 25 000 settlement
from joanne chambers after seeking compensation for out-of-pocket costs and punitive damages in the course of the
trial paula also sought compensation for defamation from lead detective chief anthony flugal
she alleged he maliciously prosecuted her without probable cause [Music] floogal who was by this time a
lieutenant refused to settle out of court a federal damage trial commenced in december 2000
flugel testified that he acted under the direction of the monroe county district
attorney's office and there was probable cause at the time to arrest paula norrocki
paula's defense argued that the arrest and subsequent trial proceeded despite a mountain of growing evidence implicating
joanne chambers as her own tormentor in a case described by paula's defense attorney as the strangest he had ever
been involved in flugel was acquitted of the charge of defamation on december 12 2000
both women continued teaching at different schools and had successful careers paula noraki had suffered the fallout of
being in the public eye telling the court at the federal trial that some people still avoid me
but by 2001 paula was teaching the third grade and it was reported in the morning
call that her life had largely returned to normal in 2014 after a celebrated career joanne
chambers retired from teaching she obtained the status of a national board certified teacher and had helped
hundreds of students learn to read as a specialist teacher for children with dyslexia
although it was never determined who was responsible for the harassment of joanne
chambers the assaults ceased following the trial hugh hutchinson who represented chief
anthony flugel at the federal trial for defamation told the courtroom somebody was very clever and very
careful whoever it was [Music] [Music] in june of 2015 a woman disappeared while camping with her family in the
cherokawa mountains of arizona she vanished without leaving a trace in the course of one to two minutes this is
the strangest search i've ever been on she just disappeared right off the face of the earth i said you're telling me
you got sign right here i said well then we're right on the road here basically so she got another car
somebody abducted her we were desperate we didn't know what else to do you already start to know you
know the canine hasn't found her something really bad is going on were we a target of something
what if somebody's got a vendetta against us the two-year quest for answers in this case led me to find out
more than i had originally anticipated i'll challenge you to something do a homework on missing persons from
national parks it's going to astound you what you're going to find out there's no way my brother would have
thought of suicide he also had just purchased furniture he was very excited about fixing up his living room so
you don't buy furniture and start fixing up your living rooms you're planning on
dying this case has more twists and turns than the blue ridge parkway and i have to say
occam's razor is normally the principle i operate from the simplest explanation is normally the most likely certainly
what i do know is that in fear and under pressure people make some very bad choices i'm octavia mchenry and this is
the labyrinth a true crime podcast brought to you by case file presents i think there's something there that we're
just not seeing and that others aren't seeing neither because everybody now to this point in this case is just grasping
so welcome to our world with this case and if you can give us any help i can't even
we can't even begin to tell you how much we'd appreciate that how is it that these people disappear
like that without a tree i'm a firm believer those things are real and there's something out there that we
don't understand we don't the labyrinth available exclusively on spotify

Case 189: JoAnne Chambers

When JoAnne Chambers was hired to teach at Coolbaugh Learning Centre in Pennsylvania she arrived with glowing reviews from her former school. So when an anonymous harasser began targeting the popular school teacher, she was left stunned...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-189-joanne-chambers

Brief Summary

Jeanette Castreon vanishes, while teacher Joanne Chambers faces harassment leading to a complex investigation and trial.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Jeanette Castraon. In June 2015, 44-year-old Jeanette Castraon vanished while waiting for her mother at a park restroom. Investigative journalist Otavia McHenry uncovers the secrets behind her sudden disappearance.
Harassment at Coolboar Learning Center. Joanne Chambers faces a series of threatening letters and harassment at her school, leading to a police investigation. The letters escalate from pranks to serious threats.
The Dangerous Encounter. Joanne is nearly run off the road by a car driven by Paula Noraki, escalating the tension between the two teachers. This incident leads to serious legal consequences for Paula.
DNA Evidence Unveiled. DNA testing reveals a match between Joanne Chambers and the stamps on the threatening letters, complicating the case against Paula Noraki.
Joanne Chambers' Testimony. Joanne's demeanor during her testimony raised eyebrows, with observers noting her edgy behavior.
Paula Noraki Found Not Guilty. After a brief deliberation, the jury acquitted Paula of all charges, leading to emotional support from jurors.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You really are a clueless [ __ ].

Threatening letter to Joanne Chambers

7:20WatchSep 18, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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