220: Dippin' Dots & the Disappearance of Jennifer Rothwell

In the year of our Lord 1987, a microbiologist named Curt Jones blessed us with the invention of Dippin’ Dots. The nation’s theme parks were never the same. But with success comes thievin’ bitches. (Or just… regular competition, depending on how you look at it.) Curt decided to protect his patent. In doing so, he found himself in a lengthy and costly legal battle. T’was a rocky road. 

Then Brandi tells us about Beau Rothwell, who is somehow even douchier than his name suggests. Beau was unhappy in his marriage, but didn’t bother communicating that to his wife, Jennifer. Instead, he had an affair while simultaneously trying to get Jennifer pregnant. When Jennifer became pregnant, Beau was stunned. What was a douche to do?

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:

An episode of the podcast How I Built This, titled, Dippin’ Dots: Curt Jones

“Is Dippin’ Dots still the ice cream of the future?” by K. Annabelle Smith for Smithsonian Magazine
“How Dippin’ Dots went from bankruptcy to $330M in annual revenue,” by Dave Schools for Entrepreneurs Handbook

Mini Melts, inc v. Dippin’ Dots, inc

“Things you didn’t know about Dippin’ Dots,” by Becki Ledford for Mashed.com
“What are Dippin’ Dots, really? The history of cryogenic ice cream,” by Juliet Izon for Serious Eats

“In the lab with the ice cream makers,” by Jennifer A. Kingson for the New York Times

“Jury says Dippin’ Dots erred on patent request,” Associated Press

“Ice cream maker hot on issue,” Associated Press

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:

“Husband faces charges in woman’s disappearance” by Kim Bell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Husband now charged with killing his wife” by Christine Byers and Kim Bell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Warrants shed light on woman’s death” by Christine Byers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Jury to decide if woman’s death was premeditated” by Joel Currier, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Murder suspect Beau Rothwell brings unexpected defense at trial” by Chris Hayes, Fox2 Now

“Rothwell’s list of ‘pros and cons’ shared during murder trial” by Joe Millitzer and Chris Hayes, Fox2 Now

“Beau Rothwell found guilty of first-degree murder after explaining how he killed his wife” by Elizabeth Barmeier, Spectrum News

“Beau Rothwell found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife” by Joel Currier, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Beau Rothwell sentenced to life in the killing of his pregnant wife” by Sara Bannoura, KMOV4 News

“Beau Rothwell sentenced to life in prison for killing wife who had searched online "what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant”” CBS News

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