True Crime Campfire
Join hosts Katie and Whitney for a different kind of true crime podcast. You can start with season 1, The Puppet Master and the Prince of Darkness, a deep dive into the most bizarre murder case you've never heard of. Or start with season 2, which covers a different stranger-than-fiction story each week. This bingeworthy show combines meticulous research with a refreshing mix of comic relief and seamless storytelling. There's plenty of room around the campfire--come help us roast murderers and marshmallows!
Episodes
Freefall: The Crimes of Emile Cilliers
In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tells the story of a handsome young man who makes a deal with the Devil—his soul, in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. But there is a portrait of Dorian in the attic of his house, and as he moves through the years with his handsome face not aging, the portrait ages—and it also begins to show the poison seeping through him as he lives his li
The Secret Life: The Murder of Stefanie Rabinowitz
It’s almost impossible to know someone perfectly. Everyone has their private thoughts and hidden moments from their past, and this is usually no problem at all, it’s all just inconsequential things. Usually, but not always. Because some people don’t just have little harmless secrets, they have whole separate lives that the people close to them know nothing about. And the tension between those two
Creep: Serial Killer Wayne Nance Pt 2
When we left you at the end of part 1, Wayne Nance had begun his career as a serial killer with the murder of Donna Pounds. As much as he tried to blend into normal society—joining the Navy, working as a bouncer at a busy Western-themed bar—he could never completely hide the strangeness…and darkness brewing inside. Not everyone who saw it up close lived to tell about it, but as we’ll see in this e
Creep: Serial Killer Wayne Nance Pt 1
In the 1970s in Missoula, Montana, there was a brief epidemic of unsolved violent murders that shocked the small city down to its roots. A dark rumor spread quickly—the deaths must be the work of some sinister Satanic cult, secret rituals performed in the service of demonic powers. This was not the case. The murders were unconnected, the motives behind them having nothing to do with the big bad de
The Gray Man: The Crimes of Russell Williams, Pt 2
Our homes are supposed to be where we’re the safest. It’s where we’re our most vulnerable. Last week, we told you about someone who would use that vulnerability to his advantage. This week, as the story continues, his monstrous intentions will focus on two women and destroy their families' senses of safety forever. Join us for part 2 (the final part) of the story of Russell Williams.
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The Gray Man: The Crimes of Russell Williams Pt 1
In the military, a “gray man” refers to a service member who neither outperforms or underperforms his or her comrades. Someone who seamlessly fits into the group and gets the job done and doesn’t get unwanted attention while doing it. In that line of work, that can be a talent. In today’s story, we’re talking about a man who made a career out of being unnoticed, whose entire personality could be d
Labyrinth: The Murder of Re'mano Campbell
I don’t know about you, campers, but I like to have emergency plans for any eventuality. For example, what if I find myself in the center of a maze with only my wits to get out? What would I do? Of course, the secret to escape a maze is to keep your hand on one wall while you walk and eventually, you’ll find yourself at the exit. This case is a little bit like a maze. Every time the investigators
Tales of the Unexpected: A Grab Bag of Odd Stories
People can be pretty strange. And not just people—as we’ll see in one story of this week’s episode, you can add all our extended family of primates to that. If you have a big brain and opposable thumbs, there’s a good chance you’ll be getting up to shenanigans. But as we’ll see in our other story, human beings still wear the crown for weird, ridiculously confident nonsense.
Join us live at Wet
Listen Now: Blood and Water
Today we’re sharing something a little different from our friends at ABC News and 20/20. It’s the first episode of a brand new original true crime series called "Blood and Water." In 2001, Leslie Preer was found brutally murdered, her body left in the shower of her home in the wealthy suburbs of Washington, D.C. Investigators initially set their sights on Leslie’s husband as the prime suspect — u
The Sausage Kingdom: The Crimes of Stuart Alexander
I’m sure most of you have heard some variant of the phrase, “nobody wants to see how the sausage gets made,” which refers to the often messy procedures behind getting things done in, say, business or politics. But it’s also a literal truth that most of us don’t want to see how sausage gets made, and that goes double if the person making it cuts corners and develops a wildly aggressive attitude to
True Lies: The Murder of Lori Hacking
Secrets can ruin everything. Not little ones, we’re talking big, looming secrets that might change your life forever if they were ever brought out into the light of day. Some people just can’t help themselves, stacking lie upon lie, hiding the secret truth behind an ever-growing wall of falsehood. And if that wall comes crashing down…well, some people will go to any lengths to keep their secrets s
When Nerds Attack - Raging Fool: The Crimes of Charles Severance
Anger can be useful. If you need to defend yourself or those you love, or if you need to stand up against some outrage in your community, anger can give you the necessary fire to get things done. It can also be poisonous, eating away at a soul until there’s not much left but dense fury that constantly leaks out like oil from a ruptured tanker. This week’s story is about a man who let his anger con
You Belong to Me: The Murder of Robin Benedict
Love can be a pretty hard thing to define. It’s easier to say what it is not. Love is not secretly following someone and trying your best to keep her within sight every second of the day. Love is not trying to keep someone scared and uncertain so that they’ll rely on you more. And love is not thinking you own a person, and becoming furious when you find out that you do that. This is a story about
Red Weddings: The Crimes of Jill Coit
Many of the stories we cover revolve around the disintegration of a marriage. It’s often a deeply traumatic event, upending entire lives and making an imagined future just vanish into nothing. It can drive some people kind of crazy. But other people are just built differently, and can move effortlessly from one marriage to the next as easily as changing a pair of socks. The woman in this week’s ca
Falling Star: The Murder of Greg de Villers
Life, obviously, is easier with money. Without having to scrabble and hustle just to survive, you can be free to pursue whatever interests and fascinations you like. But wealth doesn’t make you immune to the realities of human life. Families still have drama, hearts still get broken, dreams still get crushed into dust. This week’s story is about someone who started life with every possible advanta
Cross-Country: The Murders of Josh Niles & Amber Washburn
If you’re unlucky, you might have at least one person in your life who just drives you crazy, someone with whom every interaction has an edge of mutual antipathy, that makes you feel like you’re always on the brink of a screaming argument. Sometimes two particular human beings just do not fit together. And because human beings are strange, sometimes a couple like that hook up and stay together for
After Dark: The Route 40 Killer
Every night in the city, there are people out looking for something. Usually it’s just fun and excitement, but there are also those who go out looking to fulfill darker desires, who view the night city as a hunting ground where they will get what they want, no matter what. And sometimes, what they want is a nightmare of pain and suffering that shocks the conscience.
Note: This episode is about a
Your Sin Will Find You: The Murder of Sue McFarland
It’s hard to convict someone of murder without a body. Even if it’s plain to everyone with a lick of common sense that the victim is dead and this is the guy who killed her, a prosecutor is wary of going to trial without being able to say with absolute certainty, this person is dead, and we know because we have her body. This week’s story is about a killer whose crime was apparent almost immediate
Repeat Offender: The Murders of Elaine and Maryann Boczkowski
Thanks to books and movies, and very occasionally real life, the idea of the genius killer has become pervasive. But most murderers are not dazzlingly creative schemers. If they have a plan at all, it’s usually simple and dumb—but unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean the plan will fail. This week’s story is about a man who got away with one murder, and then tried to repeat the trick almost
Buried Alive: The Murder of Brandy Stevens-Rosine
Love is supposed to make you better. Your partner should push lift you up and make you want to improve yourself, improve life for you both. Sometimes, though, there are couples that do nothing but make each other worse. They become jealous, resentful, and cruel. Their relationship is a disgusting mire that sucks in the couple and everyone in their orbit. Everyone knows a couple like that. But toda
Idiot Box: Killer Kids Inspired by TV
In the cases we cover, there are types of relationship that frequently crop up between killer and victim, romantic partners or romantic rivals most of all. Sometimes, though, the relationship that is broken by murder is more shocking: a parent killing a child, or a child killing a parent. And sometimes that killer is still literally a child, someone you would never suspect to be capable of such br
Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Zanesville Exotic Animal Massacre
Legendary Conservationist Steve Irwin said, “We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife.” It’s such a lovely sentiment. We have a responsibility to protect and care for creatures that can’t protect themselves. It’s something that almost every person on earth would agree with. But what happens when someone loves something so much they throttle the life ou
BIG Announcement!
Come join us for CrimeWave 2.0, February 8-12, 2027 on Royal Caribbean's beautiful Oasis of the Seas. We're going to the Bahamas! See Katie and Whitney, plus Casefile, Last Podcast on the Left, True Crime Garage, Crime Time Teatime, Scared to Death, A Paranormal Chicks, No Sleep, Unexplained, Sinisterhood and Crime with Kourt. Live shows, meet and greets, pool parties, game shows, and new friends
Lost: The Story of Salvador Alvarenga
In a lot of ways, the world is smaller now than it ever has been. With a few clicks of the mouse, I can watch a live camera feed of Sydney harbor, or read a newspaper from any country I can think of. Just five hours in an airplane can get you from the US to Europe, and pretty much anyone on the planet can listen to a couple of nerds like us on a podcast. But, obviously, the world is not in fact sh
Whoopsie-Doodle: A Grab Bag of Epic F**kups
Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” That’s a nice sentiment—I mean, by and large it’s good to let failure be a learning experience, to not let it discourage you from following your dreams. But…hear me out here: What if you’re just a hot mess? What if every time you go from one failure to the next, you leave a pile of bodies in your
The Poisoned Chalice: The Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore
On the surface, Blanche Taylor Moore looked like a model of small-town virtue: a devoted caregiver, a churchgoing woman, a trusted neighbor. But behind that carefully maintained image lay a wild heart with few limits on what it was capable of. Murder certainly wasn’t beyond her, and those closest to her were in the most danger, consuming their own deaths with every bite of Blanche’s carefully prep
Into Darkness: The Murder of Denise Huber
A lot of the murder cases we cover feature slow-boiling resentments, or criminal schemes hatched with an explicit target in mind. Killings by strangers are rare—and terrifying. You can just be going about your life with no idea that a predator is hunting you, a twisted mind that has no more connection to your life than a shark does. And then, out of the night, they strike. Join us for the chilling
Chasing a Shadow: The Stalking of Joanne Chambers
In the early 1990s, a beloved first-grade teacher in Pennsylvania began receiving harassing, threatening letters from an anonymous sender. Her school principal, fellow teachers, and the parents of some of her students soon began receiving them too. As the ordeal wore on, the stalker slowly escalated from taunts to vile accusations and death threats—and then, finally, violence. From early on in the
For the Love of Money: The Crimes of Randy Roth, FINALE
In Part Two of this story last week, we learned how serial husband and waste of DNA Randy Roth seduced, married, and almost certainly murdered his second wife Jan for a life-insurance payout, and tried and failed to use the same scheme on wife number three, Donna Clift. And if you already hate Randy, that’s only going to get worse after the tragic conclusion to his story this week.Sources: Fatal C
For the Love of Money: The Crimes of Randy Roth Pt 2
Last week, we introduced you to Randy Roth, and described his early life and his escalation from ridiculous loser and petty criminal, to the chief suspect in the death of his second wife, Jan. Jan plummeted to her death from Beacon Rock, on the Washington-Oregon border, leaving behind a young daughter and a hefty life-insurance policy with Randy Roth as the beneficiary. This week, we find out more
For the Love of Money: The Crimes of Randy Roth Pt 1
The story of Bluebeard has a mostly happy ending, with the killer’s newest bride being rescued in the nick of time by her brothers. Good for her, less good for his previous wives, who she’d discovered hanging on hooks from the walls of a bloody closet. There are countless real-life stories of spouses being killed for money, with no muscular siblings breaking down the door with swords in hand. It’s
Left Where God Could Find Him: Amish Serial Killer Eli Stutzman, Pt 3 FINALE
When we last left you, former Amishman Eli Stutzman was having a little trouble with the law. He’d abandoned the Amish lifestyle after the suspicious death of his wife and was currently going on a tour of the US, sleeping with any man with a pulse. His son, Danny, was starting to show signs of severe abuse, but no one in his life stepped forward to report it. Finally, Eli’s roommate/employee was f
Left Where God Could Find Him: Amish Serial Killer Eli Stutzman Pt 2
The thing about serial killers is that it seems so obvious to us after the fact, right? Their behavior is so outrageous and so antisocial that we’re always left wondering why no one noticed. Eli Stutzman’s strange behavior was written off by everyone that knew him. He was quiet and odd, but being raised Amish, who could blame him? To the Amish, his time spent with the Englisch gave him some strang
Left Where God Could Find Him: Amish Serial Killer Eli Stutzman Pt 1
Comedian Simon Amstell said, “If you are somebody who is going to at some point be revealed as not like everyone else, then to be in an insular community is a problem.” Here Amstell was discussing how it felt growing up gay and going to a religious school. Insular religious communities shut themselves off from the world in order to keep their views unchanged by the outside. It’s extremely effectiv
TCC LIVE on the Crimewave Cruise!
Last week, we did our first-ever live show on the Crimewave true crime cruise! We covered three cases, a sort of "sampler platter" to give new listeners an idea of what kind of stories we usually tell on TCC. Case 1 is the bizarre story of a parody website that ended up bringing dozens of would-be killers to justice. Case 2 is the murder of chef Dan Brophy by his mystery-novelist wife. Case 3 is t
Crown Fools: Two Notorious Cases from the UK
We tell a lot of wild stories about crimes that happened right here in the States—but it’s worth noting that our cousins across the pond are misbehaving just as badly. Y’know, same crimes, different accent. Today we’ve chosen two cases that each mirror so many of the ones we’ve covered from here: A woman consumed by her toxic obsession for the man she wanted to marry, and a man more interested in
Sleeping With the Enemy: The Murder of Bill McLaughlin
It’s hardly a revelation that physical attraction can cloud judgment. It’s one of the oldest traps in human nature—that spark of chemistry that overrides caution, turning common sense into background noise. For most people, the fallout is little more than a red face or a broken heart. But every so often, that same impulse leads someone much farther—into danger. Because behind the charm, the warmth
The Price of Love: The Murder of Franklin Bradshaw Pt 2 (Final)
In part one of this story last week, we learned about Utah millionaire Franklin Bradshaw, who over the years had gained both a stupendous fortune and a strained relationship with some of his family—in particular with his youngest and wildest daughter, Frances. Frances had for years been pressuring and manipulating her mom, Berenice, to steer some of the family fortune her way, and whenever Frank g
The Price of Love: The Murder of Franklin Bradshaw Pt 1
All the money in the world can’t buy peace of mind. Family life, with its jealousies and rivalries, carries the same pressures no matter the size of the bank account—but when wealth is measured in millions, those pressures can twist into something far darker. Arguments over favoritism, inheritance, and control—the kind of disputes most families recognize in small ways—become battles with stakes th
Swindles and Sacraments: A Story of Deception and Belief
The Buddha said, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense." Ignore that advice, and you might find that you're clouding your vision--that instead of seeing what's really in front of you, you're filtering everything so it fits in with your beliefs. An unwavering, unquestioned belief in anything--
Not Today: Amazing Stories of Survival
We deal with a lot of real-life horror stories, and because it’s real life, they’re often chaotic and cruel. Justice might ultimately be served, but more often than not, the victims are already cold in the ground. If someone is dead-set on killing you, there’s a very good chance they’ll succeed. In the most satisfying fictional horror stories, of course, there’s a survivor, someone who faces the m
The Man Who Wasn't There: The Murder of Shannon Mohr
If there’s one constant in the kind of people we cover, it’s this—they’re liars. Con artists trying to scam their way into money, murderers denying their crimes, spouses with secret affairs, liars, all of them. This week’s case is about a man who checks all three of those boxes, a man who learned that, if he didn’t have a conscience, deceit could make him more money that hard work ever did. Once h
Stooperheroes: A Grab Bag of Unlikely Avengers
Most of us grew up loving superhero stories. My favorite was always the X-Men. I liked the idea of these people who were born with mutations that initially made them targets of bigotry or fear, then harnessing those differences to do good in the world. I’ve always been a big believer in “give what you’ve got”—if you have a special gift or talent, use it to make the world better. But here’s the thi
U Be Dead: The Stalking of Dr. Falkowski
Cell phones are amazing, aren’t they? You have a little magic box in your pocket that you can look at and use to call halfway across the world. New parents can send photos of their babies to their loved ones that live hours away, best friends can start a podcast even though they don’t live in the same state, and soulmates can meet, even from entirely different countries. Of course, we can’t have g
Invader: A Story of Madness and Revenge
Home is the one place in the world that’s ours and ours alone. It’s the place we’re meant to feel completely safe and comfortable. The warm, beating heart of our lives. So when that sacred space is violated, where does that leave us? Can we ever really feel safe again? This is the story of one of the strangest home invasions ever investigated, and the aftermath that left two innocent people’s live
When Nerds Attack - Hardcore Horror: The Farmville Murders
No is a powerful word. It can stop a naughty dog in its tracks, it can get you out of a night out with friends when you just want to rot in your bed, and most of all, it’s supposed to mean something when you don’t want anything to do with someone romantically. Unfortunately for society, some people can’t handle being told no. It fills them with unfounded rage because how dare anyone deny them some
Golden Years: The Hatton Garden Heist
Mark Twain, always a good man for a quote, said about getting old: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” There is generally a broad unspoken societal agreement over what the elderly are supposed to be like, the shape their lives are supposed to have. There are always people who don’t fit into this preconception, of course, I’m sure plenty of you have encounte
Mystery Grab Bag
There’s an old saying that if you hear hoofbeats, you should think horses, not zebras. It means that in most situations, the simplest, most likely explanation is probably the right one. But you know we deal in “stranger than fiction” here, folks, and sometimes you turn around expecting horses and you get a stampeding herd of zebras instead. Things are not always what they seem at first glance. And
Disaster Class: Two Deadly Man-Made Disasters
There’s a saying that goes, “All regulations are written in blood.” And it’s true. If given the opportunity, companies will cut corners and find loopholes to make their jobs easier or cheaper or skirt some kind of oversight. And when it all goes wrong, when there’s blood on their hands, when there’s a dozen microphones in their face, the people in charge always look contrite. And that’s infuriatin
Dark Strangler: The Crimes of Earle Leonard Nelson Pt 2
In last week’s episode, we learned about the troubled early life of Earle Nelson, and witnessed his first steps towards becoming one of the most prolific serial killers in North American history. This week, his journey of mayhem across America really kicks into high gear. Join us for part 2 of this terrifying true story.Join Katie and Whitney, plus the hosts of Last Podcast on the Left, Sinisterho
Dark Strangler: The Crimes of Earle Leonard Nelson
If you think about the 1920s in the United States, a few things might come to mind—jazz, prohibition, Babe Ruth, and, right at the end, the Wall Street Crash. And if you think of crime, you probably think of Al Capone, bootlegging, and fast-talking wise guys with Tommy guns. But the 1920s were also in some ways the nation’s introduction to crimes that could shock and horrify the entire country. Le
#GreedIsGood: The Crimes of Alan Hruby
I saw a meme one time that said, “It’s funny how sometimes the people you’d take a bullet for are the ones behind the trigger.” Most of the time that’s just a metaphor, a way to describe the way it feels when a loved one betrays you. But not always. Sometimes betrayals come written in blood—and more often than not, from somebody you loved and trusted. You couldn’t find a clearer example of that th
Inspire, Achieve, Repeat: A Grab Bag of Killer Motivational Speakers
Motivational speakers started really gaining popularity in the 70s and 80s, the golden age of “self-help.” And in recent years, they’ve been even more in-demand, especially in the business world. You can’t swing a dead cat these days without hitting some self-proclaimed entrepreneurial guru who claims to have the formula for success and would be happy to share it with you, if you sign up for their
Walking In My Shoes: The Murder of Kristine Fitzhugh
Nobody likes to be embarrassed. More often than not, people are kind of weird in one way or another, have some secret history or fascination they’d hate to have dragged out into the light of day. It’s normal. What’s less normal is just how far some people will go to avoid their embarrassing secrets coming out…even to the point of murder.Join Katie and Whitney, plus the hosts of Last Podcast on the
And You're To Blame: The Murder of Miriam Illes
The heart has been the subject of mythology for humanity for centuries. Egyptians believed that in the afterlife, your heart was weighed against a feather and if all your life’s sins didn’t outweigh the feather, you could join Osiris in the afterlife. If it was heavier, your heart was consumed by Amuut, a demon, and your soul disappeared forever. Ancient Greeks believed that the heart was the anch
Stranger Than Fiction, Vol VI: Sportsball Edition
If there’s one thing that gets people’s blood pumpin’, it’s sports. All over the world on any given day, you can find people getting into passionate arguments about whose team has a better chance of making the playoffs, or the finals, or the World Cup or whatever. Sometimes there are fisticuffs involved! There are pubs in Scotland where you’re not allowed to wear your football team colors, for fea
Great Dismal: The Murder of Kathy Bonney
A young woman found naked and dead in the water. A diary that held clues to a secret life. Dark truths hidden behind suburban walls, and a mind at war with itself. This week we have a tale of mystery and madness where the borders of reality itself start to crumble.Join Katie and Whitney, plus the hosts of Last Podcast on the Left, Sinisterhood, and Scared to Death, on the very first CRIMEWAVE true
When Nerds Attack - Ensnared: The Murder of Kelly Bullwinkle
There’s a meme I’ve seen a few times. It says “You never know how toxic something is until you breathe fresher air.” I think it’s about how easy it is to get so completely wrapped up in a relationship, or a group dynamic, or a way of thinking that you stop seeing it for what it is. You become less and less tuned in to what’s normal. This happens a lot when you get two close friends together—two pe
A Voice in the Dark: The Ohta Family Murders
You’re supposed to be safe at home. Why wouldn’t you be? And that sense of comfort must be even greater if “home” is a beautiful house you built yourself, where you live happily with your family in a town where you’re successful and respected. You’d have no reason at all to think that someone was watching you with binoculars through the trees, their heart burning ever hotter with rage, ever closer
You Have One (1) New Message: The Murders of Lynn Stellers and Ronnie King
Obsession is one of humanity’s greatest boons… and curses. Obsession can fuel a scientist’s entire career in trying to solve a singular problem. An athlete’s obsession can pull them to physics bending heights, a politician’s obsession with a cause can push a world changing bill forward. People can be obsessed over all sorts of great and mundane things: books, trading cards, cars, art without any k
Deconstruction: The Murder of Shanti Cooper Tronnes
There are some people who, if they find themselves stuck in a hole, will just keep digging deeper. Maybe they think they’ll find some highly improbable way out of their troubles, more likely it’s all they know to do. This week’s story is about a man who kept doubling down on his lies and bad decisions until the lives of those closest to him were torn to pieces. Join us for a twisty tale of decepti
Killer Cadets: The Murder of Adrianne Jones
The U.S. military teaches recruits to function together as a well-oiled machine—and for young people who dream of joining the most elite forces, it requires discipline, commitment, and loyalty, not to mention the courage to put yourself in harm’s way for the greater good. For the ones with the deepest commitment, there has to be a fire in the belly that drives them to keep their eye on the prize,
Introducing: Suave
The Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast returns for its second season!Seven years after his release from prison, former juvenile lifer Luis "Suave" Gonzalez seems tobe thriving. His career has taken off, he’s in a committed relationship and he’s received publicrecognition after telling his story on the podcast. Suave always thought once he was out ofprison and found stability in his new life, he would
Bad Shepherd: The Murder of Carol Neulander
How far would you go to get what you want? For most of us, there’s a hard limit on the answer to that question, and that limit is hurting someone. Especially someone close to you. But in this week’s story, we meet a man who didn’t believe in limits like that, who would let nothing and no one stand in the way of his ambition and desires. It’s a mindset you might expect from a Wall Street bigshot, b
Poisonous: A Grab Bag of Vintage Bad Bitches
For at least the past 200 years or so, there’s been a lot of debate about women and the role we’re supposed to play in society. Historically, we’ve been expected to be the nurturers, the caregivers—the gentler sex, as we used to be called. We cook the food, we nurse the sick, we mind the children. Some of us are perfectly content in that role. But all throughout history, there have also been women
'Til Death Do Us Part: The Crimes of A.B. Schirmer
For people of faith, a minister is supposed to be a figure of trust, a rock to support you in times of trouble. Not everyone who holds that position meets those ideals, though. This week’s story is about a man whose minister’s robes and carefully practiced smiles hid a heart burning with violence and dark desires, someone who would betray every trust given to him and leave pain—not salvation—in hi
Hit Me With Ya Best Shot: The Wacky World of Martial Arts Frauds
In this week’s episode, we are going to be looking at “Bullshido,” a catch-all term for martial arts practices that are either fake, delusional, or just plain useless. This is the land of no-touch knockouts, touches of death, and mystical masters who can’t manage their own lives. We’ll be asking the question—should you learn self-defense from summon who struggles with basic reality? Spoiler, the a
Faking It: Art's Greatest Forger
Art is a mysterious thing. It’s hard to pin down why one thing moves us and another does not. Similarly, it can be hard to identify that special spark, that unique creativity that an artist can have that lifts their work into something magical. If you don’t have that, all the technical skill and carefully won knowledge in the world won’t get you to that special place. Unless, of course, you just s
A "Special Place in Hell" Grab Bag
We’ve covered some real nasty pieces of work on our show over the years. Dive into true crime for any length of time, and you’re bound to come across plenty of people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Or a lit one, even. But even among the rogue’s gallery of devil’s rejects out there, there are some in a league of their own. People so devoid of morals and human empathy that they should re
Bound By Hate: The Murder of Rozanne Gailiunas, Finale
Last week, we learned the identity of the man hired to kill Rozanne Gailiunas—Andy Hopper, an insurance adjustor turned weed dealer who had apparently added “hitman” to his list of careers. But investigators were still uncertain whether Andy was who they were after, or just a middleman who could lead them to the real killer. So they let him remain free—and then, tipped off by his girlfriend, he va
Bound By Hate: The Murder of Rozanne Gailiunas, Pt 2
In last week’s episode, young nurse Rozanne Gailiunas was brutally murdered while her young son slept in the room next door. Suspicion initially fell on both her estranged husband, Peter, and her new boyfriend, Larry Aylor. But evidence was thin on the ground, and the case went cold. Three years later, Larry was the target of a botched assassination attempt, but had trouble getting the police to
Bound By Hate: The Murder of Rozanne Gailiunas, Pt 1
The late, great Bo Diddley asked one of life’s big questions in one of the 20th century’s greatest songs—“Who Do You Love?” That’s a simple question, but in some relationships, the answer isn’t simple at all. Love, money, revenge—people kill for all kinds of reasons. And in this week’s case, those motives tangle together in a way that will tear lives to pieces. A woman torn between two men, a crim
Schemer: The Crimes of Sheila Davalloo
We’ve covered our share of scary ladies on this show. In fact, bad bitches are one of our special interests. There was Tracey Richter, who murdered an innocent neighbor to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit. Marie Hilley, the serial poisoner who eluded police for years and once passed herself off as her own (fictional) twin sister. Marjorie Orbin, the Vegas showgirl who murdered her husband fo
Explosive: The Benson Family Murders
Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Money has never made a man happy yet, nor will it.” To which I think a lot of people would say, yeah, try being poor, Benny. A couple thousand dollars would make me plenty happy right now. But, once you’re beyond the stage of having enough wealth to be comfortable and free from fear of destitution, I think his point mostly stands. We’ve seen a lot of cases involving very
Lust, Lies & Audiotape: Two Failed Murders for Hire
Most people love getting a peek behind a fellow human’s carefully managed facade. We’re delighted when we see the local magistrate gettin’ wrecked at a dive bar two towns over. We catch a glimpse of our married coworker making out with a guy who’s not her husband behind the building, and we can’t wait to tell somebody. We love a hot mic moment, when a news anchor or politician drops the mask for a
Away Team: The Story of Heaven's Gate
I have vivid memories of the night of March 22, 1997. Part of it has to do with, y’know, young dumb love—but most of it has to do with the Hale-Bopp Comet, also known as the Great Comet, which was brilliantly visible from my hometown that night. I had a huge crush on this guy, and he invited me to watch the comet with him. We climbed up on the rooftop of this neighborhood bar with a bottle of scre
Bad Fortune: Two Tales of Psychic Scammers
As Abe Lincoln once said—or possibly some guy named Peter Drucker, depends on who you ask—the best way to predict the future is to create it. But for a lot of us humans, that’s a little too loosey-goosey. We’re not big fans of the unknown, and we tend to seek out people who claim they can tell us what to expect from the future. Americans, for example, spend billions a year on psychics. A lot of th
Fool Me Twice: The Murders of James & Virginia Campbell
Some of the easiest people on the planet to fool are those who have a real high opinion of their own brains based on very little evidence. A classic con-artist trick is to make the mark think they’re the one in charge, they’re the one making the decisions. They don’t realize they’ve been taken until their bank balance is empty and they’ve signed away the deed to granddaddy’s farm. Sometimes they w
Listen Now - Hollywood & Crime: The Cotton Club Murder
On June 10th, 1983, the decomposing body of a well-dressed man was found in a desolate canyon near Los Angeles. John Doe #94 would soon be identified as missing variety show producer Roy Radin. He'd last been seen after meeting with a mysterious woman in a gold dress. Her name was Lanie Jacobs. Jacobs and Radin were obsessed with becoming Hollywood movie producers. And when their paths collided,
Journey Into Darkness: The Stayner Brothers Part 2
When we left you at the end of Part 1, fourteen year old Steven Stayner had escaped from seven years of captivity and abuse at the hands of child predator Kenneth Parnell—and he’d rescued Parnell’s next intended victim, a little boy named Timmy White. The story made international headlines, and Steven Stayner became his hometown’s living legend. It was March 1980, both boys were back home safe and
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