Crimes of the Times
L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard, known for "Dirty John," hosts this weekly podcast that delves into compelling crime stories from Los Angeles and beyond. Each episode goes behind the scenes to debunk common myths and misconceptions, revealing the true events of the most intriguing cases.
Episodes
How A Hillside Strangler Nearly Went Free
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Suicide by Father? The Tragic Death of Marvin Gaye
In 1984, soul legend Marvin Gaye was in the grip of a cocaine habit and living with his father, a hard-drinking Pentecostal preacher with whom he had a lifetime of bad blood. One day, Gaye gave his father a gun and told him it was to protect the house. Some would see an elaborate plan to orchestrate suicide by his father’s hand.
The Unsolved Slaying of Joe Gatto
When retired art teacher Joseph Gatto was shot to death inside his Silver Lake home in 2013, the LAPD theorized that a fleeing car burglar might be the killer. The victim’s son, a prominent California legislator, found that story increasingly hard to believe.
The Trials of Tokyo Rose
Iva Toguri was a Los Angeles native who became trapped in Japan during World War II. When she returned home, the U.S. government put her on trial as a traitor for her wartime broadcasts. Her name became synonymous with a myth, her conviction fueled by lies and political pressure.
The Forgotten Prophet of Los Angeles
Aimee Semple McPherson built a religious empire in Los Angeles and became one of the most influential evangelists in America. When she vanished from a California beach and reappeared weeks later with an unbelievable story, the scandal that followed threatened to destroy everything she had built.
The Assassination of RFK
On today’s episode, we discuss one of the pivotal events of the 1960s: the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a promising presidential candidate at the time of his murder. Though the gunman was caught at the scene, confessed at trial, and even bragged about the shooting, his motives have largely been forgotten. In that collective amnesia, conspiracy theories have flourished.
O.C.’s Jailhouse Informant Scandal: Part Two
Orange County’s most prolific mass shooter admits his guilt, but a series of explosive hearings uncovers a longstanding jailhouse snitch operation that taints many other cases. Jailers plead the 5th, the judge makes a startling ruling, and a victim’s husband forms an unlikely friendship with the killer’s crusading defense attorney.
O.C.’s Jailhouse Informant Scandal: Part One
In 2012, the judge presiding over Orange County’s worst mass-shooter case gave a seemingly simple order. He told the Sheriff’s Department to reveal information about a mysterious jailhouse informant. When defense attorney Scott Sanders probed deeper, he announced that he had discovered a wide-ranging and illegal cell-block informant operation—and a conspiracy to cover it up.
The Dahlia Zodiac Connection: Part Four
In the final episode of this four part series, we’ll talk to historian William J. Mann about his new book on the Dahlia case, which points to the same long-forgotten suspect whose name has been linked to a Zodiac cipher.
The Dahlia Zodiac Connection: Part Three
Were the Black Dahlia and Zodiac murders the work of the same man? A new theory argues a disturbed World War II veteran was responsible. In this episode, a former FBI profiler explores the psychology behind both cases, examining where they overlap and where they diverge.
The Dahlia Zodiac Connection: Part Two
Marvin Margolis was a promising early suspect in the Black Dahlia murder, but he managed to slip through the cracks. So who was this man of many pseudonyms? In this episode, we’ll explore what Margolis did during and after the Dahlia investigation, and a key piece of evidence that potentially links both the Dahlia and Zodiac cases.
The Dahlia Zodiac Connection: Part One
The identity of the Zodiac Killer has remained a mystery for decades, but new developments may finally point to an answer. At the center is the infamous Z13 cipher, a 13-character code sent to the San Francisco Chronicle that has long defied experts. Self-taught codebreaker Alex Baber used artificial intelligence and exhaustive analysis to narrow millions of possibilities down to a single name. As
Announcing: Crimes of the Times, Season 4
On this season of Crimes of the Times, Los Angeles Times journalist Christopher Goffard explores criminal cases that have left a mark on California history. This season’s stories include new developments in the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases, the snitch scandal that rocked Orange County, the plight of the Japanese American woman known as Tokyo Rose, and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
“The Trials of Frank Carson” Update
Attorney Frank Carson spent decades defending the accused in California's Central Valley. He made powerful enemies among law enforcement. When they put him on trial for murder, he insisted he was being framed. He was acquitted after a lengthy trial, but his widow says the ordeal destroyed his health and hastened his death. As part of a malicious prosecution lawsuit, the man who once served as the
Killer with a Badge: How the LAPD Missed a Murderer in its Ranks
In 1986, 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen was just starting her married life when she was brutally murdered in her Van Nuys home. The LAPD called it a “burglary gone bad,” ignoring red flags pointing to one of their own for years. Detective Stephanie Lazarus might have gotten away with it if she hadn’t left behind a key piece of evidence.
Death on the Set of the Twilight Zone Movie
When a helicopter crash killed actor Vic Morrow and two children on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie, the filmmakers called it an unforeseeable accident. An LA County Sheriff’s detective saw something else: broken laws, reckless risks, and an A-list director who ignored warnings.
Satanic Panic: A Death in the Manson Tunnel
On the summer solstice in 1990, a UCLA student with an interest in the occult was stabbed to death in a railway tunnel in the San Fernando Valley. Rumors of ritual violence swirled in the era of the so-called Satanic Panic. Police investigating the murder of Ronald Baker found his killers knew him well. One of them had even carried his casket.
Tinker, Tailor, Stoner, Spy
When 21-year old college dropout Christopher Boyce got a job as a clerk at the TRW Defense and Space Systems complex in Redondo Beach, he was given access to some of the country’s biggest government secrets. And under a Robin Hood-like ethos, he and his childhood pal Andrew Daulton Lee began sharing those secrets with the Soviet Union. Their story lived on in the 1985 film “The Falcon and the Snow
I Killed John Belushi
When comic John Belushi died of a speedball overdose at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, it wasn’t clear there had been a crime—until the National Enquirer got involved. This episode follows the tabloid reporter who hunted down Belushi’s dealer, coaxed a confession, and transformed a drug overdose into a homicide investigation.
The Other Side of the Door: The Case Against Lee Baca
James Sexton endures weeks of solitary confinement in federal prison, as prosecutors finally gear up to take Lee Baca to trial. Baca’s lawyers claim he has Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s late 2016, and the recent presidential race has made the FBI unpopular in liberal Los Angeles. Sexton testifies for the government and is released early, a humbled man, to begin rebuilding his life. The jury deadlocks
The Generals: Power, Deception and a Cover-Up that Goes to the Top
The feds interview Baca’s flinty #2 man and heir apparent, Paul Tanaka, who professes ignorance about who gave the order to hide Anthony Brown. In 2013, as the FBI probe enters its fifth year, feds finally get a chance to grill Baca. He touts his achievements as a reformer but admits he resents that the FBI excluded him from the jail probe and snuck in the cell phone. His answers are evasive and r
Inside Man: A Jailer Turns Informant
James Sexton thinks Operation Pandora’s Box is behind him. When he reports a superior officer for misconduct, he is branded a snitch and treated as a pariah. Ostracized and scared, he does what he once thought unthinkable: he begins feeding information about the Sheriff’s Department to the FBI, and tells a grand jury about the scheme to hide Anthony Brown. In the U.S. Attorney’s first major thrust
Gunning Up: L.A. County’s Top Cop Versus the Feds
When Lee Baca took over the LA County Sheriff’s Department in 1998, he inherited a scandal-plagued agency. He built a reputation as a progressive reformer, and his jail-education programs were celebrated. But the feds notice that investigations into his agency always seem to evaporate when he gets involved. By 2011, he is 70 years old and has run the department for 13 years. Furious about the FBI’
The Ghost: An Inmate Disappears in L.A. County Jail
After an inmate sucker-punches James Sexton, he defies the jail’s unwritten rules by failing to exact violent retribution, and finds himself ostracized by his peers. But he becomes an expert in the antiquated jail computer system and eventually wins promotion to an elite jail-intelligence unit. Leah Marx has a cell phone smuggled to inmate-informant Anthony Brown, part of the FBI’s increasingly am
The Dungeon: Inside Men’s Central Jail
A young FBI agent named Leah Marx arrives in Los Angeles and receives a tip in 2010 about brutal conditions at Men’s Central Jail downtown. Such complaints have gone nowhere for years, since they pit the allegations of inmates against the word of jail deputies. But she finds informants, including a wily bank robber, Anthony Brown, who is facing life in prison and is willing to help. She reflects o
Introducing Pandora's Box: The Fall of L.A.'s Sheriff
Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff is a six-part podcast exploring the crisis that toppled one of the country’s most prominent lawmen, Lee Baca. Rising from humble beginnings, he presented himself as a reformer when he took over the scandal-plagued agency in 1998. He vowed that he would be sheriff as long as he lived, and voters seemed to approve. But inside the massive jail system he ran,
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 8 Bonus
In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow to discuss the aftermath of the case.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 8
In this featured episode, The fates of Frank Carson and his co-defendants are decided, and jurors explain their reasoning. An interview with the state’s star witness, now out of lockup, raises troubling questions about the state’s handling of the case.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 7 Bonus
In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to examine the evidence against Carson and his co-defendants as the longest California criminal trial in decades staggers to its conclusion.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 7
In this specially featured episode, defense attorneys offer alternate theories to explain Korey Kauffman’s death, and the trial becomes an endurance test. As Frank Carson’s health deteriorates, he wonders whether he will live to see a verdict.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 6 Bonus
In this specially featured bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the implications of Frank Carson's trial on the criminal-justice system.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 6
In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson hits rock bottom, and offers his co-defendants a way out. During the marathon preliminary hearing, the prosecution belatedly reveals a cache of undisclosed evidence — with major consequences.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 5 Bonus
In this special-feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss how detectives zeroed in on Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 5
In this specially featured episode, a series of wiretaps lead to criminal charges against Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter, an art student.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 4 Bonus
In this special-feature bonus episode, our editor Steve Clow and our host Christopher Goffard discuss how three California Highway Patrol officers fell into the District Attorney’s crosshairs.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 4
In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson and his co-defendants are accused of a complicated murder conspiracy after a three-year investigation. Among the accused: three cops.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 3 Bonus
In this special-release bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard talks with false-confession expert Richard Leo, who questions the credibility of the government’s star witness.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 3
In this special featured episode, the discovery of Korey Kauffman’s remains gives the investigation new impetus, and a man named Robert Woody offers a methamphetamine-fueled “confession.” But his story changes again and again.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Bonus Episode 2
In this special-released bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to talk about how authorities linked the disappearance of Korey Kauffman to Frank Carson.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Bonus Episode 1
In this special-release bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the origins of The Trials of Frank Carson.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 2
In this special-release episode, investigators confront a defiant Frank Carson about the disappearance of a scrap-metal thief with a reputation for making enemies.
Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 1
In Season 2 of Crimes of the Times, host Christopher Goffard revisits one of the longest and most bizarre murder trials in U.S. history.This special podcast rerelease will include fresh insights, bonus content and a new episode with the latest news on this fascinating case. The story follows the rise and subsequent downfall of one of Stanislaus County’s most controversial defense attorneys, Frank
The Arsonist in the Crowd
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself. New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotifyand Youtube.
The Execution of Barbara Graham
The case of Barbara Graham, known in the 1950s as “Bloody Babs” after the murder of a Burbank widow. Former prosecutor Marcia Clark joins us to reexamine the questionable tactics that sent Graham to death row. New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
The Cult, The Lawyer, and the Snake
The story of Synanon, the drug rehabilitation group once known as “the miracle on the beach,” and the rattlesnake attack on the crusading Los Angeles lawyer who made an enemy of the group’s leader.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
The Final Word on Manson: Part 2
Former Manson prosecutor Stephen Kay recounts the strange story of Ronald Hughes, the “hippie lawyer” who enraged the cult leader and vanished mysteriously in the middle of trial.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube
The Final Word on Manson: Part 1
The last living prosecutor of Charles Manson gives an inside account of the trial and the cult leader’s deadly vision. Stephen Kay recalls the case that still haunts America.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia mystery: Wild theories, enduring myths and a long-overlooked suspect.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
Patty Hearst
The kidnapped heiress who became an “urban guerrilla” and embraced her captors.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
The Pentagon Papers Trial
Smuggled out of a Santa Monica safe, the top-secret documents that changed American history.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
George Franklin
A childhood memory sent her father to prison for murder. Was it real?New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
McMartin Preschool
Wild claims of mass child molestation rocked an L.A. beach town. Truth was the first casualty.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
John DeLorean
A maverick from Detroit, John DeLorean built the “car of the future.” Then came the briefcase full of cocaine.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
Rebecca Schaeffer
A young actress, an obsessed stalker and a Hollywood murder that changed America.New episodes every Tuesday. To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.
Introducing: Crimes of the Times
L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard of “Dirty John” is back with another riveting podcast from L.A. Times Studios. In “Crimes of the Times,” Goffard goes deep behind the scenes of a new story each week, cutting through common myths and misconceptions to uncover what really happened in the most compelling cases from L.A. and beyond.
Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 3
In the last of three special episodes, Alexandra Cunningham, showrunner of the new Bravo series "Dirty John," offers insight into how she approached the writing of the show and its titular psychopath. Jeffrey Reiner, who directed all eight episodes, discusses the creative team’s ambition to transcend the conventions of a traditional thriller.
Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 2
In the second of three special episodes, Connie Britton (“Friday Night Lights,” “Nashville”) talks about playing Debra Newell in the new Bravo series, and why the story feels timely. Julia Garner and Juno Temple, who play Newell’s daughters, discuss how they came to inhabit their roles, and the show’s production designer and costume designer share details of how they helped create the characters’
Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 1
In the first of three special episodes about the making of the Bravo limited series "Dirty John," Christopher Goffard talks with actor Eric Bana about his portrayal of John Meehan and the parallels between actors and con men.“Dirty John” premieres on Bravo at 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 25. LA Times Studios is participating as a producer on the Bravo series. You can also find the original L.A. Tim
Dirty John: Live at The Theatre at Ace Hotel
In the months since “Dirty John” was released, more of John Meehan’s victims have told their stories. Carolina Miranda from the LA Times interviews Christopher Goffard, Debra and Terra Newell, and John Meehan’s first wife. Plus, a panel on coercive control and a special live performance by Tracy Bonham. Recorded live at the Ace Theatre.
Terra
Jacquelyn and Terra Newell suspect that John has been watching them. When Jacquelyn tells her mother that he is in town, her mother believes she is mistaken. Jacquelyn warns Terra to carry her pocket knife. But Terra is preoccupied by a country-music concert, and she is watching for the wrong car.
Escape
Episode 5: John finds a lawyer and plots to unleash a blizzard of lawsuits against his enemies, with the aim of proving to Debra that he is the victim, in case after case. The lawyer believes her life is in danger. As her painful isolation from her family deepens, she secretly plans her escape from the marriage.
Forgiveness
Debra is in hiding, living out of hotels and disguising herself with a wig. Debra fears she will meet the fate of her sister Cindi, who was killed by her husband as she tried to escape a bad marriage. John has explanations for the accusations against him. He weeps and apologizes. Three decades earlier, that had helped Cindi’s killer walk out of prison.
Filthy
Debra grapples with the question, “Who did I marry?” The story of John’s mysterious past unfolds through the eyes of his sisters, his law-school housemate, his ex-wife, and an Ohio cop who hunted him. The origins of John’s nickname are revealed. Bed-ridden in an Orange County hospital, he pleads with Debra to take him back.
Newlyweds
After an intruder appears in John and Debra’s livingroom, John insists that they install security cameras. Debra begins to wonder whether he is spying on her. Her nephew, Shad, looks into John’s background and confronts him with what he finds. Debra’s vision of an idyllic marriage is shattered when she discovers a stash of paperwork in John’s home office.
The Real Thing
Debra Newell, an interior designer in Southern California, meets John Meehan on an over-50 dating site. His profile looks exciting: Anesthesiologist, divorced, Christian. She falls in love fast. But her children dislike him and warn her that his stories don’t add up. A psychologist advises Debra to set firmer boundaries with her kids, saying she has a right to be happy.
Introducing Dirty John
A true story about seduction, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.
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