True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Reggie Reed Jr, was six-years-old when his mother Selonia was found brutally raped and murdered. Police investigated but the case went cold. Reggie Reed Sr. raised his son himself, sent him to private school and Reggie Jr. overcame trauma, became a business success, got married and had a family. Then in 2019, through new DNA testing of evidence from 1987—an ex-con was arrested and named Reggie Reed Sr. as the killer of Selonia Reed. Listen to Reggie Reed Jr. discuss his memoir The Day My Mother Never Came Home.

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In 1992, a store clerk was found shot to death in broad daylight at the Boot Village in St. Charles, Missouri. Nothing was stolen and there was no sexual assault. This bizarre and seemingly isolated murder was quickly connected with others in Indianapolis, Wichita, Terre Haute, and Raytown. The media dubbed the suspect “The I-70 Serial Killer.” He has never been captured, and the story quickly fell out of the media’s attention. But the cases never went cold for the officers in those cities.In 2021, with the advancements in DNA, St. Charles Police Captain Raymond Floyd launched a task force, bringing all jurisdictions together along with federal agencies to take one final crack at solving the crimes. The task force selected Bob Cyphers of KMOV-TV to follow them along, city by city, in the hunt for the killer. Cyphers and his KMOV crew produced a seven-part award winning series called “Chasing the I-70 Serial Killer.” Their work led to national exposure of the case in People magazine and on the Discovery Channel, winning an Edward R. Murrow Award and being nominated for an Emmy.Dead End: Inside the Hunt for the I-70 Serial Killer follows on the work done by the task force with the important goal of keeping the story alive in the public eye. New evidence, never before available to the public, is revealed here, with the hopes of triggering a memory or revealing a new lead. The task force may be closed, but the drive to find this killer is alive and well. DEAD END: Inside the Hunt for the I-70 Serial Killer-Bob Cyphers

Connected by Fate unfolds against the haunting backdrop of the Ozark National Forest, where the unresolved murder of Melissa Witt has cast a long shadow over the dense woodlands for almost three decades. The mystery, woven into the fabric of the remote mountaintop, has become a part of the lore of the land, with the true identity of the murderer eluding capture, concealed by the forest's imposing presence.Enter LaDonna Humphrey, driven by a profound sense of justice and a personal commitment to uncovering the truth, despite never having met Melissa Witt. LaDonna's connection to the case transcends the ordinary, fueling her with a relentless determination that has defined her life for almost a decade.LaDonna's investigation is a riveting narrative of courage, resilience, and an unwavering pursuit of truth in the face of overwhelming odds. Each breakthrough and setback, each clue unearthed and lead followed, draws her deeper into a web of intrigue that extends far beyond the initial crime.Connected by Fate is more than a true crime story; it's a testament to the power of human spirit and determination fueled by the knowledge that solving Melissa's murder is not just about bringing a killer to justice—it's about restoring dignity to a life cut tragically short, and offering closure to a community haunted by the specter of an unsolved crime. CONNECTED BY FATE (Who Killed Melissa Witt? Book 2) LaDonna HumphreyRitual.com/murder

John F. Kennedy's life is promoted by sentimental myth-makers as pure legend, but a sinister shadow lies across his life. JFK's death was such a shocking event that the vivid memory of his assassination still blinds us to much of what went before. It is almost always seen through the prism of that single, terrible day in Dallas, obscuring the dark corners of his life and government. For JFK, power was soundbites over policy, the White House a fairytale castle, and the President a hypersexualised movie star. As with Hollywood, the willing suspension of belief was required. Reality imposes no such limits. Drawing on essential new material, Reckless shatters the secrets and lies with a revelatory true-life thriller focusing on JFK and Robert F. Kennedy, both before and after they bought the White House. All the usual suspects, from FBI titan J. Edgar Hoover and billionaire Howard Hughes to CIA rogue agents and Mob hitmen appear in a narrative which sweeps from wartime London to the salons of Washington, from the bedrooms of Hollywood to the torture chambers and jungles of Central America, and on to revolutionary Cuba and the the tragic, bloody political carousel of Vietnam. RECKLESS: Sex, Lies and JFK-Douglas Thompson

Jeff German, a veteran Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter, was no stranger to controversy or the danger of his work. For more than four decades, he wrote stories relentlessly confronting the mob, corrupt politicians, and greedy bureaucrats. As a result, he was often threatened—enough that he and his friend and fellow investigative reporter, Arthur Kane, sometimes joked about reporting on these threats if they were ever acted upon. Then, in the spring of 2022, German received a tip about abuses at a little-known county office. His subsequent investigation unearthed a scandalous, sexually incriminating video of a rising politician. The resulting stories in the Review-Journal ended the man’s political aspirations. Less than six months later, on September 3, German’s lifeless body was discovered outside his home with multiple stab wounds. His dedicated newsroom colleagues, including Kane, vowed to find the killer. In doing so, they exposed the true depths of corruption and malice in Sin City. Meanwhile, the police struggled to identify a suspect until they released a photo of the suspect's vehicle to the media. That tip led them to none other than the small-time politician, who was subsequently arrested and now faces life in prison, pending the outcome of his trial in August 2024. In The Last Story Kane delivers an intense narrative of courage, betrayal, and the unrelenting quest for justice. The Last Story: The Murder of an Investigative Journalist in Las Vegas-Arthur Kane

Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. was only fourteen when he first became entangled with serial rapist and murderer Dean Corll in 1971. Fellow Houston, Texas, teenager David Brooks had already been ensnared by the charming older man, bribed with cash to help lure boys to Corll’s home. When Henley unwittingly entered the trap, Corll evidently sensed he’d be of more use as a second accomplice than another victim. He baited Henley with the same deal he’d given Brooks: $200 for each boy they could bring him. Henley didn’t understand the full extent of what he had signed up for at first. But once he started, Corll convinced him that he had crossed the line of no return and had to not only procure boys but help kill them and dispose of the bodies, as well. When Henley first took a life, he lost his moral base. He felt doomed. By the time he was seventeen, he’d helped with multiple murders and believed he’d be killed, too. But on August 8, 1973, he picked up a gun and shot Corll. When he turned himself in, Henley showed police where he and Brooks had buried Corll’s victims in mass graves. Twenty-eight bodies were recovered―most of them boys from Henley’s neighborhood―making this the worst case of serial murder in America at the time. The case reveals gross failures in the way cops handled parents’ pleas to look for their missing sons and how law enforcement possibly protected a larger conspiracy. The Serial Killer’s Apprentice tells the story of Corll and his accomplices in its fullest form to date. It also explores the concept of “mur-dar” (the predator’s instinct for exploitable kids), current neuroscience about adolescent brain vulnerabilities, the role of compartmentalization, the dynamic of a murder apprenticeship, and how tales like Henley’s can aid with early intervention. Despite his youth and cooperation, Henley went to trial and received six life sentences. He’s now sixty-five and has a sense of perspective about how adult predators can turn formerly good kids into criminals. Unexpectedly, he’s willing to talk. This book is his warning and the story of the unspeakable evil and sorrow that befell Houston in the early 1970s. THE SERIAL KILLER'S APPRENTICE: The True Story of How Houston's Deadliest Murderer Turned A Kid Into A Killing Machine-Katherine Ramsland

At the beginning of 2020, Dr. Peter McCullough was a highly regarded practicing physician, program director, teacher, and clinical investigator at a major academic medical center in Dallas, Texas. When COVID-19 arrived in March, he felt a duty to find a treatment for the disease. He wasn't alone. Other doctors all over the world were also searching for a cure. They followed the longstanding principle that it's best to tackle a sickness early, before it becomes life threatening. This is the story of how Dr. McCullough and his colleagues developed an early treatment protocol of generic, repurposed drugs and supplements that has saved millions of COVID-19 patients from hospitalization and death.In spite of their success, their early treatment protocol was not welcomed by public health officials. On the contrary, the news of their promising results was dismissed as soon as it was reported. At first this seemed like conventional skepticism, but then fraudulent papers maligning the protocol's repurposed drugs were published in academic medical journals. This and other acts of fraud revealed that a coordinated smear campaign against early treatment was being waged. Dr. McCullough and his colleagues soon found themselves censured, censored, attacked in the media, and fired from their jobs. The greatest victims of the smear campaign were COVID-19 patients who were consequently deprived of early treatment. Hundreds of thousands needlessly died of the disease.At the same time early treatment was suppressed, the US government and mainstream media proclaimed that the cure to COVID-19 lay in a new generation of vaccines that were being developed at warp speed. These were heralded as a forthcoming panacea that would save mankind and restore normalcy. As soon as they were mass deployed, public health officials would lift the restrictions on social and economic life.While many observers were thunderstruck by this turn of events, there were historical precedents. In his 1961 Farewell Address, President Eisenhower warned: We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought of unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. As Dr. McCullough and his colleagues learned, Eisenhower’s warning has become equally applicable to the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex of multinational drug companies, the NIH and other federal agencies, research and virology labs, and the Gates Foundation. Since COVID-19 arrived, this Complex has obtained misplaced power over every aspect of our lives and taken our liberties. The Courage to Face Covid-19 recounts how Dr. McCullough and his colleagues began their work by fighting a novel infectious disease, and then became leaders in fighting the tyrannical regime that endangers our American way of life. THE COURAGE TO FACE COVID-19: Preventing Hospitalization and Death While Battling The Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex-John Leake

Moments before boarding a passenger flight on 11 May 2019 as the first officer, pilot Christian "Kit" Martin, a former army ranger, was arrested by a swarm of heavily armed officers for the murders of three of his neighbors. The arrest captured global attention as Martin's mugshot, clad in a pilot's uniform, spread across the internet, sparking a media firestorm with headlines such as "Monster in the Cockpit."A combat helicopter pilot, Kit Martin had seen his life unravel after seeking a divorce. His wife's threatening words, "If you leave me, I will ruin your life …," overheard by his daughter, seemed to have become a grim reality, escalating to a court-martial and culminating in a high-stakes murder trial at which he was convicted.I WILL RUIN YOU: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial delves into the complex circumstances behind Martin’s story. It looks beyond the sensational headlines and legal turmoil into the heart of this controversial case.With an investigative journalist’s eye, author Emilio Corsetti III presents the facts of the crime that led to the arrest and the extraordinary lengths used to secure a conviction in this unforgettable true crime page-turner. I WILL RUIN YOU: The Twisted Truth Behind The Kit martin Murder Trial-Emilio Corsetti lllRitual.com/Murder

John Wayne Gacy raped, tortured, and murdered 33 boys and young men, burying most of them in the crawlspace under his Chicago home. Karen Conti was in high school at the time watching the bodies being removed on the television news.Fourteen years pass. Through a twist of fate, Conti, now a young and inexperienced attorney, is called upon to handle Gacy’s final death row appeals. The serial killer soon becomes her most famous, difficult, and haunting client.Thirty years after Gacy’s execution, Conti looks back through the eyes of a seasoned professional on the legal and media circus that ensued—and her countless hours of detailed conversation with the killer clown. We hear for the first time about Gacy’s gruesome “Body Book.” Were there more victims? Conspirators involved in the murders? What secrets were buried with him?If one were to ask Conti, “How could you represent such a monster?” she would respond, “What you really want to know is, ‘What was he like?’” This book answers that question. KILLING TIME WITH JOHN WAYNE GACY: Defending America's Most Evil Serial Killer on Death Row-Karen Conti

Sandra Bridewell was a beguiling Dallas socialite in the seventies and early eighties. Her first husband was a prominent dentist who was found shot to death in their home in 1975. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. Her second husband, Robert Bridewell, developed the Mansion on Turtle Creek—the first property of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. Shortly after Mr. Bridewell died of lymphoma in 1982, his treating doctor’s wife was found shot to death in her car at Love Field a few hours after giving Sandra a ride to the airport. The medical examiner ruled the woman’s death a suicide. Three years later, Sandra’s third husband was found shot to death in his car in which he was last seen driving to meet her. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide and Sandra became the prime suspect but was never arrested. In 1987, Sandra was the subject of a D Magazine feature titled “The Black Widow” that suggested she had indeed murdered her third husband—as well as her first husband and the wife of the prominent cancer doctor who had treated Mr. Bridewell.Author John Leake grew up in Highland Park, down the street from Sandra Bridewell, and often visited her at her home to play with one of her children. He began his multi-year investigation in 2007, when Sandra was arrested for aggravated identity theft. Assuming the guise of a Christian missionary, she ingratiated herself with an elderly lady in Southport, North Carolina (near Cape Fear) to steal the unsuspecting victim’s identity and to plunder her financial assets. Leake visited Bridewell in pretrial detention and began documenting her life and wanderings. He then investigated the three gunshot deaths reported in the D Magazine feature with the assistance of former Los Angeles County criminalist Lynne Herold and former FBI forensic psychologist, Gregg McCrary.Dallas police photos of the first two death scenes display physical evidence that they were not suicides, but murders that were staged to look like suicides. These murders bear striking similarities to the murder of Sandra Bridewell’s third husband, and she was the last known contact of all three decedents. After serving two years in a federal penitentiary for aggravated identity theft, she was released in 2010 and now roams free. THE MEANING OF MALICE: On The Trail of the Black Widow of Highland Park-John Leake

From historical accounts to modern cases, explore the captivating psychology behind these killer women, unraveling their motives and unveiling the dark complexities of human behavior.The fair sex. We’ve often heard this clichéd expression being used to refer to women. Although it has become increasingly outdated, the mindset still exists that women are the gentle and nurturing sex. When it comes to murder, that notion gets turned on its head. And this isn’t a recent phenomenon; we can find plenty of female killers going back in history. In fact, some of the world’s most notorious serial killers have been women. These female killers give their male counterparts a run for their money, and deserve to be counted among the most famous serial killers. Unearth the disturbing histories of notorious women. From the chilling accounts of infamous black widow murders to the spine-tingling narratives of women who shocked the world with their sinister deeds, this anthology delves deep into the minds of these deadly women. Spanning eras and continents, these tales of true crime offer a chilling exploration of the darkest corners of human nature. WOMEN WHO MURDER: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales-Mitzi Szereto

At daybreak on January 6, 1986, a couple on a camping trip in the Mojave Desert set out for a stroll and never returned. The local sheriff’s office eventually discovered that Barry and Louise Berman had been murdered. As years passed and the double homicide remained unsolved, the Berman case spawned speculation and conjecture. Despite extensive investigation by local and federal authorities, to date there’s never been an arrest made in the case – let alone a conviction. But this doesn’t mean the crime is unsolvable. After years of investigation, research, and interviews, Kari was able to link the Berman murders to a Cambodian sex crimes and trafficking case involving a former Marine. This is the first book to tell the full story of the Berman murders and uncover the likely suspect. THE BERMAN MURDERS: Unravelling the Mojave Desert's Most Mysterious Unsolved Crime-Doug KariCookUnity.com/Murder

In the late 1800's in Rochester, New York, Monroe County—there were 5 sensational murders. The first story is about the home invasion murder of a young wife and mother. Her body was found in the cellar, a flour sack tied tightly around her neck, and her skirt hiked up. At first, of course, the husband is arrested amid rumors he and his wife are swingers. The husband's supporters protest he couldn't be the killer—it must have been a transient. The man is released in favor of a preferable suspect, a damaged young tramp who'd been floating around the neighborhood looking for food.In the second story a woman's husband's head was almost severed, and she was told he had borrowed her former husband's very sharp razor and cut his own throat in a suicide. In another story, the resort town of Charlotte, where the rich went to play along the crystal clear waters of Lake Ontario. At night it was where the pick pockets and the thugs went to fleece drunks who still had money in their pockets. After our victim checks into a hotel for the night complaining he'd been mugged, he dies overnight from brain swelling. But who bonked him on the head? The answer seems to come the next day when a man is going around trying to sell the victim's watch. In another story, brother kills brother. The book spans the last years of the gallows in Monroe County, and the first of the new-fangled electric chair. FILTHY MURDERS OF YE OLDE ROCHESTER: Monroe County Homicide in the era of Jack The Ripper-Michael BensonRitual.com/murder

Was this small-town TV repair man “a harmless eccentric or a bizarre killer” (Atlanta Journal Constitution). For the first time, Alvin Ridley’s own defense attorney reveals the inside story of his case and trial in an extraordinary tale of friendship and an idealistic young attorney’s quest to clear his client’s name—and, in the process, rebuild his own life.In October 1997, the town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia was shaken by reports of a murder in its midst. A dead woman was found in Alvin Ridley’s house—and even more shockingly, she was the wife no one knew he had.McCracken Poston had been a state representative before he lost his bid for U.S. Congress and returned to his law career. Alvin Ridley was a local character who once sold and serviced Zenith televisions. Though reclusive and an outsider, the “Zenith Man,” as Poston knew him, hardly seemed capable of murder.Alvin was a difficult client, storing evidence in a cockroach-infested suitcase, unwilling to reveal key facts to his defender. Gradually, Poston pieced together the full story behind Virginia and Alvin’s curious marriage and her cause of death—which was completely overlooked by law enforcement. Calling on medical experts, testimony from Alvin himself, and a wealth of surprising evidence gleaned from Alvin’s junk-strewn house, Poston presented a groundbreaking defense that allowed Alvin to return to his peculiar lifestyle, a free man.Years after his trial, Alvin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a revelation that sheds light on much of his lifelong personal battle—and shows how easily those who don’t fit societal norms can be castigated and misunderstood. Part true crime, part courtroom drama, and full of local color, Zenith Man is also the moving story of an unexpected friendship between two very different men that changed—and perhaps saved—the lives of both. ZENITH MAN: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom-McCracken Poston Jr.

From the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all―a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana's teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother's life deteriorate as Stompanato's intense jealousy took over. Eventually, the physical and emotional abuse became too much to bear, and Lana attempted to break it off with Johnny―with disastrous consequences. The details of what happened that fateful night remain foggy, but it ended in a series of frantic phone calls and Stompanato dead on Lana's bedroom floor, with Cheryl claiming to have plunged a knife into his abdomen in an attempt to protect her mother. The subsequent murder trial made for the biggest headlines of the year, its drama eclipsing every Hollywood movie.New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman pulls back Tinseltown's velvet curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of celebrity, rife with toxic masculinity and casual violence against women, and tells the story of Lana Turner and her daughter, who finally stood up to the abuse that plagued their family for years. A Murder in Hollywood transports us back to the golden age of film and illuminates one of the 20th century's most notorious true crime tales. A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime-Casey Sherman

In the tight-knit community of Lorain, Ohio, a whirlwind of horror swept through as unsettling allegations surfaced - a trusted bus driver and her alleged companion accused of shattering the innocence of preschoolers in the respected Head Start program. The verdict? Life-long prison sentences that would cast a shadow over a community, and initiate an untiring quest for truth.'The Edge of Doubt' is a meticulously researched true crime narrative that delves into the reverberations of a sensational trial. This gripping tale is anchored in three decades of unwavering claims of innocence. As the pages turn, you'll find yourself torn between the scales of justice and the resilience of the human spirit.In a world that is quick to judge, 'The Edge of Doubt' compels you to lend an ear to the whispers of truth. This is your invitation to dive into a powerful account that will challenge your assumptions and unveil the complexities of human nature. Read it, and prepare to see the world with new eyes. THE EDGE OF DOUBT: The Trial of Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen-David MiraldiCookUnity.com/murder

On January 21, 1958, nineteen-year-old Charles Starkweather changed the course of crime in the United States when he murdered the parents and sister of his fourteen-year-old girlfriend (and possible accomplice), Caril Ann Fugate, in a house on the edge of Lincoln, Nebraska. They then drove to the nearby town of Bennet, where a farmer was robbed and killed. When Starkweather’s car broke down, the teenagers who stopped to help were murdered and jammed into a storm cellar. By the time the dust settled, ten innocent people were dead and the city of Lincoln was in a state of terror. Schools closed. Men with rifles perched on the roofs of their houses. The National Guard patrolled the street. If there is a cultural version of PTSD, the town suffered from it.Starkweather and Fugate’s capture and arrest, and the resulting trials about the killing spree, received worldwide coverage. The event would serve as the inspiration for the movie Natural Born Killers and Springsteen’s iconic album Nebraska. Today, the story has dropped far from the national consciousness. With new material, new reporting, and new conclusions about the possible guilt or innocence of Fugate, the tale is ripe for an updated and definitive retelling. In Starkweather, bestselling author Harry N. MacLean tells the story of this shocking event and its lasting impact, a crime spree that struck deep into the heart of the heartland. STARKWEATHER: The Untold Story of the Killing Spree that Changed America-Harry N. MacLeanRitual.com/murder

In their book, A Special Kind of Evil: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings, authors Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester wrote about Alan Wade Wilmer, Sr., who was the prime suspect in the 1988 disappearance and murders of Richard Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey. He was under police surveillance and fit the profile the F.B.I. had developed. An expert polygrapher administered a polygraph exam to Wilmer—and he passed. As a result he was cleared as a suspect.On January 8th, 2024, the Virginia State Police announced that through DNA, Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., who died in 2017, has been identified as the killer of David Knobling and Robin Edwards, who are extensively written about in A Special Kind of Evil, and for the killing of a nearby Hampton, Virginia woman in 1989, Teresa Lynn Howell.Blaine Pardoe joins me to discuss the latest developments in the Colonial Parkway serial killings; Alan Wade Wilmer Sr.; the F.B.I. agent who zeroed in on Wilmer—and what's next in the on-going Colonial Parkway murder investigation. A SPECIAL KIND OF EVIL: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings and Alan Wade Wilmer Sr.—Blaine Pardoe

By the time of her execution at thirty-six, Maria Mandl had achieved the highest rank possible for a woman in the Third Reich. As Head Overseer of the women’s camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was personally responsible for the murders of thousands, and for the torture and suffering of countless more.In this riveting biography, Susan J. Eischeid explores how Maria Mandl, regarded locally as “a nice girl from a good family,” came to embody the very worst of humanity. Born in 1912 in the scenic Austrian village of Münzkirchen, Maria enjoyed a happy childhood with loving parents—who later watched in anguish as their grown daughter rose through the Nazi system.Mandl’s life mirrors the period in which she lived: turbulent, violent, and suffused with paradoxes. At Auschwitz-Birkenau, she founded the notable women’s orchestra and “adopted” several children from the transports—only to lead them to the gas chambers when her interest waned. After the war, Maria was arrested for crimes against humanity. Following a public trial attended by the international press, she was hanged in 1948. For two decades, Eischeid has excavated the details of Mandl’s life story, drawing on archival testimonies, speaking to dozens of witnesses, and spending time with Mandl’s community of friends and neighbors who shared their memories as well as those handed down in their families. The result is a chilling and complex exploration of how easily an ordinary citizen chose the path of evil in a climate of hate and fear. MISTRESS OF LIFE AND DEATH: The Dark Journey of Maria Mandl, the Head Overseer of Auschwitz-Birkenau

In 2016-17, while working for the USA TODAY NETWORK's Wisconsin Investigative Team, author John Ferak wrote dozens of articles examining the murder case against Steven Avery, who had already beaten one wrongful conviction only to be charged again with the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. This case captured global attention through the Netflix documentary "Making A Murderer."In this anniversary edition of WRECKING CREW: Demolishing the Case Against Steven Avery, Ferak not only lays out in meticulous detail the post-conviction strategy of Kathleen Zellner, the high-profile, high-octane lawyer fighting to free Avery but also includes a new "Five Years Later" section. This update provides fresh insights and developments in Avery's ongoing legal battle.Additionally, this special edition features an exclusive epilogue: a November 2023 interview with Steven Avery. For this book, Zellner, arguably America's most successful wrongful conviction attorney, granted Ferak unprecedented access to the exhaustive pro bono efforts she and her small suburban Chicago law firm have invested in a man she believes to be wrongfully ensnared by Manitowoc County's unscrupulous justice system. This anniversary edition offers new revelations and a comprehensive look at a case that continues to stir public debate and demand justice. WRECKING CREW: Demolishing The Case Against Steven Avery-John Ferak

Chances are, you’ve already met the Son of Sam in movies, documentaries, books, etc. May I introduce you to David, a fellow human being with familiar vulnerabilities? The monster you met in print collides with the man I met in person. Irrefutably, the precious lives he ended scream from the graves about his barbarism. Yet, my 100 hours, 34 sessions with him will open your eyes to a guy who resembles your brother or friend.Here’s David, a lifer at Shawangunk Correctional, who still scratches his head about what “possessed” him decades ago in a city that has mythologized his crimes ever since. May I warn you that when you meet David, you will not look into the eyes of a monster, but a mirror. I present to you: Monster Mirror: 100 Hours With David Berkowitz, Once Known as Son of Sam-Dr. Michael CaparrelliRitual.com/Murder

From veteran true crime master Harold Schechter comes a unique look into the history of crime told through the dark objects left behind. The false teeth of a female serial killer from 1908, the cut-and-paste confession of the Black Dahlia killer, the newly cracked cipher of the Zodiac killer, the shotgun used in the Clutter family murders, which were made famous by Truman Capote's true crime classic In Cold Blood—these are more than simple artifacts that once belonged to notorious murderers. They are objects of fascination to the legion of true crime obsessives around the world. And not merely for fleeting dark thrills, but because they represent a way to better understand those who we typically label monsters in lieu of learning how they actually became one.In Murderabilia, veteran true crime writer Harold Schechter presents 100 murder-related artifacts spanning two centuries (1808–2014), with accompanying stories of various lengths. A visual and literary journey, it presents a history unlike any previously told in the true crime genre, one that speaks to the dark fascination of true crime fans while also presenting a larger historical timeline of how and why we continue to be captivated by the most sensational crimes and killers among us. MURDERABILIA: A History of Crime in 100 Objects-Harold SchechterRitual.com/murder

Best-selling author, cohost of the hit podcast The Murder Squad, and true-crime investigative journalist Billy Jensen goes to Columbus, Ohio, where he examines the unsolved cases of 18 dead and missing women whom he suspects were the victims of serial killers on the loose and operating under cover of the opioid epidemic in America's heartland.In Chase Darkness with Me, listeners learned Billy Jensen's journalist origin story, his struggles, his call to adventure, and his first successes in solving murders.In Killers Amidst Killers, listeners will ride shotgun with Jensen as he takes on serial killers who are walking among us and planning their next moves in real time. The facts are not in old police reports and faded photos. They unfold before our ears.Our story begins in 2017, when two young women, best friends Danielle and Lindsey, go missing within weeks of each other, and their bodies are found soon thereafter.As Jensen investigates Danielle and Lindsey's cases, he comes across other missing and murdered women, and before long, he uncovers 18 of them. All unsolved. And no one was talking about it.These are not women who were raised in the street. They got hooked on pills. The pills were taken away. They get hooked on heroin. And when the money was gone, they had to sell themselves. It all happens very quick.Through his investigations and the help of experts, Jensen identifies serial killers in Cleveland and Columbus. Why there? Because it's easy. Sharks go where the swimmers are. Serial killers go where the easy prey are–ground zero of the opioid epidemic. The heart of America.Jensen hunts these predators to bring peace to the victims' suffering families while putting a spotlight on a system that is leaving hundreds of thousands of bodies in its wake. KILLERS AMIDST KILLERS: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of America's Opioid Epidemic-Billy Jensen

From Wondery, and hosted by Laura Beil - The new season of Dr. Death, BAD MAGIC is a story of miraculous cures, magic and murder. When a charismatic young doctor announces revolutionary treatments for cancer and HIV, patients from around the world turn to him for their last chance. As medical experts praise Serhat Gumrukcu’s genius, the company he co-founded rockets in value to over half a billion dollars. But when a team of researchers makes a startling discovery, they begin to suspect the brilliant doctor is hiding a secret. You can listen to Dr. Death: Bad Magic exclusively and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.https://wondery.app.link/DRDS4-trumrd

On Halloween morning, 1984, 17 year-old Scott Christopher Dove left home in his car heading to classes at high school and disappeared. 8 days later his abandoned car was discovered behind the psychiatric hospital, across the street from the high school. Evidently he had been abducted.On December 1st, 30 days after he had disappeared, Scott Dove’s body was discovered, dumped in a gravel pit, his body left for someone to find. He had been stabbed multiple times, and had bled to death.Immediately incredible rumors spread throughout the city, graphic tales of genital and facial mutilation done to Dove—sent as a message. Thunder Bay police proceeded with their murder investigation but by July, 1985 there had been no arrests.Scott’s parents Dolly and Mervin Dove were desperate to bring the killers of their son to justice, and so they requested the regional Coroner conduct an inquest into Scott’s death.In America, inquests are generally conducted by a coroner, who are officials of a county or city. These inquests are not trials, but investigations conducted to provide information that will assist in determining the manner in which a person died.In Canada, an inquest is a public hearing conducted by a coroner held to inform the public about the circumstances of a death. It is not an investigation. But unlike in America, inquest jurors are prohibited from making any finding of legal responsibility, or expressing any conclusion of law.2 days later the inquest was halted by an attorney on behalf of his client, convicted drug trafficker Gary Bruce Lamont. He had been named as Scott Dove's killer.By 1986, despite everyone, including the police believing that Lamont was their suspect, the murder case turned cold.Then just before Christmas 2013, Gary Lamont was arrested. But it was not for the murder of Scott Dove. The Ontario Provincial Police entered into an investigation regarding allegations of historical sexual assaults which had occurred between 1997 and 2007.At the preliminary trial in May 2014, victims of Lamont testified about 17 separate charges including seven counts of sexual assault, one count of administering a stupefying drug; one count of forcible confinement; and one count of sexual assault with a weapon—an axe. All involving young male victims, aged 17-24. He eventually plead guilty to 5 counts of sexual assault, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.Gary Bruce Lamont as a convicted sex offender would be required to give a DNA sample. In 1984, DNA was in its infancy, as were its numerous future advancements. It was now 2016, 32 years later. For those watching, it seemed that soon DNA testing would finally confirm Lamont was Scott Dove's killer.In 2016 I began my own murder investigation, eventually cracking the case wide open and uncovering the truth about the murder of Scott Dove, Halloween, 1984.This is the horrifying true story—THE ASSASSINS OF YOUTH: Part 1-TRICK OR TREAT?Produced by Evan Gardiner and Dan ZupanskyMusic by Evan GardinerMusic by Ken Krotowich

In 1937 U.S. drug czar Harry Anslinger claimed that Marijuana was the Assassin of Youth, connecting Marijuana use to psychosis, rape and murder. It began a wave of years of Marijuana hysteria, with harsh sentences imposed for users and dealers. The hysteria was clearly still evident in the mid-80's.Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club was a Canadian outlaw motorcycle club that by 1970 had more than 400 members, making it the second largest outlaw motorcycle club in the world, behind only the Hell’s Angels.In 1984 there was a chapter of Satan's Choice in Thunder Bay-in 2000 they became Hell's Angels.The Coroner's Inquest into Scott Dove's murder in January 1986, named convicted marijuana trafficker Gary Lamont as the sole murder suspect.But if marijuana leads to murder-who sold the marijuana to Gary Lamont?The police soon determined it was Pat Hagar.I spoke to Pat Hagar, former Satan's Choice and Hell's Angel about Gary Lamont, marijuana and the murder of Scott Dove. THE ASSASSINS OF YOUTH-Part 2-Satan, Marijuana and Murder.Produced by Evan Gardiner and Dan ZupanskyMusic-Ken KrotowichMusic-Evan Gardiner

A memoir of a double life as a Mafia enforcer and a DOJ informant taking down corrupt cops and politicians.Aiden Gabor was still a teenager when Department of Justice agents approached him with an ultimatum: spend his life in prison for racketeering, embezzlement, extortion, and conspiracy to commit murder, or become an undercover agent.Conflicting Loyalties is a sharp, honest memoir in three parts: the bloody life of a mob soldier from outside la famiglia; the death-defying, paranoid existence of an informant bringing down corrupt politicians and police departments from the inside; and unexpectedly finding peace late in life through the Baha’i faith while coping with an ALS diagnosis.Conflicting Loyalties is a visceral tale of a man who gambles with his own life in order to save it, dodging his fate while searching for an identity, a father, and a family. CONFLICTING LOYALTIES: My Life as a Mob Enforcer Turned DOJ Informant-Aiden Gabor

Erin Moriarty, a CBS News journalist for three decades, has been a correspondent on "48 Hours" since 1990. In addition to reporting for "48 Hours," Moriarty's work is featured on all CBS News broadcasts and platforms, including "CBS Sunday Morning," "CBS Mornings" and the CBS News Streaming Network. Her reporting has earned Moriarty virtually every major journalism award available. Erin Moriarty's award-winning original true-crime podcast, "My Life of Crime," returns for a fourth season. The captivating and thrilling podcast from CBS News Audio and "48 Hours, is available on all podcast platforms with new episodes released every Wednesday. Moriarty takes you inside true-crime investigations like no one else, taking on killers and those accused of crimes.In this 4th season she delves into the labyrinth of crime within families and the secrets that kept them together or tore them apart. Moriarty brings almost three decades of experience as a lawyer and reporter involved in murder cases – she brushes past the speculation to the evidence and talks to the people directly involved, including investigators and the families of victims.Erin Moriarty joins me to discuss the 4th season of her original true crime podcast MY LIFE OF CRIME.Ritual.com/murder

CONVICTING A MURDERER unveils the shocking truth behind one of the most controversial criminal cases in history.In Netflix's MAKING A MURDERER docuseries, which had 100 million viewers, Steven Avery was portrayed as an innocent victim of corrupt law enforcement, but theres more to the story than what we were shown. CONVICTING A MURDERER is narrated by Candace Owens who sets the record staright by exposing the hidden evidence in the murder of Theresa Halbach. CONVICTING A MURDERER is a 10-part documentary series available on Daily Wire +Producer Brenda Schuler and Director Shawn Rech join me to discuss the documentary series.

On Halloween morning, 1984, 17 year-old Scott Christopher Dove left home in his car heading to classes at high school and disappeared. 8 days later his abandoned car was discovered behind the psychiatric hospital, across the street from the high school. Evidently he had been abducted.On December 1st, 30 days after he had disappeared, Scott Dove’s body was discovered, dumped in a gravel pit, his body left for someone to find. He had been stabbed multiple times, and had bled to death.Immediately incredible rumors spread throughout the city, graphic tales of genital and facial mutilation done to Dove—sent as a message. Thunder Bay police proceeded with their murder investigation but by July, 1985 there had been no arrests.Scott’s parents Dolly and Mervin Dove were desperate to bring the killers of their son to justice, and so they requested the regional Coroner conduct an inquest into Scott’s death.In America, inquests are generally conducted by a coroner, who are officials of a county or city. These inquests are not trials, but investigations conducted to provide information that will assist in determining the manner in which a person died. In Canada, an inquest is a public hearing conducted by a coroner held to inform the public about the circumstances of a death. It is not an investigation. But unlike in America, inquest jurors are prohibited from making any finding of legal responsibility, or expressing any conclusion of law.2 days later the inquest was halted by an attorney on behalf of his client, convicted drug trafficker Gary Bruce Lamont. He had been named as Scott Dove's killer.By 1986, despite everyone, including the police believing that Lamont was their suspect, the murder case turned cold.Then just before Christmas 2013, Gary Lamont was arrested. But it was not for the murder of Scott Dove. The Ontario Provincial Police entered into an investigation regarding allegations of historical sexual assaults which had occurred between 1997 and 2007.At the preliminary trial in May 2014, victims of Lamont testified about 17 separate charges including seven counts of sexual assault, one count of administering a stupefying drug; one count of forcible confinement; and one count of sexual assault with a weapon—an axe. All involving young male victims, aged 17-24. He eventually plead guilty to 5 counts of sexual assault, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.Gary Bruce Lamont as a convicted sex offender would be required to give a DNA sample. In 1984, DNA was in its infancy, as were its numerous future advancements. It was now 2016, 32 years later. For those watching, it seemed that soon DNA testing would finally confirm Lamont was Scott Dove's killer.In 2016 I began my own murder investigation, eventually cracking the case wide open and uncovering the truth about the murder of Scott Dove, Halloween, 1984.This is the horrifying true story—THE ASSASSINS OF YOUTH: Part 1-TRICK OR TREAT?Produced by Evan Gardiner and Dan ZupanskyMusic by Evan Gardiner Music by Ken Krotowich

In 1931, San Diego’s idyllic image as a beach town with peaceful suburbs concealed a harrowing reality: a series of unsolved crimes targeting women, fueling fear and vulnerability. MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE tells the tragic and true stories of three women murdered early that year: Virginia Brooks, Louise Teuber, and Hazel Bradshaw.Local law enforcement, out-of-town criminologists, and investigators from what would become the FBI pursued hundreds of leads. Statewide, newspapers covered every angle and clue and sometimes played a role in the investigations. Yet, the killer(s) were never identified and brought to justice.In MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE, award-winning author and historian Richard L. Carrico pieces fragments of evidence together for three cold cases, shedding light on a dark chapter in San Diego's history.More than ninety years after the murders, Carrico emerges as an advocate for the victims, meticulously reconstructing their stories. Immersed in dusty files, long-forgotten oral histories, and newly discovered investigation records, his primary objective remains unwavering: to seek justice for the three young women. With no witnesses to the crimes, the significance of circumstantial evidence and speculation, both then and now, became paramount. And he may have even solved one of the murders. MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE: The True Story of Three Unsolved Murders in Prohibition era San Diego-Richard L. Carrico

Follow MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge the first 8 episodes, early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold. From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first of its kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM_TM

In August 2023, BTK once again made headlines worldwide when he was named the prime suspect in an Oklahoma teen’s 1976 disappearance and a Missouri woman’s killing in 1990. The investigation started with the reexamination of the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader last seen at a laundromat in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden decided to investigate a possible link between Rader and Kinney's disappearance when he learned that Rader had included the phrase “bad laundry day” in his writings.The investigation includes other unsolved murders and missing persons cases, including the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber, whose body was discovered in December 1990 in McDonald County, Missouri. She had been raped, strangled and restrained with different bindings. As part of the investigation, police conducted a dig near Rader's former Kansas property in Park City.Through jailhouse visits, telephone calls, and written correspondence, Dr. Katherine Ramsland, the renowned professor of forensic psychology and author worked with Rader himself to analyze the layers of his psyche. Using his drawings, letters, interviews, and Rader’s unique codes, she presents in meticulous detail the childhood roots and development of one man’s motivation to stalk, torture, and kill. She reveals aspects of the dark motivations of this most famous of living serial killers that have never before been revealed. With exclusive conversations with Rader himself, comprehensive interviews, and access to Rader's drawings and coded diaries all paired with Dr. Ramsland's expertise, we get to know the man behind the moniker, the truth behind the headline and a glimpse at the secrets Rader is still holding onto. BTK-Dr. Katherine Ramsland

In Murder in a Sundown Town, author Alexandra Kitty looks at the shocking 1968 homicide of Carol Jenkins, a sweet and resilient 21-year-old woman stabbed in the heart on her first day on the job selling encyclopedias in Martinsville, Indiana. What seemed to be an easily solved homicide turned into a four-decade cold case and became a tragic story about racism, sexism, gossip, and walls of silence. It is a case of injustice and persistence that still leaves as many questions as answers. In an age of both “true crime” fascination and modern social politics holding equal attention, this book looks at an old case in a contemporary light. From the clues to its racial and gender politics, investigation, resolution, and cultural impact, the book takes an in-depth look at a young woman’s frightening last hours and why Carol’s case is as relevant today as it was in the ‘60s. MURDER IN A SUNDOWN TOWN-Alexandra KittyRitual.com/Truemurder

Just after 4:00 am on November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were viciously stabbed to death in an off-campus house. The killings would shake the small blue-collar college town of Moscow, Idaho, dominate mainstream news coverage, and become a social media obsession, drawing millions of clicks and views. While a reticent Moscow Police Department, the FBI, and the Idaho State Police searched for the killer, unending conjecture and countless theories blazed online, in chatrooms and platforms from Reddit and YouTube to Facebook and TikTok. For more than a month, the clash of armchair investigators and law enforcement professionals raged, until a suspect—a 28-year-old Ph.D. candidate studying criminology—was arrested at his family home 2,500 miles away in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania on the day before New Year’s Eve. While Idaho Slept is a thought-provoking, literary chronicle of a small-town murder investigation blistering beneath the unceasing light of international interest, as traditional investigators, citizen sleuths, and the true-crime media acted—sometimes together, often in conflict—to uncover the truth. As J. Reuben Appelman brings this terrible crime into focus, he humanizes the four victims, examining the richness of their lives, dissects the mind and motivations of their presumed killer, and explores the world of northern Idaho, a rugged, deeply conservative stronghold steeped in Christian values and American patriotism. Going deep inside the case, Appelman addresses a crucial question: With so many millions of citizens armed by access and hungry to take part in a true crime hunt of their own, has the nature of homicide investigations permanently changed? Rising above the sensational, While Idaho Slept illuminates the intrinsic connection between today’s media, citizen sleuths, our societal mania for murder tales, and an impatient public’s insatiable appetite for spectacle as never before. Running beneath, the pulse of the story is a heartbreaking narrative of the people we love, the dreams we all share, and the uncertain time left for sharing them. WHILE IDAHO SLEPT: The Hunt for Answers in the Murders of Four College Students-J. Reuben Appleman ReplyForward

Almost one third of Russian serial killers have committed cannibalism during their murder spree, but not much is known about their crimes outside of the Federation.This book follows the stories of 13 cannibals from the Motherland: Alexander Spesivtsev “The Siberian Ripper”, Dimitry and Natalia Baksheev, Nikolai “Metal Fang” Dzhumagaliyev, all these killers were characterized by the same fetish: the erotic desire to consume the flesh of a person. Cursed by an uncontrollable hunger, they have committed some of the worst atrocities in the history of true crime.Illustrated with more than 250 photographs unearthed from the confidential files of the Kremlin’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Russian Cannibals – Addicted to Human Flesh is a brutal encyclopedia of the men and women who have broken the ultimate taboo. RUSSIAN CANNIBALS: Addicted To Human Flesh-Nico ClauxRitual.com/Truemurder

One of television's most popular true-crime series is now adapted for your ears with the “48 Hours” podcast. Every week, award-winning CBS News correspondents investigate the most intriguing crime and justice cases. Here’s a preview of a new “48 Hours” episode, “The Night of the Idaho Student Murders”. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant sits down with family members of Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle, two of the four University of Idaho students shockingly murdered the night of November 13, 2022. You can hear the rest of this episode on the “48 Hours” podcast from CBS News. For even more “48 Hours”, listen to the new “Post Mortem” series every Tuesday, where the correspondents and producers share their first hand experiences reporting on the compelling cases they cover.Listen to 48 Hours ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts: Wondery.fm/48_TM

Selena Quintanilla was a force of nature. But when a loyal friend betrayed her, she met a fate she never deserved. Even the Rich is a podcast from Wondery that tells you the stories of the crazy lives of the greatest family dynasties to pop culture superstars. In their new season “Viva Selena!”, you’ll hear how she made a massive cultural impact, and became a legend the world will never forget. All before her 24th birthday, she had already left a legacy across cultures that would continue for generations. This is just a preview of Even the Rich. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or at Wondery.fm/ETR_truemurder

Greed, arrogance and lust led Robert Anderson to kill his wife of nearly twenty years. He was a pillar of the community. He owned four Service Master franchises, he was a Kiwanis member and former President, and a former teacher and Athletic Director at Salem High School. The combination of his love for money and infatuation with a younger girl led him to the brutal beating of his wife and subsequent attempt to frame an employee and former student. The death of his wife in Lawrence Mass, was considered an extreme act of rage and was initially attributed to the violence that was pervasive in the city at the time. The homicide was subsequently compared to the murder of Carol Stuart by her husband Charles Stuart, five years earlier in Boston. That Stuart murder was also initially attributed to the violence of the city.Follow investigators from three agencies as they follow the evidence and track their quarry. In the end, justice reigned. MURDER OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR: The True Story of the Murder of a popular Salem, NH teacher by her husband, the murder labeled as a Charles Stuart copycat-John TommasiMagicMind.com/Truemurder

In 1970, Mary Petry and Bill Sproat, two university students in love, were murdered in a Columbus, Ohio apartment. The crime was so brutal it drew comparisons to the Manson murders of the previous year. The case has never been solved. Host/Producer Justin Glanville and the sisters of the two victims track down friends, witnesses to the original investigation and the Columbus police to understand why the case remains unsolved, despite the existence of solid DNA evidence and the fact that police say they have a person of interest. Along the way, the three explore who really owns DNA collected at crime scenes – families or police? – and what it takes to bring new attention to a 53-year-old cold case in an era when police departments are struggling to attract new recruits. MARY & BILL: An Ohio Cold Case-Justin Glanville

My name is Abigail Alvarado. When I was nine, Child Protective Services removed me and my siblings from my mother’s home—a known crack house—due to neglect. After an extended stay at a children’s shelter in San Antonio, Texas, we were adopted by our Uncle Chevo, a Sergeant in the Army, and his wife, Laura. We moved to Hawaii, where they were stationed, thinking it would be paradise. For me, it became a living hell. What followed was 16 years of harrowing abuse, brainwashing, manipulation, stalking, physical abuse, sexual assault, and the stripping away of me, as a little girl, bit by bit, until there was nothing left. I became a sex slave to my sadistic aunt and uncle. Ultimately, I gave birth to three beautiful babies—each of whom was his. My children were raised to believe that I was their sister. And I was raised to believe that I was nothing. My abusers were masterful manipulators who wrapped pretty lies around the ugly truth to hide their abuse. No longer bound by their lies and my shame, I am here to take my power back, page by page. I am no one’s victim. I am a survivor, unbound. I AM ABIGAIL: A Texas Woman's Childhood Nightmare-And Her Escape From Hell As A Sex Slave/Survivor- Abigail Alvarado and Jamie Collins

What goes through the mind of a killer when they commit murder? Based on the massively successful Netflix documentary series of the same name, this book features ten of the most compelling cases from the first two series and is full of exclusive never-seen-before material.The authors, Ned Parker and Danny Tipping secured exceptional access to high-security prisons across America. The majority of the killers will die in prison – either by serving their sentence of life without parole or they are on Death Row, waiting to be executed. In each of the cases the inmate speaks openly about themselves and reflects on their life and their crimes. To gain a complete picture of the impact of the murders the authors spoke to both the families of both the perpetrators and the victims, and those in law enforcement who were involved in the case, leaving it up to the reader to make up their own mind about the killers and their crimes.The book draws on handwritten letters from the inmates and full transcripts of the interviews to tell each story, and features exclusive material including personal pictures, crime scene images, and original police and court documents, this is a fascinating and detailed look at some of America's most gripping murder cases. I AM A KILLER: What makes a murderer, their shocking stories in their own words-Danny Tipping and Ned ParkerRitual.com/Murder

When widow Frances Lacey was murdered in July 1960 on Mackinac Island, only a few meager clues were found by police, and the case soon turned cold. But more than sixty years later, will those same clues finally solve the mystery?On July 24, 1960, the quaint charm and serenity of Mackinac, nestled between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, was shattered by Lacey’s brutal death. Despite a massive manhunt and thousands of pages of police reports, her killer was never caught.Now, in GRIM PARADISE, true crime author Rod Sadler (Killing Women) delves into the secrets of one of Michigan's most perplexing murder cases. Offering an in-depth and suspenseful account of the long-standing mystery, he poses the question:Could advanced DNA technology lead to the identity of the Mackinac Island murderer as it did recently in the case of the Golden State Killer? Find out in GRIM PARADISE: The Cold Case Search for the Mackinac Island Killer-Rod Sadler

At the end of the 1976 football season, more than forty Harvard athletes went to Boston's Combat Zone to celebrate. In the city's adult entertainment district, drugs and prostitution ran rampant, violent crime was commonplace, and corrupt police turned the other way. At the end of the night, Italian American star athlete Andy Puopolo, raised in the city's North End, was murdered in a stabbing. Three African American men were accused of the crime. His murder made national news and led to the eventual demise of the city's red-light district.Starting with this brutal murder, The Combat Zone tells the story of the Puopolo family's struggle with both a devastating loss and a criminal justice system that produced two trials with opposing verdicts, all within the context of a racially divided Boston. Brogan traces the contentious relationship between Boston’s segregated neighborhoods during the busing crisis; shines a light on a court system that allowed lawyers to strike potential jurors based purely on their racial or ethnic identity; and lays bare the deep-seated corruption within the police department and throughout the Combat Zone. What emerges is a fascinating snapshot of the city at a transitional moment in its recent past. THE COMBAT ZONE: Murder, Race and Boston's Struggle for Justice-Jan Brogan

The stunning true story of a murder that rocked the Mississippi Delta and forever shaped one author’s life and perception of home.In 1948, in the most stubbornly Dixiefied corner of the Jim Crow south, society matron Idella Thompson was viciously murdered in her own home: stabbed at least 150 times and left facedown in one of the bathrooms. Her daughter, Ruth Dickins, was the only other person in the house. She told authorities a Black man she didn’t recognize had fled the scene, but no evidence of the man's presence was uncovered. When Dickins herself was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the community exploded. Petitions pleading for her release were drafted, signed, and circulated, and after only six years, the governor of Mississippi granted Ruth Dickins an indefinite suspension of her sentence and she was set free.In Deer Creek Drive, Beverly Lowry—who was ten at the time of the murder and lived mere miles from the Thompsons’ home—tells a story of white privilege that still has ramifications today, and reflects on the brutal crime, its aftermath, and the ways it clarified her own upbringing in Mississippi. DEER CREEK DRIVE: A Reckoning of Memory and Murder in the Mississippi Delta-Beverly LowryRitual.com/Murder

When two General Motors executives drove into Crater Lake National Park in July 1952, no one could predict they would be dead within an hour—not even their killers. It was a crime of opportunity, a botched robbery during the middle of summer in a crowded national park. When Albert Jones and Charles Culhane were found shot to death two days later, the story became a national obsession. The FBI used every resource and available agent but, as time wore on, the investigation ran out of steam. A lack of evidence worked to the killer’s advantage. He had committed a perfect crime.The FBI tried hard to solve the case. Their 2,000+ page report details a staggeringly complex, multi-agency effort: 200 ballistic tests, 1000 interviews, 466 license plate identifications. The man hours were beyond calculation, and yielded valuable information— buried within the individual reports of the FBI, Oregon State Police and local agencies are many clues to the nature and identity of the perpetrator.The FBI file has rarely been seen by anyone outside the Bureau until December 2015 when the author received it on two discs, satisfying a Freedom of Information Act request submitted three years before. This book summarizes all the information: the FBI file, Oregon State Police reports, fresh research and interviews, county records, rare first hand accounts, reaction from one victim’s family and an obscure college thesis that first named the killer. Add to this, the personal account of a man to whom the killer confessed. Before the confessor died, he swore his wife to secrecy, reminding her about “the things that nobody talks about.”The Crater Lake Murders tells the true narrative: four men with nothing in common until the day they met and, after that, the Fate all Men share. THE CRATER LAKE MURDERS: The story of the 1952 murders of two General Motors executives and the search for a killer in plain sight-Monty OrrickAugustaPreciousMetals.com

They watched the 1996 movie Scream over and over again. One of the boys was truly infatuated with the movie and wanted to be part of it. He along with two friends, lured two teenage girls to a local park in Salem, New Hampshire late one night where the girls were brutally murdered by being stabbed over and over again.Read how they were tracked to Michigan from New Hampshire and how they were brought to justice. MURDER BY THE BATHHOUSE DOOR: The true story of the murder of 2 teenage girls by 3 boys who wanted to "play" Scream-John TomassiAugustaPreciousMetals.com

The disappearance of a twenty-one-year-old woman from a Massachusetts suburb became one of the most discussed crimes of the twentieth century. The discussion intensified when the public learned that she worked as a prostitute in Boston's notorious red-light district, the “Combat Zone,” and was linked by a trail of blood to a famous professor from Tufts University.When Robin Benedict vanished the investigation and media circus that gripped the city of Boston hadn't been seen since the days of the Boston Strangler case. On a Sunday morning in March 1983, a small-time pimp walked into a police station and claimed his girlfriend was missing. He said she had been on her way to visit a client named William Douglas. In the year that followed, the case drew in detectives, state troopers, scores of journalists, and even psychics. But Robin was never found.Boston Tabloid reconstructs a grisly murder, and explores one man's bizarre obsession. In revisiting this legendary crime, Don Stradley consulted journalists involved in the media frenzy, prison authorities, arresting officers, and psychiatrists, all in an effort to unravel a most tangled story. Why was the city, and the nation, swept up in this sordid tale? It remains a grim and fascinating moment in Boston's history. BOSTON TABLOID: The Killing of Robin Benedict-Don Stradley

Stephen B. Small died in one of the most horrific ways a person can die -- being buried alive. He was one of the richest men in Kankakee, Illinois, in 1987, which made him the target of a desperate cocaine dealer who wanted to collect a million dollar ransom. Everything went tragically wrong. Danny Edwards was caught, convicted and was sentenced to death. His life was spared after all death sentences were commuted to life in prison by Governor George Ryan. A conviction of Danny Edwards was a sure thing. However, political pressure -- the Small family was at the top of Kankakee's powerful elite -- brought in the top prosecutors in the state, so they could use Edwards' case against his girlfriend, Nancy Rish. Their case against her was flimsy, at best. Every piece of forensic evidence at the trial cleared Nancy Rish. Not one piece of evidence and not one witness testimony proved her guilt. But she was convicted on the conjecture and false assertions of the prosecutors. There was no more evidence against her than the supposition that 'she had to know' what Edwards was planning. Every public defender and lawyer refused to defend her because of alleged conflicts or fear of the local powers. Everything was set up to railroad this woman into prison. She did not get a fair trial. She did not stand a chance. If Danny Edwards had picked any other victim, his girlfriend never would have been prosecuted. Nancy Rish got Small justice. Nancy Rish is innocent. Danny Edwards did not cooperate with the police and he never talked about the details of his crime. Until now. Danny Edwards and Nancy Rish have given their first in-depth interviews from prison to author Jim Ridings for this book. The incredible story and previously unknown background details are told here for the first time. This is not just the story of a sensational kidnapping and murder. It also is the story of how a corrupt system was able to convict an innocent woman and send her to prison for life. SMALL JUSTICE-Jim RidingsRitual.com/Murder

Henry Louis Wallace terrorized Charlotte, North Carolina, from May 1992 to March 1994.Wallace preyed on lower economic class Black women between 17 and 35 years old. He knew most of his victims, some through his job at Taco Bell, and gained their trust with his friendly demeanor and gentle nature—concealing a monster fueled by drug abuse and rage against women.A rarity in that he was an African American serial killer, his murderous rampage spurred controversy throughout the city. Community members accused local police of ignoring the murders because of the victims' race. Wallace attended the funerals of many of his victims and offered condolences to families. The ensuing investigation became the largest in North Carolina’s history.Wallace was eventually found guilty and convicted of nine counts of murder, but he admitted to more killings while incarcerated; he is potentially responsible for anywhere from 20 to 90 deaths of Black women. Wallace continues to appeal and awaits his execution at Central Prison in Raleigh. BAD HENRY: The Murderous Rampage of ‘The Taco Bell Strangler’ by Ron Chepesiuk offers valuable insight into the psychology of serial killers and sheds light on issues surrounding race and policing. BAD HENRY: The Murderous Rampage of 'The Taco Bell Strangler'-Ron ChepsiukRitual.com/Murder

Jillian Lauren had no idea what she was getting into when she wrote her first letter to prolific serial killer Samuel Little. All she knew was her research had led her to believe he was good for far more murders than the three for which he had been convicted. While the two exchanged dozens of letters and embarked on hundreds of hours of interviews, Lauren gained the trust of a monster. After maintaining his innocence for decades, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, often drawing his victims in haunting detail as he spoke. How could one man evade justice, manipulating the system for over four decades?As the FBI, the DOJ, the LAPD, and countless law enforcement officials across the country worked to connect their cold cases with the confessions, Lauren's coverage of the investigations and obsession with Little's victims only escalated.New York Times bestselling author and lead of the Starz docuseries Confronting a Serial Killer Jillian Lauren delivers the harrowing report of her unusual relationship with a psychopath. But this is more than a deep dive into the actions of Samuel Little. Lauren's riveting and emotional accounts reveal the women who were lost to cold files, giving Little's victims a chance to have their stories heard for the first time. BEHOLD THE MONSTER: Confronting America's Most Prolific Serial Killer-Jillian LaurenAugustaPreciousMetals.com

Leon Benson spent 24 years in an Indiana state prison for the 1998 murder of a young man named Kasey Schoen. His conviction hinged on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – but what if their memories turned out to be wrong? And what if the people who knew what really happened had never been allowed to speak? Suspect Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark is the story of two victims: one murdered, one sentenced to life. Follow host Matt Shaer and attorney Lara Bazelon as they investigate how the justice system failed both Leon and Kasey, and who the real killer might be. Join this unprecedented look inside the attempt to overturn a wrongful conviction and find out if justice will finally be served. Listen to Suspect wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge Suspect ad-free on Wondery Plus. Find Wondery Plus in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts: Wondery.fm/SuspectS3_TM

A 19-year-old accused of killing his parents is diagnosed with an unusual psychiatric disorder and spends a torturous six years in the Colorado judicial and mental health systems before his case experiences an unexpected end. “Just in the Nick of Time is one of the most profound cases of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), all told from the perspective of the person who interacted most with the personalities, his criminal defense lawyer David Savitz. It is a book about what happens when a mental disease far outpaces the understanding of the courts, the psychiatric community, and the public. JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME-David B. SavitzRitual.com/Murder

On an unseasonably warm winter evening in Pennsylvania, 15-year-old Patty Desmond sneaked out through the basement of her house. She had a history of running away, and that, combined with an argument with her mother, gave police reason to suspect she'd come home in a week or two. The year was 1965. That night was the last time her family ever saw her.Conrad Eugene Miller was well-known to local law enforcement. An older married man with a child, Miller's association with Patty was questionable at best. Yet he was the last person known to have seen her alive-and the suspect police continued to circle back toward.After nothing but false sightings and rumors, the case was moved to the backburner-where it stayed. As decades crept by, reality sunk in: Patty Desmond was never coming back. Then, a tiny crack unleashed a flood of information, and a mystery that had never quite been forgotten was solved. LAST CHILD SEEN: The Search For Patty Desmond-Maureen BoyleRitual.com/Murder

In September of 1990, in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, sixteen-year-old Lisa Pruett, a poetry lover and member of a church youth group, was on her way to a midnight tryst with her boyfriend, when she was viciously stabbed to death only thirty feet from the boy’s home.The murder cast a palpable gloom over the upscale community and sparked accusations, theories, and rumors among Lisa’s friends and peers. Together they wove a damning narrative that circled back to a likely suspect: “weird” high school outcast Kevin Young. Without a shred of evidence the teen was arrested, charged, and tried for the crime. His eventual acquittal didn’t squelch the anger and outrage among those who believed that Kevin got away with murder.With a fresh perspective and painstaking research culled from police files, court records, transcripts, uncollected evidence, and new interviews, James Renner reconstructs the events leading up to and following that heartbreaking night. What emerges is a portrait of a community seething with dark undercurrents—its single-minded authorities, protective status-conscious parents, and the deeply peer-pressured teens within Lisa’s circle.Who had the capacity for such unchecked violence? What monsters still lurk in the dark? After more than thirty years, questions like these continue to fester among the community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, still deeply scarred by wounds that remain hidden, unspoken, and unhealed. LITTLE, CRAZY CHILDREN: A True Crime Tragedy of Lost Innocence-James RennerRitual.com/Murder

Coal Country Killing: A Culture, A Union, And The Murders That Changed It All, revolves around the cold-blooded 1969 assassination of United Mineworkers of America “reform candidate” Jock Yablonski, and murder of his wife and daughter in their Pennsylvania farmhouse. But driving the story are the extraordinary efforts of a tenacious special prosecutor and his “army” of investigators to bring the gunmen, the union boss who ordered the murders, and his henchmen who saw them carried out, to justice.Initially, three bumbling small-time criminals, dubbed “The Hillbilly Hitmen,” were arrested and charged. But they were the tip of the iceberg as the murders were directed by then-UMWA President “Tough Tony” Boyle as revenge for Yablonski running against him in the bitterly contested 1968 union election and to prevent his corruption from being exposed.Up against the tight-lipped culture of Appalachia coal country, legendary Philadelphia homicide prosecutor Richard A. Sprague, and his investigators, spent nearly nine years doggedly working their way up the ladder of those responsible to the final showdown with Boyle.Written by New York Times bestselling authors—former New York County Assistant District Attorney Robert K. Tanenbaum, a lifelong friend of Sprague’s, and Steve Jackson—Coal Country Killing is a tour de force for those who love justice. COAL COUNTRY KILLING: A Culture, A Union, and the Murders that Changed It All-Steve JacksonRitual.com/Murder

On a cold, windy December night in 1926, hell was unleashed on a tenant farm near Farwell, the last Texas town before the New Mexico border. Prone to the bottle and fits of rage, the burly man with the smiling blue eyes was in no mood to quarrel with his third wife over his bootleg whisky and sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. He went from room to room in the house, killing his wife and each child with primitive cutting tools and his bare hands. By the time he concluded his bloody work, he had taken the lives of nine family members ranging in age from 2 to 41, committing what one local reporter called “the blackest crime” in the history of the West Texas Panhandle. Husband, father, uncle, embezzler, serial mass murderer, philanderer, child molester, convict, and military deserter, George Jefferson Hassell was many things to many people, most of them bad. His pattern of familicide crime had begun in 1917, when he slaughtered his common-law wife and her three kids in Whittier, California. Later, in Texas, he married his brother’s wife and became stepfather to her eight children. Using Hassell’s confessions and his many interviews with reporters as well as the trial transcripts and reminiscences of those who crossed paths with him in Texas, Oklahoma, and California, Mitchel P. Roth presents the first comprehensive account of the life and crimes of one of the least known multiple murderers in Texas, let alone American, history. Roth situates Hassell’s saga within the 1920s Texas criminal justice system, including the death penalty, which Hassell ultimately received from Old Sparky, the electric chair at Huntsville. THE MAN WITH THE KILLER SMILE: The Life and Crimes of a Serial Mass Murderer-Mitchel P. Roth

Discover the dark side of human nature with Blood on the Tracks.This true crime book takes you on a journey through the most heinous murder cases in history, including unsolved mysteries that will leave you wondering.Each story is expertly researched and crafted to provide a captivating account of the events leading up to the crime and the investigation that followed.From the infamous Thanksgiving Massacre to the shocking case of the Vanishing Bride & Groom, to the unbelievable story of a Dominatrix and her Doppelgänger, Blood on the Tracks leaves no stone unturned.As you turn each page, you'll feel the tension and suspense build as you try to piece together the clues and solve the case alongside the investigators.Don't miss out on this captivating journey through the world of murder and mystery. BLOOD ON THE TRACKS: Real-Life Tales of Murder and Mystery-Rod KackleRitual.com/murder

Dr. Michael Baden has been involved in some of the most high-profile civil rights and police brutality cases in U.S. history, from the government’s 1976 re-investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the 2014 death of Michael Brown, whose case sparked the initial Ferguson protests that grew into the Black Lives Matter movement. The playbook hasn’t changed since 1979, when Dr. Baden was demoted from his job as New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner after ruling that the death of a Black man in police custody was a homicide.So in 2020 when the Floyd family, wary of the same system that oversaw Michael Brown’s death, needed a second opinion—Dr. Baden is who they called.In these pages, Dr. Baden chronicles his six decades on the front lines of the fight for accountability within the legal system—including the long history of medical examiners using a controversial syndrome called excited delirium (a term that shows up in the pathology report for George Floyd) to explain away the deaths of Black and people of color, restrained by police. In the process, he brings to life the political issues that go on in the wake of often unrecorded fatal police encounters and the standoff between law enforcement and those they are sworn to protect.Full of behind-the-scenes drama and surprising revelations, American Autopsy is an invigorating—and enraging—read that is both timely and crucial for this turning point in our nation’s history. AMERICAN AUTOPSY: One Medical Examiner's Decades-Long Fight for Racial Justice in a Broken Legal System-Dr. Micheal Baden

When the body of a young, gay, Black man, Gemmel Moore, was pulled out of the West Hollywood apartment of Ed Buck-a white, millionaire donor to the Democratic Party-the coroner called it an accidental overdose. The police didn’t arrest Buck. And the media refused to report on it.But just 18 months later, when a second Black man, Timothy Dean, was found dead in the same apartment from the same drug, the police still didn’t arrest Buck, sparking a series of terrifying questions. Why was Buck still free when two men had died in his home surrounded by drugs? How much were his wealth and political connections protecting him? And how many more men might have been harmed in that apartment?In White Smoke: America’s Chemsex Killer, investigative journalist Patrick Strudwick uncovers the secret world behind this explosive Hollywood scandal. Through original reporting, we discover how a cocktail of power, racism, sexual exploitation, and drug abuse had been detonating in Buck’s apartment for years. And how it’s connected to a wider chemsex scene playing out in queer communities all around the world-one that provides the perfect hunting ground for predators. But those communities are fighting back. In this series, we meet the men who lived a nightmare inside Buck’s apartment, the friends of the men who died, and the activists who triggered a movement to get Buck off the streets. WHITE SMOKE: America's Chemsex Killer-(An Audible Original)-Patrick Strudwick

On February 13, 2017, two Indiana teenagers, Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, went for a walk in the woods near the abandoned Monon High Bridge. They never returned home. Their bodies were discovered on Valentine's Day morning, sparking a torrent of news coverage and social media speculation that engrossed the attention of people around the world. A grainy photo of the suspected killer walking across the bridge and a chilling cellphone recording of his voice saying "down the hill" captured the public's attention. Numerous possible suspects were brought to the attention of the authorities but dismissed, leaving everyone wondering who could have committed such a heinous crime.Author Nic Edwards, host of the wildly popular True Crime Garage podcast, was fascinated by the case and for years conducted his own extensive research and commentary. As such he was able to dissect the investigation that included an extensive list of possible suspects, such as a hatchet-wielding lunatic, a kidnapper with unusual tattoos, a murderous pastor, a rapist, and a father and son catfishing team. Then in late October 2022, local pharmacy technician Richard Allen was charged with the murders. His arrest raised multiple questions about how he was able to evade law enforcement for so long and what motivated him to commit such a horrific crime. In THE DELPHI MURDERS: The Quest To Find ‘The Man On The Bridge’, Edwards and his bestselling co-author Brian Whitney (YOU HAVE A VERY SOFT VOICE, SUSAN) provide a detailed account of the investigation from the day the girls’ bodies were found to the events leading up to Allen's arrest, and unique insight into the minds of the killer and those who worked tirelessly to bring him to justice. THE DELPHI MURDERS: The Quest to Find 'The Man on the Bridge'-Nic Edwards

In the early 2000s, residents of northeastern Pennsylvania started to notice an alarming trend – children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and for crimes so mild they might normally result in a grounding. The FBI began looking at two local judges, on the heels of an investigation into the mafia. And when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines. This is just a preview of American Scandal: The "Kids for Cash" Kickback Scheme. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or at Wondery.fm/truemurder_AS

The narrative of Details Are Unprintable primarily unfolds over a seven-month period from October 1943 to April 1944—from the moment the body of twenty-two-year old Patricia Burton Lonergan is discovered in the bedroom of her New York City Beekman Hill apartment, to the arrest of her husband of two years, Wayne Lonergan, for her murder, and his subsequent trial and conviction. But this story goes back in time to the 1920s, when Wayne Lonergan grew up in Toronto and then forward to his post-prison life following his deportation to Canada. It is the chronicle of Lonergan in denial as a bisexual or gay man living in an intolerant and morally superior heterosexual world; and of Patricia, rich and entitled, a seeker of attention, who loved a night out on the town—all set against the fast pace of New York’s ostentatious café society.Part True Crime and part a social history of New York City in the 1940s, this book transports readers to the New York World’s Fair of 1939 when Patricia’s father William Burton first encountered Lonergan; the Stork Club, 21 Club, and El Morocco to experience with Patricia a night of drinking champagne cocktails and dancing; and the muggy New York courtroom where Lonergan’s fate was decided.What truly happened on that tragic night on October 24, 1943? Should we accept Lonergan’s confession at face value as the jury did? Or was he indeed a victim of physical and mental abuse by the state prosecutors and the police, as he maintained for the rest of his life? This book considers these, and other, key questions. DETAILS ARE UNPRINTABLE-Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Cafe Society Murder-Allan Levine

It’s all a lighthearted nightmare on the MORBID podcast. Hosted by Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley, Morbid is a full dose of true crime with a splash of comedy. Join us all month long as we celebrate 5 years of MORBID with a special anniversary series, a festive edition of listener tales, and more surprises to come. Listen to Morbid wherever you get your podcasts: Wondery.fm/MB_TMHey Prime Members you can listen to Morbid early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.

David Kulczyk’s eighth book, Deadly California is another tome of off the wall murders, accidents and robberies gone wrong that have happened in California. With true crime tales stretching from 1912 to 1964, occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Northern and Southern California, and Sacramento. Unforgettable stories such as When Sally Shot Harry; Double Murder on O Street; Keller and Sergeant Liquor Store and Corpus Delicti. DEADLY CALIFORNIA: Murders, Accidents, and Robberies Gone Wrong-David Kulczyk

Late one evening in the summer of 1922, Henry Wilkens burst through the doors of the emergency room covered in his wife’s blood. But was he a grieving husband, or a ruthless killer who conspired with bandits to have her murdered?To find out, the San Francisco police turned to technology and a new machine that had just been invented in Berkeley by a rookie detective, a visionary police chief, and a teenage magician with a showman’s touch.John Larson, Gus Vollmer and Leonarde Keeler hoped the lie detector would make the justice system fairer – but the flawed device soon grew too powerful for them to control. It poisoned their lives, turned fast friends into bitter enemies, and as it conquered America and the world, it transformed our relationship with the truth in ways that are still being felt.As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, Tremors in the Blood reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph, through gripping true crime cases featuring explosive gunfights, shocking twists and high-stakes courtroom drama.Touching on psychology, technology and the science of the truth, Tremors in the Blood is a vibrant, atmospheric thriller, and a warning from history: beware what you believe. TREMORS IN THE BLOOD: Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of the Lie Detector-Amit Katwala

On an unseasonably warm April evening in 2001, the headless body of a tiny girl was found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri.One long night turned into four long years for Sgt. David Bernard and the Kansas City Police Department’s 1020 Squad. They followed 1,500 leads, had a replica of the child’s head sculpted from her skull, and ultimately conducted the single most extensive area canvass in the KCPD's history. Erica Michelle Marie Green, aka “Precious Doe,” captured the hearts of not only the dedicated detectives who fought tirelessly to identify her and her killer but of an entire community. PRECIOUS FEW CLUES is a candid and touching account of the painful impact that this brutal murder had on Sgt. Bernard, his family, and the KCPD’s 1020 squad. It chronicles the all too frequent story of child abuse, failed social services, a flawed court system, and battered women who sacrificed their own children to shield their abusive lovers, echoing the same preposterous explanations of “…but I love him.” PRECIOUS FEW CLUES: The True Crime Investigation of Kansas City's "Precious Doe" Murder-Marla Bernard

No other event in the last fifty years is shrouded in myth like the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Today, we remember this moment for the 76 people, including 20 children, who died in the fire; for its inspiration of the Oklahoma City bombing; and for the wave of anti-government militarism that followed. What we understand far less is what motivated the Davidians’ enigmatic leader, David Koresh.Drawing on first-time, exclusive interviews with Koresh’s family and survivors of the siege, bestselling author Stephan Talty paints a psychological portrait of this infamous icon of the 1990s. Born Vernon Howell into the hyper-masculine world of central Texas in the 1960s, Koresh experienced a childhood riven with abuse and isolation. He found a new version of himself in the halls of his local church, and love in the fundamentalist sect of the Branch Davidians. Later, with a new name and professed prophetic powers, Koresh ushered in a new era for the Davidians that prized his own sexual conquest as much as his followers’ faith. As one survivor has said, “What better way for a worthless child to feel worth than to become God?”In his signature immersive storytelling, Talty reveals how Koresh’s fixation on holy war, which would deliver the Davidians to their reward and confirm himself as Christ, collided with his paranoid obsession with firearms to destructive effect. Their deadly, 51-day standoff with the embattled FBI and ATF, he shows, embodied an anti-government ethic that continues to resonate today.Now, thirty years after that unforgettable moment, Koresh presents the tragedy at Waco—and the government mistrust it inspired—in its fullest context yet. KORESH: The True Story of David Koresh and the Tragedy at Waco-Stephan Talty

From real-life "Mafia Survivor" Frank Dimatteo, the gripping account of the life and crimes of the most feared mafia boss of all time: Carmine “Lilo” Galante, the prime mover behind the legendary French Connection.The brutal and blood-stained true story of one of the most feared bosses in American Mafia history, who rose from tenement street thug to notorious hit man to a prime mover behind the legendary French Connection. And the bodies piled up.The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. At age ten his home away from home was juvenile detention. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the “errands” he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob’s top enforcers­–a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams: whack his way into controlling organized crime the world over, vowing to kill Mafia chieftains Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino and take control of their mob families.Carmine “Lilo” Galante’s rise to Mafia star was infamous: hit man for the Luciano and Genovese crime families; named consigliere by Joseph Bonnano; he wiped out eight members of the Gambinos; on behalf of Mussolini he assassinated the publisher of an anti-Fascist newspaper. “The biggest dope peddler in the country” according to law enforcement, Galante helped orchestrate one of the largest heroin trafficking operations on record—a power move too dangerous for his rivals in the narcotics trade. The heads of the five New York families decided that the psychotic Galante had to be stopped. On July 12, 1979, finishing his lunch in a Brooklyn restaurant, Galante got what he’d dished out his whole life: a shotgun blast to the face, his trademark cigar still clenched in his teeth . . .THE CIGAR: Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror-Frank Dimatteo and Michael BensonReplyForward

On a spring afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, a fifteen-year-old girl kills an elderly woman in a violent home invasion. In a city with a history of racial tensions and white flight, the girl, Paula Cooper, is Black, and her victim, Ruth Pelke, is white and a beloved Bible teacher. The press swoops in.When Paula is sentenced to death, no one decries the impending execution of a tenth grader. But the tide begins to shift when the victim’s grandson Bill forgives the girl, against the wishes of his family, and campaigns to spare her life. This tragedy in a midwestern steel town soon reverberates across the United States and around the world—reaching as far away as the Vatican—as newspapers cover the story on their front pages and millions sign petitions in support of Paula.As Paula waits on death row, her fate sparks a debate that not only animates legal circles but raises vital questions about the value of human life: What are we demanding when we call for justice? Is forgiveness an act of desperation or of profound bravery? As Bill and Paula’s friendship deepens, and as Bill discovers others who have chosen to forgive after terrible violence, their story asks us to consider what radical acts of empathy we might be capable of.In Seventy Times Seven, Alex Mar weaves an unforgettable narrative of an act of violence and its aftermath. This is a story about the will to live—to survive, to grow, to change—and about what we are willing to accept as justice. Tirelessly researched and told with intimacy and precision, this book brings a haunting chapter in the history of our criminal justice system to astonishing life. SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN: A True Story of Murder and Mercy-Alex Mar

Chris Thomas is not yet thirty years old when he finds himself managing the immense pressure, eccentric personalities, and extenuating circumstances of an international story, where one small misstep could adversely impact the search for a missing teenager and the reputation of her family. Now, twenty years later, Thomas takes readers behind the scenes, providing new details, perspectives, and commentary on finding Elizabeth Smart.In the process of reflecting on Elizabeth's search and rescue, Thomas discovers how growing up in the culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as Mormon) helped push him to develop the exact kind of intuition needed to manage Elizabeth's kidnapping and rescue, and to do so while the world watched. Unexpected juxtaposes crucial events from the Smart case with Thomas's experience growing up in the Latter-day Saint culture, including coming to understand the secret of a broken war hero before it was too late. UNEXPECTED: The Backstory of Finding Elizabeth Smart and Growing Up in the Culture of an American Religion-Chris Thomas

On December 9, 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, NC home. Her scalp was laced with deep incisions, and her blood was strewn from outside to inside the house.The sinister truth of that night turned her murder into North Carolina's most enigmatic criminal case, capturing media attention across the globe.Police zeroed in on Kathleen’s husband, Michael Peterson, and charged him with murder.But Was It The Truth?A neighbor, Larry Pollard, came up with an alternative “killer;” he claimed an owl had attacked Kathleen outside her house. He said it sliced her scalp with its fierce talons and caused her to run inside, collapsing at the stairwell, and bleeding to death.When the media heard about his theory, Larry was mocked. And Michael was convicted.Now, twenty years later, author Tiddy Smith explores Pollard’s theory and questions whether law enforcement ignored, or even hid, evidence to convict Michael Peterson. And was an owl, in fact, the real killer? DEATH BY TALONS: Did An Owl 'Murder' Kathleen Peterson?-Tiddy Smith

M'Linda Kula is very familiar with this SECRET SANTA and the many links that tie him to JonBenet Ramsey. Each link is carefully explained within this book, to lead from one connection to the next between JonBenet and the SECRET SANTA. Follow the pieces of the puzzle to find out who this SECRET SANTA is and how this chameleon was able to evade the authorities. Included within is a pair of government generated documents for the same man under different aliases/assumed names. This alone should raise a red flag for authorities. This same individual also used a term of endearment common to the Ramsey family for JonBenet, in front of his peers and classmates at a karate school. When asked if he was "related to that girl found in a basement" he responded with "I don't know no Johnny B!" No one knew this term of endearment until it was used in the book The Death of Innocence by John Ramsey. Planned murder indicates that the killer knew the victim's schedule. Overkill is usually a message intended for someone else, other than the victim. Who was the overkill message intended for and why? DNA Phenotyping can be used to help generate an image of the killer's face, which may match up with some of the images found within this book, raising some serious questions.The true name of this SECRET SANTA is listed on Detective Lou Smit's suspect list. M'Linda has compiled the list of links to send out to the public, so that you may decide for yourselves if the information found within warrants interest and possibly an arrest. Perhaps together we can finally bring an end to this case, and justice for JonBenet Ramsey. JonBenet's SECRET SANTA, MY MURDERER?: The "True" JonBenet Ramsey Completed Puzzle-M'Linda Kula

The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other—a 1920s midwife who may have been the century’s most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men.The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day Hungary. To look at the unlikely lineup of murderesses—village wives, mothers, and daughters—was to come to the shocking realization that this could have happened anywhere, and to anyone. At the center of it all was a sharp-minded village midwife, a “smiling Buddha” known as Auntie Suzy, who distilled arsenic from flypaper and distributed it to the women of Nagyrév. “Why are you bothering with him?” Auntie Suzy would ask, as she produced an arsenic-filled vial from her apron pocket. In the beginning, a great many used the deadly solution to finally be free of cruel and abusive spouses.But as the number of dead bodies grew without consequence, the killers grew bolder. With each vial of poison emptied, a new reason surfaced to drain yet another. Some women disposed of sickly relatives. Some used arsenic as “inheritance powder” to secure land and houses. For more than fifteen years, the unlikely murderers aided death unfettered and tended to it as if it were simply another chore—spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. By the time their crimes were discovered, hundreds were feared dead. Anonymous notes brought the crimes to light in 1929. As a skillful prosecutor hungry for justice ran the investigation, newsmen from around the world—including the New York Times—poured in to cover the dramatic events as they unfolded.The Angel Makers captures in expertly researched detail the entirety of this harrowing story, from the early murders to the final hanging—the story of one of the most sensational and astonishing murder rings in all of modern history. THE ANGEL MAKERS: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring-Patti McCracken

From his cell on Death Row in Florida, confessed serial killer Danny Rolling started writing and illustrating this novel about the Daggerman Sicarius in 1999, seven years before his 2006 execution for the five murders he committed in 1990.Drawing on years of research, Rolling follows zoologist Sir Winser Ashmole to the African island of Mauritius, to assist Dr. Borgum Konoff in saving endangered species.But the doctor is dabbling in sinister forces, torturing the island girls in a mad quest for immortality, as an alien relic gives him the superhuman powers of a Sicarius.Caught in the act, Konoff escapes to Boston, where he goes on a murder rampage. Ashmole helps police track him, but the power of the relic is still protecting the elusive Sicarius.As the Powers That Be close in on the crazed killer, a deal with the Forces of Darkness is brokered by a witch whose name is Cath... a nod to the woman who served as Rolling's muse in real life, at the time he dreamed up the tale.The novel was published in 2002 by Plotdigger Publications, a corporation owned by Canadian filmmaker Ryan Nicholson, who died in 2019 without renewing the copyright, so the book was orphaned until 2022, when Sondra London gave new life to this tale that Rolling had originally asked her to publish. SICARIUS: Sondra London Presents Death Row Fiction By a Serial Killer (Serial Killers Talk to Sondra London-Sondra LondonReplyForward

On Christmas Night 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. She had been strangled with a garrote and her skull was fractured. The media sensationalized the tragic death of the “child beauty queen” and public speculation and rumors ran rampant. What followed was one of the most notorious unsolved murder investigations in American history. Boulder police fixated on JonBenet’s parents as suspects. Needing investigative help, the Boulder DA brought in legendary homicide detective Lou Smit. However, he was soon disenchanted with law enforcement’s obsession with the Ramsey family as the primary suspects, excluding other possibilities. Smit resigned but continued to work on his own time, and at his own expense, determined to find justice for JonBenet. He determined the Ramsey family was not involved in her death but died in 2010 before he could identify the killer. Thousands of people attended his funeral service, including John Ramsey, and the detective’s lifelong friend and colleague, John Anderson. Along with a handful of retired detectives, Anderson and Smit’s family continue to pursue justice based on Smit’s work. Now, for the first time in LOU AND JONBENET, Anderson tells the story of Smit’s investigation and why the Smit family team now believes that the killer can be identified. LOU AND JONBENET: A Legendary Lawman's Quest To Solve A Beauty Queen's Murder-John Wesley Anderson

On a cold morning in December 1960, 60-year-old Laura Mutch was found strangled behind a house in downtown Erie....At a time when the Gem City was at its peak, including a triumphant run for the coveted 'All-American City' award, the murder created a pandemonium. As the investigation progressed, attacks on women in and around the city of Erie continued, sending citizens - and seasoned investigators - to the brink of total chaos. Infamous attacks such as the brutal stabbing of 72-year-old Clara Carrig, the attempted strangling and knifing of Helen Knost and the strangling murders of Mary Lynn Crotty and Eleanor Free caused women to lock their doors and avoid the streets at night. The arrest of truck driver John Howard Willman in September 1963 was not the end of the story as soon the case attracted nationwide attention - including a lawsuit by the ACLU. Just who was Erie's infamous 'Backyard Strangler?' Would a technicality by police cause the suspected murderer to roam free again to kill more victims? Author Justin Dombrowski charts the harrowing attacks, investigations and mystery surrounding Erie's 1960s reign of terror. ERIE'S BACKYARD STRANGLER: Terror in the 60's-Justin Dombrowski

Actors, musicians, TV personalities, and other public figures in the spotlight aren’t always who they appear to be. You might be surprised by just how many have led nefarious, double lives, and have become infamous criminals!Power, status, and a rich lifestyle aren’t barriers to criminal behavior. Yes, people from all walks of life commit crimes. But the people featured here are not your typical neighbors or subway passengers—they are household names and Hollywood stars. Get the stories behind these public figures, both contemporary and historical, who have traveled down the murky pathway toward criminal activity. After committing their crimes, the world may have kept on turning, but their legacies as infamous criminals remain strong worldwide. This book offers a fascinating assortment of true crime cases from around the world and from various time frames. Like the previous anthologies in The Best New True Crime Stories series, this volume contains all new and original nonfiction accounts penned by international writers from across the literary spectrum, including true crime, crime fiction, and journalism.Inside, you’ll find:The stories of Hollywood stars and famous criminals who went down the wrong pathEncounters that feature the cases of infamous criminals like Robert Blake, Jimmy Savile, Fatty Arbuckle and more. The Best New True Crime Stories: Crimes of Famous & Infamous Criminals-Mitzi Szereto.

What happens when ordinary people, in real-life murder clubs, set out to investigate crimes, both recent and cold cases?The Netflix hit Don’t F**k with Cats was based on the 2012 Montreal murder of thirty-three-year-old Lin Jun by his porn-star boyfriend, Luka Magnotta. Previously Magnotta had anonymously posted videos of himself killing kittens. This spurred horrified Facebook sleuths into working tirelessly to uncover his identity and location.Other investigations include:A self-taught forensic artist, who uses computer software and coroners’ photographs to help identify victims by showing how they looked when alive.The mother who swore at her murdered daughter’s graveside that she would get the gang who had sprayed her car with bullets. It took fourteen years in the case of one gang member, but she finally entrapped him via the fake profile she had created on MySpace.The retail clerk turned citizen sleuth who helped to match a photo of a missing man to a skull found in a bucket, which resulted in the conviction of the victim’s best friend.Websleuths matched the IP address of a suspicious contributor to a lottery-winning victim’s financial advisor, which led to his body being found beneath a newly poured concrete slab in his advisor’s boyfriend’s garden.Sometimes citizen sleuthing goes wrong, though, with innocent people being targeted, or accused of crimes they haven’t committed, with tragic results.The real-life version of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club is grittier, with intrepid amateur investigators delving into truly gruesome unsolved crimes in pursuit of justice. THE REAL-LIFE MURDER CLUBS: Citizens Solving True Crimes-Nicola StowGet $100 off your first month at Talkspace.com/ TRUEMURDER

John Edward Swindler never learned to read or write and instead became a bona fide criminal at the age of fifteen. His crimes quickly advanced from car theft to arson. At three hundred pounds, with long, fuzzy red hair and pimply skin, his appearance was so frightening that he intimidated fellow inmates into performing crimes from their jail cells. He sodomized other convicts, who dared not refuse him. He was moved in and out of solitary confinement in an attempt to break him of his violent ways. It failed. Released from prison because he was uncontrollable, he began a multi-state crime spree that culminated in the rape and murder of three young people and the shocking assault on a Fort Smith, Arkansas, policeman named Randy Basnett. In a matter of days, Swindler’s lust for death grew into an unforgettable KILLING SPREE.On September 24, 1976, two men—John Edward Swindler, a force for evil, and Officer Randy Basnett, laying his life on the line for good—came together. The result altered their lives, and the lives of many others. This is their story. THE KILLING SPREE: A True Story of a String of Brutal Murders, Rapes, and the Cop Who Tried to Stop It-Anita Paddock

A Civil War veteran who perpetrated one of the most ghastly mass slaughters in the annals of U.S. crime. A nineteenth-century female serial killer whose victims included three husbands and six of her own children. A Gilded Age “Bluebeard” who did away with as many as fifty wives throughout the country. A decorated World War I hero who orchestrated a murder that stunned Jazz Age America. While other infamous homicides from the same eras—the Lizzie Borden slayings, for example, or the “thrill killing” committed by Leopold and Loeb—have entered into our cultural mythology, these four equally sensational crimes have largely faded from public memory. A quartet of gripping historical true-crime narratives, Butcher’s Work restores these once-notorious cases to vivid, dramatic life. BUTCHER'S WORK-True Crime Tales of American Murder and Madness-Harold Schechter

Internationally known legal ethics professor Richard Zitrin's work as a trial lawyer placed him on the front lines of fighting systemic racism, pervasive elitism, and injustice against individuals in the legal system. In Trial Lawyer, he shares details of the most compelling cases he's encountered and exposes the dilemmas he faced throughout his one-of-a-kind career. The profound, the consequential, the shocking, the bizarre, and even the humorous, Trial Lawyer brings to life what it means to represent people against power.From his first case as a young law student on the famous and highly politicized San Quentin Six case and throughout his forty-year career, Zitrin has worked on dozens of cases that underscore the inherent biases of the legal system - towards people of color, the poor, the less educated, and those who just don't appear to fit the mold of whatever society considers "normal." His personal stories about him bring the reader inside the courtroom to experience a unique cast of characters, strange-but-true facts, brilliant trial tricks and tactics-and not-so-brilliant ones that failed miserably. Each had its own lessons: about social justice, fairness, strategy, ethics, morality, and more. TRIAL LAWYER: A Life Representing People Against Power-Richard Zitrin

Hosted by Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart from the hit show Morbid.When 90-year-old Laurence Pilgeram drops dead on the sidewalk outside his condo, you might think that’s the end of his story. But, really, it’s just the beginning. Because Laurence and others like him have signed up to be frozen and brought back to life in the future. And that belief will pull multiple generations of the Pilgeram family into a cryonics soap opera filled with dead pets, gold coins, grenades, fist fights, mysterious packages, family feuds, Hall of Fame baseball legends, and frozen heads — lots of frozen heads. From Wondery, comes a story about life, death, and what comes next.Follow Frozen Head on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App. Listen to Frozen Head: Wondery.fm/FH_TM

No body means no crime, which makes this the perfect murder.Doug Stewart even has an ironclad alibi. He's been seen hundreds of miles away when his lovely wife, Venus, vanishes. What better plan could any murderer hope for?But Doug's forgotten one thing: the power of a mother's love.Venus' mother believes her daughter's husband lured her outside. They fought. He won. Venus' mom wants her daughter back, dead or alive.Never Forgive, Never Forget: A Shocking True Crime Story by Rod Kackley tells the true story of a woman whose fear of her husband seems to turn out to be justified. It's also the story of a mother’s quest to win the return of her child — her best friend — even if it’s only to bury her.The disappearance of Venus Stewart is a shocking true crime story that rocked southwest Michigan and eventually the nation. Hundreds of volunteers spent thousands of days searching for the mother of two young girls.The police and her mother were sure Venus’ husband killed her. But he was in Newport News, Virginia when the crime was committed in Michigan. The neighbors saw him. He used his credit cards and even paid on his account at his lawyer’s office.And it wasn’t just the day that Venus disappeared that her husband was seen in Newport News. He was spotted the next day too. How can anyone be in two places at one time?Here’s something else: no corpse. That’s right, the police don’t have a body. How can investigators even be sure Venus is dead?Her mother had to wait more than eight long years before finding out what had happened to her child.A community rose up to stand by Therese McComb and her mission to learn the truth, and after searching for Venus hundreds of times, they stood by Therese at the very end.Never Forgive, Never Forget: A Shocking True Crime Story is a hard-hitting tale of a mother’s undying devotion and love for her child; and two police officers’ refusal to give up. It's a story that you will never forget. This gripping book will also leave you with a question. If you were Venus' mother; could you ever forgive?NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET: A Shocking True Crime Story-Rod Kackley.

On January 7, 1994, residents of the Berkshire Hills woke up to a typical snowy winter day in the majestic woods of Western Massachusetts. The quaint New England towns, the idyllic scenery and the people who lived there could have stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting.Rocked as imaginable evil converged on them, a pall would be cast over the region and its inhabitants for years to follow.That day, a trial was beginning for a college student who celebrated his 18th birthday by purchasing an assault rifle, then opening fire on campus killing two and wounding four others. Elsewhere, two young girls were accosted in the changing room at the local pool. Another young girl narrowly escaped being abducted at gunpoint on her way to school. Her quick thinking resulting later in profound repercussions regarding the case of a young boy who vanished from a strip mall, baffling law enforcement, his body discovered three years earlier by deer hunters in a remote wooded area 200 miles away.All these events appeared unrelated, but it seemed to police agencies and local residents that the world had suddenly gone mad. After all, they told each other, “These things don’t happen here!”In chilling, dramatic narrative HIDDEN DEMONS: Evil Visits a Small New England Town, by Margery Metzger, details these events and reveals a savage serial killer who lurked in the shadows. But the bravery of a father and daughter, and the remarkable work of law enforcement officers, would turn the table. HIDDEN DEMONS: Evil Visits A Small New England Town-Margery B. MetzgerReplyForward

The incredible story of a 1958 murder that ended with the last woman to ever be executed in California—a murder so twisted it seems ripped from a Greek tragedy.Deborah Larkin was only ten years old when the quiet calm of her California suburb was shattered. Thirty miles north, on a quiet November night in Santa Barbara, a pregnant nurse named Olga Duncan disappeared from her apartment. The mystery deepens when it is discovered that Olga’s mother in-law—a deeply manipulative and deceptive woman—had been doing everything in her power to separate Olga and her son, Frank, prior to Olga’s disappearance.From a forged annulment to multiple attempts to hire people to “get rid” of Olga, to a faked excoriation case, Elizabeth seemed psychopathically attached to her son. Yet she denied having anything to do with Olga’s disappearance with a smile.But when Olga’s brutally beaten body is found in a shallow grave, apparently buried alive, a young DA makes it his mission to see that Elizabeth Duncan is brought to justice. Adding a wrinkle to his efforts is the fact that Frank—himself a defense attorney—maintained his mother’s innocence to the end.How does a young girl process such a crime along with the fear and disbelief that rocked an entire community? Decades later, Larkin is determined to revisit the case and bring the story of Olga herself to light. Long overshadowed by the sensationalism and scandal of Elizabeth and Frank, A Lovely Girl seeks to reveal Olga as a woman in full. Someone who was more than the twisted family that would ultimately ensnare her.As we follow the heart-pounding drama of the case through Larkin's young eyes—her father was the court reporter—A Lovely Girl is by turns page-turning yet poignant, and makes the reader reexamine how we handle fear, how we regard mental illness, and how we understand family as we carve our own path in a dangerous world. A LOVELY GIRL: The Tragedy of Olga Duncan and the Trial of One of California's Most Notorious Killers-Deborah LarkinReplyForward

Murder is the most vile crime known to man. It can be triggered by love or money or sex. Those are the three big ticket items for homicide. But people are strange. They will kill for the most obscure and ridiculous of reasons. In 30 years covering murder, Brad Hunter has discovered each one has its own flavour. Cops and friends can be stunned by the evil lurking within a seemingly ordinary man or woman. In this collection of some of the most memorable cases Brad has reported on, there are serial killers, rich kid monsters, football stars and wives in pursuit of hormone-charged hijinks… The very rich and the very poor. Successful lawyers and hotel executives. Southern belles who could melt butter with a come hither wink and a sexy drawl. Daddy’s girls with gleaming smiles, good marks and possessed by the devil.These are stories of American crimes and they stretch from coast to coast.You will find cheating husbands and wives so desperate for love that they’ll kill for it. COLD BLOODED MURDER: Shocking True Stories of Killers and Psychopaths-Brad Hunter

The western suburbs of Chicago were being terrorized by a serial rapist and murderer in the 1970s and 1980s. Bruce Lindahl was a psychotic rapist and killer who preyed on girls and young women for almost a decade. He managed to escape detection because he did not leave his rape victims alive. But in 1980, he kidnapped and raped Debra Colliander in Aurora, Illinois. She escaped before he could murder her, and Lindahl finally was arrested. Two months later, just before he was to go on trial on charges of kidnapping, rape and deviate sexual assault, Lindahl kidnapped and murdered Miss Colliander. Lindahl disposed of her body and no one could find her. The following year, because the victim did not show up in court, the kidnapping and rape charges had to be dropped – and he could not be charged with murder without a body. Reporter Jim Ridings wrote a number of stories for The Beacon-News over several months, determined to shine a light to try to stop Lindahl from getting away with another murder. Suddenly, the public knew the truth about this monster who had been able to evade justice and public attention. Aurora police said Lindahl planned to kill Ridings once the judge finally dismissed the case. But fortunately, a few days after the charges were dropped, Lindahl accidentally killed himself while murdering another person. The story took another turn nearly 40 years after Lindahl’s death when DNA tests linked Lindahl to an unsolved cold case murder from 1976. Murder in the Fox Valley tells the story of Bruce Lindahl’s terrible crime spree and how he finally was stopped. MURDER IN THE FOX VALLEY: The True Story of Serial Killer Bruce Lindahl-Jim Ridings

From the award-winning author of Two Crows Sorrow comes another historical true crime story about secret identities, deception, and murder.At the turn of the century, an ex-convict from Ireland arrives in the back country of rural Nova Scotia, whereupon he is accused of murdering a man and burying him in the victim’s own cellar under a pile of potatoes. Rooted in Deception follows the life of John Kavanagh and how this petty criminal deceives everyone in his path until he is eventually accused of a heinous and violent murder for which he is ultimately hanged. But how much of the tragedy was of his own doing and how much had been woven by his enemies? Told from a variety of perspectives, including that of the accused, the book creates a sympathetic case for a man who may deserve none. Using primary sources including newspaper articles, trial transcripts and actual letters from the accused, the true story of the murder of Freeman Harvey is told using creative nonfiction devices to fill in the gaps of the narrative. Rooted in Deception follows Two Crows Sorrow, which was awarded the 2020 Bronze Award for best creative nonfiction by the Miramichi Reader. ROOTED IN DECEPTION-Laura Churchill Duke

For more than three and a half decades, the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews was a mystery – a riddle neither authorities nor her family members could solve. The residents of her cloistered Colorado hometown had scoured every inch of prairie. Jonelle’s face had been on milk cartons nationwide. Even the President of the United States had appealed to the public for help. Still, every lead had fizzled. Every person of interest had turned out to be a dead end. Then, in 2019, Jonelle’s remains were unearthed near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. With the discovery came a troubling new question: Had the truth been hiding in plain sight the entire time? Was the man who couldn’t stop obsessing over Jonelle’s disappearance also the person who took her? From Campside Media and Wondery comes season two of SUSPECT. Former CNN reporter Ashley Fantz and executive producers Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson (Suspect, Over My Dead Body) dig into one of the most mind-bending cold cases in modern history, in an attempt to separate fact and fiction, compulsion from guilt, and true-crime fandom from a motive for murder. Listen to SUSPECT: Vanished in the Snow early and ad- free by subscribing to Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app.https://wondery.app.link/suspect-tm

On a cold, windy December night in 1926, hell was unleashed on a tenant farm near Farwell, the last Texas town before the New Mexico border. Prone to the bottle and fits of rage, the burly man with the smiling blue eyes was in no mood to quarrel with his third wife over his bootleg whisky and sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. He went from room to room in the house, killing his wife and each child with primitive cutting tools and his bare hands. By the time he concluded his bloody work, he had taken the lives of nine family members ranging in age from 2 to 41, committing what one local reporter called “the blackest crime” in the history of the West Texas Panhandle. Husband, father, uncle, embezzler, serial mass murderer, philanderer, child molester, convict, and military deserter, George Jefferson Hassell was many things to many people, most of them bad. His pattern of familicide crime had begun in 1917, when he slaughtered his common-law wife and her three kids in Whittier, California. Later, in Texas, he married his brother’s wife and became stepfather to her eight children. Using Hassell’s confessions and his many interviews with reporters as well as the trial transcripts and reminiscences of those who crossed paths with him in Texas, Oklahoma, and California, Mitchel P. Roth presents the first comprehensive account of the life and crimes of one of the least known multiple murderers in Texas, let alone American, history. Roth situates Hassell’s saga within the 1920s Texas criminal justice system, including the death penalty, which Hassell ultimately received from Old Sparky, the electric chair at Huntsville. THE MAN WITH THE KILLER SMILE: The Life and Crimes of a Serial Mass Murderer-Mitchel P. Roth

In 1979, Brenda Spencer, a seemingly average teenage girl living in a nice suburban neighborhood, made and executed plans that would place her in infamy and set a violent and terrifying national precedent. She received a rifle for Christmas and a month later set her sights and opened fire on the elementary school across the street.The event is forever glorified by the song ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ by The Boomtown Rats and marks the bloody beginning of the American phenomenon of school shootings. Long before Columbine and Sandy Hook, there was Brenda Spencer…I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS: The True Story of America’s First Modern School Shooting sifts through the mythology that has sprung up around this fateful day, presenting the raw and riveting facts for the first time. This book lays bare this seemingly average teenage girl’s brutal motives and subsequent arrest. N. Leigh Hunt spent years researching and uncovering shocking details from officers, investigators, and lost police dispatches. He has interviewed people who were on the scene and local reporters who spoke with the perpetrator directly after her shooting spree. Hunt has even cultivated an unlikely rapport with the killer and through personal interviews, has shed light on previously unknown details about her upbringing and influences. I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS: The True Story Behind America's First Modern School Shooting-N. Leigh Hunt

Mike Rothmiller and Douglas Thompson draw on previously secret LAPD intelligence files, a cache of FBI documents released to the authors in 2021, and extensive interviews with prime sources, including many who worked with Frank Sinatra and many more who tracked his long and fatal association with the American Mafia, notably his ongoing connection, after his original godfather was assassinated: Sam 'Momo' Giancana, who shared a lover with President John F. Kennedy.Sixteen days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on 30 November 1963, while the singer was 'consoling' the president's widow, nineteen-year-old Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped at gunpoint from his hotel room in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. A $240,000 ransom was demanded from his father. While the FBI and Nevada and California law-enforcement agencies sprang into action, Frank secretly contacted his Mafia friends for help. The Mafia believed they could free young Frank much more quickly through their underworld connections. In the end, nine people died, having been beaten for information.Revealed here as never before is the extent to which Sinatra was adopted by the Mafia. They promoted his career and 'watched his back' and, in return, Sinatra danced to their tune. New information disclosed here shows that Sinatra also offered to spy for the CIA. Inside sources say Sinatra wanted the CIA to intercede to stop an investigation into his gaming license in Las Vegas. But the CIA declined because they were already working with the Mob and were concerned Sinatra would learn of the Mafia's connection to the CIA and leak it. FRANK SINATRA and the MAFIA MURDERS-Mike Rothmiller

A relentless detective and an amateur genealogist solve a haunting cold case—and launch a crime-fighting revolution that tests the fragile line between justice and privacy. In November 1987, a young couple on an overnight trip to Seattle vanished without a trace. A week later, the bodies of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook were found in rural Washington. It was a brutal crime, and it was the perfect crime: With few clues and no witnesses, an international manhunt turned up empty, and the sensational case that shocked the Pacific Northwest gradually slipped from the headlines. In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime sat waiting, as Detective Jim Scharf poured over old case files looking for clues his predecessors missed. Meanwhile, 1,200 miles away in California, CeCe Moore began her lifelong fascination with genetic genealogy, a powerful forensic tool that emerged not from the crime lab, but through the wildly popular home DNA ancestry tests purchased by more than 40 million Americans. When Scharf decided to send the cold case’s decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would finally bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn’t know that he and Moore would make history. Genetic genealogy, long the province of family tree hobbyists and adoptees seeking their birth families, has made headlines as a cold case solution machine, capable of exposing the darkest secrets of seemingly upstanding citizens. In the hands of a tenacious detective like Scharf, genetic genealogy has solved one baffling killing after another. But as this crime-fighting technique spreads, its sheer power has sparked a national debate: Can we use DNA to catch the murderers among us, yet still protect our last shred of privacy in the digital age—the right to the very blueprint of who we are? THE FOREVER WITNESS: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder-Edward Humes

Much is known about American and European serial killers, but did you know that more than 150 homicidal maniacs have plagued the former Soviet Union during the last 100 years? Nicknamed “The Night Creature”, “The Urals Strangler” or “The Balashikha Ripper” in their native motherland, these sex fiends have committed some of the most heinous series of murders in the history of modern criminology.This book follows the stories of 25 maniacs: unable to control their dark fantasies, they savagely tortured, strangled, stabbed and defiled their victims in unspeakable ways.Illustrated with more than 200 photographs unearthed from the secret archives of retired police colonels and forensic psychiatrists, Russian Serial Killers – Volume 1: Maniacs takes you on a true crime journey from the suburbs of Moscow to the frozen wastelands of Siberia. RUSSIAN SERIAL KILLERS-Volume 1: Maniacs-Nico ClauxGet $15 off a Skylight Frame with promo code SHOCKING at SkylightFrame.com

Brad Hunter has spent over thirty years writing about some of America's most horrific crimes. In this new book he enters the mind of John Wayne Gacy, the real-life 'Killer Clown', often said to be the inspiration for Stephen King's evil Pennywise in It. Gacy lured victims to his home with the promise of work or a warm bed and then duped them into putting on handcuffs, claiming he wanted to show them a magic trick. He would then rape and torture his victims before killing them by suffocating or strangling them.Twenty-six were buried in the crawl space beneath his home; others were buried elsewhere on his property, while a handful were dumped in the Des Plaines River. Gacy was executed for his crimes in 1994, but many questions remain unanswered. How many victims were there? Did Gacy act alone? And what drove John Wayne Gacy to murder? What caused the seemingly normal Gacy to sexually assault, torture and murder at least thirty-three young men and boys?Drawing on his many years' experience investigating and interviewing perpetrators of terrible crimes, Hunter seeks to understand what drove Gacy to unleash a reign of terror in suburban Chicago. INSIDE THE MIND OF JOHN WAYNE GACY: The Real-Life Killer Clown-Brad Hunter

Although featured nationally on 48 Hours, Dateline, and the Oxygen Network, the detailed, complete, and totally unbelievable story of the case of DAVID CAMM has never been fully revealed as police, prosecutors, forensic scientists, and judges either sought or facilitated the convictions of an innocent man while ignoring a mountain of exculpatory evidence.While David was being pursued, persecuted, and incarcerated, Kim, Brad, and Jill Camm’s true killer, a devil-worshiping, sexually obsessed, 11-time convicted violent psychopath was left free to roam the streets of metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky. Once identified by his DNA, but only through the efforts of David’s uncle and defense team, that same cold-blooded murderer was treated, incredibly, first as a victim and then shockingly as an accomplice of David.Their Bloody Lies & Persecution of DAVID CAMM is a chilling, reprehensible, yet very tragic and true American crime story, leaving readers demanding, “How did this case happen and why was this travesty allowed to continue?”Sam Lockhart knew, absolutely knew, his nephew couldn’t have killed his wife and children, for he was with David and ten other people at the time of the murders. For 13 years and at an enormous personal and financial cost, Sam, his family, and business suffered the disdain of those in the local community, but Sam never lost focus of his ultimate goal: the exoneration of David and justice for Kim, Brad, and Jill.Gary M. Dunn was a 27-year veteran Agent with the FBI in Miami, Chicago, Gary, Indiana, and Southern Indiana, with a wide array of experience investigating corruption, terrorism, white collar, and violent crimes while often dealing with true psychopaths. After becoming the private investigator for David’s second defense team, he was stunned by the incompetent, biased investigations; lack of a fair, impartial justice system; and those who claimed to be forensic scientists. Follow his and the defense team’s investigative path in a case you won’t soon forget. THEIR BLOODY LIES AND PERSECUTION OF DAVID CAMM: Part 1-Gary M. Dunn

“SARGE!” is a fascinating memoir by the late Chicago Police Detective Sergeant John A. DiMaggio, one of the most decorated officers on the force during a career that spanned the years 1957 to 1991. Among his awards are two Superintendent’s Awards of Valor, Mayor Richard J. Daley’s Praiseworthy Acknowledgment Plaque for Exceptional Act of Bravery Involving Risk of Life, a Presidential Citation of Appreciation, the Illinois Police Association Award of Valor, and many more.Upon his retirement in 1991, DiMaggio wrote a fascinating account of his work as a cop. The manuscript languished among his personal effects until after his death in 2008, after which his family decided to resurrect it, spruce it up, and submit it for publication. It turns out that he was an excellent word craftsman and storyteller; in fact, he was no stranger to writing—for many years he wrote the “Ask Sarge” column for the Mystery Writers of America Midwest Chapter newsletter.Told in a conversational, “regular guy” voice in episodic fashion, “SARGE!” reveals to the reader what it was really like to be a cop. The manuscript in many ways takes the form of a prose treatment of a weekly television police drama. A large selection of PHOTOS is included.DiMaggio takes the reader back to the decades such as the turbulent 1960s, when the police department was making a painful transition from “old school” to modernization. The author describes firsthand the legendary riots that occurred in Chicago after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He illustrates the integration of minorities into the department and how that played out. He also goes into famous cases of corruption and the politics of navigating such a large department. One of the “set pieces” of the book is the story of how DiMaggio, as part of the “Three Musketeers”—a trio that included two detectives who were close friends—investigated a series of terrifying slasher attacks on women that occurred in the city in the mid-70s. The case became one of the police department’s most memorable. Among the other cases detailed in the book include how DiMaggio found himself entering the home of a crazed young man holding hostages with a shotgun; the investigation of the discovery of a headless corpse; the take-down of the Chicago “Mad Bomber”; how an anonymous audio tape provided clues to the identities of armed robbers; and the manhunt for a cop killer. SARGE: Cases of a Chicago Police Detective Sergeant in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s-Debra DiMaggio