Episodes
-
Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as "a force of pure evil," Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried "kill kits"--cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools--in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger's house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.
When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years--uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake--many of which remain unsolved to this day.
American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement. AMERICAN PREDATOR: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century-Maureen Callahan -
In June 2014, 19-year-old Erin Corwin was living a quiet life in Twentynine Palms, California, expecting her first child with her husband, U.S. Marine Corporal Jon Corwin?until the day she drove off into the desert and never returned. As temperatures climbed into the hundreds, friends and family teamed up with local law enforcement in a grueling search of Joshua Tree National Park. Nearly two months after her disappearance, Corwin's body was found at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft, a homemade garrote wrapped around her throat.
Suspicions mounted within the tight-knit Marine community as residents questioned if the killer was one of their own. Fellow Marine Christopher Lee and his wife lived next door to the Corwins, and the two young couples had leaned on each other for support. But detectives soon discovered that Chris and Erin's relationship had developed into a whirlwind romance that consumed them both and called the paternity of Corwin's baby into question. Lee told investigators he'd been out hunting the day of Corwin's disappearance, but his claims of innocence soon began to crumble. And while Erin was researching baby names, Lee was reportedly searching the internet for ways to dispose of a human body.
Through interviews, court records, and extensive research, bestselling true-crime author Shanna Hogan constructs a chilling story of betrayal, deception, and tragedy. SECRETS OF A MARINE'S WIFE: A True Story of Marriage, Obsession, and Murder-Shanna Hogan -
Missing episodes?
-
The true story of the night innocence and evil crossed paths. On a summer night in 2000, Amy Shute and Jason Burgeson were set upon by five predatory youths outside a Providence, Rhode Island, club. It began as a twisted joyride for the young kidnappers. It ended in cold-blooded murder-and a town's relentless fight for justice. MURDER WITHOUT MOTIVE: The Amy Shute and Jason Burgeson Story-Raymond Pingatore
-
Cynthia Albrecht, the executive chef of the Penske-Marlboro racing team and darling of the IndyCar circuit, went missing on October 25, 1992-the night before her divorce from Michael Albrecht became final.
Drivers and racing crews from across the country converged on "The Brickyard," site of the Indianapolis 500, to help search for her.
As the head mechanic for the Dick Simon racing team, known as “Crabby” across the race circuit, Michael had a reputation for bullying and abuse. He'd immediately become a suspect in Cynthia's disappearance. But with a strong alibi, there was nothing authorities could do when he decided to take a vacation to Florida and skip a scheduled polygraph test and the search for his estranged wife.
??? Nor could law enforcement charge him when Cynthia’s body was found a few weeks later in northern Indiana - minus her head.
The case went cold for six years until a newly elected prosecutor allowed his deputies to charge Michael Albrecht with murder.
??? But would they be able to prove his guilt?
This true crime legal thriller written by one of the prosecutors, Larry Sells, and journalist Margie Porter, runs at full throttle and will leave you on the edge of your seat right up to the checkered flag at the final verdict. RACE TO JUSTICE: Larry Sells and Margie Porter -
When forty-year-old Esther Castellani died a slow and agonizing death in 1965, the official cause was at first undetermined. The day after Esther's funeral, her husband, Rene, packed up his girlfriend, Lolly; his daughter, Jeannine; and Lolly's son, Don, in the company car and took off for Disneyland. If not for the doggedness of the doctor who treated Esther, Rene, then a charismatic and handsome radio personality, would have been free to marry Lolly, who was the station's pretty twentysomething receptionist. Instead, Rene was charged with capital murder for poisoning his wife with arsenic-laced milkshakes.
Murder by Milkshake is the compelling story of the Castellanis, and of their daughter, Jeannine, who was eleven at the time of her mother's murder and who clung to her father's innocence, even committing perjury during his trial. Rigorously researched, and based on dozens of interviews with family, friends, and co-workers, Murder by Milkshake documents the sensational case that kept a city spellbound, while providing a snapshot of the Mad Men-esque social and political realities of the 1960s. MURDER BY MILKSHAKE: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer-Eve Lazarus -
A Michigan couple’s affair leads to two grisly murders by heroin injection in this true crime account from the acclaimed author of Lobster Boy.
When Carol Giles’s friend Nancy Billiter was found dead—she had been bound, sexually violated, and injected with a lethal dose of battery acid and heroin—detectives in Michigan traced Billiter’s death back to Giles and her boyfriend, Tim Collier. Police also learned that the diabolical duo shared another secret: They had murdered Giles’s husband, Jessie.
Jessie, who had died months before Billiter, was disinterred, and an autopsy proved he’d been given a lethal shot of heroin instead of his prescribed insulin. Homebound and diabetic, Jessie was a heroin dealer. Police determined that Giles—who was fed up with taking care of her husband and children—along with her lover, Collier, had stolen the fatal dose from Jessie’s own drug supply. The cops surmised that Billiter’s death might have been due to her knowledge of the couple’s plot. In their dramatic trial, Giles and Collier turned against each other, but both were eventually convicted of murder. NEEDLE WORK: Battery Acid, Heroin, and Double Murder-Fred Rosen -
A young bride drowns in her bathtub. Her husband of four months is accused of murder. What happened in their tiny suburban bathroom—and why—was never resolved. A compelling true-crime drama, based on exclusive new information, Submerged exposes hidden angles of a case that captivated and divided an ordinary American community, tore apart two families and tested the criminal justice system.
Compelled by conscience and curiosity, former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Janice (Morse) Hisle—who covered the saga of Ryan and Sarah Widmer from the start—returns 10 years later to dig deep to tell the untold story: dozens of interviews, 6,000 pages of trial transcripts and previously unrevealed records such as:
•Ryan’s first written statement about Sarah’s death
•attorneys’ notes and trial-preparation documents
•Ryan’s personal journal, notes and correspondence
•more than a thousand pages of police notes and reports
Submerged will draw you into the depths of a stranger-than-fiction story that you will ponder long after turning the final page. SUBMERGED: Ryan Widmer, his Drowned Bride and the Justice System-Janice Hisle -
In the middle-class neighborhood of Muswell Hill, underneath a spectacular residence located at 23 Cranley Gardens, a gruesome discovery was about to be unearthed. While working on drainage pipes of the house at that location, a plumber discovered several bones and a flesh-like substance covering the inside of the pipes.
The pipes led to the top floor apartment of the residence. It was rented to Dennis Nilsen, a 37-year old, quiet, soft-spoken civil servant. Nilsen was also a retired policeman with military service.
Shockingly, the police were about to discover Dennis Nilsen was also one of Britain’s worst serial killers. DRINKS, DINNER & DEATH: The True Story of Dennis Nilsen-Alan R. Warren -
It has been thirty years since Ted Bundy, arguably this country’s most notorious serial killer, was put to death in the electric chair by the state of Florida in 1989, but there continues to exist in our society a morbid interest in him and the ghastly way he murdered and disposed of the women he abducted in the 1970s.Many people want to know how a person could do the things that Ted Bundy did. It’s truly frightening to think that there are fellow human beings who possess such dark desires and act out their murderous tendencies on the innocent and unsuspecting. We tend to think of these individuals as inhuman or “evil,” which is the only thing that makes sense to us because what drives Ted Bundy, and others like him, are not feelings that any of us can remotely relate.In exploring what might have been working inside the mind of Ted Bundy, the Angel of Decay, triggering him to brutally snuff out the lives of so many young women, the purpose is not to increase his ignominious celebrity or sensationalize his heinous acts, but to shatter any such appeal. The only way to do that is to remember the women and young girls that he killed not merely as victims, but remembering who they were, how they lived, and the impact they had on their families as well as all those around them. They had a lot more in common than being casualties of Ted Bundy’s violent psycho-sexual desires. TED BUNDY: The Angel of Decay-Paul Lonardo
-
The definitive account of Bill Cosby's transition from revered father figure to convicted criminal.
Bill Cosby's decades-long career as a sweater-wearing, wholesome TV dad came to a swift and stunning end on April 26, 2018, when he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. The mounting allegations against Bill Cosby--more than 60 women have come forward to accuse him of similar crimes--and his ultimate conviction were a shock to Americans, who wanted to cleave to their image of Cosby as a pudding-pop hero.
Award-winning journalist and former People magazine senior writer Nicki Weisensee Egan was the first reporter to dig into the story when Constand went to the police in 2005. Other news organizations looked away, but Egan doggedly investigated the case, developing ties with entrenched sources and discovering incriminating details that would ultimately come to influence the prosecution.
In her debut book, Chasing Cosby, Egan shares her firsthand account of Cosby's 13-year run from justice. She tells us how Cosby planned and executed his crimes, and how Hollywood alliances and law enforcement knew what Cosby was doing but did nothing to stop him. A veteran crime reporter, Egan also explores the cultural and social issues that influenced the case, delving into the psychological calculations of a serial predator and into the psyche of a nation that fervently wanted to put their faith in the innocence of "American's Dad."
Rich in character and rife with dramatic revelations about popular culture, media power, and our criminal system, Egan's account will inform and fascinate readers with its candid telling of humanity's most enduring tale: the rise and fall of a cultural icon. CHASING COSBY: The Downfall of America's Dad-Nicole Weisensee Egan -
New from the author of the WildBluePress classics The Trail of Ted Bundy and The Bundy Secrets!
Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries is a deep-dive into the archival record of America’s most notorious serial killer. It’s a veritable goldmine of information on Bundy, his victims, and this very voluminous case.
Written by the foremost authority on Ted Bundy, this latest examination of this brutal serial killer contains new, revealing, and never-before published interviews with those close to Bundy, close to his victims, and a potential victim who barely escaped his clutches.
Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries brings to light for the first time many heretofore passed-over facts about Bundy and reveals previously hidden aspects of the lives of some of his victims. TED BUNDY'S MURDEROUS MYSTERIES: The Many Victims of America's Most Infamous Serial Killer-Kevin Sullivan -
Truman Capote’s bestselling book “In Cold Blood” has captivated worldwide audiences for over fifty years. It is a gripping story about the consequences of a trivial robbery gone terribly wrong in a remote village of western Kansas.
But what if robbery was not the motive at all, but something more sinister? And why would the Kansas Bureau of Investigation press the Attorney General to launch a ruthless four-year legal battle to prevent fresh details of the State’s most famous crime from being made public, so many years after the case had been solved?
Based on stunning new details discovered in the personal journals and archives of former KBI Director Harold Nye—and corroborated by letters written by Richard Hickock, one of the killers on Death Row—“And Every Word Is True” meticulously lays out a vivid and startling new view of the investigation, one that will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they pick up where Capote left off. Even readers new to the story will find themselves drawn into a spellbinding forensic investigation that reads like a thriller, adding new perspectives to the classic tale of an iconic American crime.
Sixty years after news of the 1959 Clutter murders took the world stage, “And Every Word Is True” pulls back the curtain for a suspenseful encore to the true story of “In Cold Blood.” AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE: New found evidence reveals Trumna Capote's In Cold Blood is not the end of the story-Gary McAvoy -
The FBI’s pioneer of criminal profiling, former special agent John Douglas, has studied and interviewed many of America’s most notorious killers—including Charles Manson, ”Son of Sam Killer” David Berkowitz and ”BTK Strangler” Dennis Rader—trained FBI agents and investigators around the world, and helped educate the country about these deadly predators and how they operate, and has become a legend in popular culture, fictionalized in The Silence of the Lambs and the hit television shows Criminal Minds and Mindhunter.
Twenty years after his famous memoir, the man who literally wrote the book on FBI criminal profiling opens his case files once again. In this riveting work of true crime, he spotlights four of the most diabolical criminals he’s confronted, interviewed and learned from. Going deep into each man’s life and crimes, he outlines the factors that led them to murder and how he used his interrogation skills to expose their means, motives, and true evil. Like the hit Netflix show, The Killer Across the Table is centered around Douglas’ unique interrogation and profiling process. With his longtime collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas recounts the chilling encounters with these four killers as he experienced them—revealing for the first time his profile methods in detail.
A glimpse into the mind of a man who has pierced the heart of human darkness, The Killer Across the Table unlocks the ultimate mystery of depravity and the techniques and approaches that have countered evil in the name of justice. THE KILLER ACROSS THE TABLE: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with The FBI's Original MINDHUNTER-Co-author Mark Olshaker -
A deeply-reported, riveting account of a cold case murder in Los Angeles, unsolved until DNA evidence implicated a shocking suspect – a female detective within the LAPD’s own ranks.
On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. The crime scene suggested a ferocious struggle, and police initially assumed it was a burglary gone awry. Before her death, Sherri had confided to her parents that an ex-girlfriend of John’s, a Los Angeles police officer, had threatened her. The Rasmussens urged the LAPD to investigate the ex-girlfriend, but the original detectives only pursued burglary suspects, and the case went cold.
DNA analysis did not exist when Sherri was murdered. Decades later, a swab from a bite mark on Sherri’s arm revealed her killer was in fact female, not male. A DNA match led to the arrest and conviction of veteran LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus, John’s onetime girlfriend.
The Lazarus Files delivers the visceral experience of being inside a real-life murder mystery. McGough reconstructs the lives of Sherri, John and Stephanie; the love triangle that led to Sherri’s murder; and the homicide investigation that followed. Was Stephanie protected by her fellow officers? What did the LAPD know, and when did they know it? Are there other LAPD cold cases with a police connection that remain unsolved? THE LAZARUS FILES: A Cold Case Investigation-Matthew McGough -
In Death on the River, bestselling true crime author Diane Fanning recounts a tragic kayak accident that left one man dead—and his fiancée arrested for his murder.
A DREAM GETAWAY. A REAL-LIFE NIGHTMARE...
It seemed like the perfect romantic afternoon: a kayaking trip for two on the Hudson River. But it ended in tragedy when beautiful, blonde Angelika Graswald called 911 to report that her fiancé, the handsome and athletic Vincent Viafore, had fallen into the choppy frigid waters. Authorities assumed it was an accident. But when the bereft bride-to-be posted videos of herself doing cartwheels on social media—shortly before Vincent’s body was found—suspicions of murder rose to the surface…
After hours of questioning, Angelika made several shocking admissions. She said she felt “trapped” and fed up with Vincent’s “demanding” sexual lifestyle: the nightlife, the strip clubs, the threeways. “I wanted him dead,” she had said, even though she insisted that she didn’t kill him. But as more lurid details emerged—including a $250,000 life insurance policy—a killer question remained: Did Angelika remove the plug of her fiancé’s boat…and knock away his paddle as he sank? DEATH ON THE RIVER: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kayak Trip Turned Deadly-Diane Fanning. -
A SHOCKING 1989 QUADRUPLE FAMILY MURDER AND THE LITTLE GIRL LEFT BEHIND TO TELL THE STORY.
As a child, I was known as "Jessica Pelley." When I was nine, I went to a sleepover at a friend's house for the weekend. While I was away, my entire family was murdered. I would spend the next 30 years fighting, crawling, and clawing my way through the darkness. This wasn't just a national news headline, a cold case, or a true crime show. It was my family. And my life. I was the broken little girl left behind to tell this story. I am now "Jessi," in the pages of this unapologetic memoir, set free. I AM JESSICA: A Survivor's Powerful Story of Healing and Hope-Jessi Toronjo and Jamie Collins. -
In January 1889, as London constables hunted for Jack the Ripper and theaters around the world presented theatrical renditions of the Jekyll and Hyde story, Jackson, Michigan, Police Captain Jack Boyle searched for the murderer of Mary Latimer. This book follows Captain Boyle to the bordellos of gaslight-era Detroit—populated by madams, pimps, prostitutes and gamblers. It describes the investigation that led him to a pharmacist that prowled the streets, akin to a real-life Jekyll and Hyde. Ultimately, the book delves into the mind of Robert Irving Latimer, known as the most dangerous prisoner in Michigan and the man who inspired talk about resurrecting the state’s long-dead death penalty. PARDONABLE MATRICIDE: Robert Irving Latimer, from Michigan's "Most Dangerous Inmate" to Free Man-Tobin T. Buhk
-
Would you kill for love? True-crime master Ron Franscell tells the grisly story of Alice and Gerald Uden, a loving couple who murdered at least four people, and live happily ever after--while cops try for decades to piece together a petrifying tale of murder and secrets. The appalling details are made even more vivid by the author's familiarity with the Wyoming times and places that formed the backdrop of his national bestseller The Darkest Night.
In 1974, Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband and dumps his body where it will never be found, then slips away and starts a new life. But when her new man's ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: Fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alice's help, Gerald "fixes" the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way . . . and they live happily ever after. That is, until 2013,
almost forty years later, when somebody finds a dead man's skeleton in a place where Alice thought he'd never be found.
This page-turner by bestselling true-crime author Ron Franscell revisits a shocking cold case that was finally solved just when the murderers thought they'd never be caught. ALICE & GERALD: A Homicidal Love Story-Ron Franscell. -
A true-crime, coming-of-age story with a tragic twist: a New York editor’s quest to uncover the truth about the brutal murder of her wild and seductive friend in a “riveting…and thoughtful examination of how we grow up and apart.
As girls growing up in rural New Jersey in the late 1980s, Ashley and Carolyn had everything in common: two outsiders who loved spending afternoons exploring the woods. Only when the girls attended different high schools did they begin to grow apart. While Carolyn struggled to fit in, Ashley quickly became a hot girl: popular, extroverted, and sexually precocious.
After high school, Carolyn entered college in New York City and Ashley ended up in Los Angeles, where she quit school to work as a stripper and an escort, dating actors and older men, and experimenting with drugs. The last time Ashley visited New York, Carolyn was shocked by how they had grown apart. One year later, Ashley was stabbed to death at age twenty-two in her Hollywood home. Carolyn would discover she was the victim of serial killer Michael T. Gargiulo.
“Original and engaging, The Hot One is the story of Carolyn’s emotional quest to find out what really happened to her oldest friend. It’s a journey that takes her through the hills of Hollywood, into courtrooms in Los Angeles, to strip clubs in Las Vegas, and back to her own childhood memories as she tries to unravel why she and Ashley became so different. How did Ashley end up the overtly sexual risk-taker—the hot one—while Carolyn was seen as the smart one, the observer? Carolyn’s “memoir will shock and fascinate readers as she explores the power of female friendships and pays tribute to the ones that stay with you long after they’re gone. THE HOT ONE: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex and Murder-Carolyn Murnick -
It was in Manchester, England in 1965, when the police were called to a possible crime scene at the residence of Ian Brady and girlfriend Myra Hindley. What they found in the upstairs spare bedroom were the remains of 17-year-old Edward Evans, who had been cut into pieces with an axe.
After an investigation and search, the police found two suitcases that were full of graphic pictures and a videotape of a young 10-year-old girl, Lesley Ann Downey who had been missing for months. The pictures showed Leslie tied up and tortured. The tape recorded the assault, and when heard at the police station, made people cry and some even vomit.
The mysteries about to unfold shocked not only the UK, but also the entire world. Soon they would become known as the ‘Moors Murders’ − one of the most infamous serial murder cases to come out of Britain.
This book by journalist Alan R. Warren not only reviews the real facts and evidence, describes what REALLY happened behind the closed doors of Brady and Hindley, but also includes actual letters from Ian Brady from the last few years of his life. These give us a unique insight into the mind of Brady; his loves, his hates, and his beliefs in the world of today!
After reviewing several documentaries and reading many of the books already published, I realized that there were many things left unsaid about this case. Even though Myra claimed innocence by not being there when the rapes and murders happened, I suggest that not only was she there, but she was intimately involved; in both the murders and the rapes. THE MOORS MURDERS: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley Serial Killers (British Criminals Volume 3)-Alan R. Warren - Show more