Unstable Table After Dark

A Thanksgiving dinner turned nightmare. Dive into the terrifying 2016 case of Joel Guy Jr., the unemployed college student who brutally murdered and dismembered his parents after learning they were cutting him off financially. We unpack the stomach-churning evidence, the chilling handwritten "blueprint" left in his notebook, and the swift trial that put him away for life.  Content Warnin...

In this episode, we dive into Navessa Allen's, Caught Up. This time, the spotlight is on Nico "Junior" Trocci—the morally gray mafia fixer looking for an exit strategy-and Lauren Marchetti, the fierce, unapologetic camgirl and sex-worker rights advocate who broke his heart back in high school. We dissect everything from Nico's secret decade-long obsession as Lauren's anonymou...

Husbands, boyfriends, and her own child—no one close to Judy Buenoano was safe. Dubbed "The Black Widow," Buenoano spent years poisoning those closest to her with arsenic to cash in on lucrative life insurance policies. Step inside the shocking case of greed, poison, and attempted car bombing that brought down one of America's most ruthless female serial killers.  Content Warnings: T...

Six dead. Seven wounded. One summer of total panic. Step back into 1977 New York City to explore the dark case of David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam." We break down the horrific shootings, the tabloid frenzy sparked by his letters, and the famous manhunt that brought New York's most infamous lone gunman to justice.  Content Warnings: This episode contains descriptions of violent crime,...

A charismatic stranger with a lethal secret. Dive into the cross-country spree of Glen Rogers—the "Casanova Killer" who targeted red-haired women in bars across four states before becoming one of America's Most Wanted. We break down his violent path, his bizarre post-arrest confessions, and the law enforcement effort that brought down a coast-to-coast predator.  Content Warnings: Thi...

Behind a sinister smile lay eight years of terror on America's highways. Long-haul trucker Keith Hunter Jesperson targeted vulnerable women across eight states, leaving behind a trail of horror—and taunting police with letters signed with a creepy smiley face. In this episode, we unpack how a man hiding in plain sight taunted law enforcement, framed innocent people, and was ultimately brought...

Step inside the hotel where checking in meant never checking out. This episode dives into the dark legacy of H.H. Holmes and his infamous “Murder Castle” in Chicago. We explore how Holmes used the chaos of the 1893 World’s Fair to lure his victims, the terrifying layout of his custom-built maze, and the massive insurance fraud investigation that finally brought his gruesome secrets to light.  Cont...

A hero to wrestling fans, a nightmare to the elderly. This episode dives into the shocking double life of Juana Barraza, infamously known as La Mataviejitas (The Old Lady Killer). We explore how her career in the brutal world of Lucha Libre gave her the physical power to commit her crimes, how she exploited her victims’ isolation, and the historic blunder that kept investigators looking in the wro...

As women began vanishing across Oregon, "The Lust Killer" transformed his victims' belongings into morbid trophies, hiding unspeakable acts behind an ordinary garage door. In Part 2, we go inside the investigation that exposed Brudos' workshop, tracking down the critical evidence and photographic clues that finally broke the case open and ended his reign of terror.  Content Warni...

In the late 1960s, a dark shadow fell over Oregon. To his neighbors, Jerry Brudos was a quiet family man and an electrician who spent hours tinkering in his garage. But behind that closed door lay a subterranean house of horrors. Driven by a deep, escalating fetishism, Brudos turned his basement into a hunting ground - and his ‘victims’ belongings into morbid trophies. This week, we go into the wo...

On June 9, 2008, friends of Travis Alexander entered his Mesa, Arizona home after not hearing from him for days. What they discovered in his master bathroom was a blood-soaked crime scene of unimaginable brutality. Travis had been stabbed 27 times, his throat cut from ear to ear, and a shot in the head. This week, we untangle one of the most toxic, obsessive relationships in modern true-crime hist...

To his long-term girlfriend and his mother, Sean was an ordinary, mild-mannered, soft-spoken IT worker and science fiction geek. But outside the house, he was a monster. Over a decade long period starting in 1994, Gillis stalked, raped, and murdered at least eight women, ranging in age from 29 to 81. This week, we look into the shocking double life of Sean Vincent Gillis and the forensic breakthro...

In 1978, a charismatic, long-haired photographer named Rodney Alcala appeared on the hit show The Dating Game . He won over the audience with his charm and won a date with the bachelorette—who later canceled because he felt "creepy." What the producers didn't know was that Rodney was already a convicted sex offender on a cross-country killing spree. This week, we go behind the curtai...

For nine years, Jane Andrews lived in the gilded inner circle of the British Royal Family, serving as the trusted, personal dresser to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. She was the woman in the background - polite, impeccable, and privy to the palace’s deepest secrets. But behind the royal glamour lay a volatile mind consumed by a desperate need for status and control. This episode, we go into the...

In today’s episode, we are diving deep into the dark, chaotic, and unexpectedly hilarious world of Navessa Allen's massive viral hit, Lights Out . It's a book that asks the ultimate "what if" question: What happens when you accidentally manifest your favorite internet stalker kink? We break down the morally grey chemistry, the heavy trauma both characters carry, the line between internet fantasy a...

When the "Zoo Man" was finally caught, the legal battle that followed became even more bizarre than the crimes themselves. Thomas Huskey’s defense claimed he wasn't responsible for the murders; instead, they pointed the finger at "Kyle," a violent, British-accented alter ego who allegedly emerged during the killings. Join us as we examine the controversial use of Dissociati...

To her neighbors in Sacramento, California, Dorothea Puente was a sweet, grandmotherly figure. She wore floral dresses, baked homemade cookies, and ran a boarding house for the unhoused, elderly, and the mentally ill. She was looked at as a neighborhood saint - until the stench of death began wafting from her immaculate rose garden. This week, we dive into the chilling story of one of America’s mo...

For decades, Richard Cottingham was convicted of only a handful of murders, but the true scale of his trail of blood is only now coming to light. From his initial arrest in 1980 to his shocking 2026 confession regarding the 1965 murder of Alys Jean Eberhardt, Cottingham has spent his life in prison slowly doling out the truth to investigators. Join us as we explore his unique "cat-and-mouse&q...

In late 2007, a shadow fell over the national forests of Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. When 24-year-old Meredith Emerson went hiking with her dog on New Year’s Day and never returned, a massive manhunt revealed a predator hiding in plain sight. Gary Hilton wasn't just a drifter; he was a cold-blooded killer who stalked the trails he knew by heart. This week, we follow the harrowing sea...

How did an unlicensed "doctor" get away with killing dozens of people in plain sight? Linda Hazzard exploited a legal loophole to practice her lethal brand of alternative medicine for decades. Behind her claims of "ridding the body of toxins" lay a calculated scheme of forgery, greed, and psychological manipulation. Join us as we dissect the investigation into Hazzard’s clinic,...

In 1961, Portland was rocked by a crime so gruesome it felt like a horror movie: a woman’s remains found scattered in a swamp, meticulously dismembered. The man responsible, Richard Marquette, became the first person ever added as the "11th name" to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. He was caught, convicted, and sentenced—but the story didn't end there. Twelve years later, Marquette wa...

In 1946, Chicago was a city gripped by a unique kind of terror. A killer was stalking the streets, leaving behind a signature that would haunt the headlines for decades: a plea scrawled in red lipstick on a victim’s wall that read, "For heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself." When 17-year-old University of Chicago student William Heirens was arrested for a rout...

Nannie Doss spent her life searching for the "perfect man" she read about in her favorite romance magazines. When reality failed to live up to the fantasy, she didn’t just file for divorce—she reached for the arsenic. For nearly three decades, husbands, sisters, mothers, and even her own children fell ill and died, leaving Nannie with a trail of insurance payouts and a smile on her face. In this e...

On a frigid November night in 1986, flight attendant Helle Crafts returned to her Newtown, Connecticut home and vanished into a blinding snowstorm. Her husband, airline pilot Richard Crafts, claimed she had left to visit family in Denmark. But as the snow began to melt, a chilling story emerged—one involving a rented industrial woodchipper, a chainsaw found in the Housatonic River, and a forensic...

Consider this your formal invitation to pull up a chair at The Unstable Table After Dark... where things get morbid, sarcastic, and just a little unhinged Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/oliver-massa/graveyard-tango License code: 6CU5MIMVDNS2IMAJ