Murder In America

On September 18th, 2023, officers in Romeoville, Illinois, knew they were facing something they had never seen before. As they peered in the windows of a darkened family home, the flashes of what lay inside made their stomachs churn. Three dogs, shot. Furniture turned over. Belongings strewn across the room like a robbery gone wrong. The young family that lived in the home: 32-year-old Alberto Rol...

On June 21st, 2018, a 29-year-old dedicated mother and aspiring lawyer, Maria Jimenez-Rodriguez, vanished without a trace. For the next 8 years, her family fought for justice: Leading the investigation into her disappearance, hunting down clues, and even confronting her killer by themselves. This case is one defined by love in the face of true evil. Evil was pieced together, piece by piece, using...

In the final part of our three-part series, we take you inside the courtroom of the trial of the century: The case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Lindsay Clancy. It’s a case that began on a cold winter night more than three years ago, but has spiraled into something much, much more. In the wake of this trial, controversy, anger, and arguments have sprouted across the country and the w...

In Part two of this three-part series, we walk second-by-second through January 24th, 2023, a day that changed Duxbury, Massachusetts, and the Clancy family forever. On that day, police arrived at the peaceful family home belonging to Lindsay and Patrick Clancy to discover the most horrific scene of their career: Lindsay, clinging to life in the snow outside after an apparent suicide attempt, and...

Lindsay Musgrove Clancy had everything going for her. She had a great childhood, loving family and friends, excelled in school and sports, and became one of the most beloved nurses in the labor and delivery unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. So how, then, did she become the most talked-about alleged child-killer of the 21st century? In part one of our three-part series, we dive deep into the...

In December of 2007, the National Forests of the Eastern US were being hunted by a killer. By that point, Gary Hilton had already claimed two victims. But as 2007 turned to 2008, he set his sights on two more. Little did he know, as he slunk through National Forests targeting these women, that they would be his downfall. Because Cheryl Dunlap and Meredith Emerson weren’t going to go down without a...

John "Jack" and Irene Bryant had been married for 58 years. In those years, the 80-year-old couple had hiked and kayaked from coast to coast. The outdoors were their home. Unfortunately, they were also Gary Hilton’s hunting grounds. When he laid eyes on the elderly couple, he didn’t see two people who had lived a beautiful life: He saw a meal ticket and a way to quell the dark cravings that had be...

In September of 2019, a sheriff’s deputy in rural Georgia walked down the desolate road, in the dark, ready to help whoever was behind the wheel of the minivan that had crashed into a concrete culvert. He thought it would be a routine call. He’d check in with the driver, call an ambulance, and be on his way. But the closer he got to the van… the more unbearable the stench got. It was a smell he, s...

For two days, two-year-old Nicole didn’t understand why her mother wasn’t getting up. She was hungry. Lonely. And her doting mom was just lying there, unmoving, her eyes staring at nothing. Nicole had no idea that her mom, Robin Warr Lawrence, was gone. When her body was finally discovered, no one had any idea who would have wanted to kill her. For nearly 3 decades, Robin’s loved ones waited to fi...

At first, the officer tried to tell himself he was looking at a deer carcass. Everything told him it wasn’t. The black bra. The location. The missing woman, Tara Lynn Grant. He knew he was looking at her dismembered remains, tossed into a tote bin, forgotten like trash. But wrapping his mind around why seemed impossible. How could someone do this, someone who claimed to love her? And if...

Robert Brashers was a monster, murderer, and rapist who hid in plain sight for nearly four decades. Despite killing at least 8 people in his lifetime, he never served a second in jail for homicide. In this episode, we bring his crimes into the light, in depth, for the very first time. But even with all the information, a question remains: How many more victims does Robert Brashers have? - Sources:...

December 6th, 1991, is a day that changed Austin forever. Four young girls were assaulted, shot, and set ablaze in a yogurt shop in the dead of night. Four vibrant lives were taken away in an instant. And for three decades, no one really knew who was behind it. Innocent people sat in jail for a heinous crime that they didn’t commit. Families suffered, not knowing who had taken the lives of their l...

Mom comes home to find a human head and hands in her sons bedroom… The Antiquarium of Documented Atrocities Case A005 - The Reading Man Murder Narrated by Stephen Knowles Produced and Engineered by Trevor and Lauren Shand Spotify Show Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/12H7pSoEJ3zETh2739CZUC?si=8d1664511a554389 Apple Podcast Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-antiquarium-of-documente...

In 2016, the Pulse massacre was the most violent mass shooting to ever take place on American soil. 49 innocent people were dead. Dozens more were wounded and traumatized. But many made it their mission to ensure those people did not die in vain. In our final part of this 4-part series, we will look at the helpers in the aftermath of the shooting. Those who are fighting for love, tolerance, and ac...

By 5 am on June 12th, 2016, news that there had been a shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando was everywhere. Family members gathered outside the club, at hospitals, and at victims' centers, desperate to find out if their loved ones had survived. When the shooting came to an end, the horror of what people endured was really just beginning. For the entire day, victims' loved ones searched the city...

It was just after 2 am. Over 200 people were enjoying the freedom that Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub, offered. They were dancing. Connecting. Singing. Embracing the beauty of being alive and being understood. But in an instant, the night changed entirely. Within just a few minutes, dozens would be dead. And over the next few hours, those who did survive would be forced to fight for their lives as they...

On June 12th, 2016, Omar Mateen committed one of the most violent mass shootings in American history when he attacked Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. It was an attack that was 29 years in the making. Throughout Omar’s life, there were signs that things weren’t right. Expulsions from school. Being fired from the police academy. And even an investigation by the FBI. In Part 1 of our 4-part series, we’re...

When firefighters rushed to a hotel room in December of 1979, they had no idea they were stumbling into the den of a serial killer. On the bed, they discovered the bodies of two women — their heads and hands cut off, and their torsos set on fire and left on display for first responders to find. It was the first glimpse into the madness of Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. Little did first resp...

When firefighters rushed to a hotel room in December of 1979, they had no idea they were stumbling into the den of a serial killer. On the bed, they discovered the bodies of two women — their heads and hands cut off, and their torsos set on fire and left on display for first responders to find. It was the first glimpse into the madness of Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. Little did first resp...

"Are you a kidnapper?" Those are some of the last words that Athena Strand ever said. She was just 7 years old, standing in the back of a FedEx van, where an adult had told her she was safe, that things would be okay. But things would never be okay again. The man driving the van was not only a predator... but a killer. And his plans for Athena would be captured on camera, leading to one of the mos...

No one thought a 13-year-old boy was capable of such evil. But when 5-year-old Tara Sue Huffman was discovered bludgeoned to death, all the evidence pointed to neighbor, middle-schooler Timothy Buss, being her killer. After just 12 years of incarceration, Timothy returned to his hometown a reformed man. But not long after his release, another child disappeared. And this time, no one doubted what h...

Elizabeth Peña and Jennifer Ertman were just two teens enjoying a walk home on a hot summer night on June 24th, 1993. When they took a shortcut home, they stumbled upon the aftermath of the unthinkable: A violent gang initiation. What happened to them afterward is the stuff of nightmares.  - Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eTYeCoYyxm58DXXdoFbHQyWHlWbcH9iKGIefFcQToW4/edit?tab=t.y2yayotx...

Part 2 of this series brings us to the unmasking of the Baseline Killer, a man who terrorized Phoenix for over a year. His name was Mark Goudeau. A father. A husband. A hardworking member of the community. But beneath it all, he was the monster stalking the streets. As 2005 turned to 2006, his thirst for murder and violence only grew, and police knew they had to stop him before it was too late.  -...

They were known as the Summers of Terror. From 2005 to 2006, Phoenix, Arizona, lived in a state of permanent dread. People and pets were being shot in the streets at random. Women and children were pulled into dark alleys and assaulted. In part 1 of this 2-part series, we’ll dive into the attacks that kicked off a year of chaos, violence, and mystery, which left the police department scrambling fo...

There were signs that things were not right at home for 12-year-old Lori Paige. Not just tiny ones: blazing red flags that followed her all her life. She came to school without shoes. She was hit with a belt in front of her classmates. She cried to friends and teachers, saying she couldn’t take the abuse any longer. And then… she vanished. What followed was an investigation that came far too late—...