Based in Fact

In Episode 5, State of New Jersey v. Melanie McGuire, Lisa and Kyle talked about the case against Melanie McGuire. Between May 5 and May 16, 2004, three suitcases containing dismembered human remains washed up near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia. The remains inside the cases were identified as Bill McGuire, a New Jersey computer program analyst. In 2007, his wife, Melanie, was convic...

In Episode 4, guest co-host, Roberta Glass, joined Lisa to talk about the case against Scott James Eizember was executed in January, 2023, for the 2003 capital murder of AJ Cantrell in Depew, Oklahoma. Lisa and Roberta talked about the facts of the case, the trial, direct appeal and post-conviction proceedings, including arguments by Eizember and his advocates blaming Mr. Cantrell for his wife's d...

In Episode 3, State of Tennessee v. Janet Elaine Hinds, Lisa and Kyle looked at the case against Janet Hinds, who was charged with vehicular homicide by intoxication after she struck and killed Chattanooga Police Officer Nicholas Galinger on the night of February 23, 2019. In April, 2019, Hinds was also charged with reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of anoth...

Welcome to Season 3 of Based in Fact: A True Crime Podcast with your hosts, Lisa O’Brien and Kyle Evans. In Episode 1, Updates, Kyle and Lisa talked about the new developments in cases covered in Seasons 1 and 2, including TX v. Rodney Reed, OK v. Richard Glossip, TX v. Melissa Lucio and NC v. Molly Martens Corbett and Thomas Martens. They also looked ahead to some of the cases they'll talk about...

In Episode 2, State of Maryland v. James Allen Kulbicki, Lisa and Kyle looked at the case against Kulbicki, a former Baltimore City police sergeant, who was convicted of the murder of Gina Marie Nuelsein in January of 1993. After a brief affair, Gina gave birth to a son in September, 1991. At the time of her murder, she was seeking child support from Kulbicki. They talked about the case against Ku...

In Episode 15, Arizona v. Jodi Ann Arias, Part 2, Lisa and Kyle continue their look at the 2008 murder of Travis Alexander, re-cap the five year pre-trial period after Arias' 2008 arrest and indictment and her trial, which began with jury selection in December, 2012. They then looked at her direct appeal, which was decided in March and April, 2020, the disbarment of Arias' first chair attorney L....

In Episode 14, Kyle and Lisa looked at State of Arizona v. Jodi Ann Arias. On the evening of June 9, 2008, Travis Alexander was found murdered in the floor of the shower in his house in Mesa, AZ. He'd been stabbed multiple times, including a fatal wound in his chest, shot in the head and his throat had been slit. Fingers were immediately pointed at Jodi Arias, a former girlfriend and failed waitre...

In Episode 13, Lisa is joined by Roberta Glass, of The Roberta Glass True Crime Report, for a look at the case of State of New York v. Ronald Joseph Defeo, Jr.. Defeo murdered his father, mother, two sisters and two brothers in the early morning hours of November 13, 1974. Defeo was arrested, tried and convicted in November, 1975. Lisa and Roberta talked about the murders, Defeo's trial, convictio...

In Episode 12, Notable Supreme Court Cases, Part 3 Kyle and Lisa talked about cases decided between 1995 and 2010, including Schlup, Atkins, Roper, Crawford, House and Panetti. They looked at the background of each case, the issues raised by the Petitioners and the decisions of the Supreme Court. We are open to suggestions for any cases we missed and we will do this again next season.

In Episode 11, Notable Supreme Court Cases, Part 2, Lisa and Kyle talked about cases decided between 1985 and 1994, including Ake v. Oklahoma, US v. Bagley, Coleman v. Thompson, Ford v. Wainwright, Murray v. Carrier, Sawyer v. Whitley, Herrera v. Collins and Tison v. Arizona. They briefly looked at the background of each case, the issues raised by the Petitioners and the decisions of the Supreme C...

Lisa and Kyle return for Season 2, Episode 10, Notable Supreme Court Cases, Part 1, which includes some of the cases that have been mentioned in the context of state and federal post-conviction litigation for Rodney Reed, Richard Glossip and the West Memphis Three, among others. Today, they talked about cases decided between 1923 and 1984, including Napue, Brady, Gideon v. Wainwright, In Re: Winsh...

In Episode 9, Lisa and guest co-host Robb Chadwick took a look at Oklahoma v. Anthony Sanchez . In July, 2004, Sanchez was linked to the December 20, 1996 kidnapping, rape and murder of OU graduate Jewell "Juli" Busken via a cold case DNA hit. They discussed the evidence against Sanchez, his trial, direct appeal and state and federal post-conviction claims, including his recent actual innocence cl...

Lisa and Kyle continue their review of the case against Richard Glossip, who was convicted of the 1997 murder-for-hire of his boss, Barry Van Treese.  In Part 2, they talked about the 2022 propaganda campaign being waged by his advocates in the media and his 2022 state post-conviction claims.  They continued their discussion of the two writs currently pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, t...

In Episode 7, Oklahoma v. Richard Glossip: Update, Part 1, Kyle and Lisa talked about Glossip’s state post-conviction claims, including his 2015 claims and the 1st and 2nd claims filed in 2022, including the supplemental findings of Reed Smith.

In Episode 6, Lisa and Kyle talk about State of Texas v. Rodney Reed, including Reed's state court litigation seeking DNA testing, the agreed DNA testing outside Chapter 64 and the results and Reed's federal challenge to the state court DNA procedures, which included U.S. Supreme Court opinion that returned Reed’s challenge to Texas’ DNA testing statute to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. They...

In Episode 5, Lisa and Kyle look at the case of State of North Carolina v. Molly Martens Corbett and Thomas Michael Martens. Martens, a former FBI agent, and his daughter are awaiting re-trial for murder in North Carolina. In the early morning hours of August 2, 2015, Molly's husband, Jason Corbett was beaten to death with a paver wielded by his wife and a child's bat wielded by his father-in-law,...

In Part 3, Lisa and Kyle conclude their discussion of the 1994 murder-for-hire of Farah Baquer Fratta, a mother of three gunned down in her garage in Humble, Harris County, Texas. In Parts 1 and 2, they talked about the case against Farah’s estranged husband, Robert Fratta, who was executed on January 10, 2023 and Joseph Prystash, a felon and gym rat who acted as Fratta’s middleman. In this episod...

In Part 2, Lisa and Kyle continue discussing the 1994 murder-for-hire of Farah Baquer Fratta, a mother of three gunned down in her garage in Humble, Harris County, Texas. In Part 1, they talked about the the case against Farah’s estranged husband, Robert Fratta, who was executed on January 10, 2023. In Part 2, they look at the case against the middleman, Joseph Prystash, a felon and gym rat with F...

In Part 2, Lisa and Kyle continue discussing the 1994 murder-for-hire of Farah Baquer Fratta, a mother of three gunned down in her garage in Humble, Harris County, Texas. In Part 1, they talked about the the case against Farah’s estranged husband, Robert Fratta, who was executed on January 10, 2023. In Part 2, they look at the case against the middleman, Joseph Prystash, a felon and gym rat with F...

In Part 1, Lisa and Kyle talked about the 1994 murder-for-hire of Farah Baquer Fratta, a mother of three gunned down in her garage in Humble, Harris County, Texas. In Part 1, State of Texas v. Robert Alan Fratta, they examined the case against Farah’s estranged husband. They talked about the evidence against Fratta and his initial conviction, as well as his 2009 re-trial, direct appeals and state...

In Season 2, Episode 1, Kyle and Lisa update the cases and topics covered during Season 1, including recent events and developments in Texas v. Reed, Echols v. Arkansas, Oklahoma v. Glossip and Texas v. Skinner. They talked about the executions of James Coddington, Benjamin Cole and Richard Fairchild and Oklahoma's challenge to the federal Bureau of Prison's interference in the execution of John F...

In Episode 20, Kyle and Lisa conclude their discussion of State of Texas v. Henry Watkins Skinner.  Skinner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1995 for the New Year’s Eve 1993 murders of his girlfriend, Twila Busby and her sons, Randy Busby and Elwin Caler in Pampa, Texas.  Skinner, the only member of the household to walk away that New Year’s morning, initially ad...

In Episode 19, Kyle and Lisa talked about State of Texas v. Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner. In 1995, Skinner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the December 31, 1993 murders of his girlfriend, Twila Busby and her sons, Randy Busby and Elwin Caler in Pampa, Gray County, Texas. Skinner has admitted that he was in the house when the murders occurred and he was the only member of...

Kyle and Lisa look at State of Oklahoma v. John Fitzgerald Hanson.  Hanson was facing execution on December 15, 2022 for the 1999 murder of Mary Bowles.  Hanson and his partner, Victor Miller, kidnapped Mary from a Tulsa mall on August 31, 1999.  They brought her to a dirt pit in Owasso, where they encountered the owner, Jerald Thurman.  Miller shot Mr. Thurman, then Hanson too...

In Episode 17, Kyle and Lisa looked at the case against Richard Fairchild, who was convicted of the November 14, 1993 murder of his girlfriend's son, Adam Scott Broomhall. In a drunken rage, Fairchild struck, beat and burned the 3-year old, then threw him into a table, inflicting a fatal head injury. While advocates for Fairchild have never claimed he is actually innocent, they have challenged the...