Dead Diary

After the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in 1996, her family and the Arlington community were left with a case that has never been solved. The crime was devastating on its own, but it also became the catalyst for a nationwide shift in how the public is alerted when a child is taken. In this episode, we walk through the known timeline of Amber's final afternoon. We look at th...

After the cyanide poisoning death of 23-year-old Christopher Erick in 2012, his mother, Kim Erick Smith, began a years-long fight for answers. She believes not only that her son didn’t die by suicide, but that key details surrounding his final days point to something far more sinister. In this episode, we walk through Kim’s own archived investigation. She lays out claims involving early warnings,...

This week on Dead Diary, we're looking into a case that feels like it shouldn't be real. The story begins in 2012 with the cyanide poisoning death of 23-year-old Christopher Erick in Midlothian, TX. But the real nightmare comes after a paperwork mistake marked his body as unclaimed. His mother, Kim Erick Smith, says she never saw her son's remains again. Years later, Kim came across th...

This week on Dead Diary , we’re covering one of the most bizarre and shocking true crime moments to unfold in recent memory - the on-camera confession of 53-year-old Lorenz Kraus, who admitted to murdering his parents and burying their bodies in the backyard of their Albany, New York home. Kraus, a well-educated man with a background in politics, business, and fringe conspiracy theories, emailed a...

This week on Dead Diary , we’re covering a story that’s as tragic as it is senseless — the July 2025 murder of 45‑year‑old Christine Moyer, a respected journalist and communications professional who was shot and killed by her father‑in‑law at a family wedding. Christine was known as a “defender of those who had no voice,” a mother, wife, and community leader who built her life around helping other...

This week on Dead Diary, we're talking about one of the South's most powerful families - the Murdaughs of South Carolina. Alex Murdaugh, once a respected attorney from a century-old legal dynasty, now sits behind bars for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. But the road to justice wasn't straightforward. From a fatal boat crash that left 19-year-old Mallory Beach dead, to em...

This story is one of Alabama’s most infamous and jaw-dropping true crime stories. It’s the tale of a charming Southern belle turned cold-blooded killer: Audrey Marie Hilley. Born and raised in Anniston, Alabama, Hilley seemed to have it all - beauty, charm, and a picture-perfect family. But beneath that polished exterior lurked greed, deceit, and a taste for poison. What started as a husband’s mys...

In 2012, 19-year-old Brittney Wood vanished from her home in Mobile, Alabama and what followed was unlike anything investigators expected. Her disappearance cracked open a disturbing case involving alleged incest, child sexual abuse, and a multigenerational sex ring operating across Baldwin and Mobile Counties. Within days, the last person seen with Brittney was found dead from a gunshot wound rul...

On August 14, 2025, seven month old Emmanuel Haro was reported kidnapped from a Big 5 parking lot in Yucaipa, California. His mother, Rebecca Haro, told police she was attacked while changing his diaper, and her emotional on camera plea quickly drew national attention. But within days, the story unraveled. Investigators found no evidence of an abduction, the parents stopped cooperating, and social...

In 2003, Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, based on a theory known as Shaken Baby Syndrome. But what if the science that put him on death row was wrong? In this episode of Dead Diary, we unravel the controversial case of Robert Roberson, a Texas man now facing execution on October 16, 2025, despite mounting evidence that challenges ev...

In 1998, 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley vanished from a Royal Caribbean cruise without a trace. One moment she was dancing at the ship’s nightclub, strong, vibrant, and ready to start a new job back home. Hours later, she was gone. No body. No note. Just a string of chilling alleged sightings across the Caribbean, an ocean of unanswered questions, and a family still searching for the truth. This wee...

Travis Decker is on the run, accused of the unthinkable: murdering his three young daughters in Washington. An Army veteran with survival training and a history of living off-grid, Decker has sparked a massive manhunt that feels more like tracking a ghost than a fugitive. In this week’s Dead Diary, we dig into the chilling timeline leading up to the murders, the psychological unraveling of a man t...

Brian Walshe is headed to trial for the alleged murder of his wife Ana, but there’s a major problem: Ana’s body has never been found. In this week’s Dead Diary , we break down the staggering web of circumstantial evidence, disturbing digital breadcrumbs, and the prosecution’s high-stakes legal strategy. But there’s another twist - one investigator links this case to the Karen Read trial and an ent...

When 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at his Georgia high school, authorities ruled it a freak accident. But his family say something else: signs of foul play, missing organs, altered video footage, and a pattern of unanswered questions. In this episode of Dead Diary, we walk through the full timeline of Kendrick’s case, from the initial autopsy and the family...

After weeks of explosive testimony, forensic debates, and allegations of misconduct, the Commonwealth closes its case in the Karen Read retrial - and the defense brings out its heavy hitters. From hostile witnesses and eyerolls in the courtroom to dueling accident reconstructionist and a dramatic verdict, this episode unpacks twists, tensions, and final arguments that sealed the fate of the case....

Week 3 of the Karen Read retrial brought a dramatic shift from car crash theory to accusations of a violent breakup turned deadly. In this episode of Dead Diary , we break down every major moment: text messages, forensic evidence, emotional testimony, and the digital breadcrumbs that the Commonwealth claims hold the key to what happened the night John O’Keefe died. You'll hear how the prosecut...

Week two of the Karen Read retrial brought a wave of emotional testimony, conflicting timelines, and serious questions about the integrity of the investigation. From Jennifer McCabe’s shaky memory and a suspicious Google search to angry voicemails, flirtatious texts, and taillight fragments found after the snow melted, this case only gets more complicated. And when the lead investigator turns out...

The death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe shocked the town of Canton - and when his girlfriend, Karen Read, was arrested for his murder, the fallout ignited national headlines. In this episode of Dead Diary, host Neeli Faulkner walks through the chilling timeline, the charges, and the two very different narratives at the center of the Karen Read retrial.  Was this a case of drunk driving...