Love and Murder: Heartbreak to Homicide

A relationship dispute in Leesburg, Florida ended with a broken window, damaged property, conflicting accusations, and felony charges. When deputies arrived, both sides claimed they were the victim. One said she had been attacked inside a home where she believed she still lived. The other said she broke in, destroyed property, and assaulted him. This episode breaks down the investigation, the witn...

Ashley Bocanegra thought she was going to meet a man she had been secretly seeing. Instead, two women were waiting for her. What started in the parking lot of a Georgia apartment complex was initially described to police as a mutual fight over a man. But hours later, Ashley was dead, and investigators began finding text messages and a cellphone video that told a very different story. The question...

A woman in Dothan, Alabama, tells her partner to leave after an argument. Before handing over his belongings, she makes one decision that would soon become incredibly important. Minutes later, Brantley Lloyd Tolleson allegedly forces his way back inside while she’s on the phone with 911. Then he points a gun directly at her and pulls the trigger. What happened next left investigators praising the...

Jaie Benson thought she had opened her home to a missionary named Camille. Then she found a passport hidden in the guest room. The face belonged to the woman sleeping under her roof. The name did not. One Google search later, Jaie was reading about dead husbands, a dead friend, an unsolved murder, and decades of rumors surrounding the woman she had just invited into her life. And suddenly, the que...

A historical true crime case tied to love and murder. In this episode, Ky welcomes the hosts of Family Plot Podcast: Dean, Laura, and Arthur to tell you the case of Cordelia Botkin. Cordelia Botkin thought she had found love with married journalist J.P. Dunning. Then he left San Francisco. Months later, more than 2,500 miles away in Delaware, J.P.’s wife received an unexpected package of chocolate...

When three roommates were found murdered inside a Virginia rental home, investigators quickly noticed that the newest tenant had vanished. What followed was a multistate manhunt, a high-speed chase, and evidence that would connect Alyssa Venable to the murders of Robert McGuire, Gregory Powell, and Carol Reese. This episode traces how a quiet shared home became the scene of a triple homicide, and...

Fairy Tales Day Nursery looked like the kind of place parents were supposed to trust. It had positive ratings, an award, and staff who were supposed to know how to care for very young children. Then 14-month-old Noah Sibanda was put down for a nap. Hours later, his parents were at the hospital being told their little boy was gone. What investigators found on the nursery’s CCTV would raise question...

Six children between the ages of 1 and 15 were removed from a home in Wake County, North Carolina. Once they were finally out of the house, authorities began learning what they had allegedly been living through. The investigation into Lacy Douglas Hocutt Jr. and Rachelleigh Marie Galasso would uncover allegations of severe child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and years of isolati...

Five children hiking near Albion Falls in Hamilton, Ontario, thought they had stumbled across the remains of an animal. Then they got closer. What they had actually found launched one of Canada’s most sensational murder investigations, a case involving a missing husband, a blood-stained Packard, a wealthy family hiding secrets, contradictory statements, and physical evidence scattered across more...

Five-year-old Jakaiden Smith had seen his pediatrician in December 2025 weighing about 30 pounds. Less than two months later, a passerby spotted a black trash bag floating along a Florida bay. Inside was Jakaiden, weighing just 20 pounds. His mother, Jalynda Smith, had disappeared.  What investigators allege happened before Jakaiden reached that water may be even harder to understand than how he w...

Five-year-old Kamarie Holland was supposed to be protected by a court order that specifically prohibited her father from leaving her in her mother’s care. But on December 13, 2021, Kamarie’s mother called 911 and claimed her daughter had vanished during the night. Investigators would uncover something far, FAR worse. This is the devastating case of how Kristy Siple, Corey Holland, and the system f...

A child-custody hearing ends quietly inside a South Carolina courthouse. No shouting. No threats. No indication that anything unusual is about to happen. But once everyone reaches the parking lot, everything changes. Behind what happens next is a years-long story involving an affair, a marriage, a little girl with two father figures, and a truth that Andrew White had already been living with for n...

Ryan Greenwood built an online following by sharing parenting advice, Christian messages, and videos about being a better father. Then, in August 2025, his 4-month-old daughter Elizabeth Greenwood died. What initially appeared to be a tragic loss quickly became a criminal investigation. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered troubling internet searches, allegations of prior incidents involvin...

Nannie Doss spent decades chasing the kind of love story she read about in romance magazines and lonely-hearts ads. She married again and again, always searching for what she called the “perfect mate.” But wherever Nannie’s search for romance took her, tragedy never seemed far behind. By 1954, one sudden death in Tulsa, Oklahoma, finally made a doctor stop and ask questions that stretched far beyo...

When a seven-month-old Florida baby suddenly started vomiting, his parents pointed doctors toward a recent bump on the headboard and a pre-existing medical condition involving fluid around his brain. But emergency surgery and a subsequent investigation revealed something far more sinister. This episode talks about the investigation into Anthony Hester the allegations of him shaking his son until h...

Jariah Edwards was 17 years old, 32 weeks pregnant, and visiting San Diego with her family when someone unexpectedly showed up outside their rental in the middle of the night. Police say Trevon Williams had traveled from Arizona, told Jariah he brought her flowers, and convinced her to come outside. Minutes later, Jariah had been shot. Doctors fought to save both her and her baby girl and investig...

When six-year-old Justin Elmore arrived at the hospital, the adults caring for him said his injuries came from hitting himself in the head. Doctors immediately knew something was wrong with that explanation. Justin had a brain bleed, a punctured lung, and injuries across his body. Then investigators searched the home, the adults’ phones, and the surveillance footage, and discovered a sad tale of c...

Three children disappeared into the ocean in the middle of the night. Hours later, they were found along the shoreline of Coney Island, and their mother was wandering barefoot, soaking wet, repeatedly telling family that the children were "gone." As investigators pieced together the final hours before Zachary, Liliana, and Oliver Merdy died, they uncovered years of mental health struggles, custody...

Amy Vilardi was the one who called 911 after finding four members of her family dead inside their South Carolina home. For nearly eight years, no one was charged. Then investigators went back to evidence that had been sitting in the case file ... including a photograph that led them right to Amy and Ross Vilardi. But the case was built on circumstantial evidence. Would it be enough to prove four m...

Taylor Schaefer told police that a “gut feeling” led her to check the cameras inside her home, where she watched her boyfriend beating her five-year-old son. But when detectives seized the surveillance system, they discovered that the cameras had captured much more than one violent morning. How did a woman who worked for a child-protection organization become part of what investigators described a...

John Eisenman said he killed Andrew Sorensen because Andrew had trafficked his daughter, and that story turned him into a vigilante hero to people across the country. But investigators couldn’t prove the trafficking accusation. Then John’s fiancée, Brenda Kross, started talking and confessed that she had been there when Andrew was killed.  Years later, both were standing in court, and the story th...

A 16-year-old boy hides in a bedroom and calls 911 while his stepfather is still somewhere inside the house with a gun. His mother, Tenisha Williams, has already been shot. But when investigators review the family’s security cameras, they learn that the violence didn’t begin that night. Prosecutors say Kelvin Williams had spent years controlling Tenisha. Then they reveal one more disturbing detail...

A terrified wife called 911 to report that her husband was armed. Before deputies could arrive, the dispatcher heard gunshots, and the suspect's own words would become some of the most chilling evidence in the case.  When officers entered the home, they found a family forever changed. One child was dead, two more victims were critically injured, and investigators soon uncovered a connection that m...

Matthew Hertgen’s family knew he was seriously mentally ill. His older brother spent hours with him on the night Joseph died, saw that he was struggling with terrifying visions, and even warned Joseph to call if he needed help. Less than an hour later, Matthew called 911 and reported “a fire and a dead body.” What investigators uncovered inside the apartment was horrific, but the legal question be...

Rachel Barber thought she was leaving dance class to make some easy money. The person offering the job wasn’t a stranger; Caroline Robertson had once babysat Rachel and her younger sisters and had been trusted by the Barber family. But Caroline had secretly spent months studying Rachel’s looks, personality, family, boyfriend, and life. Then Rachel disappeared and Caroline started calling her famil...