Love and Murder: Heartbreak to Homicide

The Steven Pladl case is one of those stories that people hear once and never forget. It started when an adopted daughter reconnected with her biological parents at 18. What should have been a reunion quickly crossed into something else, leading to a relationship between father and daughter, a pregnancy, and criminal charges. This update episode focuses on what happened after those initial charges...

What started as a reality show love story quickly turned into a criminal case. Emily Ceco and Santiago Martínez met on Love Is Blind: Argentina, built a relationship without seeing each other, and got married on the show. To the public, they looked like one of the success stories. But by early 2025, Emily was reporting him to police, saying that she had to run to survive. At trial, the case came d...

A domestic argument inside a quiet family home in upstate New York ended with a father dead and his own son charged with murder. Police say 63-year-old Philip Knickerbocker was arguing with his wife, Jacqueline, when things turned violent. After allegedly pouring hot coffee over her head and trying to hit her, their son, Hans Knickerbocker, stepped in. What happened next ended with Philip dead on...

A whispered 911 call from a terrified 9-year-old boy, Andrew Hockensmith, led police to one of Kentucky’s most disturbing triple murder cases. He hid after watching a man he trusted murder his parents, Michael and Angela Hockensmith. That man was Kenneth “Alan” Keith, a local pastor, family friend, and someone the Hockensmith family never saw as a threat. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovere...

A 911 call in Tulsa, Oklahoma came in as a possible suicide, but what first responders found told a very different story. Joshua “Josh” Hilberling had fallen 17 stories from a high-rise apartment, and inside that apartment was his wife, Amber Hilberling, who was heard saying, “I pushed him.” What happened between Amber and Josh in those final moments became the center of a case that quickly split...

A 13-year-old boy in Foley, Alabama was handed a phone and told to call the police while his mother was being attacked inside their home. The man she was calling about? Daniel Hernandez-Lopez. What started as an argument quickly escalated into violence, forcing that child into a situation no kid should ever have to face. And what happened next is why this case is getting so much attention. *******...

William Bryan went in for what should have been a routine surgery. Instead, he died on the operating table after the wrong organ was removed. At first, it looked like medical malpractice, but as investigators started digging, a different picture began to form - one involving prior surgical errors, questionable decisions in the operating room, and allegations that what happened didn’t stop when the...

A 4-year-old child asks his stepmom, Miranda Casavez, for something simple, something basic, something he should have never had to beg for ... Food. After he died, investigators found an unspeakable story, with evidence, that would haunt them for a long time. After show: A Texas man, Brandon Dickerson, admitted that he shot the mother of his child 15 times in a jealous rage in front of their toddl...

Kenneth Parks walked into a police station covered in blood and confessed. He said that he killed his in-laws, but he'd been asleep the entire time! This case isn’t about whether it happened, but about whether he was conscious when it did. Let's get into this sleepwalking case of Kenneth Parks. After show: A teenage girl is brought to the hospital… but it’s already too late. What investigators unc...

A man, Bradley D. Armstrong, shows up to his wedding…but never makes it to the ceremony. Because deputies walk in and arrest him before he can say “I do.” Now, this case isn’t just about what was left off a marriage application, it’s about whether this marriage should have ever been allowed in the first place. To hear my husband's commentary, join the Patreon at any paid tier: www.patreon.com/love...

A mother, Jellisa Baxter, calls 911 and says she killed her 3-year-old daughter. The details are clear and the confession is recorded, but the case doesn’t move forward. Because now, the question isn’t just what happened ... it’s whether she can even stand trial for it. Today we talk about mental health issues and the judicial system. Let's get into a Florida Man Friday case. *********************...

This case starts with a 911 call, but it quickly turns into something much more complicated. Benjamin Elliott confesses to killing his twin sister, Meghan Elliott, but says he thought he was dreaming. In this episode, we break down the sleepwalking defense, the medical testimony, and the evidence that led to a shocking verdict. **********************************************************************...

A welfare check leads deputies to a backyard and a discovery no one expected. Investigators say a newborn was born alive inside a home, but never taken to a hospital, never reported, and never given a chance. Instead, what unfolded over the next 24 hours is now the center of a criminal case; authorities say the baby could have survived. Now, the question isn’t just what happened, but why. This is...

Inside the attempted murder trial of Gerhardt Konig Hey LaM Fam and welcome to a little something extra! I decided to give you all a sneak peek by dropping the first day of the Gerhardt Konig trial coverage right here for everyone. Consider this your invite to be part of our fictional LaM jury experience over on Patreon. If you love what you hear today and you want the full day-by-day breakdown, a...

He said he blacked out. Then he said another personality did it. But what he admitted to was something far worse. This is the case of Hadden Clark. **This is a past Serial Killer Bonus episode that was found in the patreon patreon.com/loveandmurder at the $5/mo and above tier. Listen now on Love and Murder ********************************************************************************************...

A retired police chief vanished from a tiny Illinois town. For nearly a year, friends thought he was still alive because text messages kept coming from his phone. Then police opened a storage unit across the street from his house. Inside a box… they found his body. This is the case of Richard “Rick the Cop” Young and Marcy Oglesby. ****************************** After show: A husband calls 911 say...

Four-month-old Ioni Souders stopped breathing. But when doctors examined her, they found far more than a medical emergency. Now two adults, Layla Souders and Jose Melendez Padilla, are charged with murder, and investigators say the abuse had been building for weeks. This is the case of the murder of Ioni Souders. ************************************** Do you have thoughts about this case, or is th...

A Pan Am flight attendant comes home from work during a snowstorm and disappears. Her husband says she left town. But investigators find missing carpet, a rented woodchipper, and something chilling scattered along the banks of a Connecticut river. This is the case of Helle Crafts, one of the first murder convictions in the United States without a body. *********************************************...

A 4-year-old foster child starts vomiting after lunch, but by the next day, he’s dead. Police call it capital murder. The jury says they don’t believe she meant to kill him ... and they convict her anyway. Seven years later, everything changes. This is the case of Andrew Burd and the foster mom, Hannah Overton, who went from life without parole to declared innocent. *******************************...

A young doctor collapsed at her father’s home in Bengaluru. Her husband said it was a medical emergency. Six months later, forensic labs found Propofol in her system — and investigators uncovered messages that read, “I killed my wife for you.” This episode covers the death of Kruthika Reddy, the arrest of Mahendra Reddy, and the Propofol murder investigation unfolding in Marathahalli, Bengaluru un...

A 14-year-old girl, 31 weeks pregnant and reportedly malnourished, leads investigators in Escambia County, Florida to uncover allegations against her own parents. Months later, a 2-month-old infant suffers a skull fracture. Authorities say Tara Alexis Sykes used Roblox to instruct a 10-year-old relative on how to kill the baby and burn down a house. Attempted murder charges followed....then came a...

A hike on Hawaii’s Pali Puka Trail turned into a fight for survival. Hikers say they saw Dr. Gerhardt Konig straddling his wife, Arielle Konig, striking her with a lava rock near a cliff edge. Prosecutors say he tried to push her, beat her, and inject her with syringes. In this episode of Love and Murder: Heartbreak to Homicide, we break down the attack, the alleged premeditation, and the upcoming...

A teenage girl came home and found her father bleeding to death on the patio. Police said it looked like a burglary, until the evidence started pointing inward. This episode breaks down the murder of Fabio Sementilli and the conspiracy hiding inside his marriage to Monica Sementilli. After show: A three-month-old baby arrived at a doctor's appointment with a golf-ball-sized bump hidden under his h...

A man, Tyler Baglini, walks into a hospital holding a bloody knife and says a serial killer murdered his girlfriend. Minutes later, police find a woman fighting for her life in a basement apartment. This episode follows the lies, the texts, and the final moments that exposed what really happened to Kerri Fidalgo. In the after show, I tell you a case of a mother who went looking for her pregnant da...

Gunfire ripped through a Jacksonville parking lot just after 3:30 a.m., leaving two people dead inside a car and no clear motive in sight. What investigators uncovered next led them to a man driven by revenge, and a case that stretched across decades before ending on death row. Let's get into the Florida Man Friday case of Michael Bernard Bell. ************************************** Do you have th...