Once Upon A Crime

In the final chapter of Ted Bundy for the Defense , the mask comes off. After the shocking courtroom moment in which Bundy cross-examined first responders and forced graphic testimony about the Chi Omega crime scene, the trial shifts decisively in the prosecution’s favor. Survivors take the stand. Forensic evidence tightens the noose. And Bundy—convinced he is the smartest man in every room—contin...

After escaping from a Colorado jail, Ted Bundy fled to Florida — and unraveled. In this episode, we follow Bundy’s path to Tallahassee, the brutal Chi Omega sorority house murders, the attack on Cheryl Thomas, the abduction of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, and Bundy’s eventual arrest in Pensacola after 46 days on the run. Gone is the methodical charmer of the Pacific Northwest. In his place: a reckl...

In the summer of 1974, Seattle was gripped by fear as young women disappeared and witnesses began describing a polite man named “Ted” and his tan Volkswagen. As newspapers cautiously reported on a possible suspect, few believed the man they were describing could be dangerous. He looked like a law student. A volunteer. Someone people trusted. In this Once Upon a Crime minisode, we examine Ted Bundy...

In Part Two of Ted Bundy for the Defense , we follow Ted Bundy from his first arrest in Utah through conviction, psychological evaluation, escalating murder charges, and the escape attempts that would ultimately unleash his most violent crimes. About This Series: Ted Bundy for the Defense examines Ted Bundy’s criminal cases through the lens of his courtroom behavior and his insistence on controlli...

A recent Los Angeles Times article has reignited worldwide interest in the Black Dahlia murder, spotlighting an amateur sleuth’s theory that attempts to link the case to the Zodiac Killer—and naming Marvin Margolis as a “new” prime suspect. But Marvin Margolis is not new. In this bonus episode, we’re joined once again by author William J. Mann , whose extensively researched new book, Black Dahlia:...

In Ted Bundy for the Defense: Part One , we examine the earliest confirmed crimes of Ted Bundy and the investigation that led to his first conviction. This episode follows Bundy’s documented attacks beginning in 1974, starting with the brutal assault of Karen Sparks and the murder of University of Washington student Lynda Ann Healy. As young women continue to disappear across Washington State, inv...

Ted Bundy is often remembered as charming, intelligent, and dangerously persuasive—a serial killer who outsmarted investigators and manipulated everyone around him. But how much of that story is myth? In this introductory episode of Ted Bundy for the Defense , we set the stage for a three-part series that examines Bundy not through the lens of legend, but through the courtroom—where his greatest g...

In this special bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime , Esther sits down with journalist and investigator Crystal Gutierrez to discuss the missing persons case she and her team are actively investigating. The disappearance of 9-year-old Anthonette Cayedito , who vanished from her home in Gallup, New Mexico , in 1986 . Crystal shares what it’s like to reinvestigate a decades-old disappearance, what ke...

In this bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime , Esther revisits the horrific crimes of serial killer John Wayne Gacy , often referred to as “The Killer Clown,” and reviews the 2025 Peacock docu-drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy . The episode explores Gacy’s background, his crimes, the investigation's failures, and how the new series approaches the case from a victim-centered perspective. 🔍 Ep...

In this special bonus episode, Esther and producer Lorena answer listener questions and share their own reflections after a six-week deep dive into the life, death, and murder of Elizabeth Short. Topics include: • Who the real Elizabeth Short was versus the myth of “The Black Dahlia” • Whether her killer was someone she knew or a stranger • Whether the murderer had medical training • The possibili...

In the sixth and final episode of our series Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we explore the enduring cultural legacy of one of America’s most haunting unsolved crimes. For nearly eight decades, Elizabeth Short’s name, and the moniker “The Black Dahlia”. Has inspired countless books, films, television shows, and theories. But in the process, the real woman behind the legend has often been oversha...

In Part Five of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we examine the discovery of Elizabeth Short’s mutilated body, the forensic evidence revealed by the autopsy, and how early investigative missteps and media sensationalism derailed the search for her killer. We break down the crime scene on Norton Avenue, the medical examiner’s key findings—including signs of strangulation, postmortem mutilation, an...

In this bonus episode, Esther takes listeners back to the earliest days of the Black Dahlia investigation — before the world even knew the victim’s name. Detectives faced a gruesome and mystifying crime scene in a quiet Los Angeles neighborhood. Who was the young woman whose body had been staged so deliberately? And who could have committed such a shocking crime? Using witness statements, police r...

In this fourth installment of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we trace Elizabeth Short’s final, mysterious days — the missing week between her last confirmed sightings in early January 1947 and the shocking discovery of her body on January 15th. This episode follows “The Lost Week” through the eyes of those who crossed her path, beginning with Robert “Red” Manley, the married salesman who would...

In 1946, Elizabeth Short – the young woman the world would later know as The Black Dahlia – returned to California chasing love, glamour, and a new beginning. Instead, she found herself drifting through a postwar Los Angeles filled with promise, danger, and people who would soon become key figures in one of the most infamous unsolved murders in American history. In this episode, we follow Beth — n...

Before Elizabeth Short became known to the world as The Black Dahlia , she was a young woman searching for love and belonging in a world still recovering from war. In this bonus episode, Esther reads excerpts from Elizabeth’s personal correspondence with Lt. Joseph Gordon Fickling and Major Matthew “Matt” Gordon — two men who loved her deeply, and who reveal, through their letters, the hopes and h...

Before she became The Black Dahlia , Elizabeth Short was simply Beth — a young woman with big dreams, an open heart, and a longing for something beyond the ordinary. In Part Two: Becoming Elizabeth , we step back in time to uncover the story of the woman behind the legend. From her childhood in Medford, Massachusetts, through family tragedy, illness, and the Great Depression, we follow Elizabeth’s...

In January 1947, a mother walking through a quiet Los Angeles neighborhood made a horrifying discovery — the bisected body of a young woman posed in a vacant lot. Within hours, newspapers had a headline that would echo for decades: The Black Dahlia Murder. In this first episode of BROKEN: The Black Dahlia Murder , host Esther Ludlow revisits the shocking discovery of Elizabeth Short’s body and exp...

In January 1947, Elizabeth Short’s brutal murder shocked Los Angeles — and turned her into the enduring legend known as The Black Dahlia . In this new six-part Once Upon a Crime series, host Esther Ludlow goes beyond the headlines to uncover the real woman behind the myth. Drawing on her background in criminal psychology and nearly a decade of experience researching and narrating Once Upon a Crime...

In this special Aftershow episode, Esther and Lorena answer listener questions and reflect on the powerful story of Ruth Ellis , the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. Together, we unpack the psychology, the heartbreak, and the social forces behind one of Britain’s most infamous true crime cases. From Ruth’s volatile relationship with David Blakely to the justice system that sealed h...

In this special bonus wrap-up episode of Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion, we step beyond the execution chamber and trace the ripple effects of Ruth’s final act—the shockwaves that forever altered the lives of those left behind. We’ll look at the family who grieved and struggled in the aftermath, the friends and supporters who fought to save her but could not, and even the men whose cho...

In this final installment of our seven-part series, we follow Ruth Ellis through her last days and hours at Holloway Prison. Convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, Ruth became the last woman hanged in Britain. We trace the frantic efforts made by friends, family, and even members of the public to win her a reprieve—and the powerful voices calling for her execution to go forward. We r...

In this episode, Ruth Ellis takes the stand in her own defense during her murder trial at the Old Bailey. What unfolds is one of the most disastrous testimonies in British legal history. Ruth answers questions with little emotion, even while recounting her tumultuous relationship with David Blakely, his violence, her miscarriage, and her decision to end their affair. Her matter-of-fact answers sho...

On Easter weekend 1955, Ruth Ellis reached her breaking point. After years of jealousy, violence, and betrayal, she spent a long, sleepless night replaying the wreckage of her life — and blaming one man: David Blakely. By Easter Sunday, her rage would boil over into an act that would shock Britain and seal her fate as the last woman hanged in the UK. In this episode, we follow Ruth’s final hours b...

This is Part Four of our 7-part series, Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion . We trace the true story of the last woman hanged in Britain, exploring the tangled mix of love, obsession, and violence that sealed her fate. In this episode of Once Upon a Crime , the destructive love affair between Ruth Ellis and David Blakely spirals further into chaos. David’s jealousy and violent outbursts t...