Real Crime Profile

Today we give an update on the newly identified remains of a woman found near the Fire Island Beach area of Long Island, New York. News broke on Friday August 4th when DA Raymond Tierney called a press conference at very short notice to report that this woman, previously known to police as "Fire Island Jane Doe" had been positively identified as Karen Vergata. She is one of at least eighteen other...

We continue our coverage of the case of Maya Kowalski, a 10 year old girl who was held against her family’s will at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida for nearly three months while the doctors and staff wrongfully accused her mother Beate of medical child abuse and denied Maya the care she needed for CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome). The Kowalski’s were not the only family traum...

What would you do if you rushed your young seriously ill child to the emergency room only to have the hospital not believe that she was in tremendous pain and actually accuse you of medial child abuse? What if that was only the beginning of a nightmare for your family, as the hospital took custody of your child and held her there against your will for three months, denying you contact? That is wha...

We continue our interview with Stephen Pandos and filmmaker Cynthia Hill about their new documentary on MAX “Burden of Proof” about the disappearance of Stephen’s 15 year old sister Jennifer in February 1987. Stephen talks about his fraught relationship with his parents over the years as he struggled to understand their behavior after Jennifer went missing. Stephen’s tireless determination to get...

Breaking news and RCP jumps on a Bonus Ep to weigh in. For over a decade Long Island Police have been trying to solve what appeared to be the serial murders of several young women whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach. Finally just this past week, Architect Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested at his Manhattan office and arraigned in the deaths of three women: Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan...

What would you do if your 15 year old sister went missing and years later you realize that your parents may have been involved in her possible murder? That is what happened to Stephen Pandos, who's sister Jennifer disappeared from her bedroom the night of February 9th 1987 without a trace, leaving nothing but a bizarre note behind claiming to be written by a stranger. His parents Margie and R...

We continue our discussion with award winning investigative journalist Nicki Weisensee Egan on the ongoing legal battles surrounding Bill Cosby. Cosby and his lawyers continually try to gaslight and attack any victim who bravely comes forward to disclose their experience. We discuss the power imbalance and the high bar that victims have to pass to be believed. Nicki takes us through...

In this episode, we interview award-winning investigative journalist turned author Nicki Weisensee Egan about the latest updates regarding Bill Cosby, including six women who have filed civil suits against Cosby in New York City, one woman filed in New Jersey, another in California and a further nine women in Nevada. Nicki wrote the book 'Chasing Cosby' and hosted the podcast of the same...

We have an urgent episode today about a case listeners particularly in the U.K. need to be aware. Serial Child Murderer and rapist Colin Pitchfork — who raped and murdered two 15 year old girls, Lynda Mann in 1983 and Dawn Ashworth in 1986 in Leicestershire - is about to be released from prison into the community unless Ministers take action. In our opinion as experts, we strongly believe that it'...

Laura and Jim interview State Senator Susan Rubio of California who is a fierce advocate for victims of domestic violence, and a champion for children and families who have been left behind by the family court system. She also talks about her own first hand personal experience as a survivor of domestic violence and coercive control.  Senator Rubio is responsible for authoring “Piqui’s Law”&nb...

Jim and Laura continue their conversation with investigative journalist Rae de Leon and filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman who disclose even more shocking details not shown in their new documentary “Victim/Suspect”. You will not believe the rest of the story in Dynanie Bermeo’s case regarding a suspect who police refused to investigate in her sexual assault. Nancy asks Jim and Laura for their take on rea...

We are honored to be joined by Rae de Leon who is the investigative reporter at the heart of the incredible Netflix documentary “Victim/Suspect” which was directed by Nancy Schwartzman who we are also thrilled to be joining us. Rae walks us through her journey digging deeply into this subject of law enforcement turning victims of sexual assault into suspects of “false” reporting. She has some addi...

Do you know what the “Reid” technique is or why it is so controversial? In today's episode Jim explains how this high pressure interrogation protocol can be abused by police officers when they are poorly trained and when they have no experience with traumatized sexual assault victims. But Laura wonders if there isn’t something deeper going on when law enforcement tried to turn victims into suspect...

In 2015, Emma Mannion, an 18 year old college student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa was raped in a parking lot outside of a popular bar. What happened next is almost as shocking as the sexual assault. When Emma went to the police to report this crime, not only did they not believe her, but they arrested her for making a false report. According to the new Netflix documentary “Victim/Su...

What’s next for Erik and Lyle Mendez who have so far served 33 years of their life sentences without the possibility of parole? Is there a chance for a new trial now that another person, Roy Rossello, has come forward with the accusation that their father Jose Menendez also raped him when he was an underage member of the boy band Menudo? Could this be a new piece of evidence to corroborate the bro...

There is still so much to take apart in the Menendez case. In today's episode, we examine the behavior of Jose Menedez. Was he a psychopath? Was he trying to raise two sociopaths in the model of himself? Laura puts a photograph of this father and his sons under a microscope to point out something very disturbing. What about the judge who presided over both 1993 and 1996 trials? There is more...

Laura updates us on the latest developments in the case of the four Idaho college students who were murdered back in November 2022: Ethan Chapin, 20; and roommates Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. The prime suspect in their brutal killings has just been arraigned and his behavior during the court proceeding deserves to be discussed. Is there a strategy at play here?...

Joining us today we are honored to have Hazel Thornton who served as a juror on Erik Menendez’ first trial in 1993. We have so many questions for her about what it was like to see all of the testimony and what conclusions she came to. To clarify both brothers, Erik and Lyle were tried, at the same time, for murdering their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez.  But each brother had their own...

We continue breaking down the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the 1989 murder of their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez and the connection to the alleged child sex abuse in the boyband Menudo using the framework of the recent Peacock three part docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” as well as the additional evidence televised in the 1993 first trial (streaming now on Court TV in its entiret...

Lisa and Jim pick up where their conversation left off, breaking down the details of the Menendez case and posing questions about the events. There are so many things that have been buried in the past three decades, there is a lot to discuss. You can watch the entire first 1993 trial on Court TV archives for yourself. https://www.courttv.com/trials/ca-v-menendez-1993/ #Peacock #docuseries #Menende...

There are high profile cases you think you know, but the truth is far more nuance, complicated and terrible than anything the media could ever cover during a headline making trial. On the evening of June 20th 1989, Lyle Menendez (21) and his brother Erik Menendez (18) shot their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez to death in their Beverly Hills home. Of that there is no dispute. In 1996, th...

We welcome back Amara Cofer, host of the podcast Black Girl Gone  https://www.blackgirlgonepodcast.com/  to help us discuss the terrible murders of three young sisters in Atlanta, Texas: Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, 9, A’Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver, 5, who were reported missing by their babysitter last July and later found dead in a nearby pond.  Amara raises a lo...

On a hot summer night last July in a small town in east Texas, sisters Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, 9, A’Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver, 5, were reported missing by their babysitter. Their mother Shommaonique Oliver-Wickerson rushed home from work to find the Cass County Sheriff’s office, Texas Parks and Wildlife, volunteer firefighters, neighbors and family members searching the surrou...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child sex abuse. Listener discretion is advised. We finish our conversation with author and advocate Stephen Mills.  Stephen talks about the path of self destruction he took in his twenties as he tried to run away from the demons of his past. He tells us why after many decades he finally decided to write his memoir “Chosen”. We talk about...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised. In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, we are continuing our conversation with Stephen Mills about his experience surviving child sex abuse and his tireless fight to prevent more children from being harmed by those who are meant to care for them.  Denial, delay and legal loopholes. Si...