Murder Unscripted

His 13-year-old son found a skull in the backyard. Herb Baumeister said it was from his father's medical collection. His wife believed him. Over ten thousand human bone fragments were eventually recovered from Fox Hollow Farm — the 18-acre Indiana estate where Herb hosted family pool parties, ran a thrift store empire, and murdered at least eleven men, possibly twenty-five, while his wife and kids...

⚠️ Content warning: domestic violence, child abandonment, shooting. She was abandoned by both parents before she was 17. She spent her life searching for a man who would finally take care of her. She found a 73-year-old millionaire who led her on for seven years — and then tried to walk away with a restraining order. He didn't make it out of the parking lot. Episode 101 is the finale of MU's "Rule...

At age 14, her mother introduced her to Ted Bundy, and by 17, she was photographing killers in courtrooms. For our special 100th episode, Murder Unscripted welcomes the incredible Leslie Rule - author, paranormal investigator, and daughter of true crime legend, Ann Rule! In a wide-ranging conversation, Leslie takes us inside her extraordinary childhood living in a haunted house, her decades of gho...

In this Murder Unscripted bonus episode , Ed and Melissa take you through a brief but essential overview of the murder of Cari Farver—a case that spirals far beyond a simple missing persons story. What begins as a sudden disappearance quickly unravels into a disturbing web of obsession, manipulation, and deception that went on for years before the truth came to light. This case is the subject of L...

⚠️ Content warning: domestic violence, murder, child endangerment. If you haven't listened to Part 1 (Ep. 98) yet — start there. This is the conclusion of one of the most devastating cases MU has ever covered. Sheila Bellush had done everything right. She got out of the marriage, fled across the country in the middle of the night, and built a new life in Sarasota, Florida with her husband Jamie an...

⚠️ Content warning: domestic violence, sexual assault, animal abuse On November 7th, 1997, Sheila Bellush was murdered inside her own home in Sarasota, Florida. It was a murder-for-hire... planned at a distance, carried out by strangers. And it would never have happened if the man she'd married had faced even one consequence for any of the things he had done before. This is Part 1 of MU's two-part...

Crime scene cleaner Anthony Vogel has walked into homicides, suicides, and unattended deaths. He's found things nobody expected and carried the weight of other people's worst days home with him. In the finale of our 2026 Spring Cleaning block, Ed and Melissa sit down with Anthony for one of the most fascinating conversations we've ever had — covering the training, the tools, the humor, the hauntin...

The night before Irene Izak left Cleveland, she woke up screaming. She had dreamed of a faceless figure beating her over the head with rocks. Her family calmed her down. It was just a dream. Two nights later, on June 10th, 1968, Irene's body was found at the bottom of a wooded ravine on Wellesley Island, New York — just one mile from the Canadian border. She had been bludgeoned with rocks. Killed...

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode covers the deaths of infants. Ed and Melissa handle it with care, but please listen accordingly. In 2015 and 2016, the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the UK recorded a disturbing spike in unexplained infant deaths. The investigation — codenamed Operation Hummingbird — eventually zeroed in on one suspect: a quiet, introverted nurse named Lucy L...

On Thanksgiving Day 2018, 29-year-old flight instructor and mother Kelsey Berreth vanished from her Woodland Park, Colorado condo. She'd been at the grocery store that morning. She'd texted her mom about Thanksgiving dinner recipes. She'd left cinnamon rolls on the stove for her baby daughter. Then she was gone. What followed was one of the most gripping murder investigations in Colorado history.....

On New Year's Eve 2013, 23-year-old Ashley Kline left her Robesonia, PA home to meet a friend — and never came home. While her best friend waited at a party and her father held onto hope, Ashley had vanished without a trace. What followed was a chilling investigation: scattered belongings in a snow-covered field, a Tinkerbell keychain pulled from a drained water tank, and a body found burned in a...

30 Years Fighting for Murder Victims: An Interview with Andy Kahan Andy Kahan has dedicated over three decades to victims' advocacy at Crime Stoppers Houston. He's the expert families call when they need someone to fight for them, whether it's navigating the parole system, keeping cold cases in the public eye, or understanding why the justice system doesn't always deliver what they expect. He lead...

In June 1996, twenty-two-year-old Aimee Willard — a two-sport All-American athlete at George Mason University and a beloved daughter of the Philadelphia suburbs — vanished on her drive home from a night out with friends. Her car was found running on an Interstate 476 off-ramp in the early morning hours, door open, radio still playing. She was nowhere. What followed was a sprawling, shocking invest...

On March 5, 1984, a Houston father discovered both of his daughters murdered in their Heights-area home. Yleen Kennedy, 33, had been sexually assaulted, stabbed four times in the throat, and shot. Her younger sister Lillie, 23, was executed with a single bullet to the back of the head. A neighbor spoke directly to the killer that morning, and police released a composite sketch within 48 hours. Tip...

He begged prison officials not to release him. He told them he would kill. They let him out anyway. Nineteen days later, four people were dead in Omaha, Nebraska. This is the story of Nikko Jenkins—a man failed by every system designed to help him, who then committed one of the most preventable killing sprees in recent memory. It's also the story of four victims: Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz...

He was called "The Snaggletooth Killer." His crooked teeth sentenced him to death row. But Ray Krone was innocent. In 1991, bartender Kim Ancona was brutally murdered at the CBS Lounge in Phoenix, Arizona. Police arrested Ray Krone—a mail carrier with no criminal record—based primarily on bite mark evidence that a forensic expert claimed was "100% certain, better than a fingerprint." Ray was convi...

In this episode of Murder Unscripted, we dive deep into one of the most shocking wrongful conviction cases in American history. In 1991, bartender Kim Ancona was brutally murdered at the CBS Lounge in Phoenix, Arizona. Police arrested Ray Krone, a mail carrier with no criminal record, based primarily on bite mark evidence that a forensic expert claimed was “better than a fingerprint.” Ray was conv...

In October 2003, Kimberly Long’s life was permanently altered when she discovered her boyfriend, Oswaldo “Ozzy” Conde, murdered in their home. What followed was not justice — but a catastrophic failure of it. In this gripping episode of Murder Unscripted , hosts Ed Hydock and Melissa Spivey examine how Kimberly was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder despite a lack of physical evidence, i...

An innocent man lost 30 years to prison. The real killer? He stabbed another woman 90+ times and walked free. This case will ENRAGE you. 🔍⚖️ In this episode of Murder Unscripted, we dive deep into one of Texas' most heartbreaking wrongful conviction cases. In 1981, Carol Elaine Armstrong was found murdered on a rural dirt road in Navarro County, Texas,,,stabbed 45 times and left to die. The inves...

Before the red suit and the reindeer, Sgt. Christopher Kringle spent three centuries solving murders at the North Pole. Now, for the first time ever, he's breaking his silence on the case that nearly destroyed Christmas. 🦌 THE CASE: On December 22nd, just days before Christmas Eve, Blitzen was found dead in his stable...an antler removed at the base. What looked like an accident quickly became th...

In Part Two of our coverage of Richard Speck , Murder Unscripted details the night of terror inside the Chicago townhouse where eight student nurses were attacked and murdered. We walk through the crime scene, honor each victim’s story, and explain how Speck was identified, arrested, and ultimately convicted. This episode also examines his time in prison and his death — closing the chapter on one...

Before Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses in Chicago, there were years of warning signs no one stopped. In Part One of our coverage, Murder Unscripted explores Speck’s childhood, his deeply troubled relationships, and the violent misogyny that fueled his crimes. We examine his belief that “all women are whores,” the rage that defined his interactions, and his first known murder — Mary Pie...

Cold cases spanning years suddenly collided when a long-overdue DNA match pointed straight to Shore. In Part Two of our investigation into Anthony Allen Shore, we uncover the forensic break that finally exposed the man responsible for some of Houston’s most haunting murders. As Shore’s violence escalated, investigators struggled to connect the cases — until one pivotal DNA match changed everything...

In Part One of our two-episode deep dive into Anthony Allen Shore — The Tourniquet Killer , we explore the early life of a predator who hid in plain sight. We trace Shore’s abusive upbringing, his escalating behavior, and the first murders later linked to him through DNA: Laurie Tremblay in 1986 and Maria del Carmen Estrada in 1992. This episode lays the foundation for understanding how Shore sele...

How reliable is your memory of a face? In this episode of Murder Unscripted, Melissa and Ed sit down with world-renowned forensic sketch artist and cognitive-interviewing expert Gil Zamora. Gil shares his remarkable journey from law enforcement to becoming one of the most outspoken reformers in forensic art. He breaks down how traditional eyewitness interviews can contaminate memory, how his Mindf...