A Study in Crime

It started one morning when a man woke up hungover from a night of debauchery at a strip club. The previous night, he had spent 12k dollars, but his credit card was charged 28k dollars. This story has everything: the FBI and the Mafia, strippers and pro athletes, corrupt cops, confidential informants, and movie stars. In episode 27,  A Scandal in Atlanta at  The Gold Club , I speak with Mark Sewel...

The story I have for you today is about a famous horse. A Thoroughbred named Alydar. It ‘s also a story of murder, of a killing. But not in the traditional sense. As with many crimes, it concerns money and greed. It’s also a story of lies and financial pressure. Was the death an accident? Or was it intentional? In episode 26.  A Death at Calumet Farms , I speak with Fred Kray . Fred M. Kray...

After 20 years in the hedge fund and private equity industry, Mark was sent to federal prison for securities fraud . Lost Generation writer   F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “ There are no second acts in American lives.”  But while this may be a story of fraud and theft , it’s also a story of redemption—a story of second chances. In episode  25.  A Study in Securities Fraud , I speak with Mark Varacchi...

Mauricio Gonzalez was selling eggs in Jalisco, Mexico when Francisco “El Blanco” Rivera arrived. He put a gun to Mauricio’s head and told him that Mauricio’s wife, Catalina, now belonged to Francisco.  Mauricio was told to leave town, or he’d be killed. Going to the police was not an option because Francisco was the local boss of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion – the...

Much has been written about the tragic murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in November of 2022.  Investigative journalist and Edgar Award-winning author Howard Blum offer new insights in his latest book, When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders .   In episode 23. The Case of the Idaho Student Murders , I speak with Howard Blum. H...

FBI Special Agent Frank Montoya, Jr. had only been on the job a few months when a masked gunman dressed as a janitor and waving a pistol made off with $250k in a daring daylight bank robbery of the Texas Commerce Bank in San Antonio. However, Frank’s attention to detail and discovery of a vital clue would crack the case wide open. In  episode 22. The Red-Hot Lovers Rob a Bank , I speak with...

On a cool October evening in Mexico City, not far from the central plaza, a respected Spanish merchant and all ten of his servants were massacred by three men wielding machetes. The crime shocked the residents of Mexico City and led to the creation of the city’s first police presence. In  episode 21. A Home Invasion in Mexico City , I speak with Nicole von Germeten. Nicole von Germeten has a...

Sophocles wrote: “ Trust dies, but mistrust blossoms .” In 1920, in the village of Nagyrév, husbands trusted wives. Children trusted mothers. And everyone trusted the midwife, Zsuzannah Fazekas. No one knew she boiled fly paper in vinegar and then skimmed the residue into several small glass vials. And over the next 15 years, about 300 men, infants, and children would die. I speak with Patti McCra...

The home at 151 River Park Lane in Great Falls, Virginia, was owned by a retired doctor and had a state-of-the-art security system. It burned to the ground one night in November 2015 and was a total loss. The insurance company was preparing to pay the claim. Then the Fire Marshal said the fire was not an accident. It was arson . In episode   19. The Arsonist of River Park Lane , I speak with Chris...

Charles Morgan was an escrow agent whose  body was found June 18th, 1977, about 40  miles southwest of Tucson. He  was dead from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head . W hen the coroner examined the body, he discovered a $2 bill with a hand-drawn map pinned to Morgan’s underwear.  In episode   18. The Curious Death of Charles Morgan , I speak with Michael May. Michael May is a filmmaker...

In the mid-1970s, Robert Ressler and John Douglas of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) began interviewing serial offenders. However, it wasn’t until Dr. Ann Burgess created a 57-page questionnaire that they recognized interesting patterns in the data. Behind these two famous men was the female Mindhunter, whose groundbreaking ideas transformed criminal profiling into a helpful me...

This week, I have a crossover episode for you. From Cold Open Media, the folks that brought you the award-winning podcast   Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders , I speak with  Andrew Iden  and  Dan Szematowicz  about their new true crime podcast series,  Deviant .  Deviant dives into the dark corners of what humans are capable of. They tell good stories about bad people who do very bad things. I spe...

Clarence Elkins was serving life in prison for murder and sexual assault. He claimed he was innocent. DNA at the crime scene was from an unknown male. His wife, Melinda, had suspicions about Earl, a nearby convicted sex offender who had just been re-arrested and now happened to be in the same prison as Clarence. If only Clarence could get some of Earl’s DNA and have it tested. In episode   1...

Some great things have been created with the best intentions. Things like computers and the internet. But these same things have also been used for nefarious purposes. S ome of the worst things imaginable are proliferated with computers and the internet. Things like drugs, child pornography, and sex trafficking. T hey all have one thing in common: Money.   In episode   15. Smurfing and Other Horri...

Monica Johnson was 1 of 400 murders in Detroit in 1999. Then Wendy Jordan, Rose Marie Felt, Kelly Jean Hood, and Nicole Young. They were all killed between December 1999 and April 2000 in Detroit . John Eric Armstrong left the Navy in 1999, moved to the Detroit area, and  got a job at Target. Then late at night after work, he went on the hunt. He killed these 5 women and attempted to kill 4 others...

Air Force officer Philip Shue left home on April 16th, 2003,  and vanished. T he next 2 ½ hours of his life are unaccounted for. U ntil 8:14 AM, when witnesses saw him veer off the highway and strike a tree. He was killed on impact. Paramedics found duct tape on his wrists and ankles. T he tip of his pinky was missing. He had a large chest wound, and his nipples had been cut off. W ounds not cause...

In the fall of 2001, a young man admired a 400-year-old bugle on display at the Richard Wagner Museum in Switzerland, grabbed it, and placed it under his coat while no one looked.  Then Stéphane Breitwieser walked out of the museum .  From 1994 through 2001, he stole 239 pieces of art worth over $2 Billion.  Stéphan was not just any thief.  He was the greatest art thief of all time.  In this episo...

Julia was in love with Kerry. However, she had never met him in person. H e was out of the country working and told Julia his bank account was locked. Could she send him $100 to tide him over? And an Apple Gift card. And money through CashApp. And…you get the picture. When it was all over, Julia had sent Kerry $130,000. In this episode, 11. The Cautionary Tale of Kerry the Catfish , I speak...

Frank was the muscle for a loan shark named Pete. Andy owed Pete $250k. O ne day Frank encouraged Andy to repay the loan by firing a handgun at him. The bullet whizzed past Andy’s ear narrowly missing him. And with that,  Andy agreed to wear a wire for the FBI. In this episode, 10. The Case of the Pugilistic Loan Shark , I speak with retired FBI Special Agent Jerri Williams. Jerri Williams is a re...

Alvin called 911 from a payphone and said, “I think my wife passed out.” But she was already dead. M any folks didn’t know Alvin had a wife.  The ones that did, said he was keeping her hostage.  She hadn’t been seen in almost 30 years. T hen Alvin was arrested for her murder.  In this episode, The Secret Wife of Zenith Man ,   A Study in Crime speaks with attorney McCracken Poston, Jr. McCracken P...

Forensic criminologist Oscar Heinrich opened the first private crime lab in 1910 and solved 2,000 cases in his 40-year career.  We look at three of them: The Case of the Calculating Chemist ; The Case of the Great Train Heist ;  and The Case of Allene Lamson’s Bath . Heinrich pioneered new forensic techniques earning him the sobriquet, Oscar Heinrich the American Sherlock .   A Study in Crim...

Pat Benatar wrote her 1980 song, Hell is for Children , to bring awareness to child abuse. A topic private investigator James Hastings knows all too well. This tough Army veteran of Iraq spent eight rough years on the front lines investigating child abuse and neglect for Texas Child Protective Services. Until the heavy emotional burden of the job burned him out. In this episode, Children Should be...

Pink-collar criminals are mid-level employees that embezzle from the workplace. People like Sandy Jenkins, the mild-mannered comptroller at the world-famous Collin Street Bakery. And Rita Crundwell , the former comptroller for the City of Dixon, Illinois. Sandy liked the finer things in life. Rita bred American quarter horses. They both embezzled millions from their employers. In this episode, Pin...

The media called her, “The Polish Girl.” But to friends and family in Chicago, she was Maggie. A man spotted her green Nissan Altima  on his way to work. Maggie’s body was lying in the back seat. It would take homicide detective Mike Hammond, four years to identify a suspect.  Carefully, and methodically, he worked the case, until he, and Maggie’s killer, were sitting in the same room looking at e...

Serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells left a path of destruction across the U.S. from 1979 through 1999. It is believed he murdered 22 people, including several children (although he puts the figure at 70). A steady pursuit of self-gratification and self-preservation characterized him. Sells’ teetered precariously between periods of working, staying sober, and having a relationship with a woman, to...