Alternative Interests

Every summer, the United States West Coast region experiences the nightmare that is wildfire season. In recent years one or two of these fires have been attributed to human causes such as gender reveal parties, campfires gone rogue, or even the occasional deliberate fire.  In the late 1980s through the early 90s an arsonist dubbed the Pillow Pyro wrecked havoc on the community and taunted those de...

Fresh from our food comas, we bring you a bonus episode for the long Thanksgiving weekend. Money can be powerful motivation for a lot of people, but in this case it brought greed and rage. Ashea was a sweet woman who cared for those around her and unfortunately her life was taken by two greedy assholes looking for an easy payday.

July 31, 2008 was a beautiful summer day in Iron Mountain, Michigan. With Senior Year and the first days of college right around the corner, local teens were spending time at the local swimming hole at the railroad train bridge over the Menominee River. In the blink of an eye, their carefree summer abruptly ended thanks to one sad sack of human sewage. Part two we go into the history of the trash...

July 31, 2008 was a beautiful summer day in Iron Mountain, Michigan. With Senior Year and the first days of college right around the corner, local teens were spending time at the local swimming hole at the railroad train bridge over the Menominee River. In the blink of an eye, their carefree summer abruptly ended thanks to one sad sack of human sewage. Part one we discuss the teens involved and th...

Three mothers in Spokane, WA are bound by their desire to see justice for two women that have been horribly neglected by law enforcement. Heather Higgins has been missing since 2010, and Kala Williams' mutilated body was found in 2015. Despite a confession and DNA evidence, the man everyone believes is responsible may never have charges brought against him. The families hope for justice relies on...

For Halloween this year, we have a mixed bowl of horror: four mini cases that occurred on Halloween. From a case poisoned candy, to the most unfortunate of accidents, October 31st is haunted with truly horrific crimes. 

Darlie Routier is one of the most infamous names in True Crime, with her case being among the most hotly debated. Was she wrongly convicted, or was justice served for Devon and Damon? In Part 3 we cover hospital notes, police testimonies, some oddities in the crime scene, and a possible alternate theory for who may be responsible for the events of June 6th, 1996. At the end of this series we are l...

Darlie Routier is one of the most infamous names in True Crime, with her case being among the most hotly debated. Was she wrongly convicted, or was justice served for Devon and Damon? In part two, we discuss some of the information the jury never got a chance to hear and we learn exactly how crucial that video was. 

Darlie Routier is one of the most infamous names in True Crime, with her case being among the most hotly debated. Was she wrongly convicted, or was justice served for Devon and Damon? In part one, we discuss the Routier's family history and the events leading up to June 6th 1996 at 2:31am when Rowlett, TX dispatch received a frantic 911 call. We also review the evidence in the trial which led to D...

We tell you four stories of individuals who disappeared seemingly into thin air only to be found deceased under unusual and uncommon circumstances.  You may recognize some of these cases as they were quite controversial when they first broke in the news. Stay tuned at the end for a short nutrition lesson courtesy of a tangential conversation that occurred during recording.

This week Crystal brings you two cases of bizarre Russian cannibals. Our first case covers Alexander Bychkov, who was arrested for crimes not violent in nature when a casual admission changed the course of the investigation against him. The second case is truly horrifying in nature due to some graphic images that were found on a cell phone left on the side of the road. The small town of Krasnodar...

In 2018, what can only be described as a complete and utter tragedy occurred on the picturesque Bayshore Blvd in Tampa, Florida. In the blink of an eye, one poor choice led to the worst possible outcome and two lives stolen. 

A servant of the Aztec gods, the father of snakes, a southern United States Nessie, and a minor Japanese deity are among the creatures featured in this installment of our alphabetical exploration of the world's Cryptids. 

In this episode, Crystal discusses the possible theories behind Brian's mysterious disappearance with Edo Larosa, host of two podcasts discussing Brian's case.  Edo's Swedish podcast https://brianshaffer.podbean.com/ Links to Edo's English podcast, A Brian Shaffer Story https://open.spotify.com/show/2PKvZwZAb9XJ6WjCN5FKcb?si=gJ4WhWCxT_mDBVcdI19drg&dl_branch=1 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/...

Brian Shaffer was a 27 year old college student in his second year of med school in March of 2006. After finals week, just before Spring Break, he went out drinking with a couple friends and was never seen again. In this episode we discuss the facts of the case and the information we know about his disappearance. 

Unconditional love - is there such a thing? Paris Bennett grew up with a mother who showered both him and his sister, Ella, with unconditional love. However, he concocted a plan to twist that love to inflict the most unimaginable pain on his mother. 

With our avalanche of heavy discussions the past several episodes, we decided to take a break on the lighter side this week. We each chose a few strange conspiracy theories and discuss a brief overview of the thought process behind them. 

Carmen met her attacker when she was a young college student in Seattle, WA. They dated a short time before ending things on seemingly amicable terms. Carmen shares her first hand story with us this week detailing the horrific attack and her tale of survival in the aftermath, including the healing process she still battles 10 years later. Out of respect for her privacy, we have changed her name an...

Meet the Weavers: Three Generations of Evil. Part Three. Francis Weaver and the rest of the extended family cannot seem to escape a cycle of horrible decisions and vile crimes, but hopefully they are the end of of it. 

Meet the Weavers: Three Generations of Evil. Part Two. Oregon City, Oregon. Two middle school girls go missing within months of each other.   Meet the Weavers: Three Generations of Evil Can murder run in your blood? Can evil be passed down from generation to generation? Join us for this three part series on the Weavers; a family in the PNW that can't seem to stay out of trouble. In Part 2 we discu...

Meet the Weavers: Three Generations of Evil Can murder run in your blood? Can evil be passed down from generation to generation? Join us for this three part series on the Weavers; a family in the PNW that can't seem to stay out of trouble. In Part 1 we begin with Ward Weaver Jr - the Kern County Killer. Please note the crimes we discuss in this three part series are extremely graphic in nature.

Throughout the 1990's in rural South Dakota, in a small town just outside of Sioux Falls, Robert Anderson spent his free time plotting and carrying out his version of the "perfect crime". Between his sloppily carried out plans, his poor choice of friends, and his big mouth, Robert was charged and convicted for his crimes. Unfortunately, his last victim, Piper Streyle, has yet to be found even to t...

On October 9, 2010 in Hickory, North Carolina there were two particularly odd 911 calls made from the same household. The first call for a house fire turned out fine with no fire and no damage to be seen. However, the second call several hours later reporting 10 year old Zahra Baker missing quickly went from confusing to alarming as police realized this was far more than a a case of a child gone m...

On April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant committed one of the worst mass shootings in Australian history. In exchange for the horrific attack he unleashed, he received the most strict sentence available, one reserved for only the truest of monsters. This event also spurred an overhaul of gun legislation across Australia and Tasmania. Link to the floor plan of the Broad Arrow Cafe: http://www.despatch.cth....

In 1996 one of the world's worst mass killings took place at the tourist site of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Port Arthur on the island of Tasmania. This week, we discuss the background of the gunman, Martin Bryant; his childhood and life leading up to that fateful day illustrate a mix of nature and nurture that created the monster he became.