American Criminal

Robbery gone wrong, or cold-blooded murder? In fall of 1989, Charles and Carol Stuart were expecting their first child. It was the happiest time of their lives. But on the night of October 23rd, they’d just left a birthing class when they were attacked by a man with a gun. Miraculously, Charles survived the encounter, but Carol wasn’t so lucky. And in the aftermath of that horrific crime, Boston w...

In the early 1930s, there was more going on in America than the Great Depression and a spate of kidnappings. We're joined by author and acclaimed journalist Joe Urschel to discuss the evolution of law enforcement, the impact of media reporting on the Machine Gun Kelly case, and the eternal need to prove your father wrong. To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-free,...

In June, 1933, a crime that would shock that nation was committed outside a train station in broad daylight. No one saw the Kansas City Massacre coming, and as the nascent FBI scrambled to deal with the fallout, they were shaping their own legacy, as well as the future of crime-fighting in America. To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podc...

With the entire country watching, J Edgar Hoover's Bureau of Investigation turns their efforts to hunting down the infamous Machine Gun Kelly and his wife, Kathryn. To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AmericanCriminal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his partner in crime, Albert Bates, pull off a flawless abduction of one of the richest men in Oklahoma. But their victim, Charles Urschel, has a superpower that's going to ruin everything. To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AmericanCriminal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more...

After his first botched kidnapping attempt, George "Machine Gun" Kelly goes back to what's familiar: robbing banks. But as the Great Depression ravages the economy, it's getting harder and harder to get a good haul, so George and his wife start plotting what will become one of the most famous kidnappings in American history. To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-fr...

Growing up in Memphis, George Kelly Barnes starts dabbling in crime from a young age. First he blackmails his father, then he grows a successful bootlegging business for himself. But how did this small-time crook earn one of the most famous names in criminal history? And why don't we talk about his most famous crime? To listen to all four episodes of 'Machine Gun Kelly' right now and ad-free, subs...

Until 2020, the world had mostly forgotten all about the McDonald's Monopoly scandal that rocked the country. But like so many modern true crime stories, this one was revived thanks to a simple post on Reddit. We chat with James Lee Hernandez, co-director of the McMillions documentary series, about freedom of information requests, late night interviews, and getting the FBI on board. To listen to a...

In the 1930s, America was in the midst of an epidemic that no one could stop. But it wasn’t an illness we were up against, it was a crime: kidnapping. Every year, thousands of people were abducted and held for ransom while law enforcement struggled to deal with the massive problem. Watching all this go down was a small-time bootlegger turned bank robber: George “Machine Gun” Kelly. And he wanted i...

Cautionary Tales is the podcast that explores history's biggest missteps,and asks what we can learn from them. Whether it's a botched crime, a film flop, or a catastrophic plane crash, there is always a lesson. Each episode brings together storytelling, social-science analysis, and carefully crafted soundscapes. In "Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop", host Tim Harford explores the fallout fr...

In 2001, the FBI receive an anonymous tip that the McDonald's Monopoly promotions have been rigged for years, and they set out to investigate. But what seems like a joke case at first soon turns deadly serious. And just when the story breaks, history happens, and a fast food competition doesn't seem so important anymore. To listen to all three episodes of 'The Great McDonald's Monopoly Heist' righ...

After finding a way to steal the highest value prize tokens for the McDonald's Monopoly games, Jerry Jacobson had a problem: he needed people who could claim the prizes and then give him a cut. He didn't have the network to pull off a scheme like that. But he soon found people who did: the Mafia. To listen to all three episodes of 'The Great McDonald's Monopoly Heist' right now and ad-free, subscr...

In 1987, McDonald's joined forces with another American icon for a marketing scheme. The McDonald's Monopoly promotion was so popular that the company decided to bring it back again and again, watching their sales spike every time. What they didn't know was that one man on the inside was rigging the game so that no one would ever win the big prizes -- for years. To listen to all three episodes of...

Medical professionals are some of the most trusted people in our society. And for good reason. They dedicate their lives to helping others. Every now and again, you get a bad egg like Genene Jones, who seeks to hurt her patients, too. And then there are the more complicated cases. Walter Jackson wanted to help people. He really did. But his way of doing that was the transorbital lobotomy -- a proc...

In the late-1980s, McDonald’s teamed up with another icon of American capitalism: the game of Monopoly. Together, the two brands launched one of the most successful and popular marketing campaigns of the 20th century. Certain McDonald’s products came with themed game pieces that customers could collect and assemble to win prizes, including a million dollars. But there was just one problem: the gam...

After being chased from Bexar County Hospital, killer nurse Genene Jones heads to Kerrville to work in a new pediatric clinic. And despite how close she came to being caught for her crimes already, she refuses to stop murdering the children in her care -- until enough people finally notice what she's doing. To listen to all four episodes of 'The Killer Nurse: Genene Jones' right now and ad-free, s...

At Bexar County Hospital, Genene Jones' colleagues started to notice that a worrying number of children were dying while she looked after them. It got so bad that people started calling Genene's regular shift 'The Death Shift.' But hospital bureaucracy made investigating Genene's crimes a logistical nightmare, and punishing her for them was next to impossible. To listen to all four episodes of 'Ki...

After a lifetime of making up dramatic stories about herself to get the attention she loved, Genene Jones found a career where she could surround herself with life and death drama, and people would thank her for it. But she soon realized that being the nurse who looked after sick and dying babies wasn't good enough. She needed to engineer emergencies to bring more eyes to her. And if some of the c...

Genene Jones grew up in a loving family, but always felt overlooked by everyone around her. Then, when her brother died in a horrific accident, she found that tragedy brought her exactly what she'd always craved: attention. To listen to all four episodes of 'Killer Nurse: Genene Jones' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AmericanCriminal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Le...

Love a cozy yet dark vibe? Join Allison and Mike, a witty, married duo with over 20 years of banter under their belts, for Crime and Coffee Couple—your weekly true crime fix. On Sunday, October 31, 2010, 16-year-old Devon Griffin returned to his family’s home in Martin, Ohio & encountered what he initially thought was a Halloween prank, but proved to be the stuff of nightmares. Find Crime and Coff...

In November, 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were found murdered in their beds in Amityville, New York. The truth behind the shocking crime rocked the small community, and would go on to inspire one of the most iconic horror film franchises of all time. But just how haunted is the Amityville Horror house? To listen to all three episodes of 'Halloween Horrors' right now and ad-free, subscribe...

In 1974, one shocking crime changed the way Americans think about trick or treating forever when Ronal O'Bryan's son Timothy died after eating poisoned Halloween candy. To listen to all three episodes of 'Halloween Horrors' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AmericanCriminal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Halloween night, 1957, Peter Fabiano is gunned down by one final trick-or-treater. Or so it seems. To listen to all three episodes of 'Halloween Horrors' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AmericanCriminal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy sits down to chat with Christie Vela and Michael Federico from "Terror and Tacos" to talk about Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 thriller, "Rope." The film shocked audiences with its on-screen depiction of murder, and examined the Leopold and Loeb case in a fresh new light. To listen to all four episodes of 'Leopold and Loeb' right now and ad-free, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Following their brutal murder of Bobby Franks, Leopold and Loeb were facing imminent arrest, and when investigators put the screws to them, the teenage killers had to face just how badly they'd messed things up. Suddenly, all of Chicago was screaming for their heads. But the arrival of lawyer Clarence Darrow looked set to change the trajectory of this crime of the century. To listen to all four ep...