Beers with Queers A True Crime Podcast

A life stolen. A community shaken. A fight for justice that changed history. In October 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was a promising college student with dreams of a future that was finally beginning to take shape. But one night in Laramie, Wyoming, turned his life into one of the most infamous hate crimes in American history. In Part One, we explore Matthew’s life, the events leading to his...

In 1958 Charleston, South Carolina, the murder of 29-year-old Jack Dobbins became one of the city's most sensational criminal cases. On Halloween night, Dobbins met 18-year-old Air Force airman John Mahon at Club 49, a Charleston establishment known for attracting gay patrons. The two eventually went to Dobbins' home on Queen Street, where Mahon later testified that Dobbins made unwanted s...

Forty-seven sailors were dead. The Navy had an answer that wasn't an accident but pointed to one dead man. In 1989, the USS Iowa suffered a catastrophic turret explosion that killed everyone inside. Investigators soon focused on Clayton Hartwig, his life insurance policy, and rumors about his relationship with another sailor. As the case unfolded, an LGBTQ+ true crime story emerged alongside q...

A dream cross-country bike trip. A deserted campground. And a stranger who arrived in the darkness with an axe. In 1977, Yale students Terri Jentz and Avra Goldman were cycling across America when their journey took a horrifying turn at Cline Falls State Park. In the middle of the night, a pickup truck crashed through their tent, leaving both women gravely injured, then he attacked with an ax befo...

A day that changed the world and some of the queer lives caught in its path. Twenty-five years after 9/11, we remember several LGBTQ+ victims whose stories deserve to be told. From longtime partners denied recognition after their loved ones died, to a gay Catholic FDNY chaplain who ran into the chaos to help others, and an openly gay passenger aboard United 93 who helped fight back, these are stor...

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Atlanta was losing its children and nobody seemed to be listening. As bodies piled up, grieving families demanded answers while police dismissed disappearances as runaways and insisted the murders weren’t connected. From 1979 to 1981, dozens of Black children and young people vanished from Atlanta and turned up dead, creating one of the darkest and most controversial crime sprees in American histo...

He escaped a home where hatred had made him a prisoner. At just 19 years old, Steen Fenrich had finally built a life where he could be himself, until one desperate moment sent him back to the family he had spent years trying to escape. In 1999, being young, Black, and gay meant navigating a world where racism and homophobia could follow you everywhere, even into your own home. Steen had fought his...

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A brutal murder. A controversial identity. And a legal battle that would capture the nation’s attention. In 1990, Cheryl McCaul was found murdered inside her car in Massachusetts, launching an investigation that would quickly point toward someone close to her. But the case became far more complicated when the accused, Michelle Lynne Kosilek, came out as transgender and began fighting for access to...

A forbidden love. A desperate plan. And a murder that would forever change how America viewed queer women. In 1892 Memphis, Tennessee, Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward dreamed of escaping a society determined to keep them apart. Their secret romance, an audacious plan to live together as husband and wife, and the crushing weight of Victorian expectations set the stage for one of the earliest document...

A killer stalked the neon glow of Hollywood's gay bars. For years, his victims were overlooked, their stories nearly erased. In a city of bright lights, a forgotten serial predator found the perfect place to hide. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Los Angeles' queer nightlife was booming—but beneath the celebration lurked a brutal predator. Donald Miller preyed on gay men, exploiting a time when...

A city gripped by fear. A killer hiding in plain sight. And a deadly wave of misinformation that turned an epidemic into a hunting ground. As HIV/AIDS spread across Britain in the mid-1980s, London's LGBTQ+ community found itself fighting on two fronts, against a devastating virus and against the hatred it fueled. When gay men began disappearing after nights out in London's most popular queer bars...

They were told Sparta could never be defeated. Then 300 warriors, 150 pairs of same-sex lovers changed history forever. Forged in the shadow of tyranny, the Sacred Band of Thebes wasn't just an elite military unit, it was the first of its kind, made up of 150 pairs of devoted male lovers who fought side by side against the most feared army in the ancient world. In this episode, Jordi and Brad expl...

A trusted friend. A quiet overnight stay. And within just 79 minutes, a successful young lawyer was dead inside a Washington, D.C. home, leaving behind one of the most baffling unsolved murders in modern true crime. In Part 2 of our coverage of the murder of Robert Wone, we unravel the disturbing forensic evidence, conflicting timelines, and unanswered questions that continue to haunt investigator...

A trusted friend. A quiet night in Washington, D.C. And less than 80 minutes later, Robert Eric Wone was dead. When successful attorney Robert Wone asks to spend the night at the home of a longtime college friend after working late, it seems like the safest decision he could make. Instead, he becomes the victim of one of America's most baffling unsolved murder cases. In Part 1, Jordi and Brad unra...

A gas station attendant with a plan. A hidden network. And the secret desires of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Fresh from the horrors of World War II, a young Marine named Scotty Bowers arrived in Los Angeles looking for work. What he found instead was a city built on illusion, where fame came with morality clauses, careers could be destroyed by a rumor, and countless queer stars were forced to live...

A rainbow of secrets. A coded language. And a hidden world built for survival. Long before Grindr, Scruff, Sniffies, or social media, queer men relied on an intricate system of colored bandanas to communicate desires, identities, and interests in a world where being yourself could be dangerous. In this Pride Month episode, Jordi and Brad dive into the fascinating history of the Hanky Code, explori...

A birthday celebration. A vulnerable young man. And a night of cruelty that would leave a community demanding answers. When Steven Simpson turned eighteen, he had every reason to celebrate. Openly gay, living independently despite autism, epilepsy, and other challenges, Steven had worked hard to build a life on his own terms. But what began as a gathering of friends in his South Yorkshire flat qui...

A king haunted by controversy. A court drowning in secrets. And a murder so scandalous it helped poison the English crown itself. Long before the King James Bible shaped the English speaking world, King James I was navigating a palace fueled by forbidden desire, ruthless ambition, and deadly political games. James grew up isolated, abused, and desperate for affection. As an adult, he openly surrou...

A poisoned enema. A shadow king. And a royal court where desire could be just as deadly as treason. What began as King James I’s obsession with beautiful young men would spiral into one of the most dangerous and scandalous power struggles in queer history. In this episode of Beers With Queers, Jordi and Brad dive deep into the dark and twisted world of the Jacobean court, where political ambition,...

A quiet park. A hidden meeting place. And a murder that exposed how criminalized queer lives made perfect targets. In 1960, a man entered Queen's Park and never came home. What began as another secret encounter in the shadows of a city that treated gay men as criminals became one of Scotland’s most disturbing LGBT true crime cases. In an era when queer relationships had to exist in whispers, preda...

A dating app. Two men looking for connection. And a man that wanted to kill every gay man he could. In just four days, the quiet streets of Sligo became the center of one of Ireland’s most chilling modern hate crime investigations. Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee were found dead in their own homes, after meeting someone through a dating app, and another man barely survived an earlier attack. What f...

A stadium packed with thousands… and a bomb waiting at center field. They came to destroy disco but what erupted that night exposed something far deeper. On July 12, 1979, what started as a cheap baseball promotion at Chicago’s Comiskey Park spiraled into chaos now known as Disco Demolition Night. Fans were promised discounted tickets if they brought disco records—records that would be blown up be...

Five men hunted him for sport. And when it was over, the justice system let them walk free. In 1982, 31-year-old Declan Flynn went to Dublin’s Fairview Park, unaware he had been chosen as a target in a wave of violent “queer-bashing” attacks. What followed was a brutal killing that shocked Ireland, but the real outrage came after: a courtroom decision that left the public stunned and furious. This...