Campus Crime Chronicles

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Campus Crime Scale). On a frigid February night in 2015, Monroe County deputies responded to a quiet, upscale neighborhood just outside Rochester, New York. Inside one of the homes, they discovered a shocking scene: a man had been brutally shot and killed. But before investigators even had a chance to piece together what happened, someone stepped forward and confes...

This episode is rated a 3 (on my Campus Crime Scale). When a group of college students from Assumption University decided to stage their own version of “ To Catch a Predator” for clicks, views, and social media attention… well, let’s just say things did not go the way they expected. Because instead of exposing a predator, they ended up facing serious criminal charges themselves. Listen now to hear...

When family and friends suddenly couldn’t get ahold of two doctoral students attending the University of South Florida, alarm bells immediately started going off. This is the story of 27-year-old Zamil Limon and 27-year-old Nahida Bristy. Listen now to hear the full details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). When University of Iowa student Alexander Jackson dialed 911 to report a home invasion in the early morning hours, first responders arrived to a scene that didn’t make sense — everyone inside the home had been shot and killed. Everyone except Alex. He claimed he had struggled with an intruder, suffering a gunshot wound to his foot before the a...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). Maple Batalia was beautiful, talented, and on the verge of something bigger. But as the college student and aspiring actress began gaining attention for her modeling and television work, not everyone in her life was happy to see her star rise. When Maple was shot and killed in a parking lot on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Surrey, B...

This is a case that, for days, had family members, friends, classmates, and an entire university community desperately hoping for a different ending. This is the story of 20-year-old University of Alabama student James “Jimmy” Gracey. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Picture this: A fight breaks out on the campus of Kentucky State University . One particular college student is in danger, so his father shows up to protect him. But what begins as protection quickly escalates into gunfire. By the end of the night, one student is dead, and another is critically injured. Then, in a twist of fate that defies almost every expectation of justice, the man who pulled th...

This episode is rated a 4 (on my Serious Crime Scale). On April 1, 2008, 21-year-old Skye Budnick — a junior at Central Connecticut State University — boarded a one-way flight to Japan. She traveled alone. She packed lightly. And after she landed, she seemingly vanished without a trace. Her family searched desperately. They made two separate trips across the world, navigating a country they didn’t...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). After Labor Day weekend in 2005, 17-year-old Taylor Behl returned to the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University eager to resume her freshman year. Away from home for the first time, Taylor was embracing the independence and excitement of college life. But when more than 24 hours passed without anyone hearing from her, concern quickly turne...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). When a beloved college student and aspiring beauty queen was found dead inside her apartment in a quiet Arkansas town, investigators quickly locked in to one single suspect – a person who insisted that the police had it all wrong. And when a jury agreed, delivering a stunning acquittal, police were forced back to square one in the hunt for her...

After Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera was found dead following the University of Texas vs. Texas A&M football game, police were quick to point to suicide. But her family is pushing back and saying there has to be more to the story, and they are calling for an independent investigation. Listen now to hear the full story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-O...

Welcome to Campus Crime News. On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2025, pharmacy student Ariel Spillner visited her friend, Jamica Mills, for Jamica's 32nd birthday. But the quiet celebration took a dark turn when both friends were shot, leaving Ariel to succumb to her wounds. Listen now to hear the full story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privac...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). After a night of birthday celebrations and heavy drinking, three friends stumbled back to a tiny high-rise apartment just outside of Washington, D.C. But within just a few hours, one of them would be dead, while the other two would have no memory of what happened, or how. Listen now to hear the full story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcir...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). Imagine losing your father from a heart attack when you’re only 11 years old; losing your stepfather from an apparent suicide a few years later at 16, and then waking up in the hospital at 20 years old, only to be told that you were poisoned by the one person you trusted most in the world. While this might sound like the plot of the next horro...

Introducing Campus Crime News! On the morning of Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, the body of a Black male was found hanging from a tree on the campus of Delta State University near the pickle ball courts. At a press conference later that same day, the student was identified as 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed from Grenada, Mississippi. Listen now to hear the full story. Advertising Inquiries: https://...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In February of 1980, Katherine Foster, an 18-year-old freshman attending the University of South Alabama in Mobile, was found shot to death in a wooded area next to campus. For nearly three decades, her case went unsolved until a new piece of evidence – a confession letter from the killer – busted the case wide open and a suspect was finally a...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In the summer of 2012, 24-year-old nursing student Megan Sharpton was standing at the edge of a bright future. Just months away from graduation, she was eager to step into the career that she had always wanted – one where she could care for others and put her compassion to work as a nurse. So, when the chance for a potential job interview came...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). On the night of May 11, 2019, three friends met for what was supposed to be a relaxed evening by the pool and hot tub — laughing, drinking, and soaking in the music. But by daybreak on Mother’s Day, May 12, two of them were dead. And the only survivor had a story that would raise more questions than answers. Listen now to hear the full story....

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In the spring of 2017, Timothy Piazza was like many college sophomores — eager to find his place, to build lasting friendships, and to be part of something bigger than himself. At just 19 years old, he had his sights set on Beta Theta Pi, one of the most respected fraternities at Pennsylvania State University. To Tim, pledging meant brotherhoo...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In the spring of 2017, Timothy Piazza was like many college sophomores — eager to find his place, to build lasting friendships, and to be part of something bigger than himself. At just 19 years old, he had his sights set on Beta Theta Pi, one of the most respected fraternities at Pennsylvania State University. To Tim, pledging meant brotherhoo...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In the spring of 2017, Timothy Piazza was like many college sophomores — eager to find his place, to build lasting friendships, and to be part of something bigger than himself. At just 19 years old, he had his sights set on Beta Theta Pi, one of the most respected fraternities at Pennsylvania State University. To Tim, pledging meant brotherhoo...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). Brandy Stevens-Rosine was a bright 20-year-old college student with a passion for understanding human behavior. Studying psychology and sociology at Youngstown State University in 2012, she was driven by the question: Why do people do what they do? But Brandy would never get the chance to answer that question for herself. That spring, Brandy w...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). It was supposed to be routine — just another custody handoff between two parents in rural Madison County, Tennessee. Tyeasha Starks, a bright young student at Austin Peay State University, had done this before. She was there to pick up her 1-year-old son. But what happened next would shatter everything. A heated argument. A gunshot. And then,...

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Serious Crime Scale). In June 2017, Yingying Zhang — a 26-year-old Ph. D. student and visiting scholar from China — vanished after being seen at a campus bus stop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. What followed was a heartbreaking search, a chilling investigation, and a devastating truth – that Yinying Zhang was no longer alive. While a suspect was...

Hey y’all — quick heads up, I’m taking a little break this week. BUT, I didn’t want to leave you hanging with no episode at all. So today, I’m re-airing a story that originally ran back in 2022. It’s Chronicle 40, titled “From Friend to Foe.” Now, I didn’t just pick this one at random — there’s a specific reason I wanted to bring it back. There’s actually been a new development in this case in 202...