Casefile True Crime

*** Content warnings: Child abduction *** When 13-year-old Megumi Yokota failed to return home from her regular badminton practice on November 15 1977, her parents immediately raised the alarm. The police in Niigata, Japan, conducted one of the city’s largest ever investigations, but no trace of Megumi was ever found. Two decades later, the case took a shocking turn that would rock the entire nati...

*** Content warnings: Sexual assault, drug use, suicide, homophobia *** Over a 16-month period between 2014 and 2015, four young men—Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor—each died under unusual circumstances in the East London suburb of Barking. While the police initially palmed the deaths off as isolated incidents, the families of the four men believed something suspi...

In the tense weeks following the September 11 terror attacks in 2001, a new and invisible threat emerged across the United States. Letters laced with weaponised anthrax began arriving through the mail, infecting ordinary people and spreading fear nationwide. As the possibility of bioterrorism gripped the country, a massive federal investigation codenamed Amerithrax was launched to uncover who was...

*** Content warnings: Child victims, sexual assault *** On February 28 1976, the suburban community of Hales Corners, Wisconsin, was rocked when the body of missing schoolboy, 14-year-old John Zera, was discovered in a local park. The teenager hadn’t been seen for over a week, having gone missing in the middle of the school day without so much as a word. Over the next few years, the investigation...

When 52-year-old Julia Wallace was found brutally murdered in her Liverpool home in 1931, no one could have anticipated the complex and challenging investigation that would follow, centring on her husband, William, and a mysterious figure known only as R. M. Qualtrough. --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Te...

*** Content warning: Child sexual abuse *** Late in 1991, a child said something strange to his mother: ‘I don’t like Peter’s black penis.’ Believing this was an indication that her son was being abused by Peter Ellis, a 33-year-old employee at the Christchurch Civic Creche her son attended, the concerned mother quickly filed a report. The case would soon snowball into one of New Zealand’s bi...

*** Content warning: Sexual assault *** When 22-year-old aspiring journalist Elisabeth Membrey failed to answer her phone on December 7 1994, her loved ones knew something was wrong. A visit to her Ringwood East unit confirmed their suspicions when blood stains were found on the carpet, but Elisabeth herself was nowhere to be seen.  With Elisabeth’s disappearance declared to be a homicid...

Casefile Revisited features newly re-recorded versions of classic episodes, revisiting the stories with enhanced production, fresh narration, and updated research where possible. *** Content warnings: Gun violence *** When Larry Phillips Junior and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America on February 28 1997, no one could have predicted the chaos that was about to...

Casefile Extra features bonus episodes exploring compelling cases, stories and topics beyond our regular weekly releases. On Friday, August 20 2010, officers from the Holmes County Sheriff's Department were called to Vortex Spring, a commercially operated dive park just outside the Florida town of Ponce de Leon. A 30-year-old scuba diver from Tennessee by the name of Ben McDaniel had failed to res...

Casefile Revisited features newly re-recorded versions of classic episodes, revisiting the stories with enhanced production, fresh narration, and updated research where possible. *** Content warnings: serial killer, extreme violence, animal cruelty *** In early 1993, Frankston resident Donna received a series of unnerving prank calls. Afraid of being home alone, she accompanied her boyfriend durin...

[Part 3 of 3] *** Content warning: Gun violence, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse *** The standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidians held firm for more than a month, with David Koresh and his followers refusing to surrender. After attempting both negotiation tactics and more aggressive approaches for 51 days, the FBI implements a plan to force the Branch Davidians out, a plan t...

[Part 2 of 3] *** Content warning: Gun violence, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse *** In 1992, a chance discovery by a UPS delivery driver would lead to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – commonly known as the ATF – launching an investigation into David Koresh’s activities at Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas. Upon discovering that Koresh’s Branch Davidians were stock...

[Part 1 of 3] *** Content warning: Gun violence, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse *** In 1981, a 20-year-old named Vernon Howell drove more than two hours from his hometown in east Texas to visit a church near Waco that was home to a group known as the Branch Davidians. Vernon would be welcomed into the church’s fold, setting off a course of events that would ultimately end in tragedy...

[Part 2 of 2] *** Content warning: child victims *** As police looked into the deaths of Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura Folbigg, they were introduced to Meadows Law – the theory that one infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious, but three is murder. With suspicion mounting against Kathleen Folbigg, years of investigation eventually led to a legal outcome that no one could have ever seen comin...

[Part 1 of 2] *** Content warning: child victims *** Married couple Craig and Kathleen Folbigg wanted nothing more than to be parents. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Kathleen gave birth to four children—Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura—but tragically, none of them survived past their second birthdays. While each death was initially attributed to natural causes, the question started to emerge...

[Part 4 of 4] *** Content warning: child victims *** As police closed in on the elusive B.T.K, they received a floppy disk that contained some stunning information – including the name: Dennis... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon Fo...

[Part 3 of 4] *** Content warning: child victims *** B.T.K resumed his cat-and-mouse game with police, who raced to identify and capture the serial killer before he could strike again… --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon For all credi...

[Part 2 of 4] *** Content warning: child victims *** After claiming seven victims and terrorising Wichita for nearly three decades, the unidentified killer known as B.T.K. suddenly fell silent. Then, in 2004, a letter bearing his unmistakable signature arrived at a local newspaper… --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing...

[Part 1 of 4] *** Content warning: child victims *** The quiet suburban life of Wichita, Kansas, was shattered in 1974 when four members of the Otero family, Joe, Julie and their two youngest children, Josie and Joey, were found brutally murdered in their home.  Nine months later, a letter was discovered inside a public library book that contained detailed, accurate, insider-knowledge about t...

Casefile Extra features bonus episodes exploring compelling cases, stories and topics beyond our regular weekly releases. *** Content warnings: Child victims*** On September 15 2006, detectives began investigating the sexual assault of 24-year-old Tiffany Hall from East St. Louis, Illinois. The assault had caused Tiffany to miscarry her 7-month old foetus.  A week later, police received a tip...

Casefile Extra features bonus episodes exploring compelling cases, stories and topics beyond our regular weekly releases. *** Content warnings: Crime against a child *** In 1998, the Easter holiday in Victoria, Australia, got off to a tragic beginning when 12-year-old Nicky Fleming was killed in a car accident while travelling to a family camping trip. But what initially looked like a single vehic...

Casefile Revisited features newly re-recorded versions of classic episodes, revisiting the stories with enhanced production, fresh narration, and updated research where possible. *** Content warnings: Self-harm *** On May 17 2008, Swedish twin sisters Ursula and Sabina Eriksson boarded a bus from Liverpool to London. After a routine road stop, the bus driver noticed the twins were acting suspiciou...

Casefile Revisited features newly re-recorded versions of classic episodes, revisiting the stories with enhanced production, fresh narration, and updated research where possible. *** Content warnings: Child victims *** Oklahoma teenager Ashley Freeman celebrated her sixteenth birthday by inviting her best friend, Lauria Bible, over for a sleepover. It was a pleasant yet uneventful evening, until t...

Casefile Extra features bonus episodes exploring compelling cases, stories and topics beyond our regular weekly releases. When school friends Jessica Wongso and Mirna Salihin caught up for coffee in Jakarta’s upscale Olivier Cafe in January 2016, it was supposed to be a friendly get together. Then, moments after taking a sip from her Vietnamese iced coffee, Mirna collapsed and died. What unravelle...

Casefile Extra features bonus episodes exploring compelling cases, stories and topics beyond our regular weekly releases. *** Content warnings: Sexual assault, child sexual assault, arson, animal cruelty *** When 32-year-old Tina Herrmann didn’t show up for work on Wednesday, November 10 2010, her manager immediately alerted the authorities. Soon they found that not only had Tina vanished, but so...