Crime Clueless

In 1897, a young bride in rural West Virginia was found dead at the bottom of her stairs. Her husband insisted it was natural causes. The doctor called it “an everlasting faint.” The case would have ended there—if not for her mother’s shocking claim: that her daughter’s ghost had appeared night after night, revealing she had been murdered. What followed is one of the strangest true crime stories i...

This is part two of this case. If you haven’t listened to part one, do that first. After over a year of fear and confusion, one tip would finally break the Phoenix Serial Shooter case wide open. In this episode, we dive into the investigation that revealed who was behind the shootings, the dramatic way police caught them, and the trial that followed. It’s the story of how justice finally came to P...

Between 2005 and 2006, Phoenix residents lived through a summer of fear as a terrifying gunmen drove the city’s streets at night, firing on strangers without warning. From joggers to animals to people just standing outside their homes, no one felt safe. In this episode, we trace the chilling pattern of violence from the very first shootings through the tragic final victim in July 2006, when the ci...

(If you haven't yet, go listen to Part 1 first) By the mid-90s, John du Pont’s delusions had turned from odd to ominous. Friends became suspects in imaginary conspiracies, athletes were cast out, and Dave Schultz — the gold-medal wrestler who tried to keep John grounded — became the tragic focus of his paranoia. In this episode, we cover the downward spiral: the murder, the surreal standoff, and t...

Before Foxcatcher Farm became the scene of tragedy, it was the playground of a lonely millionaire with more money than sense. In this first episode of two, we dig into the bizarre life of John du Pont — heir to a chemical fortune, collector of birds, stamps, and Olympians. From armored cars to ghost hunts to ponds that doubled as parking spots, the warning signs were everywhere. It’s a story not j...

Vanished Voices is almost here! From the creators of Crime Clueless comes a brand-new podcast that shines a light on the stories that too often go unheard—missing and murdered Indigenous women, LGBTQ+ victims, and other cases that slip through the cracks of mainstream media and law enforcement. This isn’t just another true crime show. Vanished Voices digs deep, blending investigative storytelling...

When Beverly Carter headed out to show a home one September evening in 2014, she promised her husband she’d be home with dinner afterward. But she never came back. Her car was found in the driveway, her purse still inside, and the front door of the house left wide open — yet Beverly was gone. In this episode, we dive into the chilling disappearance of Beverly Carter, the beloved wife, mother, gran...

When a beloved husband, father, and international hair icon is found brutally murdered beside his backyard pool in sunny Woodland Hills, police suspect a home invasion gone wrong. But behind the candles and casseroles of the tearful memorial, one stranger stands out—and one photo taken that night will unravel a twisted tale of secrets, betrayal, and the worst racquetball coach of all time. In this...

On August 17, 2012, 32-year-old Deanna Cook dialed 911 in Dallas, Texas, as her ex-husband attacked her in her own home. For nearly ten minutes, the call captured her desperate screams, his chilling threats, and the sounds of a brutal struggle. Yet despite Deanna’s pleas and the clear danger, help didn’t arrive in time. In this episode, we tell the story of who Deanna was — a loving mother, a daug...

For almost 40 years, Michelle Martinko’s case stood unsolved, her killer’s identity locked away in old evidence files. But in 2018, investigators turned to a powerful new tool — forensic genealogy. By building out a family tree from crime scene DNA, they were finally able to narrow in on a suspect: Jerry Burns, an Iowa businessman with no prior record. What followed was a high-profile arrest, a tr...

On a bitterly cold night in December 1979, eighteen-year-old Michelle Martinko never made it home from the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When her body was found in the family car, brutally stabbed, her murder stunned the community and left investigators scrambling for answers. Despite intensive efforts — from blood typing and fingerprint comparisons to chasing down countless leads — the cas...

The trail picks up with a car—a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the crime scene—that would eventually unravel the mystery behind the Idaho Four murders. In this second part, we dive into the painstaking work of investigators: connecting the Elantra to Washington State University graduate student Bryan Kohberger, analyzing his cell phone pings, and uncovering DNA evidence that would break the ca...

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered inside their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. In this first part of our two-part deep dive, we walk you through the lives of the victims—Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin—before unraveling the haunting timeline of their final night. From DoorDash deliveries and phone ca...

In part two of our deep dive into the death of Tamla Horsford, we pick up where the first episode left off — with her family’s private autopsy raising new and troubling questions. From missing autopsy photos to injuries they say don’t match the official story, Tamla’s loved ones began a fight for answers that would span years and ignite a nationwide movement. We follow the timeline from 2020 to to...

What was meant to be a lighthearted “football moms” sleepover in Cumming, Georgia turned into a morning no one could explain. Forty-year-old Tamla Horsford — wife, mother of five, and the life of any gathering — was found face-down in the backyard, still wearing her paw-print pajamas. Authorities ruled it a drunken accident, claiming she fell from the second-story deck. But Tamla’s family, friends...

You’d think getting caught dismembering your neighbor would slow a guy down. But for Robert Durst, that was just Act One. In Part 2 of this deeply twisted two-parter, we pick up with Bob laying low in a cheap Galveston apartment… dressed as a mute woman. Naturally. From there, it only gets stranger: an HBO documentary crew, a letter with a suspicious typo, a bathroom monologue accidentally caught...

When a torso washes up in Galveston Bay, police brace for a gritty whodunit. But what they unravel instead is one of the strangest stories in true crime history. In Part 1 of our deep dive into the twisted life of Robert Durst, we follow the trail from dismembered body parts and a neighbor in drag to a decades-long saga of wealth, deception, his missing wife, and one shockingly cheap apartment. We...

In April 2011, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office changed Ellen Greenberg’s manner of death from homicide to suicide —despite 20 stab wounds, 11 bruises in various stages of healing, and injuries to the back of her neck and skull. This decision would devastate her grieving parents and effectively close the door on a criminal investigation before it truly began. In Part Two of our deep dive...

When 27-year-old schoolteacher Ellen Greenberg was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment—stabbed 20 times, including 10 times in the back of her neck and back—authorities quickly labeled it a suicide. But how does someone stab themselves in the spine? How does a body end up with bruises in various stages of healing, a knife lodged in the chest, and no note… and it’s still ruled self-inflicted?...

In 1900, Iowa farmer John Hossack was murdered in his sleep. His wife, Margaret, claimed she didn’t hear a thing. But two women, brought into her home under the guise of gathering belongings, noticed what clues the men missed and the silent unraveling of a life in isolation. This real case inspired Susan Glaspell’s iconic short story A Jury of Her Peers , a quietly revolutionary piece of feminist...

What do Scott Peterson, Chris Watts, and a surprisingly incriminating Fitbit all have in common? Bad alibis—and worse lies. In this episode, Jenna and Kayla pull back the curtain on how killers fake innocence, from phony fishing trips to emotionless press conferences. We dive into the psychology of deception, the verbal and behavioral red flags investigators love to catch, and real-life cases wher...

From 1918 to 1919, a mysterious figure wielding an axe terrorized the streets of New Orleans. His victims were often asleep, his weapon usually their own, and his signature? A chilling letter promising to spare any home playing jazz music. In this one-hour deep dive, we unravel the full timeline of the Axeman’s reign—from the first brutal murders to the citywide panic, a jazz-fueled night of fear,...

On a chilly March night in 2004, 17-year-old Brianna Maitland clocked out from her shift at the Black Lantern Inn in rural Vermont and was never seen again. The next morning, her car was discovered mysteriously backed into an abandoned barn just off a quiet road—driver’s door open, her medication and purse inside, and her uncashed paycheck still sitting on the passenger seat. And Brianna? Gone. No...

She made breakfast. Kissed her kids goodbye. And by 9am, she was fighting for her life. In this chilling episode of Crime Clueless , we take you back to a quiet Minnesota neighborhood in 1963—where one mother’s morning routine turned into a brutal crime scene. Carol Thompson had no idea what waited for her inside the walls of her own home. And neither did anyone else. What started as a violent bre...

(Summer recording had to be from a distance, and not in person. We apologize for the change in sound quality for this episode!) Think hiring a hitman is as easy as ordering takeout? Well, some people definitely think so. From clueless criminals turning to the dark web (spoiler: it’s usually an FBI sting) to hiring an undercover cop instead of a killer, the world of contract killing is filled with...