Crime of the Truest Kind

New episodes return in July. We revisit the unsolved murder case that haunts Boston with replay of our 2021 episode with Boston Globe reporter, Emily Sweeney. Who Killed Karina Holmer? A question we will not stop asking. Karina Holmer was murdered 30 years ago today. She was 20, barely an adult, and straddling two worlds when she was pulled from a dumpster by someone rummaging for cans. It was a b...

The headlines and news broadcasts in 1991 were filled with war, brutality, and harassment. We were faced with a new uncertainty. We also saw the dawning of a new culture phenomenon in the birth of reality tv and the grunge explosion. It was a different time. That April, a feminist scholar and New England School of Law professor is murdered in her exclusive neighborhood outside Harvard Square. High...

Replay from one year ago! Justice is coming for Charline at last! News broke in the 16-year-old murder case will be resolved. The first real hope for justice for Charline and her family.  On Thurs, April 10, 2025, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced the arrest of Heinsky Anacreon, age 38, of Malden, Mass, who was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on charges of mur...

On the anniversary of locating Charline, a replay of the episodes I did with her sister back in 2024 - before the arrest was made in her case. The Unsolved Murder of Charline Rosemond - in part two, the details around her final hours, how she was lured with the promise of a car deal by people in her circle, and the knowledge that people known to her family were holding important information. We re...

On the anniversary of locating Charline, a replay of the episode(s) I did with her sister, Rose, back in 2024 - before the arrest was made in her case. The Unsolved Murder of Charline Rosemond, part one: This episode revisits the heartbreaking 2009 murder of 23‑year‑old Charline Rosemond, a young woman poised for success. She was ambitious, full of style, and had big plans for her future. With Ros...

Over two weeks this March, Eastern Massachusetts witnessed the heartbreaking conclusion of three separate missing persons cases. Three families that languished for months. Each case carried its own mystery. The first break came when an unnamed individual contacted police in Nashua, New Hampshire with information about a murder confession. That tip set off a chain of events that led homicide detect...

Episode 100! The Final Flight: The Tragedy of John F. Kennedy Jr, Carolyn, and Lauren Bessette, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The Kennedy family embodied American royalty through the collision of power, privilege, politics, and faith. Theirs was a dynasty that coexisted in the shadow of tragedy. Maybe the most tragic of all the losses came on a hazy July night in 1999, when favorite son, John...

I talk with Kim Blanchard‑Trigilio, one of Melanie's cousins who's leading new efforts to finally bring her home. Melanie was 14 when she disappeared from Woburn in 1989. Her family has never stopped searching for her. On Friday, October 27, 1989, 14‑year‑old Melanie Jo Melanson went to a popular party spot behind an industrial park with older Woburn high school kids. She told her grandmother she...

Anniversary replay episode: Maura Murray is still missing. 22 years. She was last seen on February 9, 2004 on a snowy back road in Haverhill, New Hampshire, she grew up in Hanson, Massachusetts, she is one of ours. The is a lot about this case that bothers me - that she is missing, that her family has been thrust into a world they never wanted to be a part of, and that her case has become fodder f...

Remembering Ana Ljubičić Walshe, 4/12/1983-1/1/2023 Salty Language: Medium On the eve of the third anniversary of Ana’s disappearance, we honor her life and retrace the events that shaped this case. Ana Walshe , the 39‑year‑old mother of three whose sudden absence from her Cohasset home on New Year’s Day 2023 shook the coastal town and her colleagues in Washington, DC. Her case did capture nationa...

In part two of Amy Sher's story, I share how the abuse she suffered went on for years as everyone around her tried desperately to reach her. Inspired by the award-winning film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri--about a mother's grief and a town's apathy--Amy's family made a public plea for answers, unveiling billboards in the area she was last seen that asked one question: “What Happened...

This episode deals with violence against women and describes injuries caused by domestic abuse. Please listen with care. The unsolved disappearance of Amy Sher is a disturbing story of violence, isolation, coercive control, and how one person can terrorize an entire family. Amy’s haunting case reveals the devastating realities of domestic violence—the emotional abuse, despair, and powerlessness sh...

Listen to episode 95, the full show audio. This is bonus content of the Q+A from the show. While many question were on mic, some were not. Crimes of Camberville: From The Alleys to the Ivies, A History of Crime, Murder, and Mystery - Recorded live at The Burren in Somerville on October 23, we explore a history of crimes rooted in Somerville and Cambridge, cities defined by the intersection of the...

Live Show! Crimes of Camberville: From The Alleys to the Ivies, A History of Crime, Murder, and Mystery - Recorded live at The Burren in Somerville on October 23, we explore a history of crimes rooted in Somerville and Cambridge, cities defined by the intersection of the working class and university elites. From the side streets to the lecture halls, we talk about the cases that once made headline...

Live show! Thurs, Oct 23 at The Burren, Davis Square, Somerville, Mass October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. We should be talking about domestic violence, and how to prevent it, all the time, to help others recognize what it is and how insidious that it can be. It is not just bruises and black eyes. Jennifer Martel’s case is like so many other women who were tied to a bad relationship thro...

In Episode 93, veteran crime reporter Bob Ward of Boston 25 News discussed the renewed investigation into the 1974 unsolved murder of Henry Bedard Jr. , a 15-year-old from Swampscott, Massachusetts. Bob broke the story of Henry’s October 1, 2025 exhumation at Swampscott Cemetery, a major development led by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office . Together, we revisit the details of Henry’s di...

Where True Crime Meets Hometown History - this phrase describes this live Crime of the Truest Kind podcast event. Recorded at Off Cabot in Beverly, Mass on September 11, 2025, it is a powerful fusion of storytelling, advocacy, and local legacy. In the spotlight are unsolved cases like: The Elliot Chambers Boarding House Fire, Beverly (1984), The mystery of the Essex County John Doe, Newburyport (1...

Ten years ago, on Sunday, August 30, 2015, Denise Robert embarked on her routine Sunday night walk. She was shot and killed in that northside neighborhood, in Manchester, NH, the city she grew up in. She was found after neighbors reporrted seeing a person laying in the street. At 62, Denise was active and fit, her walks were a cherished ritual. She radiated a vibrant energy. Denise had always been...

In the 37 years since women were disappearing off the streets of New Bedford, there have been a litany of people of interest in the murders. And for 37 years, those highways around New Bedford have kept a haunting silence. They hold many secrets from those months between 1988 and 1989, when eleven women disappeared off the streets of the city. While nine were recovered along Route 140, 195, 88 and...

This episode includes mentions of sexual assault. Listen with care. New England Serial Killer Series | On the South Coast of Massachusetts sits New Bedford, a city shaped by the sea. Called the “whaling capital of the world,” New Bedford rose to prominence in the 19th century as a global hub for whale oil, fueling lamps and industry across continents. It inspired the Melville classic, Moby Dick ....

Sharing this replay of part of of my converastion with Steve Demoura on the 25th anniversary of her disappearance. Is Debra Melo in Taunton? So many of you are interested in Debra's story. Debra Melo is missing. TODAY marks 25 years that she disappeared. This is an important story to tell. She did not just leave. There was no reason to walk away from her family, her daughter, her son. This is...

Originally released in December 2024, I take a closer look at the unsettling case of 30-year-old Debra Melo , who vanished on June 20, 2000, under deeply suspicious circumstances. Debra had been trying to leave a controlling relationship with her husband, Luis Melo. According to him, they argued on the way home from her doctor’s appointment in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and she asked to be let out o...

This month marks the 25th anniversary of two unsovled cases, Debra Melo and Molly Bish, who disappeared 7 days apart in 2000; a gathering for Debra is this Fri 6/20 in Taunton, MA, Molly's family gathers on 6/28 in Warren. New England Serial Killer History Series | What makes a serial killer? Why are we interested in knowing? We cannot predict whether someone will become a psychopath, but when som...

Jolly Jane Toppin, a nurse in late 19th century Lowell, Massachusetts, became one of New England's most prolific serial killers, confessing to 31 murders and claiming responsibility for 100 deaths. Her story reveals how she used her position as a trusted caregiver to poison patients and family members while deriving sexual pleasure from watching them die. The haunting legacy of "Jolly Jane" Toppin...

Veteran crime reporter Bob Ward of Boston 25 News joins me for a candid conversation about the recent online hysteria surrounding a New England serial killer after 12 people have been recovered around Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Drawing from his nearly three decades as host of "New England's Unsolved," Bob shares the profound impact of covering cases like Theresa Corley's...