Crime Story

When Derrick Johnson was a toddler, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He never developed the ability to speak. Instead, he would communicate with his eyes and his hands, and his family would do their best to interpret his gestures. That was until they met a Rutgers professor named Anna Stubblefield. Anna thought that with the right technique and coaching Derrick could learn to say exactly what...

Like most journalists, veteran reporter Tonya Mosley spent her career telling other people's stories. But then she got a call from a man named Antonio Wiley.   In her podcast, She Has A Name, Tonya and Antonio investigate the disappearance of his mother, Anita Wiley, who went missing in Detroit in 1987. The more they learn about what happened to Anita, the more Tonya realizes that the in...

There is no shortage of scam artists, catfishers, and grifters in true crime. Usually, they’re looking for money, sex, or fame. But Kaitlyn Braun was a different kind of con artist all together. Over the course of two years, Braun tricked more than 50 birthworkers into thinking she was pregnant. She’d take them on wild, unpredictable rides through traumatic pregnancies (and births) that turned out...

Amy, a seasoned doula, is bedridden due to illness when she receives a call from fellow doula Katie to assist a client, Kaitlyn, over the phone. Kaitlyn is pregnant as a result of sexual assault and has just learned her baby will be stillborn. Over the next 10 days, Amy and Katie are swept into Kaitlyn's escalating crises — bleeding disorders, a hysterectomy, cancer, and seemingly predatory doctor...

How should we deal with women who kill their abusers? In the Globe and Mail’s first longform podcast In Her Defence, reporter Jana Pruden tells the story of Helen Naslund, who shot and killed her husband after enduring 30 years of abuse. It’s a story about a long fight for freedom and a justice system stuck in the past. Feedback for us? You can email us directly at crimestory@cbc.ca. This episode'...

Crime Story will be back in the new year with brand new episodes. To keep you company over the holidays, we're bringing you episode one of Bad Results. They needed certainty. They got chaos. For over a decade, countless people from at least five different countries put their trust in a company offering prenatal paternity tests. It promised clients “99.9% accuracy” — but then routinely, for over a...

Crime Story will be back in the new year with brand new episodes. To keep you company over the holidays, we're bringing you episode one of Lords of Death, a podcast from Tenderfoot TV.  While digging through an old memory box, host Thrasher Banks discovers forgotten VHS tapes, police reports, and faded letters regarding a 1995 murder in Dayton, Ohio. Drawn to the connection between this murde...

For more than three decades, Peter Walaschek has been on the run. In the late 1980’s, during the Iran-Iraq war, Walaschek admitted to selling illegal chemicals used to make mustard gas to the Iranian regime. But he wasn’t a professional weapons dealer or a career criminal. He was a pharmacist who happened to really hate his office job.  Reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou joins Crime Story to explain...

In 2012, Edmonton police released audio of Amber Tuccaro, a young woman from Mikisew Cree First Nation who went missing a year and a half earlier. On the tape, you hear Amber speaking to someone as they drive. And even more eerie, you hear the voice of the man that most people believe murdered her.  Reporter Jana Pruden joins Crime Story to discuss why hearing that haunting tape drove her to...

In the winter of 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received an anonymous tip: somebody had seen bones on a property in Noble, Georgia, and they thought they might be human.  Eventually, a police investigation would unearth the remains of more than 300 people. In a different kind of story, this property might belong to America’s most prolific serial killer. But none of these peopl...

Carl Miller had spent most of his career at a think tank in London, writing reports and giving lectures – the stuff most academics do. Then, a few years ago, Carl got a call that would change his life forever. The caller, an old colleague, had stumbled upon something that scared him: an online marketplace where you could hire a hitman.  Suddenly, Carl was looking at a list of hundreds of name...

Ruby Franke rose to online fame by vlogging the lives of her six children and her husband, Kevin. Millions of people tuned in to the 8 Passengers YouTube channel every day for a snapshot of domestic bliss. But then, viewers began noticing something seemed off about the Utah family's idyllic life. Their suspicions lead to a shocking truth.  Note: This episode contains details of child abuse.&n...

Between 1973 and 1986, entire neighbourhoods in California often went to bed thinking about one man. His crimes earned him many names: the Cordova Cat Burglar, the East Area Rapist and of course, the Golden State Killer. For years, he broke into hundreds of homes, sexually assaulting more than 45 women and murdering 13 people, before disappearing into the night.  This week on Crime Story, Pul...

Christine Harron didn’t feel well on May 18, 1993, and stayed home from school — but eventually her mother insisted that she get to afternoon class. Chrissy left, slamming the door, and would never be seen again. How can someone simply vanish, and did the local police find anything of use in their investigation? Subscribers of CBC True Crime Premium can binge all episodes of Someone Knows Somethin...

In the Spring of 1993, 15-year-old Christine Harron said goodbye to her mom and left for school. She was never seen again. More than 30 years later, there’s still no sign of her. In the latest season of his hit podcast Someone Knows Something, investigative journalist David Ridgen picks up Christine’s case and comes face to face with the prime suspect in her disappearance.  Watch this full in...

Debra Newell was ready to give up on love. By the fall of 2014, she’d been married and divorced four times and was reeling from a string of bad dates. But then she met John Meehan, and it seemed like her luck was finally changing. Meehan was a handsome doctor who doted on Newell. She fell in love almost immediately. Two months later, they were married. But Newell would eventually discover that Mee...

On January 21 2020, Wenbo Jin woke up just after 4 a.m. to the sounds of two men ransacking his apartment. The 24-year-old had left his home in China to study statistics at the University of Toronto. That night, Wenbo lay there, terrified, as his dream of higher education in Canada turned into a nightmare at the hands of criminals with a diabolical scheme.  This week on Crime Story, journalis...

In 2015, the small town of Oxford, Michigan became the scene of a uniquely American nightmare: a school shooting. It was, tragically, like many of the mass shootings that had come before it. A lonely young man with access to guns and a history of mental illness. A number of warning signs that went unnoticed. But then, something happened that had never been done before: the prosecutors charged the...

Management company 7M represents some of TikTok’s most viral dancers. But beyond the polished choreography and idyllic Hollywood sets, a new documentary alleges these young stars are being controlled by a cult-like leader. When one family comes forward with their story, they learn that allegations of financial, psychological and sexual abuse go back decades.  Today we’re joined by Derek Donee...

Pope John Paul I was only 33 days into the job when he was found dead. While the Vatican insists he died of a heart attack, they have never been able to shake rumours of murder and conspiracy. Now, one man with ties to the mafia has come forward alleging that he knows the pope was murdered — because he was there. The question is: do you believe him? This week on Crime Story, we discuss The Confess...

When Pamela Hargan and her youngest daughter Helen were found dead in their home, it was a shock of the highest order. From the outside looking in, Pamela, a millionaire business woman, and her close knit family had it all. But as investigators puzzled over the bizarre crime scene, a very different picture would emerge. Journalist Peter Van Sant sheds light on this American tra...

When Shannon Gilbert went missing in Long Island, her disappearance was largely ignored by the media and police. That is, until months later when the remains of other sex workers were discovered nearby — but none of them were Shannon. What happened to her? Who was targeting these women? And why weren't police doing more?  Journalist Bob Kolker, author of Lost Girls, investigated Shannon Gilbe...

Crime Story is back with all-new episodes starting next week. Before then, we’re bringing you episode 1 of The No Good, Terribly Kind, Wonderful Lives and Tragic Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman, a podcast about the mysterious deaths of billionaire Canadian pharma giant Barry Sherman and his philanthropist wife Honey. Hosted by our very own Kathleen Goldhar, we just found out the final episode wa...

Sharon Johnson’s family has spent decades coping with her brutal murder. But what if the story they were told is a lie? What if the man imprisoned for her murder is innocent? In season two of Jason Moon’s hit podcast Bear Brook, he investigates the case of convicted killer Jason Carroll. At 19, Carroll confessed to Johnson’s murder, but recanted a few hours later. Carroll has been in prison for 35...

In the early 2000s, Bikram Yoga spread across North America like wildfire. It was a multi-billion dollar business, spurred on by its eccentric founder, Bikram Choudhury. Choudhury was as close to yoga royalty as you could get and was unafraid to hide it. But according to some of his own students, his empire was built upon blood, sweat and tears – as well as a few critical lies. Reporter Julia Lowr...