Crime Writers On...

In 1971, Sherman McCrary and his son-in-law Carl Taylor went on a multistate spree of robberies, killing and raping doughnut shop employees along the way. “Families Who Kill: The Donut Shop Murders" examines their murderous run. Featuring commentary from police, professors, and other podcasters, the show also profiles a felonious family from the 1800s. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "FAMILIES WHO...

In 2003, Charis Song was killed execution-style in her Koreatown apartment, along with her nanny and two-year-old son. Years later, a DNA sample from a former neighbor matched a latex glove from the crime scene. The podcast " Strangeland " from Western Sound  revisits the Miracle Mile Murders and asks how much of the investigation was colored by cultural misunderstandings. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REV...

In 1996, an airplane carrying a high school girls soccer team crashed in the wilderness. The few who returned home kept quiet about how they survived 19 months alone in the woods. In Showtime's feminist-powered horror-mystery series "Yellowjackets," an aspiring politician, a bored housewife, a recovering drug addict, and an unstable nurse find themselves being blackmailed for their untold story of...

After Baltimore homicide detective Sean Suiter was shot with his own gun in an alley, it was revealed he was about to testify before a grand jury about a group of dirty cops. The department determined the evidence pointed to the headshot being self-inflicted…but was it actually a hit to keep Suiter quiet?  The HBO Max documentary “The Slow Hustle” examines the controversial investigation.  FOR OUR...

Tony Hathoway pulled off 30 hold-ups in the Seattle area in one year. But how did he go from being a successful aviation engineer to a prolific bank robber? His addiction to oxycontin. The Campside Media podcast “Hooked” is part crime memoir - part case study into the opioid crisis. FOR OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEWS OF "HOOKED" GO TO MINUTE 35:30 In True Crime Update: a lawsuit in the case of Emanuel F...

In 1981, Fred Roehler’s family was anchored on their luxury yacht when he convinced his wife and stepson to venture on a dory to nearby Bird Rock. Roehler said the family dog lunged and swamped the boat, sending the trio into the water. At first, the deaths of Verna and Doug were ruled accidental. Police wanted to know more about the strange incident at sea…and more about what happened to Roehler’...

On the first episode of CWO's new release schedule, the panel looks at HBO Max series "Landscapers."  A mild-mannered British couple come to the attention of police after a pair of bodies are found buried in a garden. Oscar-winner Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star in this dramatized version of the domestic crime that shocked England. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LANDSCAPERS" GO TO MINUTE 41...

It's an all thumbs-up way-up episode! The crime writers each give their top 10 lists for the best podcasts of 2021.  In Crime of the Week: prattle royale .   Toby’s top 10 list Fault Line: Dying for a Fight I’m Not a Monster Carrie Low VS 9/12 Suspect Do You Know Mordecai? Believe her Stolen: The Search for Jermain Through the Cracks The Apology Line Lara’s top 10 list I Am Not a Monster Suspect 9...

 An aging drug runner passes his most prized possession to his son: a work created by an immortal artist owned by an immortal author. But is it real?  In “ Hemingway’s Picasso ” from Somethin’ Else, host Leah Carroll takes us through Steve Kough’s swashbuckling life and its effects on his family. It also attempts to learn once and for all if the painted ceramic is a masterpiece…or the work of some...

A British DJ spent years in an online romance with a man she never met - but who was he? The podcast " Sweet Bobby " from Tortoise Media explores a complicated catfishing scheme and the motivations behind it. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SWEET BOBBY" GO TO THE 34th MINUTE. Collins Street Bakery was the most successful fruitcake baker in the world. So why was the company losing millions of dolla...

Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were two seniors who helped the homeless in Los Angeles, but authorities became suspicious of their philanthropy after one of the men had been run over in an alley. Host Keith Morrison brings his unique style of self-aware cheesiness to “ The Thing About Helen & Olga ,” mined from the archives of Dateline NBC. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE THING ABOUT HELE...

In this week's CWO Classic rewind: a look back at the Sept 29, 2017 review of the Netflix comedy "American Vandal." The unexpectedly savvy satire of everything we love about true crime. " American Vandal " may start as a lowbrow take-off on "Serial" or "Making a Murder," but the comedy is surprisingly meta, embracing all tropes of the podcasts and documentaries which have become ubiquitous. In the...

In True Crime Update: the latest on the murder of the rape defendant from "Carrie Low VS." In 2017 Nikki Addimando shot her partner after a violent confrontation. Officials viewed her years of abuse not as a self-defense justification, but as her plan to commit murder. In Lemonada's podcast “ Believe Her ” host Justine van der Leun sheds light on a part of our justice system in which survival is c...

The panel starts with a True Crime Update about those remains found in the NH mountains that are not connected to a famous cold case. In 2003, police in Seoul were stumped by a serial killer who targeted elderly wealthy victims in their homes, then pivoted to dismembering sex workers. In the Netflix documentary “ The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea ,” detectives, profilers, and crime...

In the podcast " American Vigilante " a British journalist interviews a mercenary who travels the world to rescue children, capture fugitives, and avenge the innocent. But are his testosterone-fueled tales true? FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AMERICAN VIGILANTE" GO TO MINUTE 27:55 Using DNA tests, three girls adopted from China learn they're cousins. In " Found " from Netflix, they enlist the he...

In 2008, high school football star Billey Joe Johnson was pulled over for speeding in Lucedale, Mississippi. Moments later, the officer radioed that the Black teen had killed himself with a shotgun. “ Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe ” is an eight-part series of PRX's "Reveal" podcast. Host Al Letson pokes at the conclusion the teen’s death was an accident. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS...

In season 3 of "Dr. Death," a news producer falls in love with a surgeon on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine. But dogged by questions about his research and his promises of a romantic life together, his con soon unravels. FOR OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEWS OF " DR. DEATH: MEDICINE MAN ," GO TO 30:00 In "Wild Crime," National Park Service investigators look at the death of a woman who plunged fr...

Gwen Shamblin earned fame and fortune with a diet program heavy on religious devotion. The HBO Max series " The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin " shows when her religious dogma veered away from mainstream Christianity, her church took on the trappings of a cult. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE WAY DOWN" GO TO 34:30 They were a powerful name in South Carolina’s legal commun...

For years one of the world’s biggest pop stars was held captive to a conservatorship which controlled her money and her life. The Netflix documentary “ Britney Vs Spears ” reveals the undisclosed legal documents which trace how the singer’s father and a gaggle of lawyers leveraged the system to restrict her agency and make themselves rich. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BRITNEY VS SPEARS" GO TO...

In the new podcast series “ Witnessed: Borderlands ” from Campside Media, host Rob D’Amico recalls the story of a drug runner and a crooked lawman who moved pot and cocaine through West Texas and how their alliance culminated in a botched billion dollar coke deal. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "WITNESSED: BORDERLANDS" GO TO 20:50 The Netflix French import “ The Women and the Murderer ” recalls th...

For years, the Brazilian faithful sought out psychic healer John of God, but the religious leader told young women their miracles were to be performed through other techniques. The Netflix import “ John of God: The Crimes of a Spiritual Healer ,” explores the case of a man who used his position to assault hundreds of women. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "JOHN OF GOD" GO TO 22:30 A murder in an ap...

Southern California officials were dealing with a string of seemingly unrelated arsons. Then a manuscript turned up with a fictional account of the fire setter. Is the book a veiled confession by the author whose identity stuns investigators? The podcast " Firebug " explores that question. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "FIREBUG" GO TO 26:00 When a teenager's scooter is found abandoned in the road...

The memories of what happened on September 11th are burned clearly into our minds, but what happened afterward is often fuzzy. In " 9/12 ," from Pineapple Street Studios, Wondery, and Amazon Music, host Dan Taberski goes beyond the usual retrospectives, and looks at how 9/11 stopped being a day and became an idea. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "9/12" GO TO 35:00 While leggings company LuLaRoe ea...

In 1989, daycare provider Effie Entezari was shot in the parking lot of her Vancouver, Washington apartment complex. KGW and VAULT Studio's " The Yellow Car " follows Pooneh Gray's quest to clear her father’s name, questioning the ballistics, and struggling to test DNA from an alternative suspect. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE YELLOW CAR" GO TO 26:19 When a resident in their expensive New Yo...

For the final CWO Classic rewind of the summer, we look back at the panel's May 2017 review of the HBO documentary about the case of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard, "Mommy Dead and Dearest." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com. This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio . Click to find out more. Hosted by Simplec...