Criminally Obsessed

How did the nightmare inside the Siders’ family home remain hidden for so long? What did neighbors and locals to the Ohio “House of Horrors” notice, if anything? Were there ANY red flags?  In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, investigative reporter Anne Emerson speaks with someone who can tell us in her own words. Someone who knew of the Siders family - even interacted with them - years be...

Psychological breakdown of Siders’ "House of Horrors": Why were 16 children forced to live this way?  As new details emerge in the Vinton County, Ohio investigation, one question continues to haunt us: WHY did four adults allegedly confine and neglect 16 children inside a filthy home for YEARS?  Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders were arrested on Tue...

Sixteen ‘almost feral’ children. Aged 18 months to 18 years. Hidden from sight in an Ohio house of horrors. Until now. It’s a situation difficult to fathom: Investigators found 16 kids living inside a 1,300-square-foot home in Vinton County, Ohio, confined in a 12-by-12 bedroom investigators say was covered in human waste. Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders we...

Alex Murdaugh retrial jury selection: How do you find an impartial jury for one of America's most well known murder cases? With Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial approaching in April 2027, one of the biggest challenges may come before opening statements are ever delivered. After jury influencing led to his original 2023 murder convictions of Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh being overturned, selecti...

Nancy Guthrie ransom notes: How does the FBI determine whether they're real or fake? Five months after Today show host Savannah Guthrie's mother disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona home, the mysterious letters claiming to be from her kidnappers remain one of the most controversial pieces of evidence in the investigation. Despite reports suggesting the ransom notes were fake, the FBI and Pima Coun...

Could male DNA under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails change the Alex Murdaugh murder case? Three years after Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh, a sample of unidentified male DNA is at the center of the investigation as we anticipate an April 2027 retrial. At Alex Murdaugh’s hearing on Monday, June 29th, defense attorney Jim Griffin renewed his...

The countdown is on for Alex Murdaugh’s murder retrial, and we’re asking insiders… What happens next? Alex Murdaugh's retrial is scheduled for April 5th 2027, and many expect it to become one of the biggest true crime trials in America all over again. With a new judge, new legal battles, and renewed public attention, the next chapter of the Murdaugh saga is already taking shape. In this episode of...

New developments from Alex Murdaugh’s pretrial hearing: Could DNA under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails identify someone other than Alex Murdaugh? Could the Moselle crime scene have been "cleaned?"  And could either question change the outcome of one of America's biggest murder trials? Alex Murdaugh was back in court on Monday, June 29th, and his second murder trial is officially scheduled. Judge De...

What evidence could convict Alex Murdaugh the second time around? Murdaugh's 2023 convictions for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul have been overturned, and forensic criminologist Dr. Laura Pettler lays out exactly what we need to pay attention to in the next chapter of the Murdaugh saga. In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, Anne Emerson speaks with our friend Dr. Laura Pettler to ex...

Have Coast Guard searches uncovered bombshell evidence in the Lynette Hooker case?  New search images released by the Coast Guard are raising questions about the disappearance of 55-year-old Lynette Hooker, who vanished in the Bahamas nearly three months ago. Her husband, Brian Hooker, says she accidentally fell overboard on April 4th and could not be saved - but Lynette’s loved ones have serious...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH TAYLOR PARKER? We’re examining the mind behind the shocking crimes unraveled in Netflix’s ‘Maternal Instinct’ and asking the question: what led Taylor Parker to commit these horrific acts of violence?  What were the warning signs in her behavior and mental state… and could she have been stopped? Taylor Parker was convicted of murdering her friend, Reagan Simmons-Hancock. She cut...

Does the Long Island serial killer have more unidentified victims? Rex Heuermann’s sentencing - life in prison for the horrific murders of eight women - marks a significant milestone in the Gilgo Beach murders investigation. Heuermann’s DNA can now be officially entered into CODIS, the national law enforcement DNA database.  It has us asking - Are there other unidentified victims still waiting for...

“YOU’RE A COWARD!” Rex Heuermann has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Suffolk County Court Judge Timothy Mazzei didn’t hold back during his sentencing on Wednesday, June 17th.  But the day wasn’t about Rex. It was about justice for his victims. And their families got to face him in an emotional moment that’s been a long time coming.  In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, Anne Eme...

We’re bringing our biggest Nancy Guthrie questions to an expert in digital investigations. Four months after Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother vanished from her Tucson, Arizona home, new theories and online speculation continue to swirl around the case. Can the masked suspect seen in the doorbell camera footage actually be identified? What is a "wrench attack," and could it explain what ha...

An anonymous tip spurred a ground search for Nancy Guthrie in Mexico. But this private investigator thinks they're looking in the wrong place… and says that authorities have their eyes on a subject in the kidnapping. Four months after Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona home, investigators and volunteers are still searching for answers. A rec...

Real-life couple in "Gone Girl" kidnapping case speaking out:  Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn became the faces of a twisted true crime story in 2015 after Denise was kidnapped from their Vallejo, California home. Instead of being treated like victims, they were accused by police of faking the whole thing, drawing comparisons to the plot of the movie “Gone Girl.”  But over a decade later, Denise an...

Alex Murdaugh has a new judge for his double murder retrial. And we want to know everything. Who is Judge Debra McCaslin? The South Carolina Circuit Court Judge has been assigned to oversee Alex Murdaugh’s upcoming murder retrial in the deaths of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh in 2021. What should we know about the woman now tasked with presiding over the next chapter of the Mur...

INSIDE THE MOMENT KARMELO ANTHONY WAS FOUND GUILTY IN TRACK MEET MURDER: There were no cameras in the courtroom. The public never got to hear the witnesses testify, watch the families react, or see the moment Anthony broke down as the verdict was read. He was indicted on first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf after an altercation turned deadly at a track meet in Fr...

SHOULD MACKENZIE SHIRILLA HAVE WALKED FREE? And is her personality the reason she didn’t? The Ohio teen was convicted of intentionally crashing her car at 100 miles per hour and killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend, Davion Flanagan in 2022. As the world reexamines the case in Netflix’s newly released documentary “The Crash,” Mackenzie’s intentions, mindset, and personality are major di...

HAWAII’S MISSING PERSON MYSTERY: WHY ARE PEOPLE VANISHING ON THE BIG ISLAND? And is a new arrest taking us one step closer to uncovering the secrets hiding in paradise?  Nearly 100 people have disappeared from Hawaii’s Big Island in just the last five years, many seemingly without a trace. Now, a recent arrest is drawing even more attention to the island’s darker side. Jacob Daniel Baker is facing...

The Netflix documentary The Crash has reignited debate around one of the most shocking true crime cases in recent memory: the conviction of Mackenzie Shirilla. In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, Anne Emerson talks with forensic psychologist Dr. John Delatorre to unpacks not only what may have been going on in Mackenzie's mind, but also her parents, Steve and Natalie Shirilla. Drawing from the...

“HE BUILT THIS STATION AND HE WAS MURDERED” This observation led CBS Austin news anchor Walt Maciborski down a rabbit hole. He was fascinated by the murder of his station’s founder, multimillionaire Texas media mogul Steven Beard. Beard was shot by Tracey Tarlton in 1999 while in his bed – but Tracey’s motive has long been in dispute. Beard’s wife, Celeste, is in prison for orchestrating his murde...

Did this mom poison her family at Thanksgiving dinner? And even worse, could she be a serial killer? North Carolina investigators are asking if Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel could be the rare female serial killer. Authorities say Gudrun poisoned wine served at a Thanksgiving gathering, killing her daughter Leela Livis and sickening two others. But as investigators dug into her past, they uncovered ano...

A Thanksgiving dinner. A bottle of wine. One daughter dead. And a question investigators are now asking: could this be the work of a female serial killer? Authorities say North Carolina mother Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel poisoned members of her own family during Thanksgiving dinner by allegedly lacing wine with acetonitrile, a chemical that converts to cyanide in the body. Her 32-year-old daughter,...

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson calls Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial ‘more than a trial. It's  a saga.” The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh's double murder convictions of ihis wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh.  They were shot to death June 7, 2021 at the family’s Moselle property in Colleton County, South Carolina. Alan Wilson won’t be back to personally p...