Criminally Obsessed

Serial Killer Ted Bundy is back in the headlines - but this time, it’s bringing long-awaited answers in a 51-year-old cold case. 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime was found beaten, bound, and left on the side of a highway after disappearing in Utah in 1974. DNA has now confirmed what investigators and her family long suspected: Bundy was responsible for killing this beloved daughter, sister, and friend. ...

Yesterday, on April 8th 2026, the world watched as Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to the killings of eight women on Long Island, New York. Investigative reporter Kristin Thorne watched in real time, in court with the man we can now call the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer.  She takes us into that room and explains what it was like - Rex Heuermann’s “overly confident” demeanor as he confirms his killings,...

We now know what many of us have long suspected - Rex Heuermann IS the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer.  Today, Wednesday April 8th, 2026, Heuermann pleaded guilty to strangling eight women on Long Island, New York. We anticipated a guilty plea to the murders of seven women, but he also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing the death of an eighth victim, Karen Vergata. He will be sentenced on June 17t...

Newly released jailhouse bodycam video is raising questions - and eyebrows - about the mental state and belief system of “doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell. The footage from July 2025 shows her being cited for contraband in prison, including M&Ms, gum, and self-proclaimed “miracle” toothpaste that appeared after she prayed for it. Vallow Daybell is serving time for murdering her two children, Tyle...

If South Carolina's Supreme Court Justices decide to overturn Alex Murdaugh's double murder conviction, what happens next? And who called Alex in the days after those oral arguments? Investigative Reporter, Anne Emerson filed a FOIA request and will tell you who he spoke with in this episode of Criminally Obsessed. But, as we anxiously await the state Supreme Court's decision, Anne spoke with atto...

On the night of April 1, 2006, the 27-year-old Ohio State medical student Brian Shaffer went out with friends to the Ugly Tuna Saloona. Surveillance cameras captured him inside, laughing and socializing. But when the night ended, something chilling became clear—Brian was never seen leaving.  His friends searched for him that night but eventually went home without answers. From that moment on, Bria...

Marla Waldman-Conn was 7-years-old when her mom was murdered in their Long Island home.  For years, she wasn’t really allowed to talk about it.  Her dad remarried.  The years went by.  Her mom’s case went cold.  She was told to forget about it.  But she had to find out who killed Barbara Waldman, because she was someone, her mom and her life mattered.  So she set out to learn everything she could...

Rex Heuermann was arrested in 2023 in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders. The case dates back more than a decade, when the disappearance of a woman in Long Island, New York led to the discovery of multiple bodies along the South Shore, bringing the known victim count to seven. He is now expected to plead guilty on April 8, 2026. Investigative reporter Kristin Thorne joins Criminally Obsessed’s...

The Long Island Serial Killer case - also known as the Gilgo Beach murders - is back in the spotlight. We’ve learned that Rex Heuermann, accused of seven murders, is expected to plead guilty to these grisly crimes on April 8th, 2026. What began 16 years ago with a missing woman in Long Island, New York led investigators to a chilling discovery along Ocean Parkway: the skeletal remains of multiple...

What comes to mind when you hear the name ‘Murdaugh’? A legal dynasty spanning generations? A boat crash? An unsolved homicide? A double murder on a South Carolina property twice the size of Central Park? Stolen money? A dead housekeeper?  How about all of the above?  Senior Investigative Reporter Anne Emerson spoke with Wall Street Journal reporter Valerie Bauerlein, who wrote a bestselling book...

If the crimes of the Murdaugh family are a knot, there’s one thread we’ll never let go of here at Criminally Obsessed – the unsolved homicide of Stephen Smith. He was found dead on a rural South Carolina road in 2015, and we’ve followed the case through all its twists and turns.  We’ve spoken with the people closest to Stephen, including his mom, Sandy, and twin sister, Stephanie. Despite moments...

Who is the real Alex Murdaugh? Before the guilty verdict… before the appeal… there were secrets no one saw coming. Even the prosecutors who helped convict him for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul say the full picture is more complicated than many realized. Behind the influence and legacy: financial crimes, alleged schemes, and a hidden opioid addiction that stunned South Carolina and dr...

Three years after Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul, his case is once again at a critical turning point. The South Carolina Supreme Court is now weighing whether his conviction could be overturned — and a possible retrial could be on the horizon. In this rare and exclusive 2023 interview from the archives, five members of the prosecution team break down the t...

This episode is hard to watch, but impossible to forget. We mean it when we say you’ll need tissues for this conversation. Lucia Iris Seifried was a giggly 9-month-old with bright blue eyes and a big personality. Her parents, Matthew and Rebecca Seifried, remember her ‘sweet giggle that could light up a room’. On April 26, 2025, the family was enjoying an evening outside together - Lucia playing i...

“Methodical.” “Cold.” “Premeditated.” These are words West Virginia State Police Sergeant Ronnie Gaskins uses to describe 16-year-old Skylar Neese’s killers, fellow 16 year olds Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf. But these girls weren’t just teens; they were also Skylar's so-called ‘best friends.’   Sergeant Gaskins was the lead investigator in the shocking 2012 murder case, and is now back in the spot...

Dave Neese’s daughter, Skylar Neese, was stabbed in the back by her two best friends in 2012.  They attacked her with kitchen knives and left her in the middle of the woods.  For six months, no one knew what happened to Skylar Neese.  Meanwhile, Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy went back to life as normal teenagers acting as if nothing ever happened.  Dave and his wife, Mary, were beside themselves.  ...

“I would be devastated!”  Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson has a lot of opinions about Alex Murdaugh’s appeal to overturn his double murder conviction. She was one of the family’s housekeepers for years.  The South Carolina State Supreme Court heard oral arguments from both the defense and prosecution on February 11th, 2026.  While the Justices mull over their decisions, Blanca isn’t backing down from be...

“I spoke the truth.”  Murdaugh housekeeper and confidant of Maggie, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson says she’s faced some backlash for using her voice.  In previous interviews with Investigative Reporter Anne Emerson, Blanca opened up about the kind of person Maggie Murdaugh was.  She was more than a boss; she was a dear friend.  Blanca’s book Within the House of Murdaugh hit #6 on the New York Times Be...

David Robinson wants everyone to know his son's case is anything but cold. Daniel Robinson went missing in the desert of Buckeye, Arizona in June 2021. The 23-year-old geologist’s jeep was found overturned in a ravine, but he remains missing. What started with a devoted father jumping in his car and driving  2,000 miles from South Carolina to Arizona to search for Daniel, has turned into years of...

The star witness in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is independently investigating the Stephen Smith cold case — and he says they “got a good idea who committed this.”   Stephen was a blonde haired, blue-eyed 19-year-old left dead on a rural South Carolina road in 2015. Kenny Kinsey, who’s a forensic investigator brought in by attorneys for Stephen’s mother, has reviewed the evidence, the second au...

It's been more than 3 weeks since 16-year-old Madison Fields was last seen by her parents, or by anyone.  What started as a search for a missing teen in Colerain Township, Ohio has shifted to an FBI investigation into the dark corners of the internet - encrypted apps, private messaging platforms - and the people who hide there, preying on kids and teens.  We now know that a 43-year-old man named K...

Watch the Criminally Obsessed original documentary "Dead Silence: The Casey Pitzer Investigation" out now on our YouTube channel. “She's got her hand on my shoulder guiding me slowly. But she's there. She's there with me all the time."     Nearly thirteen years ago, a day meant to celebrate luck and joy took a dark turn for 32-year-old mother Casey Pitzer. She was last seen leaving a bar in Wilmin...

Michelle Newton was found 42 years after police say her mom kidnapped her and she’s now revealing more of her mother’s lies.  When Anne Emerson first spoke with her back in December after the viral video of her mother’s arrest in Marion County, Florida, Michelle had so many emotions about finding out who she really was and catching up with family she’d never met.  The federal investigation into wh...

For many of us, the case of Michelle Newton started with a viral video of a woman being arrested in Florida. But for Joe Newton, this case started decades ago, when his wife and 3-year-old daughter up and vanished from their life in rural Kentucky. We now know the woman in the video was Debra Newton, arrested for kidnapping her own daughter, Michelle. We’ve seen Debra's arrest and interrogation, a...

All eyes are on the trial of Kouri Richins, the Utah mom accused of murdering her husband by poisoning his cocktail with a lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022. Following her husband’s death, Kouri wrote a children’s book about grief and healing for her kids – which prosecutors are trying to prove was just part of her painting a narrative of being a good mother, not a murderer. We learned from forensic...