Criminology

We're tackling two different cases in this episode. Both of them deal with men who perpetrated unspeakable violence against people who loved them. Both cases involve young survivors who lived through their attacks and were able to take the stand and testify against the men who tried to kill them and succeeded in killing their family members. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss two very emotional ca...

On July 3, 2014, 15-year-old Megan Nichols disappeared from her Fairfield, Illinois home. Megan was dating an 18-year-old named Brodey Murbarger, and the relationship had caused a rift between Megan and her mother. There were a few cryptic clues left behind at the home, one was Megan's cell phone which had been completely wiped. Another was a note that Megan had written that contained very strange...

In 1960, three young people, Maila Bjorklund, Anja Tuulikki Maki, and Seppo Boisman were murdered in Finland while they were camping. A fourth person, Nils Gustafsson, who was with the group was injured but survived, and later became a suspect. This is one of Finland's most infamous unsolved murder cases. It rocked the country at the time it occurred and some people are still wary, to this day, ab...

In 2011, Florida teenager Tyler Hadley killed his parents and then held a massive party at his house. Many people, including Tyler, called it the party of a lifetime. What the other partygoers didn't know was that Tyler's parents, Blake and Mary-Jo Hadley, were dead inside their master bedroom at the time. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss this infamous story out of the state of Florida. Tyler ha...

In 1973 two teachers were murdered, one in New York City, and the other in Indiana. While both murders were extremely brutal, they were covered very differently. A Catholic school teacher named Roseann Quinn was murdered in New York City. Her murder became the basis for the book, "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and later a movie by the same name. 26-year-old Ann Kline was a mathematics professor who was...

On August 30th, 2019, the body of Autumn Lee Stone was found in Green Lake in Seattle, Washington. She was found by a man paddleboarding who thought at first that she was a turtle in the water. When the police pulled Autumn's body out of the water, they found her shoelaces tied together around her neck. Within just an hour of Autumn's body being found police said there was no foul play and told jo...

Manuel Gehring was a man who was not happy with his life. He had a hard time holding down a job. He wasn't happy that his marriage to his wife Teri had ended and that she had found and married another man. Manuel was also not happy with the custody and child support arrangement that he had with his wife. He wasn't happy that in June 2003, Father's Day fell on Teri's weekend with the kids. And, whe...

In 1958, 10-year-old Bobby Bizup went missing while at a Catholic summer camp in Boulder County, Colorado. It was assumed he had wandered off and searchers would find him quickly, but, that didn't happen. Parts of Bobby's remains were later found as were bits of his clothing. Some were found 3 miles up Mount Meeker. Bobby's skull was never found. Investigators determined that Bobby most likely die...

The town of Speedway, Indiana is known for racing with the Indianapolis Speedway being a huge attraction. But, in 1978, Speedway gained attention for a number of high-profile crimes. In September of that year, a serial bomber terrorized the area by detonating eight separate bombs. A month after the bombings, the murder of four young Burger Chef employees rocked the area. Known as the Burger Chef m...

Christy Crystal Creek was the name given to an unidentified female murder victim found near the town of Bonner in Missoula County, Missouri in 1985. She was named after the road near where she was found. Investigators had very little to work with in trying to identify her and went down a lot of avenues that turned out to be incorrect. A number of varying models and composites hindered the identifi...

In 1966, Anita Taylor was murdered inside her home in Springfield, Ohio. Her husband came home from work to find her clinging to life and their infant son in his crib, alive, but with a broken leg. Anita was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The investigation into Anita's murder began and a number of persons of interest were ruled. Join Mike and Morf as they dive into this baffling case....

Serial killer Richard Cottingham earned the moniker of "The Torso Killer" for his crimes. To the outside world, Richard seemed like a professional and a family man. But, he was unfaithful to his wife and he had urges deep inside that eventually resulted in a number of murders. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss serial killer Richard Cottingham. He operated in his home state of New Jersey but also...

Nick and Lisa Masee were living what appeared to those around them to be a great life in Vancouver, Canada. But, even though they brought in a substantial income, they were deeply in debt. In 1994, the two began acting strangely in ways that were noticeable to those around them. In August of that year, they disappeared and have never been heard from or located. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss t...

Baby Hope was the name given to a four-year-old little girl found dead in a cooler near the Henry Hudson Parkway. Baby Hope's body was found by construction workers in Manhattan, New York, in 1991. Authorities found witnesses but were unable to figure out who Baby Hope was or what exactly had happened to her. It wasn't until 2013 that police caught a break in the case and the pieces started to fal...

In 2019, Canadian teenagers Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod embarked on a deadly crime spree. They told their families that they were headed to the Yukon territory to look for work. But, after stopping to buy a semi-automatic rifle, they started their killing spree. Their victims were selected at random and included a young couple whose van broke down on a road trip to Alaska and a botany profess...

In 1987, the small town of Ina, Illinois was rocked by the senseless and brutal murders of the Dardeen family. When 29-year-old Keith Dardeen failed to show up for work, his parents called the police. The police made a shocking discovery at the Dardeen home. Keith's wife Elaine, who was seven months pregnant, and their 3-year-old son Peter were found bludgeoned to death. Elaine delivered a baby gi...

In Nevada, Interstate 80 runs through stretches of desert. The desert can be a very unforgiving place with temperature swings and dangers that await those who venture through it. There have been a large number of unexplained disappearances and deaths along a certain stretch of I-80. Pumpernickel Valley's Exit 205 is extremely interesting because it leads to nowhere. But, there have been some very...

In 1976, residents of Circleville, Ohio began receiving obscene and threatening letters that contained details and rumors regarding some of the residents in town. For residents of Circleville, it wasn't a serial killer that shattered their sense of safety and neighborly closeness. It was a serial writer - a writer who by the time he or she was done, had sent over 1000 letters targeting many of Cir...

High school senior Holly Branagan was murdered inside her Bethlehem, Pennsylvania home on March 28, 1979. She was brutally stabbed to death in a horrific manner, but, her murder case was overshadowed by the partial meltdown that same day at Three Mile Island. The police pieced together the timeline of Holly's murder through phone calls that she made that day. But, they have been unable to catch he...

In 2018, an unidentified hiker, which many began called Mostly Harmless, was found in Florida and what followed was a search for his identity. It was discovered that the hiker had been traveling the Appalachian Trail. People began to come forward with information about their encounters with Mostly Harmless after the story took hold on social media and people around the world started working on the...

In 1982, 29-year-old Barbara Jo Oberholtzer and 21-year-old Annette Kay Schnee were both last seen in the town of Breckinridge, Colorado. Both were found murdered and their cases were linked by a pair of orange socks. A matching orange sock was found on or near each of the murdered women's bodies. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss these tragic murders out of Colorado. Investigators were stumped f...

Between 2005 and 2009, 8 women were found murdered in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. There were eight women from Jennings, Louisiana who were murdered in those four years and they are referred to collectively as "The Jennings 8" or "The Jeff Davis 8." 14 agencies from the federal level down to the local level worked together to hunt a serial killer operating in Jefferson Davis Parish. Join Mik...

The Tiede family spent quality family time each year at their cabin in Oakley, Utah. Rolf and Kay Tiede had two daughters, Linae and Tricia, and a son named Shaun. In December 1990, The Tiede family went to their cabin and were joined by Kaye's mother, Beth Potts, and a number of other family members.  Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the Tiede family murders. Their 1990 Christmas at the cabin w...

On January 21, 1998, 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe was found dead in her bedroom. She had been fatally stabbed multiple times while her family slept. Multiple people would eventually be charged with her murder, including members of Stephanie's own family. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious murder of Stephanie Crowe. Police initially suspected Stephanie's brother and some of his friend...

The Thanksgiving holiday in 2018 should have been a joyous time for 29-year-old mother, Kelsey Berreth. She was engaged to be married and had a little girl with her fiance Patrick Frazee. But, Kelsey went missing and the police began to suspect that Patrick was somehow involved. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the disappearance and murder of Kelsey Berreth. The details that emerged were so sala...