Crossing the Line with M. William Phelps

It's a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in a suburb of Detroit during the summer of 1985. Teenager Shawn Moore heads to the store on his bike for a soda. After he fails to return home, a frantic search ensues … as a man dubbed the "Real Norman Bates," the fictional serial killer from the classic film "Psycho," is discovered trolling the area for victims.  

Two young women go missing along the Jersey Shore in the early 1980's. An eighteen-month search produces no leads. Then a woman walks into a local police station and begins talking—and a new search leads to a grisly discovery and several more victims. 

In late 2023, one of Keith "Happy Face Killer" Jesperson's Jane Doe victims was identified. Phelps speaks with death investigator Emily Speed, who worked on the case along with Phelps for many years. In this special hybrid episode of two podcasts, "Death Calls" with Emily Speed and "Crossing the Line," Phelps and Speed discuss how the case evolved over almost 30 years and how, finally, she was ide...

A teenage girl goes missing in a small Minnesota town. Police are baffled. Her large family of nearly a dozen siblings are mortified. Weeks turn into months, there's no sign of her. Then a series of revealing events occur, tipping off police that 'Stranger Danger,' such a prevalent Public Service Announcement at the time, scaring kids from coast to coast, is likely more smoke than fire, and the cu...

In this first episode of the 2024 season, Phelps discusses several recent, alarming developments in the Long Island Serial Killer case, the implications they will have on the true crime genre, and, most importantly, the Long Island serial killer's victims' families.

Your favorite true crime podcast, CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS, is back with all new episodes beginning February 22, 2024.  Enjoy, share, and post the latest trailer. Check out  www.crossingtheline.biz  for more information. Subscribe to the show wherever you get your favorite podcasts, so you don't miss a new episode. 

Phelps speaks with Lauren Fields' mother, Shantell, about the surprising cause and manner of death in Lauren's case. He also digs into the Brenda Rawls death - another woman found dead after a date - the very same night, just down the road from where Lauren died - whose family was also never informed of her death by the police.

You might have heard about this case: A woman, Lauren Smith-Fields, TikTok influencer, model and college student studying physical therapy, invites a Bumble date over to her apartment in December 2021 and winds up dead … police say accidental, family says suspicious … and yet the manner of death is only half the story. What happened inside Lauren's apartment on the night she died, and the next day...

A beloved woman in a posh Connecticut town goes out for a jog, same as she does every day. Along that route is an immense estate owned by the puppeteer, Caroll Spinney, who played the iconic "Big Bird" and "Oscar the Grouch" characters on Sesame Street. After failing to return, police searching for the woman find a literal blood trail leading directly to Big Bird's estate … and an immaculate Chine...

When problems between a wealthy woman, her son and his wife begin to get ugly, people turned a blind eye. But when Rebecca Cornell catches fire one night and dies, the case is re-opened after a ghostly appearance convinces local lawmakers it wasn't just an accident.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a young college student's car was abandoned on the side of a busy midwest highway in 1992, police figured it was a runaway case. Nine days later, she was found brutally murdered, nearly 500 miles away in another state. What happened to Tammy Jo Zywicki? Hear the story when PAPER GHOSTS returns with a new season on February 1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acas...

Conrad Roy died by suicide on a hot July night in 2014. But what is the true story behind "the girl from Plainville", who faced a judge on manslaughter charges after texts reveal she might have had urged him to take his own life? Phelps digs into the social and legal aspects of this high-profile case, featured in a special Hulu series.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted o...

When a tipster starts calling in to a California tip line saying he knows where bodies are buried, eyebrows are raised. But after cash payouts for info on several missing women, suspicions arise that an actual serial killer might just be phoning in his own murders. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the late 1980s in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, women were murdered one after the other, with the brutality of a serial killer so exceptionally grotesque, he is compared to Jack the Ripper. Phelps goes deep into his psychology, in an episode surely not for kiddos. Buckle up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

43-year-old Liz Romero of Waco, Texas goes missing in early April 2022. Her family and friends are concerned almost immediately. The case cools before a tip comes in. And the horror of what transpired becomes everyone's worst reality.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A mother loses custody of her kids to her violent and abusive ex. Did the government go one step further and effectively sanction her murder? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Portland, Oregon, a beloved culinary teacher is found murdered inside his school's kitchen. Could his wife, a budding romance novelist, be guilty of his murder?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A cruise ship can be a blissful, relaxing vacation for a family … or, as true crime fans know all-too-well, a dreaded nightmare. We've all heard the horror stories from cruise ships. This week, Phelps digs into the missing person investigation of Amy Lynn Bradley — and trust us, you'll think twice about taking that cruise after hearing this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

A man leaves his Long Island home with one goal in mind: To kill the next person he runs into. Phelps digs into the death of a 16-year-old boy: a murder that sets off an incredible story rarely looked at in the true crime boom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's one of the only murder cases in Connecticut history that was tried without a body. And not because the body was buried and never found—but because there was very little left to find. A horrifying murder that shocked the world and inspired an Oscar-winning film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All murder stories are important. I want to bring special attention to this case by reposting it for this week of Thanksgiving because Kim Wall, the victim in this episode, gave so much of herself to everyone around her, her community, and the public. I want to honor her. I'll be back next week with a brand new case—one you will not want to miss. A renowned journalist is last seen boarding a homem...

45-year-old Danielle Redlick seemed to have it all: a wealthy husband, a posh home, one of three luxury vehicles to drive. Money to do whatever she wanted. In 2019, however, all of that comes crashing down as her husband, 65-year-old Michael Redlick, is found stabbed and dead in the foyer of the couple's Florida home. **If you are a victim of domestic abuse, please call 1-800-799-SAFE. Visit theho...

Just six days after our episode aired, the Lady of the Dunes is identified as Ruth Marie Terry after the case went cold almost five decades ago. Now her husband, Guy Rockwell Muldavin, a possible serial killer, is connected to Ruth's murder as well as several more unsolved cases. Phelps gives you the latest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

In the tight-knit Connecticut town where she lived, everyone knew where to find 21-year-old Lucy Carman--on the front stoop, sitting and waving at passersby. Until one day, Lucy vanishes. A search ensues, a body is found -- but could the most likely suspect be innocent?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A woman's body is found mutilated in the dunes of Provincetown, Mass in 1974. Weeks earlier, Steven Spielberg had been nearby filming the horror classic JAWS. But decades later, can Stephen King's son, author Joe Hill, believe his eyes when he sees a nearly identical woman working as a background actor in the classic film? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See a...