Murder: True Crime Stories

On March 16, 1978, former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped off a busy Rome street by the Red Brigades terrorist group, his five bodyguards killed in seconds. For 55 days, he wrote 86 letters begging for his life, while his own government called his death a spiritual victory. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the assassination, the political forces tha...

In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy follows the 44-year investigation into the 1974 murder of 19-year-old Arlis Perry at Stanford University's Memorial Church. Serial killer David Berkowitz's cryptic claims of a nationwide satanic cult network kept the case alive for decades. But it was a mislabeled piece of evidence and advances in DNA technology that finally revealed the truth. H...

In October 1974, 19-year-old Arlis Perry stepped inside Stanford University's memorial church late one Saturday night to pray after an argument with her husband, and never came out. When a security guard found her body the next morning, detectives encountered one of the most disturbing crime scenes they had ever seen, with evidence suggesting the killing was deliberate, ritualistic, and deeply per...

In 1892, a woman calling herself Lottie Bernard checked into the Hotel del Coronado alone, sick, and afraid — and was found dead five days later, the bullet in her body not matching the gun she bought. Over forty years later, a young man registered as Roland T. Owen sat alone in a dark Kansas City hotel room with the door unlocked, as if waiting for whoever came to kill him. In this episode of Mur...

In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy picks up where the Greenbrier Ghost case left off. After Zona Heaster Shue's exhumed body reveals a broken neck and fingerprints on her throat, prosecutor John Preston builds a case against her husband Edward — a man who had already buried two wives under suspicious circumstances. The trial that follows tests the limits of what a jury will accept...

In 1897, 23-year-old Zona Heaster Shue was found dead in her rural West Virginia home, and the doctor quickly ruled it natural causes — but her new husband's suspicious behavior and a history of violence told a different story. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crime Stories, host Carter Roy traces Zona's life, her whirlwind marriage to the charming but dangerous Edward Shue, and the events of the cold Ja...

In November 2022, four University of Idaho students — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — were stabbed to death inside their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, after a night out with friends. For weeks, the case gripped the nation as investigators traced a circling white Hyundai Elantra and a lone DNA clue to criminology PhD student Bryan Kohberger. In this episode of...

After the discovery of 16-year-old Jeannette DePalma’s body in a New Jersey quarry, investigators were left with more questions than answers. With no clear cause of death and a crime scene that some believed pointed to something ritualistic, rumors of the occult quickly took hold and began to shape both public fear and the direction of the case. In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy...

In 1972, 16-year-old Jeannette DePalma disappeared from her quiet suburban neighborhood in Springfield, New Jersey, and at first, no one treated it as a crisis. Known as a rebellious teenager with a complicated reputation, many believed she had simply run away. But as weeks passed with no word, that assumption began to unravel. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines Jeannette...

In 1945, a series of shocking murders gripped Chicago, each more disturbing than the last, and one marked by a message scrawled in lipstick that would haunt the city. Police soon arrested 17-year-old William “Bill” Heirens, who quickly became known as the Lipstick Killer. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the investigation, the intense interrogation that led to Hei...

After suspicion fell on Shrien Dewani in the murder of his wife, Anni, the case quickly expanded into an international legal battle over whether he would be extradited to South Africa to stand trial. As prosecutors worked to build their case, the question of what truly happened on the couple’s honeymoon became even more contested. In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the fi...

In 2010, newlyweds Anni and Shrien Dewani arrived in Cape Town for what was meant to be a luxury honeymoon, but within days, Anni was found shot to death in a hijacked taxi in a crime that quickly made international headlines. What initially appeared to be a tragic robbery soon took a darker turn as investigators uncovered signs that the attack may have been planned. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crim...

In 2005, an American teenager vanished during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, sparking an international search and years of unanswered questions. Natalee Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with three young men, and what followed became one of the most widely covered missing persons cases in modern history. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the disappearan...

At the height of his career, Sam Cooke was more than a music icon. He was becoming an increasingly outspoken figure in the civil rights movement, using his platform to challenge injustice while navigating the pressures of fame, business, and a rapidly changing America. In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the final chapter of Cooke’s life, including his growing activism, th...

In 1964, Sam Cooke was one of the biggest stars in America, a pioneering soul singer whose voice and business instincts were reshaping the music industry. Behind the success, Cooke was navigating growing personal pressures and a shifting cultural landscape as the civil rights movement gained momentum. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy traces Cooke’s rise from gospel prodigy to cr...

In 2021, a powerful South Carolina legal dynasty was rocked by a brutal double murder that quickly drew national attention. Alex Murdaugh, a prominent attorney from a family with deep ties to the region’s justice system, soon became the focus of an investigation that extended far beyond the killings. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the Murdaugh murders, the unrav...

After the indictment of Quinton Tellis, the case against him moved to trial, but the search for justice for Jessica Chambers proved far from straightforward. In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the courtroom battles that followed Jessica’s brutal murder, where prosecutors centered their case on her alleged final words and the circumstantial evidence surrounding Tellis. Def...

In December 2014, 19 year old Jessica Chambers was found severely burned beside her car on a rural road in Courtland, Mississippi and soon passed away from her injuries. The horrifying crime quickly became one of the most haunting unsolved murder cases in recent memory. Before she died, Jessica reportedly identified her attacker, and her final words quickly became one of the most debated pieces of...

In 1918, Russia’s last royal family vanished into the chaos of revolution. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their five children were being held by Bolshevik forces as the Russian Empire collapsed around them, and rumors about their fate quickly spread across the world. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the final days of the Romanov family, the secretive ex...

Three days after the taping of The Jenny Jones Show, the tension that had lingered off camera turned deadly. What began as a daytime television surprise became a national tragedy, thrusting Scott Amedure and Jonathan Schmitz back into headlines under far darker circumstances. In Part 2, Murder: True Crime Stories examines the murder of Scott Amedure, the urgent investigation that followed, and the...

Scott Amedure was 32 years old when he stepped onto the stage of The Jenny Jones Show, prepared to share a deeply personal confession. In 1995, he revealed on national television that he had a crush on Jonathan Schmitz, a moment designed for daytime drama that would soon take on far more serious consequences. In Part 1, Murder: True Crime Stories examines Scott’s life leading up to the taping and...

In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy investigates the Smiley Face Killers theory, a controversial claim that a hidden network of predators is responsible for the drowning deaths of dozens of young men across the United States. What authorities have often ruled accidental drownings, some investigators argue may be something far more coordinated and sinister. The theory points t...

75 years after the Rosenberg trial gripped the nation, its legacy still sparks debate about justice, fear, and political power. In Part 2 of this two-part special, Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes turns to the courtroom battle that would cement Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’s place in history and ignite decades of controversy. Carter Roy is joined again by Vanessa Richardson, host of Conspiracy...

At the height of Cold War paranoia, one American couple stood accused of betraying their country in a case that would divide a nation. In Part 1 of this two-part special, Murder: True Crime Stories examines the explosive investigation that placed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg at the center of an alleged atomic spy ring. Carter Roy is joined by Vanessa Richardson, host of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, a...

In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the disappearance of Joseph Force Crater, the New York Supreme Court justice who walked out of a Manhattan restaurant in 1930 and was never seen again. What began as a routine summer evening quickly spiraled into one of the most baffling missing persons cases in American history. As newspapers seized on the story, the vanishing jud...