Our True Crime Podcast

We are headed to the great state of Texas, Houston, to be exact. Renee and her 19-year-old daughter Ashley Wilson are very close, talking often, usually every day. There was no answer when Renee tried to reach out on the phone to have their usual chat. Usually, this may scare Renee, but she thought she knew why. Ashley had called her mom a few days earlier to tell her she had some news, and that n...

Content WarningThis episode deals with the rape and death of a young child. Ten-year-old Holly had been playing with a neighborhood playmate a bit younger than her. When it came time for her friend to go home, Holly didn’t want the little girl to walk back alone. So her mother, Maria, gave her permission to escort her friend home since the walk wasn’t very far, only about six minutes. In fact, it...

Donna Willard, a single mother of three, lived in a tight-knit community of South Philly, doing her best to raise her three children. Her oldest was Todd, 12, with his baby sisters, 10-year-old Donna and 7-year-old Jessica, following. They were the light of her life, and she worked hard as a hairdresser to give them a good life. Donna was petite, weighing just over 80 pounds at 4’10, but she was b...

In many ways, the Privackys were your average American family. They lived in western Michigan, in rural Dalton township just north of Muskegon. The family consisted of Stephen Privacky, a his wife Linda, and their two sons. Jedidiah, and Seth. Around noon on November 29th, the already tense family relationships were strained to the breaking point when Seth and his father had yet another fight. Onl...

Today, we are going to a small town in Iowa called Macedonia. The city is located just outside of Omaha, Nebraska, and boasts a population of around 250 residents. It is the kind of town in America where everyone knows each other, and you can’t get away with much because you are either related to them or someone you know is related to them. When a 37-year-old single mom named Cari Farver disappear...

David and Patricia Stallings married in August of 1988, and with the belief that they were about to embark on their part of the American Dream, the couple bought a small white farmhouse on Lake Wauwanoka in Hillsboro, MissouriTwenty-four-year-old Patricia gave birth to the couple’s first child, Ryan Stallings, in April of 1989. Even though Ryan suffered from gastronomic distress since birth, the c...

Today we are heading south to a town called Davie, just outside of Florida’s Gold Coast. It is a small town where not a lot happens, and that is precisely how the townfolk like it. A massacre in this sleepy town would disrupt the calm community, leaving them in fear. It would take a long time to finally get justice, but how the case unfolds is genuinely one of the most bizarre. Join Jen and Cam on...

Life in America in the 1950s often conjures up images of an idyllic suburban life. Fueled by unprecedented economic growth after the lean and stressful years of World War II, Americans enjoyed the stability and prosperity that they craved. The innocent and wholesome portrayal of the nuclear family was often depicted in programs like Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver as one where every probl...

Warning: This episode is graphic. Listener discretion is advised. It is a rite of passage for many American college students, and that is Spring Break. It’s a time when students can cut loose, drink too much, and make plenty of bad decisions. Whether Palm Springs or Palm Beach, kids flock to the surf, sun, and sand to have a week full of fun. As parents, we know our children are getting older, and...

Leon Benson spent 24 years in an Indiana state prison for the 1998 murder of a young man named Kasey Schoen. His conviction hinged on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – but what if their memories turned out to be wrong? And what if the people who knew what really happened had never been allowed to speak? Suspect Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark is the story of two victims: one murdered, one sente...

Springfield, Missouri, is an unassuming town of historical significance. Located in the southwest portion of the state, Springfield is home to about 170,000 people. And although the city is no stranger to violent crime, as many might remember the now world-famous 1992 disappearance of the Springfield Three, it's mostly a quiet place to live. Mark and Diane Staudte resided in Springfield with their...

It is Saturday morning, Dec 10, 1994, when a phone call from the fancy downtown Atheneum Hotel comes into the police. A hotel guest named Roberta Amos is found dead in the bed. Investigators are sent to the scene. Police ask the 51-year-old Lowell Amos, who goes by Ed, to recount the hours leading up to when he woke up and discovered his 37-year-old wife dead next to him. Ed said the previous nigh...

On April 13, 1984, in a suburb of St Louis, Missouri, eighteen-year-old Mary Towey never showed up to the Friday the 13th party she was hosting at her parents' home. Within a week, her body would be found, and her murderers arrested. Since it was the 80s, one of her killers would try to use the Satanic Panic to his advantage. Join Cam and Jen as they discuss Blame It On The Game: Mary ToweyResearc...

It is March 17, 1997, and the day is winding down for Killaloe Ontario police superintendent Ken Leppert. As he leaves the Ontario Provincial Police dept, he is greeted by 39-year-old Nancy Filmore. The visibly upset woman demands to speak to a detective. As the two sit down, Nancy tells the detective she is there to talk about Cherrylle Dell. She blasts into name-calling, directed at the 42-year-...

Content Warning: this episode contains graphic details. Listener discretion is advised. On October 3, 1997, Nichole Collins and Lauren Barry went camping near Tathra and Bega Roads in New South Wales, Australia. The group was celebrating Labour Day weekend along with Lauren's birthday. At 10 pm on Sunday, October 5, Lauren and Nichole decide to walk to a party in nearby Jellat Jellat, five miles a...

It is June 16, 1987, and we are in Nashville, Tennessee, and a beloved church named Emmanuel Church of Christ Oneness Pentecostal has experienced a substantial damaging fire. Detective Robert Moore reports to the scene. He quickly determined that the fire had severely damaged the structure, burning extremely hot. The organ had melted, and the chandeliers had fallen to the ground. The walls were bl...

This is a case that has stuck with Jen for a few years now. In late 2015 a breathtaking image of nineteen-year-old Raudha Athif wearing a snow-white sleeveless dress, standing chest high in the cerulean, teal swirl of the Indian Ocean. It wouldn’t take long before the image snagged the attention of Vogue magazine. While being a model is a dream for many young women. Raudha had aspirations of being...

It is January 31, 2012, and a family member decides to drop by the home of 24-year-old Billie Jean Hayworth and her fiance 35-year-old Bill Payne. The couple, who shared a 6-month-old son, had recently gotten engaged and we were excited for the future. A family member who regularly stopped by to check in on the young family was always greeted by the baby crawling around. This time it was different...

On March 29th, 1995, 17-year-old Deanna Cremins completed a project at school in which the assignment instructed her to list the five most important goals in her life. These were Deanna’s answers: To graduate high school. To find a successful job that I enjoy. To have a dark green convertible Mustang. To have a happy family. To live a long time and healthy. When the assignment asked which of the f...

It’s all a lighthearted nightmare on the MORBID podcast. Hosted by Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley, Morbid is a full dose of true crime with a splash of comedy. Join us all month long as we celebrate 5 years of MORBID with a special anniversary series, a festive edition of listener tales, and more surprises to come. Listen to Morbid wherever you get your podcasts: Wondery.fm/MB_OTCPHey, Prime Membe...

One of the scariest yet most exciting things is letting go of your child as they become an adult and go to college. As a parent, you have done your job getting your child to this point; now, you will drop them off at college, trusting they will be safe and have a blast while getting an excellent education. That is how it is supposed to go, but sadly that isn’t always the case. Today we are headed...

CONTENT WARNING This episode contains discussions of sexual assault. Bloomington-Normal is a metro area of about 130,000 people in north-central Illinois. Located just two hours southwest of Chicago, Blo-No, as it is affectionally called, is one of those cities in America that’s known for being, well, normal. It’s flat, there’s not much to see, and it's surrounded by cornfields. One local real est...

There is a job for kids that doesn’t exist today: the old paperboy. Kids would wake before sunrise and hop on their shiny Schwinn bikes with a banana seat to deliver the newspapers to the neighborhood. 13-year-old David Reed was the local paper boy for the Pottsville Republican, and he always made sure to get papers to his neighbors in Schuylkill Haven so they could get the morning news with their...

*****CONTENT WARNING*****Every now and then, police officers experience a case that shakes them to their core. In May of 1982, that’s exactly what happened. Two beat patrol officers in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, were first to respond to a frantic phone call reporting a dead body, one would quit the force within six months, and the other would ask for a desk job where he would remain for the res...

Today’s case takes us to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it is May 31, 1991. The area is well-known to sunbathers and tourists alike. It is home to the Swimmers Hall of Fame and several high-end hotels and restaurants. Millions of people set off to soak up the sand and sunshine each year, and Lorraine Anne Barrett was no different. Lori, as she was known by her friends, was a 32-year Pennesylannia...