Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

The 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape was a high-profile jailbreak in which two convicted murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, escaped from a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, New York. On June 6, 2015, the inmates used power tools to cut through the backs of their cells, accessed a network of tunnels, and emerged through a manhole cover approximately 500 feet outside the prison wa...

The Robin Ramirez coupon scam was a large-scale counterfeit coupon operation based in Phoenix, Arizona, led by Robin Ramirez and her associates.

The Killdozer story revolves around Marvin Heemeyer, a welder and small business owner in Granby, Colorado, who in 2004 became enraged over disputes with city officials and local businesses that he felt had wronged him, including zoning decisions and fines. In response, Heemeyer secretly modified a Komatsu bulldozer into an armored vehicle by welding thick steel and concrete plating over it and in...

The Brian Draper “Scream” murder story was the 2006 murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart in Pocatello, Idaho, committed by her classmates Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik. Inspired by the movie Scream

Jamie Waylett is best known for playing Vincent Crabbe in the first six Harry Potter films, but his life took a sharp turn after the series ended. In 2009, Waylett was arrested for growing illegal plants at his mother’s house. His legal troubles escalated during the 2011 London riots.

Russell Williams was a high-ranking Canadian Air Force officer—Colonel Williams—who led a double life of trust and terror. Revered as commander of CFB Trenton and a decorated pilot who flew dignitaries, Williams’s façade hid decades of escalating violence: beginning with sneaking into homes to steal women’s underwear.

Albert Spaggiari was a French criminal known for masterminding what was called the “heist of the century” — the 1976 break-in of the Société Générale bank in Nice. He and a team dug an eight-meter tunnel from the city sewers to reach the bank vault, breaking into hundreds of safety deposit boxes and stealing millions of francs in money, bonds, and valuables.

Charles V. Harrelson was an American contract killer and the father of actor Woody Harrelson. A career criminal with a long history of violence, Harrelson was convicted of multiple murders for hire, including the 1979 assassination of federal judge John H. Wood Jr.

Gina Marks, often dubbed the “Psychic Scam Queen,” was a self-proclaimed psychic who conned multiple clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by claiming she could lift curses, reunite lovers, and cleanse their lives of bad luck.

An online love triangle spirals into a deadly obsession. Thomas Montgomery, a married man in his mid-forties, pretends to be a younger Marine named “Tommy” in an internet chat room. He meets “Talhotblond,” an online persona used by an 18-year-old high schooler named Jessi.

The Michelle Renee bank robbery took place in 2000 in Vista, California, when three masked intruders broke into the home of bank manager Michelle Renee. They held her and her daughter hostage overnight, rigging their bodies with fake dynamite and threatening to kill them unless Michelle robbed her own bank the next morning.

Stéphane Breitwieser is a French art thief who, between 1995 and 2001, stole more than 200 artworks and artifacts from small museums across Europe, with an estimated total value of over $2 billion.

Robert Bardo is best known as the man who murdered actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, a crime that shocked Hollywood and led to major changes in stalking laws.

Christian Gerhartsreiter’s story is one of the most bizarre cases of deception in modern history. Born in Germany, he came to the United States in the late 1970s and reinvented himself multiple times, adopting false identities, most famously posing as a Rockefeller, a supposed heir to the wealthy Rockefeller family.

Harold Henthorn’s story is a chilling tale of manipulation, murder, and greed disguised as bad luck. Henthorn’s first wife Lynn Henthorn, died in 1995 when their car mysteriously fell off a jack during a roadside tire change, a death initially ruled accidental. In 2012, his second wife, Toni Henthorn, fell to her death during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park under suspicious circumstances—af...

Demi Skipper, a TikTok creator behind “The Trade Me Project,” gained fame by bartering up a single bobby pin into a house via a series of increasingly valuable trades. In a generous move, she gave the house to an emerging creator named Shay, but the seemingly heartwarming gesture took a dark turn after Shay allegedly trashed the place, didn’t finalize the deed transfer, neglected maintenance and t...

Ellen Gilland, a 76-year-old Florida woman shot her terminally ill husband, Jerry Gilland, in his Daytona Beach hospital room in January 2023- a killing she claimed was part of a mutual pact after his suffering became unbearable.

Ashley Grayson, a 35-year-old Dallas-based online influencer known for teaching others how to monetize their skills, orchestrated a chilling murder-for-hire scheme after feuding online with a business rival in Mississippi.

Glenn Hirsch, a 51‑year‑old Queens resident, became infamously known as the "Duck Sauce Killer" after authorities said he fatally shot Chinese food deliveryman Zhiwen Yan following a dispute at the Great Wall restaurant over allegedly not receiving enough duck sauce packets

Detectives and others later found that Vicky White had allegedly fallen in love with the inmate, and gave him special treatment at the jail. She ultimately helped concoct the plot for Casey White to escape which ended 11 days later with his capture

The Great Maple Syrup Heist took place in Quebec, Canada, between 2011 and 2012, when thieves stole nearly 3,000 tons of maple syrup valued at about $18 million USD from a warehouse belonging to the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers

Milli Vanilli was a pop duo assembled in the late 1980s by German music producer Frank Farian—the mastermind behind Boney M.—and fronted by dancers Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, who lip-synced to vocals recorded by session singers. The duo skyrocketed to fame with hits like “Girl You Know It’s True”, even winning a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990. But their bubble burst when Farian revealed that...

The Golden State Killer, later identified as Joseph James DeAngelo, was a former police officer who terrorized California from the 1970s through the 1980s

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini, who played for several teams from the mid‑1990s through 2007 and later faced financial setbacks, was convicted in July 2025 of first‑degree murder, attempted murder, and burglary

Jonaris Badlishah—nicknamed “Liar Joe” —was identified as the prime suspect in Singapore’s infamous 1998 “Rolex watch murder.” The victim, beautician Sally Poh Bee Eng, was found brutally slain near the Marina South bus stop, and investigators traced her missing Rolex back to Jonaris, who had apparently gifted it to his girlfriend the same day