Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

20-year-old British model Chloe Ayling traveled to Milan for what she believed was a legitimate photoshoot, only to be shoved into a duffle bag, and transported 120 miles to a secluded farmhouse near Turin Italy. Her abductor, Lukasz Herba—claiming to work for a fictitious dark web syndicate called "Black Death"—threatened to auction her as a slave unless a ransom was paid

Former Army counterintelligence officer Larry Bill Elliott of Hanover, Maryland, carried out a brutal double homicide at a Woodbridge townhouse—fatally shooting 30-year-old Robert Finch and 25-year-old Dana Thrall, the latter capital-murdered after being pistol-whipped—with police and prosecutors asserting that Elliott’s obsessive jealousy over Finch’s ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Gragg, drove the crime...

Brian “Liver King” Johnson rose to prominence in the early 2020s as a social media fitness influencer who promoted an extreme “ancestral lifestyle”—emphasizing raw organ meats like liver, rugged workouts, and rejecting modern conveniences, amassing millions of followers and building a supplement empire . In late 2022, leaked emails revealed Johnson secretly spent over $11,000 monthly on performanc...

Stella Nickell, a former airport screener from Washington state, was convicted in May 1988 of deliberately tampering with Excedrin capsules by lacing them with cyanide, causing the deaths of her husband, Bruce, and an unsuspecting woman, Sue Snow.

In the early morning of July 31, 2022, 17‑year‑old Mackenzie Shirilla drove her Toyota Camry at approximately 100 mph into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, killing her 20‑year‑old boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and a 19‑year‑old friend, Davion Flanagan. Prosecutors argued that Shirilla accelerated deliberately—evidenced by event‑data‑recorder data showing full pedal depression and no attempt to...

Chinese real-estate developer Tan Youhui hired a hitman named Xi Guangan to murder his business rival, Wei, offering him 2 million yuan following a lawsuit against Tan’s company . Xi subcontracted the job to Mo Tianxiang, who further passed it to Yang Kangsheng, and then to Yang Guangsheng, finally ending up with Ling Xiansi—each reducing the fee, until Ling agreed for just 100,000 yuan but balked...

In May 1995, a disgruntled and mentally unstable Army veteran named Shawn Nelson stole a 57-ton M60A3 Patton tank from a National Guard armory in San Diego, California, and went on a 23-minute destructive rampage through city streets. Nelson, a 35-year-old unemployed plumber battling personal and financial troubles, used the tank to crush cars, fire hydrants, traffic lights, and utility poles—caus...

Project X Haren unfolded on September 21, 2012, in Haren, a small town in northern Netherlands, when a 16‑year‑old girl accidentally set her birthday party invitation to "public" on Facebook—sparking viral spread to over 24,000 invited and 6,000 RSVPs within days

Goo Hara was a South Korean singer and actress who rose to fame as a member of the K-pop girl group Kara in 2008, later embarking on a successful solo career in Japan . Despite professional success, she endured relentless online harassment, a traumatic breakup in which her ex-boyfriend assaulted her and threatened to release intimate videos, and battled mental health struggles.

Hunter Moore—infamously dubbed “the most hated man on the Internet”—founded  IsAnyoneUp dot com  in 2010, a notorious revenge porn site where he posted explicit images of individuals in intimate situations without their consent, often alongside personal details, calling himself a “professional life ruiner”. He even paid hackers to break into victims’ email accounts to obtain private photos. After...

In December 1970, Roy Spencer—father of NHL player Brian “Spinner” Spencer—drove 135 kilometers from Fort St. James to a CBC-affiliate station in Prince George, British Columbia, furious that the station had switched from airing his son’s hockey game to a Vancouver Canucks match. Armed with a 9 mm pistol, Spencer stormed the building, holding staff and on-air talent hostage for over an hour. Deman...

Anne Perry—born Juliet Hulme—became infamous in 1954 at just 15 when, alongside her close friend Pauline Parker, she brutally murdered Parker’s mother, Honorah, in Christchurch, New Zealand, bludgeoning her with a brick wrapped in a stocking as part of a plan to avoid being separated from her friend. Convicted in August of that year, the teens each served five years in prison. After her release, H...

In late 2011, San Diego mother Kathy Rowe became consumed by resentment after losing a bidding war for a “dream home” in Carmel Valley, California, to a younger couple—Jerry Rice and Janice Ruhter. In reaction, Rowe launched a disturbing harassment campaign.

Terry Martin, a 76-year-old former criminal from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, confessed in 2023 to breaking into the Judy Garland Museum in 2005, smashing a display case with a hammer, and stealing an authentic pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Believing the items were real rubies, he intended to sell them through a criminal fence—but soon discovered the gems were merely...

In August 2022, Ohio sheriff’s deputies carried out a forceful and destructive raid on rapper Afroman’s home in Adams County—though no charges were filed after finding no substantial evidence of drugs or kidnapping. In response, Afroman—real name Joseph Foreman—churned the raid footage into music tracks and videos, including “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door,” using the visua...

Dane Cook’s half-brother, Darryl McCauley—who had also been serving as his business manager—admitted to embezzling millions from Cook’s company between 2004 and 2008, siphoning off funds into his personal accounts, including writing a $3 million check to himself

Shaurn Thomas, who spent 24 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction before being exonerated in May 2017 and awarded a ~$4.1 million settlement, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to the January 2023 killing of Akeem Edwards over a $1,200 debt in Philadelphia

Fyre Festival was a high-profile bonanza turned fiasco: planned for April 2017 on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas, it was marketed by Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland as an ultra-luxury music experience with A‑list influencers, glamping domes, supermodels, and top musical acts. However, when attendees arrived, they were met with half-built tents, soggy mattresses, scant food (think chees...

Richard Jewell was an American security guard who, during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, spotted a suspicious green knapsack in Centennial Park and helped evacuate the area just before it exploded—saving numerous lives. Initially lauded as a hero, he was soon thrust into the spotlight as the FBI and media turned on him, propelled by speculative profiling, leaked information, and sensational headlines...

In May 2025, Ohio authorities arrested 51-year-old former divorce attorney Gregory Moore in connection with the blunt-force murder of his client, Cleveland Clinic nurse Aliza Sherman, whose fatal stabbing in 2013 shocked the community. Prosecutors allege Moore manipulated his client into meeting him at his office—then lured her into an ambush by impersonating her divorce attorney under false prete...

Sandy Jenkins, a longtime accountant at Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas, orchestrated one of the most audacious embezzlement schemes in U.S. history. Between 2004 and 2013, Jenkins exploited his position to siphon nearly $17 million from the bakery by manipulating the company's accounting system. He issued fraudulent checks to pay personal expenses, then altered records to conceal the...

In 2019, twin YouTubers Alan and Alex Stokes aka The Stokes Twins staged a fake bank robbery in Irvine, California, as part of a prank video. Dressed in black with ski masks and carrying duffel bags of cash, they called an Uber while pretending to flee a robbery. A bystander, believing a real crime was occurring, alerted police, leading to officers detaining the unsuspecting Uber driver at gunpoin...

Malachi Love-Robinson, infamously dubbed "Dr. Love," gained national attention in 2016 when, at just 18 years old, he impersonated a physician and opened a Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Claiming to be a naturopathic doctor, he treated patients and even performed physical exams, despite lacking any medical qualifications.

In 1999, Tonda Dickerson, a waitress at a Waffle House in Grand Bay, Alabama, received a Florida lottery ticket as a tip from a regular customer, Edward Seward. To her astonishment, the ticket turned out to be a $10 million winner. Dickerson's windfall quickly became a legal quagmire. Her coworkers sued, claiming a verbal agreement to share any lottery winnings, but the Alabama Supreme Court r...

Alan Knight, a man from Swansea, Wales, orchestrated an elaborate fraud by pretending to be in a coma for two years to avoid prosecution for stealing over £40,000 from his elderly neighbor, Ivor Richards, who had dementia. Knight, with the assistance of his wife Helen, feigned a severe neck injury that allegedly left him quadriplegic and prone to comatose episodes. They went to great lengths to su...