Scams, Money, & Murder

On the morning of June 13th, 1980, Candy Montgomery stopped by her friend Betty Gore's house to pick up a swimsuit. When she left, she said Betty was perfectly fine. That night, three neighbors found Betty's body in her utility room, struck with an axe 41 times while her baby cried alone upstairs. The bloody footprint on the floor was too small to belong to a man. And the last person to see Betty...

In the fall of 2002, a series of seemingly random shootings paralyzed the Washington, D.C. area. No one knew where the next bullet would strike—or why. In Part 1, Vanessa and Dr. Engels break down the early attacks, the public terror, and the frantic race to stop an invisible threat. Follow Serial Killers & Murderous Minds for part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1769285458 If you’re new h...

A young woman was attacked outside her apartment. Early accounts suggested indifference from witnesses. The tragedy became symbolic far beyond the crime itself. Follow Murder: True Crime Stories for Part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1745145932 If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money, & Murder to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Crime House+. Join...

Love Has Won centered on Amy Carlson, who claimed to be a divine being leading followers toward ascension. After her death, authorities discovered her mummified body decorated in lights, exposing severe psychological control within the group. The crimes illustrate how online-age cult dynamics can spiral into neglect, abuse, and fatal delusion. For part 2 of this story, follow Crimes Of wherever yo...

On July 6, 1983 — 43 years to the day this episode drops — 18-year-old model and aspiring actress Tammy Lynn Leppert accepted a ride from a male acquaintance in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and was never seen again. In the weeks before she vanished, Tammy had become increasingly terrified, telling those close to her she had witnessed something she wasn't supposed to see and feared for her life. She had a...

In the summer of 1776, as the Continental Army braced for a British invasion of New York City, a network of loyalist conspirators bribed five of George Washington's own elite bodyguards to murder him. Governor William Tryon orchestrated the scheme from a ship in New York Harbor, funneling money through the city's mayor to a gunsmith recruiter... and nearly pulling it off. For more, follow Conspira...

An arcade cabinet appears in Portland in 1981, tucked between ordinary machines and drawing a strange crowd. Players report migraines, vivid nightmares, and missing time. Then the game disappears, leaving behind only forum posts, half-remembered sightings, and one of the internet’s most persistent gaming legends. Heidi traces the Polybius myth from early message boards to modern retellings, and as...

In June 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bedroom at knifepoint while her nine-year-old sister hid under the covers and watched. Her kidnapper knew exactly which door of the house wasn't wired to the alarm. For months, investigators zeroed in on the wrong man. And a sketch that could have broken the case wide open sat untouched in a filing cabinet. This episode contains de...

In 1880s Austin, Texas, a shadowy killer stalked the city under cover of darkness, leaving behind brutal murders that sparked panic and rumor. In Part 1, Vanessa and Dr. Engels explore the early crimes, the social tensions of the era, and the birth of one of America’s first urban murder mysteries. Follow Serial Killers & Murderous Minds for part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1769285458 J...

A violent home invasion stunned Los Angeles. The crime scene revealed staggering brutality. Rumors swirled about who orchestrated it. Follow Murder: True Crime Stories for Part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1745145932 Join Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America’s 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the FBI,...

The Order of the Solar Temple was an apocalyptic secret society that orchestrated mass murder-suicides across Switzerland, Canada, and France in the 1990s. Leaders convinced members that death was a “transit” to a higher spiritual realm tied to cosmic prophecy. The crimes reveal how esoteric belief systems can escalate into coordinated, ritualized violence. For part 2 of this story, follow Crimes...

On a summer night in July 2015, 21-year-old Lauren Agee was camping with friends on a towering rocky bluff above Center Hill Lake at Tennessee's Wakefest boating festival. By morning, she was dead at the base of the cliff ninety feet below. Authorities ruled it an accidental fall. Her family never accepted that answer. Inconsistencies in the autopsy, shifting witness accounts, and a scene that was...

In Peru's scorching Nazca Valley, ancient inhabitants carved enormous animal figures into the desert floor over a thousand years ago — figures so large they can only be understood from the air. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa traces the decades-long quest to decode these mysterious formations, from the mathematician who dedicated her life to the desert to the bes...

In early 2001, a recreational caver named Ted documented his obsessive attempt to break through a sealed passage deep inside a cave... and what he found on the other side became one of the internet's earliest and most disturbing horror stories. Presented as a real personal account with photographs and journal entries, Ted the Caver predated modern creepypastas and convinced countless readers it wa...

Let’s go back to the beginning of one of the most polarizing true crime cases in recent American history, and the country still can't agree on the truth. This episode contains descriptions of death, and references to domestic conflict. Please listen with care. Follow America's Most Infamous Crimes to hear the rest of the story: https://pod.link/1882861002 Join Crime House+ to binge a special limit...

In the mid-1930s, Cleveland, Ohio was gripped by a series of brutal killings that would become one of the most disturbing mysteries in American criminal history. Victims were discovered dismembered, their heads and limbs removed, leaving investigators struggling to identify the dead or track the killer responsible. As the bodies began appearing along the city’s rail yards and riverbanks, fear spre...

A fashion icon was gunned down outside his home. The murder stunned the creative world. Behind the glamour was a calculated predator. Follow Murder: True Crime Stories for Part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1745145932 Join Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America’s 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the FBI,...

Led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), the movement built a utopian commune in Oregon that devolved into bioterrorism, immigration fraud, and assassination plots. In 1984, members carried out the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history by poisoning salad bars to sway a local election. The case shows how charismatic leadership and insular power structures can turn spiritual movements into criminal...

On the night before Thanksgiving 2016, eighteen-year-old Tom Brown left his home in Canadian, Texas to go cruising with friends. But he never came home. When his red Dodge Durango turned up the next morning at a sewage treatment plant on the edge of town, there was a bullet casing on the floor and a drop of his blood on the door handle, but no sign of Tom. What followed was two years of strange di...

For over two thousand years, the Yeren — China's legendary wildman — has haunted the mountains and folklore of rural China, inspiring fear, government bans, and even a state-funded scientific expedition. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa traces the creature's origins from ancient poetry to modern eyewitness accounts, and follows the researcher who spent fifty years...

In September 2010, a college student bought a used copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask at a garage sale, and discovered a save file named BEN belonging to a boy who had drowned years before. What started as glitchy gameplay quickly became something far more sinister: a presence that manipulated the game, invaded his computer, and refused to be deleted. Ben Drowned is the creepypasta that re...

On the day before Thanksgiving, 1971, a man named D.B. Cooper walked up to an airport counter, paid cash for a one-way ticket, and boarded a commercial flight. By the time the plane landed, he had collected $200,000 in ransom, strapped it to his body, and jumped out the back of a jet. No one has seen him since. In the first of three episodes on D.B. Cooper, Katie Ring takes you back to November 24...

In early 1970s Houston, Texas, businessman Dean Corll used free candy, a party-ready apartment, and a carefully cultivated reputation as a community pillar to lure teenage boys to their deaths. But behind his friendly facade, Corll was systematically grooming victims... and recruiting young accomplices to help him carry out increasingly brutal crimes. This episode traces his childhood, his escalat...

An actor known for his vulnerability was attacked near his home. The crime shocked Hollywood. His death marked the end of a complex life. Follow Murder: True Crime Stories for Part 2 of this episode: https://pod.link/1745145932 Join Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America’s 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the F...

Crime House’s Murder: True Crime Stories presents a special series for America’s 250th Birthday: The Crimes That Built America. Listen every Monday until July 6th on Murder: True Crime Stories. Join Crime House+ to get all 4 episodes right now ad-free. To subscribe, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you are listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. 250 years ago, a b...