Southern Fried True Crime

On September 30, 1999, a seemingly petty crime spree would turn into the deadliest massacre in the history of western North Carolina. Three generations of lives snuffed out in a matter of minutes. Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley Researched Haley Gray Written by Erica Kelley Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio Edited & Mixed by Erica Kelley Sou...

Nellie Jackson opened her business in 1930, the start of the Great Depression. She ran her bordello openly for the next 60 years, through wars and social strife. She was a beloved matron of Natchez, Mississippi despite her profession because she was such a generous, charitable woman. And she became a legend after working as an FBI informant during the Civil Rights movement. She was fearless. She w...

In the series premiere, radio DJ Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm) receives an unexpected call from a listener that turns his life upside down. Follow American Hostage on Amazon Music, to hear all 8 episodes right now: http://wondery.fm/SFTC_AmericanHostage

Sheila Blackthorne Bellush endured ten years of her life with a very sadistic man. She actually divorced him four years into their marriage, but he kept terrorizing her for years. When she finally escaped him and moved out of state with her new husband and children, Allen Blackthorne was enraged. She was no longer under his thumb. So she had to die. Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley Researched b...

Introducing Season 3 of Criminal Conduct, which features an interview with an American Serial Killer in Paradise. Hosts Javier Leiva and John Taylor take you to the country of Panama to investigate the disappearance of several American Expats who went missing after dealing with a man known as Wild Bill. The hosts spent several days interviewing the killer trying to figure out his motivation. Did h...

On August 11, 2009, 38 year old Kristi Cornwell was talking to her boyfriend Doug on the phone while taking an evening walk. Out of nowhere, Doug heard Kristi say a car had stopped behind her. Then there was a scuffle, and Kristi yelled, “Don’t take me!” A search for Kristi began almost immediately, but she was nowhere to be found. Eight months later, a tip about a Nissan Xterra would solve more c...

Lester and Janie Ballard had doted on their only daughter, Leslie Jane. As well-to-do business owners in Little Rock, Arkansas, they were able to give their daughter a pampered, if sheltered, upbringing. Leslie went to private school and then got her master’s degree before joining the family business. And then she met a career criminal and con man named Mike MacKool. Leslie’s entire personality ch...

This is the end of the Darlie Routier case. I’m taking you through the evidence, trial, pro-innocence sources and of course, my own theory of the crime. Written, hosted and produced by Erica Kelley Researched by Haley Gray Written by Erica Kelley Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio Edited & Mixed by Erica Kelley Sources: https://www.southernfriedt...

After her sons were brutally murdered, Darlie Routier was brought to the hospital with what looked like a very serious slash to her throat and was taken immediately into surgery. But her wounds were superficial. She was in the hospital less than 2 days. She and Darin buried their sons and to many people, acted very strangely. And they did it in front of the press they had invited to their sons gra...

Deranged stalkers, heroin hounds, and the leering eyes of the FBI – find out who’s visiting Disgraceland this winter in Season 9 of the award-winning music and true crime podcast. Check out this excerpt from the upcoming episode Taylor Swift: Interstate Stalking, Vanishing Masters, and Love Letters Gone Wrong. Listen to the all new season, as well as the first 8 seasons of Disgraceland, only on Am...

In the early morning hours of June 6th, 1996, a woman named Darlie Routier called 911, screaming that she and her sons had been stabbed. When police and paramedics arrived on the scene, 6 year old Devon Routier, who would have been 7 in a week, was already dead, from 2 deep stab wounds. 5 year old Damon Routier had four stab wounds to his back and was unresponsive but was still rushed to Baylor ho...

In the era of some of the most heinous serial killers of all time, one murderous family went curiously unnoticed: The McCrarys. Led by a psychopathic patriarch and his cunning son-in-law, this Texas clan roamed the country robbing, kidnapping, and killing up to 20 people, most of them taken from donut shops. “Families Who Kill: The Donut Shop Murders” recounts the wild and deeply disturbing story...

American Scandal is a podcast from Wondery that explores the darker stories that have shaped the United States. From the Unabomber to Bernie Madoff, these are stories that reveal the underbelly of America: ruthless, secretive, and power-hungry. The new season of American Scandal looks at the controversial decision made by a young government official named Daniel Ellsburg to leak the Pentagon Paper...

On July 8, 1997, a young sailor returned home after a week at sea, and found his wife dead in their bedroom. Michelle Moore-Bosco had been raped and murdered. Police quickly zeroed in on a neighbor who insisted he was innocent. But after 10 hours of coercive interrogation, he confessed. Six months later, when his DNA was not a match, police changed their theory of the crime. Now, instead of cleari...

On March 26,1994, 19 year old Shannon Melendi went on her lunch break - she had been working as the scorekeeper at the Softball Country Club of Atlanta. But Shannon never returned from break, and she was never seen again. Law enforcement treated her disappearance as a runaway and if some high powered politicians hadn't gotten involved, Shannon's killer would never have been brought to justice. Wri...

Few things are more devastating than a loved one going missing. On The Vanished podcast from Wondery, host Marissa Jones tells stories of missing persons that have gone overlooked by mainstream media. In a recent episode, Marissa looks into the disappearance of James Foster Chance. The 48-year-old man from Texas went missing in March of 2021. Devastated and without any leads, James’ family began s...

After Steve Beard was shot in the gut with a 20 gauge shotgun, it was a miracle that he initially survived. He suffered for almost 4 months before succumbing to his horrific wounds. And it would take two years to prove that his wife, Celeste Beard, did in fact plan his murder. She destroyed so many lives with her scheming and hurt so many people, including her twin daughters who were forced to liv...

At 3am on October 2, 1999, 74 year old Texas millionaire, Steven Beard called 911. Panicked and bewildered, he said “My guts blew out of my stomach!” He didn’t know what happened, just that he was literally holding his intestines with his hands. Paramedics thought maybe he had a recent surgery and stitches busted. Until one of them saw a shotgun shell on the floor. Thus began the infamous case of...

Private First Class Kelli Bordeaux disappeared on the night of April 13th, 2012 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The petite, blonde, former cheerleader, didn't look like your typical soldier. Kelli was as tenacious as she was beautiful, and she dreamed of becoming a combat medic. But Kelli was also human: at the time of her disappearance, she was married and having an affair. Both men would be inv...

In the summer of 1990, just days before classes were to begin at the University of Florida in Gainesville, a monster crept through the night and viciously murdered five college students. He was finally caught and the weeks of terror ended. He was dubbed the Gainesville Ripper and his crimes, slaughtering innocent college students, inspired the horror movie, Scream. Written, hosted and produced by...

On a rainy night in June, 2010, a 911 call would set off one of the biggest murder scandals to shock Louisville, Kentucky. Two men, living in a crumbling Victorian mansion in Old Louisville, both accused each other of killing a man they had buried in the old wine cellar. The ensuing trials transfixed locals with talk of kinky sex, drugs, counterfeit money, guns and a sledge hammer. Reserached, wri...

In June of 1959, the torsos of two men were found in a rural part of northeast Alabama. The gruesome discoveries sparked a media firestorm as locals feared they had a mad man stalking their homes. These kind of gruesome murders just didn’t happen in rural areas where folks didn’t even lock their doors at night. A three week investigation led law enforcement to a desolate farm, in Rabbittown, a sma...

In 1984, the small town of Clinton, North Carolina, was shocked by the brutal murder of a local minister. At first, there seemed to be no motive. But as detective’s dug into Dan Arnold’s life, they uncovered a secret life that no one in the church or community knew about. Dan and his wife, Donna, had both been having an affair with a man named Carl Stuffel. Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley Rese...

In 1995, a Memphis socialite was brutally murdered in her own home. Emily Fisher was a paragon of not only Memphis society and arts, but she was also heavily involved in charities for underprivileged youth. Ironically, her son Adrian, struggled socially. In his teens, he became heavily addicted to drugs. His parents were desperately trying to help him, and often naively welcomed his friends into t...

After the brutal murder of Belinda Temple, an 8 month pregnant school teacher in 1999, the Harris County DA’s office took five years to finally charge her husband, David, with murder. They had an ace in the hole. They had star prosecutor Kelley Siegler. But David Temple’s family hired Dick DeGuerin, the guy who got Robert Durst off after he dismembered his landlord. The trial had the promised fire...