Sword and Scale

A group of kids playing with a mysterious app called Randonautica follow its directions to Alki Beach in West Seattle. There they find a strange black suitcase on the rocks below the pier. Intrigued, they open the case to reveal a putrid smell. Responding officers would find other bags and reveal the suitcase was filled with the dismembered body parts of two people, Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner...

When Jessica Lynn Reale was 13-years-old, she was timid and untrusting. In early October of 1997, she mustered the courage to approach her 8th grade math teacher, a woman she’d only known for a number of weeks, to tell her a huge secret she had been keeping. Jessica told her teacher that she couldn’t go back home because someone had poured bleach all over her. This situation warranted a CPS report...

Micheal Redlick was a high-powered sports executive in his mid-sixties living with his kids and much younger wife, Danielle. To onlookers, the Redlick family seemed to have it all, but inside their gorgeous multi-million dollar home, misery had been brewing for decades and it all imploded on January 11, 2018. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-fre...

Sue Taynor was worried about her 21-year-old daughter, Jessica Sacco. She was bipolar, depressed, and vulnerable, having just gotten out of a bad relationship. When Jessica moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Urbana, Ohio, she began to open her home up to people who were a negative influence on her. Soon enough, there were six people living in the small unit. By the end of March, 2012, there wou...

Several elderly women appear to have died of natural causes, until March of 2018 when a 91-year-old woman survives a brutal attack. As the pieces come together, police are led to a man named Billy Chemirmir—but unfortunately, they may be too late. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In August of 2014, a masked thief, dressed in black, walked away with nearly $20,000 from an American Eagle store in Fort Worth, Texas. Three months later, the assistant manager of that store was found brutally murdered inside her burning apartment. Were these completely separate crimes or were they somehow connected? Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, comme...

In February of 2017, 28-year-old aspiring cosmetologist Shannon Graves went missing. Five months later, a young married couple in Campbell, Ohio had plans to cook dinner at home. When they opened their freezer, they unexpectedly found something that horrified them. They found frozen pieces of Shannon. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swo...

In June of 2013, the dead body of 29-year-old Melinda Schaefer was found inside the leasing office of the Harvest View apartments in Baltimore County, Maryland. The murder scene was a complete blood bath, and due to the communal nature of the office, homicide detectives were not able to rely on DNA or other forensic evidence to solve this crime. They needed to use old-fashioned police work to find...

In July of 2010, 15-year-old Sidnee Stephens was a troubled teen with a history of mental illness and running away from home so, no one in her immediate circle was too worried when she went missing yet again. Then, her dead body was found in the town creek. The investigation into Sidnee's murder would be long and strenuous, but most of all, it would prove just how unbelievably cruel and shortsight...

In June of 2013, 24-year-old Sarah Staudte became very ill and ended up in a hospital. Sarah’s internal organs were failing, her brain was hemorrhaging blood, and her doctors expected that Sarah was going to die. Yet, nobody could figure out the cause of the problem. Eventually, police were called in to investigate. They learned that Sarah’s father and brother recently had similar health complicat...

Amber Lynn Coplin was a 30-year-old mother of four getting her life back on track and living happily. But on November 13 of 2014, her teenage son came home to find her dead. It was obvious right away who had done this to Amber, but the full extent of how she had been murdered and what her killer had planned would create shock waves of disgust through the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Get instant a...

On Mother’s Day weekend of 2018, a hairdresser named Joleen Cummings was reported missing after she failed to pick up her kids from their father. Soon Joleen’s car was found in a Home Depot parking lot and the mystery behind her vanishing would open up a rabbit hole of insanity like never before. This was one of the craziest cases Florida had ever seen. Get instant access to all episodes, includin...

Emily Noble suffered a lot of loss in the last decade of her life but she always persevered. She was physically healthy and took her mental health seriously too. She never faltered. That’s why when she went missing in May of 2020 everyone suspected foul play except her husband, the prime suspect. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordand...

On the day before Halloween, sisters Ashlee and Lisa Rucker were shot in the head inside their Florida condominium. There were four witnesses in the apartment, but only one truly knew what happened. Soon the world would find out who was responsible for this heinous killing and the years of tension that built up to that final day. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased epi...

The Robinson family seemingly had it all in a small town in upstate South Carolina. They had a lovely house, burgeoning careers, and 5 wonderful kids. But when a tragedy struck the family in January of 2021 the whole world was confronted with what happens behind closed doors. The lives of Ariel, Austin, and their children would never be the same again. Get instant access to all episodes, including...

In June of 1996, 18-year-old Angie Dodge was found raped and murdered in her Idaho Falls apartment. For Idaho homicide detectives, this case was a big deal. Violent murders like this didn’t typically happen in their area, and they were determined to send someone to prison for Angie’s murder. Unfortunately, to the detriment and disgrace of their careers and to justice, they were willing to do just...

Isabella Guzman was 18-years-old when she savagely murdered her mother. Isabella’s crazy court appearances and attractive face turned her into a viral TikTok sensation overnight and all eyes were on her. But Isabella had been on a downward spiral for years and it turned out that the mother she blamed for all her misery was the only one who truly wanted to help her. Get instant access to all episod...

When police in Vancouver, Washington received a 911 call the morning of January 7th, 2007, they didn’t expect the caller to admit to a murder in the first ten seconds. Law enforcement would soon discover that the caller, 25-year-old Dylon Ray Peterson, was even more unhinged than he sounded on the phone. Thankfully, the young man was willing to share with them every detail of what he had done. Get...

An unexpected crime in central New York state by the unassuming David Renz would send a town into a frenzy and a man named Bill Cregg on a mission. When he cradled Lori Bresnahan in his arms as she lay dying he made her a promise to protect her little girl. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

20-year-old Amanda Plasse was a bright and bubbly modern-day hippy that lived alone in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Sadly, her life was cut short in late August 2011. Amanda was found dead on the floor of her kitchen. She had been brutally stabbed to death. The murder of Amanda Plasse remained unsolved for over two years, and the investigation led detectives to suspect a new boyfriend, an angry ex-boy...

Independence, Missouri has never seen much crime, let alone against middle-class churchgoers. When 42-year-old Randy Stone was found dead in his insurance office in 2010, the list of possibilities was endless. Ultimately, a ripped up note in the trash can would lead detectives down a promising path. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at sword...

Fire fighters responded to calls leading them to Chattaroy Road in Colbert, Washington during the early morning of May 26, 2015. Rushing to the blazing scene, they quickly learned this was no ordinary fire. A deceased female had to be dragged from a hole cut into the home, but where were the other three family members who lived there? One answer was found in a fire fighter’s helmet lying on the gr...

In February of 2020, Orange County deputies reported to an address in Winter Park, Florida, and discovered the body of an adult male in a suitcase. This incident appeared to be a tragic accident triggered by alcohol, but upon further investigation, a deeper evil was finally unmasked. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Megan Rose Hiatt thought she had met her Prince Charming when a handsome, military man named Gawain Rush Wilson waltzed into her life and swept her off her feet. A year later her world would be changed forever. Today we tell a story of tragedy and survival. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

On March 11th, 2018, 15-year-old Kyle Bancroft and his younger brother invited two teenage friends to a sleepover at their home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. By about 1:30 AM the following morning, everyone had gone to bed, but nobody would get a full night’s rest. Around 4 AM, a knife-wielding manic decided to go on a bloody rampage, fully intent on stabbing everyone in the house to death, as t...