The Murder Mind

For months in 1974, Paul John Knowles traveled across America leaving a trail of murder that stretched across multiple states. He targeted strangers. Families. Hitchhikers. Travelers. Even a police officer. Yet one of the most shocking parts of his story isn't how many people he killed—it's how ordinary he appeared while doing it. In this episode of  The Murder Mind: Crime Traveler , retired Atlan...

Was Cindy James Murdered... Or Was Everyone Wrong? For nearly seven years, Cindy James reported being stalked, attacked, and terrorized by an unknown assailant. Threatening phone calls. Mysterious notes. Repeated assaults. And multiple incidents where she was found with a nylon stocking tied around her neck. Then, in June 1989, Cindy disappeared. Two weeks later, she was discovered behind an aband...

Atlanta, 1911. As the city grew into the "Gateway to the New South," a killer stalked its streets in the dark. Young Black women began disappearing on their walks home from work. Their bodies were found near railroad tracks, vacant lots, and alleyways throughout the city. Their throats had been cut. Their cases received little attention. Newspapers eventually gave the unknown offender a chilling n...

In August 1989, 16-year-old Yusuf Hawkins traveled to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to look at a used car with friends. He never made it home. What followed became one of the most infamous homicide cases in New York history — a case involving racial tension, mob violence, organized crime connections, conflicting witness testimony, and questions that remain decades later. In this episode of The Murder Min...

In 1987, police entered an ordinary Philadelphia row house… and discovered something almost impossible to believe. What they found inside became one of the most disturbing criminal investigations in American history. Hidden beneath the home was a secret that shocked investigators — and changed the lives of the women trapped there forever. In this episode of The Murder Mind: Crime Traveler, retired...

In 1941, retired railroad worker Philip Peters was found beaten to death inside his locked Denver home. There was no forced entry. No missing valuables. No clear suspect. But what investigators discovered months later turned this case into one of the most terrifying homicide stories in American history. The killer had never left. In this episode of The Murder Mind: Crime Traveler, retired Atlanta...

Cold Case Episode 1 – Unsolved for 10+ Years A late-night walk in southeast Atlanta turns into a nightmare when three friends are suddenly confronted by a gunman. Within seconds, shots are fired — and one man doesn't survive. In this episode of  The Murder Mind: Cold Case , retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez breaks down what really happened that night, using the actual 911 call, wi...

Episode 6 of Case #5 – Vanishing Act (Final) After years of investigation, setbacks, and new evidence, Detective Vince Velazquez finally brings the case of Shaquilla Weatherspoon to its conclusion. A key witness comes forward with critical information that exposes a major lie and reshapes the timeline of the night Shaquilla was killed. With mounting evidence and a clear picture of what happened, i...

Episode 5 of Case #5 – Vanishing Act Detective Vince Velazquez closes in on a key suspect in the murder investigation of Shaquilla Weatherspoon as phone records, interviews, and forensic evidence begin to expose critical inconsistencies. When confronted with the evidence, the suspect's story begins to fall apart — forcing Vince to reevaluate what really happened the night Shaquilla disappeared. As...

Detective Vince Velazquez continues the investigation into the murder of Shaquilla Weatherspoon as new interviews, alibis, and phone records begin to reshape the case. As multiple suspects are questioned, Vince must determine who is telling the truth — and who may be hiding something. With several romantic relationships, jealousy, and secrets emerging, the case becomes more complex than anyone exp...

Detective Vince Velazquez uncovers a shocking new suspect in the murder investigation of Shaquilla Weatherspoon. As the case deepens, a secret affair, hidden jealousy, and new forensic evidence force Vince to consider whether the victim's husband was the only person with motive — or if another man had something to hide. In Episode 3 of  Vanishing Act , retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Vela...

As the investigation into the murder of Shaquilla Weatherspoon continues, retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez begins focusing on the person closest to the victim — her husband. In this episode of  Vanishing Act , Vince breaks down the police interview, the domestic violence history, and the search of Roy McKinney's home as detectives try to determine if he is involved in her murder....

A missing persons case quickly turned into a homicide investigation when Atlanta police discovered the abandoned car of 29-year-old Shaquilla Weatherspoon . Retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez walks through the shocking evidence in this case: a smashed car window, a gun belt found in a dumpster, and the discovery of a decomposed body in southwest Atlanta. What begins as a missing pe...

The Murder Mind: Crime Traveler is a journey back to the scenes of history's most haunting crimes, where every street holds a secret and every shadow has a story. She Was LAPD. She Killed for Love. | The Stephanie Lazarus Case In 1986, 29-year-old nurse Sherri Rasmussen was brutally murdered inside her Los Angeles condo. Police believed it was a burglary gone wrong. They were wrong. More than 20 y...

I opened the door and came face to face with the murder suspect. In less than two seconds, one of us almost died. This is the final episode of the Murder Trap investigation. After two months of chasing a suspect known only as "the Jamaican," the case comes to a head when I locate him at a house in Atlanta. What happens next turns into a split-second life-or-death decision.   The suspect is taken i...

After five weeks, I finally had the suspect's name — and it led nowhere. What happened next told me he was still dangerous and still active. In Episode 7 of Murder Trap, the investigation takes a hard turn. After weeks of chasing a man known only as "the Jamaican," I finally get a full name from a key witness: Nathaniel Payne. But when I run that name through every law enforcement database, it com...

I was standing over the victim's body when the suspect was eating lunch a block away. This is a real Atlanta homicide investigation I worked as a detective. In Murder Trap: Episode 6 of The Murder Mind, I go deeper into the real homicide investigation of Wali Muhammad, shot and killed inside a drug house on Bouldercrest Road, and the case heats up. The timeline begins to expose something disturbin...

In this gripping episode of The Murder Mind, retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez walks viewers through a real-life murder investigation that takes a shocking turn at a taxi hub. A business card, a Jamaican accent, and phone records tied to the victim lead to Jerome Smith — and then to a mysterious figure known only as "The Jamaican." As the investigation unfolds, explosive witness s...

A real murder investigation unfolds as retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez recounts the chilling timeline leading to the murder of Wali Muhammad. Missing money from a trap house, a Jamaican suspect known only as "May," a heated confrontation just days before the killing, and a haunting phone call moments before the murder all collide. From Christmas Eve tensions to subpoenaed phone...

A key witness returns—this time with an attorney. In this episode of The Murder Mind, Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez conducts a second recorded interview with Rick Smith after uncovering inconsistencies surrounding a car left behind the crime scene on Bouldercrest Road. As lies unravel, new names surface, attorneys intervene, and a mysterious Jamaican suspect emerges through street int...

A brutal homicide on Bouldercrest Road sets off a chain reaction of lies, hidden identities, and dangerous clues. Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez investigates the murder of 25-year-old Wali Muhammad, beginning with the mysterious 911 caller who claims to be a witness — and quickly becomes a person of interest. As the investigation unfolds, a trap house is exposed, nicknames replace real...

Retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez walks listeners through one of the most dangerous and shocking cases of his career—a brutal shooting inside a Southeast Atlanta trap house on Bouldercrest Road. Within 30 minutes of the murder, evidence begins to surface: anonymous 911 calls from pay phones, a victim shot directly through the heart, multiple firearms, drugs, missing money, and clu...

A shocking true-crime story of family secrets, justice, and sacrifice. Retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velazquez breaks down the undercover investigation that led to the arrest of Uncle Darrell for the murder of Leonard Hill—while revealing why the jury convicted him of voluntary manslaughter, not murder. In this exclusive sit-down, Leonard Hill's son Antonio Taylor—a former police office...

In this episode, I take you inside the interrogation room as Willie Taylor is arrested for a murder he committed nearly 28 years earlier. I tell Willie I have a video of him confessing to the murder. He doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm bluffing. But when I prove the video exists, everything changes. Willie goes silent. I watch him carefully, knowing that when a suspect stops talking, the wheels a...

In this episode, retired homicide detective Vince Velazquez walks you through every moment as Antonio arrives at his uncle's house, sits face-to-face with him in the garage, and begins delivering the performance of his life. With no live video feed and no way to coach him, Vince and his partner can only sit in the surveillance car and listen as Antonio pushes for the truth… all while balancing the...