The Serial Killer Mind

Elena Vance had spent twelve years as an overworked public defender, watching the state’s procedural machinery crush innocent, broke defendants while well-heeled predators walked on technicalities. When a sloppy police frame-job threatens to send an innocent kid away for life, Elena crosses a quiet line to suppress a single piece of tainted paper. But correcting the justice system’s balance sheet...

Ethan Cole is a respected forensic accountant whose career is collapsing, his marriage is deteriorating, and his daughter’s future depends on money he doesn’t have. When an investigation into a charitable foundation uncovers millions in suspicious transactions, Ethan discovers an opportunity to steal from people who have already stolen far more. What begins as an act of desperation becomes an inge...

When Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, her husband Scott gave investigators what appeared to be a straightforward explanation: he had spent the day fishing alone on San Francisco Bay. His story supplied a location, a timeline, and even evidence that he had purchased a fishing permit—but investigators soon discovered details that made the seemingly ordinary alibi increasingly suspici...

The most effective con may begin without anyone asking you for a dollar. Instead, the deception starts with attention, credibility, favors, friendship, or even vulnerability—slowly creating a relationship in which trust feels earned. In this episode of The Deception Files, we examine the psychology of the long con, why intelligent people can become deeply invested in deception, and why discovering...

During World War II, German intelligence believed Juan Pujol García was running an extraordinary network of spies across Britain. There was only one problem: much of the network existed entirely in his imagination. Known to British intelligence as GARBO, Pujol constructed a deception so convincing that Germany eventually awarded him the Iron Cross while Britain awarded him an MBE. This episode exa...

You’ve probably heard the rules: liars avoid eye contact, fidget, touch their faces, and act nervous. The problem is that decades of deception research suggest those signals are far less reliable than popular culture makes them seem. In this episode of The Deception Files, we examine why humans are surprisingly poor lie detectors—and why being confident that you can “read people” may actually make...

What drives thousands of people to write romantic confessions to society’s most dangerous incarcerated criminals? This episode dives deep into the unsettling phenomenon of hybristophilia, exploring the psychological mechanisms behind attraction to convicted serial killers. We analyze real correspondence sent behind bars, the manipulation tactics used by inmates, and the profound trauma and delusio...

In late April 2026, Thai police in Chiang Mai arrested 31-year-old Panhae Pooli, a homeless man who confessed to the serial murders of three fellow homeless individuals across Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces. The killings, triggered by trivial disputes over personal items, territory, and perceived irritations such as body odor, culminated in one victim being stabbed and burned to conceal evide...