True Crime

Parade goers watched on as a red SUV travelling at an estimated 40 or even 50 miles per hour came barrelling down Main Street in the historic downtown core of the small Milwaukee suburb. The sound of the marching band, chatter and laughter was quickly overtaken by calls for help as the vehicle drove through the parade procession without stopping. In the chaos, the driver escaped - but not for long...

This case has been the recipient of many notable claims over the years. It has been called “the case that changed Minnesota.” It has been credited with changing the way that missing children investigations have operated - and at the time that it happened - back in 1989 - this case involved the largest-scale search for a missing person in the history of the United States. After sunset on the evenin...

In 1984, Tampa, Florida, was gripped by fear as a sadistic predator stalked, raped, and murdered at least ten women, leaving their bodies dumped along highways. The FBI’s only clue? Red trilobal carpet fibers—a rare synthetic material found on every victim. With no suspect, the case stalled—until a 17-year-old victim survived, providing a description that unlocked the nightmare. Her testimony, pai...

In the silent halls of morgues and anthropology labs, forensic sculptors perform a miracle: they give faces—and, with them, names, stories, and justice—to the unidentified dead. Using clay, anatomical precision, and intuition, these artists bridge the gap between skeletal remains and the living person they once were. From cold-case Jane Does to victims of mass disasters, their reconstructions have...

In 1974, the idyllic Palmyra Atoll—a remote Pacific paradise—became the stage for a real-life horror story. Two couples arrived, but only one left: Buck Walker and Stephanie Stearns sailed back to Hawaii on the Sea Wind, a yacht belonging to Mac and Muff Graham, who had mysteriously vanished. The Grahams’ disappearance was initially dismissed as a boating accident, but when Muff’s skeletal remains...

Poison is the weapon of the patient, the calculating, and the cowardly—but not all poisoners are alike. Deadly Chemistry dissects the critical divide between targeted killers (who murder with intimate precision) and random terrorists (who sow chaos indiscriminately), revealing how forensic toxicologists trace their crimes back to the source. From disgruntled spouses slipping arsenic into tea to th...

For decades, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante ruled the Genovese crime family not from a throne, but from a psychiatric ward—or so he wanted authorities to believe. While other mob bosses held court in steakhouse booths, Gigante wandered Greenwich Village in a bathrobe and slippers, muttering to himself in a brilliant act of insanity that fooled doctors, judges, and even his own men. But the FBI wasn’t...

In the annals of forensic science, few breakthroughs have been as transformative as DNA analysis. Double Helix delves into how this genetic blueprint—extracted from a speck of blood, a single hair, or even saliva on a discarded gum wrapper—has rewritten the rules of justice. From catching serial killers to exonerating the wrongfully convicted, DNA doesn’t lie—and its testimony is irrefutable. Beco...

In 1992, the body of 17-year-old Dawn Marie Birnbaum—a runaway from Florida—was discovered dumped beside a rural Pennsylvania road, brutally beaten and strangled. Though she was an outsider, the small community mourned her as one of their own, demanding justice. What began as a local homicide investigation soon spiraled into a chilling revelation: Dawn’s killer, James Robert Cruz Jr., a long-haul...

When a body is left to the elements, the first detectives on the scene aren’t always human—they’re insects. In Web of Clues, The New Detectives explores the eerie science of forensic entomology, where maggots, beetles, and flies become the key witnesses in solving murders. From estimating time of death to exposing hidden crime scenes, these tiny creatures reveal secrets that even the most cunning...

On a quiet night in Prince George’s County, Maryland, 1995, two law enforcement officers—Prince George’s County Police Officer John Novabilski and FBI Special Agent William H. Christian Jr.—were executed in their patrol cars by a lone gunman who crept up unseen and opened fire. The brazen attacks sent shockwaves through the D.C. area, igniting one of the most intense manhunts in FBI history—a chas...

When a raging house fire tore through a quiet California neighborhood, firefighters initially thought it was a tragic accident—until investigators found no smoke in the victim’s lungs, proving she was dead before the flames began. The victim, a beloved local artist, had recently entrusted her life savings to her best friend and personal manager, who—just days before the fire—had drained her bank a...

On April 11, 1986, a routine surveillance operation in Miami turned into a nightmare of bullets and bloodshed when two heavily armed bank robbers—Michael Lee Platt and William Russell Matix—engaged eight FBI agents in a ferocious, close-range gunfight. In just five minutes, 150 rounds were fired, two agents were killed, five others wounded, and the brutal firefight exposed glaring flaws in FBI fir...

In a justice system where eyewitness misidentification, coerced confessions, and flawed forensics can send innocent people to prison for decades, DNA analysis has become the ultimate truth-teller. Proof of Innocence follows three men—each robbed of years, dignity, and freedom—whose lives were reclaimed when 21st-century science dismantled their wrongful convictions. Become a supporter of this podc...

In the rugged wilderness of 1970s–80s Alaska, Robert Hansen—a respected baker, family man, and avid hunter—was secretly living a double life. By day, he sold cinnamon rolls to local cops; by night, he abducted, assaulted, and hunted women like animals, releasing them in the tundra only to stalk and shoot them for sport. His meticulous hunting maps, marked with burial sites, and his twisted sense o...

A killer may vanish into the night, but they always leave something behind—a dusty shoeprint on a floor, a sweat-latent fingerprint on a window, a single fiber snagged on a nail. These unintentional traces become the silent witnesses that speak volumes in courtrooms. Lasting Impressions explores how forensic science turns microscopic details into ironclad evidence, from the 1970s breakthroughs tha...

In the summer of 1994, Detroit residents locked their doors in fear as a ruthless gang posing as police officers kicked them in—guns raised, badges flashing. Claiming to be "conducting a raid," they tied up families, ransacked homes, and vanished with cash and jewels. But their reign of terror ended when one armed homeowner fought back, blowing the mask off their operation—literally. Become a supp...

In an era where every step, swipe, and search leaves a trace, criminals no longer just evade police—they battle the unblinking eye of technology. From deleted texts that resurface to smart home devices that capture audio of crimes in progress, the digital world is rewriting the rules of justice. Electronic Witness dives into real cases where bytes and pixels became the star witnesses—proving that...

In 1990, the dismembered remains of California man Mark Rogowski were found stuffed into trash bags—a crime so brutal it earned the killer, Danny Ray Horning, a life sentence. But in May 2002, Horning pulled off the unthinkable: escaping from Arizona State Prison by overpowering guards, stealing a rifle, and vanishing into the wilderness. What followed was a 48-day manhunt that turned the American...

From centuries-old skeletons to cold cases gathering dust, breakthroughs in science are resurrecting the past—and delivering justice long overdue. Out of the Grave explores how cutting-edge technology is cracking mysteries once deemed unsolvable, from medieval murders to 20th-century serial killers who thought they’d escaped judgment. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/po...

In the fall of 1995, a nationwide nightmare unfolded as women turned up dead in gruesome, seemingly disconnected crimes—a mother of three burned in Los Angeles, a young woman stabbed in Mississippi, another murdered in Florida. The only link? A handsome, smooth-talking drifter named Glen Rogers, whose charm masked the soul of a predator. By the time the FBI connected the dots, Rogers had already e...

It’s midnight at the Shady Oaks Apartment Complex. A resident is walking back to his apartment when suddenly… He's shot by an unidentified man. When police rush to the scene, they are immediately faced with a barrage of gunfire, near-zero visibility, and dozens of innocent lives at fatal risk… Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime--6473403/support .

Police are at the home of Norma Caraker after receiving a frantic call from her son. He was heavily drunk, but managed to say enough; someone ran out of the house, and he heard his mother scream. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime--6473403/support .

Dispatched to inspect what looked like an ordinary truck, officers instead found four bodies hidden and dismembered in crates. The ensuing investigation uncovered eleven more victims scattered across remote areas in the state, all claimed by a prolific serial killer. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime--6473403/support .

Police arrived at the home of Keith and Amber Zotto after Amber’s mother, Bette, called 911 earlier that day. Amber hadn’t answered any calls or messages for two days, and Bette feared something was wrong. When police arrived, they'd discover something horrifying. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime--6473403/support .