TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

In March 2017, Alisa Mathewson was kidnapped by her estranged husband, Trevor Summers, in Florida. Despite a restraining order, he broke into her home, tied her up, sexually assaulted her, and tried to kill her. For 55 hours he held her captive, forcing her into his car and driving across several counties before she managed to escape with the help of a bystander. In 2022, Summers was convicted on...

In March 2023, 27-year-old Levi Axtell walked into the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, covered in blood, and confessed to killing 77-year-old Lawrence Scully, a convicted sex offender. Axtell had long believed that Scully posed a danger to children in the community. Armed with a shovel and a moose antler, he attacked Scully inside his home, bludgeoning him to death in what prosecutors l...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Frankie Fitzgerald with me today. In July 2022, 25-year-old Frankie Fitzgerald was murdered in his home in Havant, Hampshire, by his girlfriend, 27-year-old Shaye Groves. Shaye, who was obsessed with true crime and violent fantasies, stabbed Frankie more than 20 times in a frenzied attack after their relationship had become increasingly toxic an...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Greg Williams and Brynn Fletcher with me today. In March 2018, 37-year-old Greg Williams and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Brynn Fletcher, were brutally murdered inside Greg’s apartment in Overland Park, Kansas. Investigators soon discovered that the crime was anything but random. The killers were 18-year-old Logan Mott and 17-year-old Justice Fae...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Robert Dienes and Myriam Dienes with me today. In August 2015, the quiet suburb of Carrollwood, Florida, was shaken by a brutal double murder. Twenty-one-year-old college student Nicole Nachtman shot and killed her stepfather, Robert Dienes, inside their family home and hours later, ambushed her own mother, Myriam Dienes, in the driveway. What c...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kirsten Marina Costas with me today. In the summer of 1984, the quiet suburb of Orinda, California, was rocked by the brutal murder of 15-year-old Kirsten Marina Costas. A high school swimmer and varsity cheerleader, Kirsten embodied the “All-American” teen, until she was lured to her death by someone she trusted. Her classmate, Bernadette Prott...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Jane Kuria, Isabelle Kuria, and Annabelle Kuria with me today. In August 2007, the quiet town of Powder Springs, Georgia, was rocked by a horrifying and still unsolved family murder. Jane Kuria, a single mother who had immigrated from Kenya, was found bludgeoned to death along with her two teenage daughters, Isabella and Annabelle, inside their...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Michele "Missy" Avila with me today. In October 1985, 17-year-old Michele “Missy” Avila vanished after going for a ride with her close friends, girls she trusted implicitly. She never came home. Three days later, her body was discovered face-down in a shallow creek within Angeles National Forest, her waist-length hair hacked off and a...

In early August 2025, the lifeless body of 8-year-old Genesis Ariah Mata was found in the bathtub of a La Quinta Inn in Bakersfield, California. The discovery revealed a scene so horrific that first responders were visibly shocked, her body showing signs of extreme abuse including scalding burns, crushed hands, whip marks, and missing fingernails. Arrested and charged were her father, Ray Mata Jr....

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kiaya Campbell with me today. In June 2017, 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell vanished after walking with a 15-year-old acquaintance, her father’s girlfriend’s son. A massive search effort was launched. Hours later, Kiaya’s body was found in a drainage ditch. She had been brutally beaten to death, struck at least five times in the head with a metal pip...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Brett Bowyer, Thurman Ratliff, and Catherine Ratliff with me today. In early 2002, the state of Alabama was rocked by two horrific and connected murder cases. On January 30, 68-year-old Thurman Ratliff and his 62-year-old wife Catherine Ratliff were found shot to death in their Lee County home in what appeared to be a targeted home invasion. Jus...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Seath Jackson with me today. In April 2011, 15-year-old Seath Jackson was trapped by his ex-girlfriend, Amber Wright, and led into a deadly ambush at a rural Florida trailer. Seath was tortured, shot multiple times, and his already shattered kneecaps were broken to fit his body inside a sleeping bag. After his murder, his remains were burned in...

In a case that continues to horrify the true crime community, 13-year-old Paris Bennett brutally murdered his 4-year-old sister, Ella Bennett, in their Texas home on February 5, 2007. Despite having a reported IQ of 141 and no prior history of violence, Paris stabbed Ella 17 times while their mother, Charity Lee, was working a late shift. He then calmly called 911 and pretended to try to save her....

In February 2009 in Marion County, Florida, 26-year-old Heather Strong vanished from her life and from the hearts of those who loved her. She was last seen walking away from her job at a roadside restaurant, leaving behind two children she deeply cared for. A week later, her family raised the alarm and the search began. The investigation soon exposed a web of betrayal: her estranged husband, Joshu...

In a terrifying escalation of obsession, 52-year-old Jeffrey Bothee broke into the Kentwood, Michigan home of a woman he had previously been convicted of stalking. When police cornered him in the basement, Bothee detonated an explosive device, injuring five officers and igniting chaos. As officers moved in, Bothee attempted to trigger a second bomb strapped to his body. He was shot by police in th...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Mark Staudte, Shaun Staudte, and Sarah Staudte with me today. In 2012, the Staudte family of Springfield, Missouri, suffered two mysterious deaths. First, 61-year-old Mark Staudte passed away unexpectedly, followed five months later by his 26-year-old autistic son, Shaun, both ruled at the time as medical-related incidents. In 2013, their daught...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering April Dawn Millsap with me today. 14-year-old April Millsap was walking her dog on the Macomb Orchard Trail in Armada, Michigan, on July 24, 2014, when she suddenly vanished. Just moments before her disappearance, she texted her boyfriend, “I think I almost got kidnapped omfg.” Her body was later discovered in a drainage ditch, brutally beaten a...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Dawn Viens with me today. In October 2009, 39-year-old Dawn Marie Viens, co-owner of a small restaurant in Lomita, California, vanished without a trace. Her husband, chef David Viens, claimed she had left on her own. Days later, terrified friends came forward—Dawn had disappeared from both her home and her familiar routine. Authorities eventuall...

On the morning of March 8, 2018, 22-year-old Haley Anderson, a nursing student at Binghamton University and beloved daughter and sister from Westbury, New York, disappeared. She had recently ended an off‑and‑on relationship with fellow nursing student Orlando Tercero, who had previously been suspected of slashing her tires during their tumultuous breakup. Security footage confirmed Haley and Orlan...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Melissa Jenkins with me today. Melissa Jenkins was a beloved 33-year-old high school science teacher and single mother living in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. On the night of March 25, 2012, Melissa received a call from Allen Prue, a man she had previously hired to plow her driveway. He claimed he and his wife, Patricia Prue, were having car trouble a...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Brenda Powell with me today. On March 3, 2020, 50-year-old Brenda Powell, a beloved child-life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital, was viciously attacked in her home. Her daughter, 19-year-old Sydney Powell, struck her with an iron skillet and stabbed her nearly 30 times in the neck—while Brenda was on the phone with university officials wh...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Georgia Williams with me today. In May 2013, 17-year-old Georgia Williams was brutally murdered by 23-year-old Jamie Reynolds, a man with a history of violent behavior. Georgia, an aspiring RAF cadet, was lured to Reynolds’ home under the false pretense of helping with a photography project. Once there, Reynolds trapped her in a sadistic plan, s...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Gloria Gary with me today. In early 2017, 49-year-old Gloria Gary disappeared from her Des Moines, Iowa, home. Nine months later, her body was discovered—concealed inside her own house, hidden in a manner so discreet that family members didn’t realize she was there. The investigation led to 22-year-old Kyle Jepson, who admitted the killing was s...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Micaela Rae Costanzo with me today. On March 3, 2011, 16-year-old Micaela “Mickey” Costanzo disappeared after leaving school in West Wendover, Nevada. Two days later, her body was found buried in a shallow grave in nearby gravel pits. She had been beaten and stabbed, and a plastic tie around her arm suggested she had been forced there. Investiga...

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Pamela Horowitz with me today. Scott Dyleski was found guilty of the brutal 2005 murder of Pamela Vitale, the wife of high-profile defense attorney Daniel Horowitz. The 16-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances, leading to a life sentence without parole. Evidence against him included his own blood at the crime s...