Going West: True Crime

In August of 1973, a 22-year-old woman was beginning her graduate degree in psychology at the same Missouri university when she was brutally murdered in her apartment. Originally, police believed the crime was committed by a woman. Or, a professor she may have been seeing on campus. Now, 52 years later, even more curious potential suspects have come into play, as a whole new investigation is under...

In July of 2023, a beloved elementary school teacher took a walk through her Maryland neighborhood, just as she did every evening. But this time, she never came home. Within days, her disappearance sparked a massive search effort involving local authorities and concerned volunteers alike. As the weeks wore on, eerie details surfaced, including a photograph of the murder suspect as he was disposing...

In the spring of 2009, a short-lived spree of attacks against women in Boston and Rhode Island had the Eastern Seaboard on edge. But when a suspect was finally identified, the revelation was almost too bizarre to believe: a clean-cut, promising medical student with a seemingly perfect home life. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a dual existence darker and more calculated than anyone who...

In the summer of 1986, two young girls vanished mere months apart, both while out riding their bikes in Tacoma, Washington. Despite exhaustive efforts, both cases went cold, until decades later, when a surprising breakthrough revived the investigation. With new forensic tools and a fresh set of eyes, detectives began to piece together a puzzle that had haunted the community for years, finally find...

In July of 2025, a couple and their two young daughters were hiking at the Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas after recently relocating to the area. But while on the trail, a strange man approached the family, stabbing and murdering the parents. Within days, someone was arrested for the slayings, and his identity would shock the nation. These are the murders of Clint and Cristen Brink, also known...

In March of 2024, two women set off on a short drive through the rural backroads of Oklahoma, but they never made it to their destination. Hours later, their car was found abandoned by the side of the road, but suspiciously, along with signs of a struggle. As the search for them intensified, authorities uncovered a trail marked by custody battles, a religious cult, and secrets buried deep in a sma...

In the 1980s and ’90s, a deeply disturbed man from New Jersey drifted from town to town, hiding behind a soft-spoken voice and a childlike demeanor. Seemingly tormented by delusions, and obsessed with revenge, he harbored gruesome secrets. By the time investigators connected him to the 1986 disappearance of six-year-old Michele Dorr, and later, the baffling vanishing of Harvard graduate Laura Houg...

In July of 1986, a 19-year-old man was found hanging from a tree near his Maryland home. Authorities swiftly ruled it a suicide, but those closest to him questioned everything about the scene; from the small tree, which could barely support his weight, to the lack of an autopsy, to the suspicious friends who seemed to vanish in the wake of his sudden death. Years later, his mother received a suspi...

In July of 1995, a 24-year-old woman in Alaska headed out on a date with a man she had only recently met. She was last seen at a crowded summer fair in the forest, surrounded by tourists - but by the time the sun rose the next morning, she was gone. What followed was a desperate search in the unforgiving Alaska wilderness, and eerie silence from her date, which only deepened the mystery. This is t...

In the summer of 1990, a serial killer originally dubbed “The Charmer” began his crusade of committing brutal acts of violence against Seattle-area women, then placing their bodies in crude positions before abandoning them. Locals were terrified of the perverse madman loose on the streets of their city - but, thanks to DNA and a few careless slip ups, a suspect was identified. And quickly, the evi...

In the late 1980s, a Hollywood camera operator was murdered in his home in the Los Angeles suburbs. At first glance, the scene appeared to be a tragic and random home invasion. But with little evidence to support this conclusion, a far more sinister story emerged, which would leave two people dead, two people in prison, and one person on death row. This is the murder of Bob Samuels, and the story...

In July of 2012, a beloved high school teacher was found murdered inside her Staten Island home. Although it was initially believed to be a home invasion gone wrong, the scene left behind raised immediate questions with investigators. And a daunting four-month investigation would reveal family secrets that someone was fighting desperately to suppress - leaving a shocking trail of evidence in the f...

Serial killers are not just the stuff of horror movies or thriller novels. They walk among us, hidden in plain sight, sometimes quiet, sometimes charming, almost always disarmingly ordinary. But what turns a human being into a hunter of humans? How do they emerge? And more importantly — why? Today, we’re diving into the dark psychology and chilling statistics that define the anatomy of a serial ki...

In April of 2024, a 19-year-old student vanished after heading out for a promising first date in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But hours later, her torched car was found in another part of the city, and later that day, dismembered body parts began popping up along the coastline… Although security footage and phone pings helped the case against their surprising suspect, blood evidence and disturbing images...

Between 1980 and 1982, a string of unexplained child deaths unsettled small towns across Florida. Shockingly, the common thread was a quiet teenager hired as the babysitter. As grieving families sought answers and doctors cited rare medical conditions as the cause, suspicion began to build quietly among the grieving families. But it wasn’t until the summer of 1982 that the truth behind the tragedi...

In July of 2010, a 17-year-old girl vanished while walking home from summer school in a quiet Southern California suburb. Her belongings were scattered in a field along her route, but she was nowhere to be found. Days later, the discovery of her body would leave a community shaken and desperate for answers. But with help of DNA and a disturbing surveillance video, police would find a violent suspe...

In July of 2013, three friends wound up in the woods of rural Oklahoma after a high-speed police chase - but only one of them emerged. Following a flurry of frantic phone calls asking for help, the pair who were left behind in the woods disappeared, and have never been seen again. As weeks turned to years, the secrets surrounding that strange night began to slip out in the town of just over a thou...

In June of 2023, a 38-year-old woman was found dead in a quiet Kentucky neighborhood, shortly after purchasing a house and beginning a promising new job. But what began as her fresh start quickly turned into a gruesome mystery marred by finger pointing and the failure of local law enforcement. With few clues and no clear motive, investigators were left to piece together her final moments. This is...

In 1974, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl disappeared after meeting up with a man regarding a babysitting job. She had placed an ad in the paper, and the man in question had a 5-year-old son he allegedly needed care for. But when she went missing from their meeting spot, a bus stop, she was never seen again. And then, a horrifying ransom call came in to her family residence followed by a disturbingly...

In September, we're going on our first-ever tour! Find us in Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago alongside Love Murder for five mysteriously fun evenings! We really hope to expand this tour, so get your tickets THIS WEEK! Pre-sale begins Wed June 18, using code LOVEWEST. And public on-sale begins Friday June 20! Get your tickets at goingwestpod.com/tour Thursday, September 11, 2025 The Or...

In April of 1981, a mother and her children -along with two of her children's friends- were spending a quiet Saturday night in their rural California cabin. But by morning, the scene inside Cabin 28 was anything but peaceful. What investigators found was a blood-soaked mystery involving multiple victims, a missing child, and no trace of who—or what—had come in the night. With few answers and a tow...

In June of 2002, a 20-year-old woman vanished after a swim by Lake Erie. Last seen with her boyfriend’s friend, she was reportedly dropped off safely at a movie theater, but no one saw whether she actually made it there or not. As investigators probed deeper, they uncovered conflicting stories, dubious alibis, and a suspect with a troubling past. So what happened to her, and is someone still hidin...

In June of 2010, a 29-year-old nurse was found shot to death in her California home with a note that seemed to point to a particular person embedded in her life. But as detectives unraveled the case further, the twisted truth came to the surface in shocking fashion: an affair, an obsession, and an unsuspecting killer hiding in plain sight. This is the murder of LaNell Barsock. Hosted by Simplecast...

In July of 2008, a 53-year-old mother, artist, and counselor was found bludgeoned to death in her Arizona home, just 35 days after finalizing her divorce. At first, it appeared to be the tragic result of a random home invasion. But as investigators dug deeper into the victim’s life, they uncovered a tangled web of obsession and deception, as well as a trail of evidence that led to a conclusion som...

In August of 2014, a 62-year-old American woman was found brutally murdered and stuffed inside a suitcase at a luxury resort in Bali. What began as a baffling international mystery soon turned into a media frenzy as investigators sifted through surveillance footage, hotel records, and text exchanges - where they uncovered a chilling tale of privilege, power struggles, and a family dynamic more twi...