The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast

Send us Fan Mail One man’s words can lock in a murder conviction and the same words can later detonate it. Part five of our Chandra Levy series follows the 2010 courtroom drama as prosecutors try to convince a jury that Ingmar Guandique attacked Chandra in Rock Creek Park on May 1, 2001, and the defense hunts for enough doubt to break the story apart. We walk through the trial’s turning points: a...

Send us Fan Mail A single missing person case can turn into a national obsession, and the Chandra Levy story shows what that spotlight does to evidence, motives, and the people trying to find the truth. We walk through the moment former Metro Police homicide detective Joe McCann steps in as a private investigator and immediately treats the disappearance as a potential murder, even as the official...

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Send us Fan Mail A missing person case can be tragic. It can also become a product. This chapter of the Chandra Levy case follows the exact moment the story stops being only an investigation and turns into a national media event powered by the early 2000s 24-hour news cycle. We walk through how CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the tabloids escalate the coverage, why every reporter wants the same scoop, a...

Send us Fan Mail A 23-year-old intern lands her dream job in Washington, DC, builds a steady routine near Dupont Circle, and then disappears so completely that her open laptop becomes one of the last witnesses. Chandra Levy’s case isn’t just a true crime mystery, it’s a collision between ambition and secrecy, where a young woman’s private choices become a public storm. We walk through Chandra’s ea...

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Send us Fan Mail The most chilling part of a murder trial isn’t always the verdict, it’s the moment a courtroom has to decide what a life is worth after the facts are already settled. We walk through the Von Stein murder sentencing hearing as Bart Upchurch’s fate comes down to a jury weighing aggravating factors against mitigation, with every witness shaping how “responsibility” is defined under t...

Send us Fan Mail The most dangerous part of a murder trial isn’t always the crime scene, it’s the moment a courtroom decides which story feels true. We’re near the end of the Von Stein family case, and everything narrows to closing arguments, jury instructions, and the crushing pause before the verdict forms come back. Bart Upchurch’s side argues the state’s 117 exhibits don’t physically connect h...

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Send us Fan Mail A death penalty case can pivot on one phone call, and that’s exactly where we start: Chris Pritchard decides to plead guilty and testify, and the fragile hope around Bart Upchurch’s defense instantly narrows. We walk through the private panic behind the scenes as Bart’s lawyers and parents confront the stakes in plain terms: a guilty plea might save his life, but it also means adm...

Send us Fan Mail The case changes the moment the handcuffs go on, and it never stops changing after that. We pick up with Bart’s arrest and a quiet, rushed arraignment designed to keep the public from noticing, then watch that secrecy unravel as Chris is arrested at home and the town starts buzzing with leaks, reporters, and fear. With first-degree murder charges on the table and the death penalty...

Send us Fan Mail He walks away from house arrest and convinces himself it’s a great adventure, a cat and mouse chase where he is smarter than the police. Bart Upchurch drifts through Raleigh and the NC State campus on borrowed keys and borrowed time, reading under trees, checking out Moby-Dick, and writing diary entries that swing from political anger to an almost unbearable loneliness. It’s the k...

Send us Fan Mail One abandoned army knapsack on a back porch becomes the thin thread detectives tug until an entire murder-for-inheritance plan starts to unravel. We follow John Taylor and Chief Crone as they walk the bag through Raleigh, comparing half-memories and denials, trying to figure out who owned it and why it showed up at the Von Stein house. The smallest details start to feel loud: a ca...

Send us Fan Mail The investigation feels like it’s finally ready to pop, until it doesn’t. We head into a new strategy session convinced Chris Von Stein will fold under pressure and give up the name investigators are waiting for, only to learn he’s lawyered up and refusing to speak. Bonnie Von Stein agrees to meet, but her calm certainty hardens the conflict, and a quiet detail surfaces that chang...

Send us Fan Mail A cold case sharpens when a simple sketch turns into a lever. We open the Von Stein murder file with fresh eyes, bringing the SBI back into the room and laying out a clear plan: protect the few secrets that still hold power, then set a ruse to test what the suspects don’t know they’re revealing. The hinge point is a map—handwriting that echoes a guarded clue—and the patience to le...

Send us Fan Mail A frantic tap at a window, a campus buzzing with rumors, and a family shattered by a brutal attack set the stage for a true-crime journey that refuses easy answers. We walk through the raw hours after Leith Von Stein’s murder and Bonnie’s hospitalization, hearing how friends rallied around Chris as shock collided with uneasy memories—offhand jokes about inheritance, a party that s...

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Send us Fan Mail A ringing phone, a flushed face, and a choice to confess—what starts as a “lark” shatters the quiet of a tight-knit county and exposes deeper cracks inside the Upchurch home. We follow Bart from a school break-in and a lake house burglary to a courtroom bargain that trades prison time for probation, restitution, and a promise to change. But promises are easy. What follows is harde...

Send us Fan Mail A boy who reads at three and crushes tests at five should be unstoppable, right? Neil Henderson’s story bends that assumption until it snaps. We follow a brilliant kid raised amid family rupture who rockets past classmates, dazzles teachers, and learns a dangerous lesson: results without effort feel the same as results with it. That belief shadows every choice he makes as freedom...

Send us Fan Mail A father’s quiet exit, a boy who won’t be seen crying, and a farm that demands everything—this chapter traces how fracture and hard work shape a family’s center of gravity. We walk through drafty rooms warmed by wood Jim split himself, goat milk poured for a child who needed it, and the kind of rural routine that makes a marriage feel strong until it doesn’t. When a wool venture s...

Send us Fan Mail Old houses hold more than portraits and creaking floorboards. In Caswell County, they carry a family’s rise, their best intentions, and the kind of secrets that echo longer than footsteps. We follow the Upchurch and Moore line from civic ambition and pew-deep piety to a hard turn into illness, widowhood, and a second act as a preservationist matriarch. Carolyn’s restored landmarks...

Send us Fan Mail A small town’s patience thins as the Van Stein investigation grinds through rumors, leadership shake-ups, and a rare glimpse into what money really changes—and what it doesn’t. We follow the detectives through fall’s slow burn: Donna’s steady account of Angela’s sleep and stoic nature, accounts of Chris’s jittery days and drug use, and a campus subculture of games, steam tunnels,...

Send us Fan Mail Rumors don’t just color a homicide investigation—they can steer it. We return to Washington, North Carolina, where whispers of a roadside fire, a condensation-ringed bedside glass, and a fat life insurance policy turned into a map of motives and suspects. As the town’s fear eased, the volume of talk rose, and leaks from inside the department gave everyday gossip the weight of evid...

Send us Fan Mail A quiet suburb woke to sirens and never slept the same. The murder of Leith Von Stein didn’t just shake a neighborhood; it cracked the illusion that safety lives behind manicured hedges and porch lights. We follow the ripple effects—from a neighbor’s raw letter of shared grief to a town that left lamps burning, phoned in every strange car, and asked whether a killer was still walk...