Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén

Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks… The popular schoolyard rhyme has withstood the test of time, despite it getting a few details wrong. Over 130 years later, we still don’t really know who killed Andrew and Abby Borden. Lizzie was acquitted, and yet most people assume she was guilty. Is it possible Lizzie was truly innocent? And if she didn’t swing the hatchet that day – who d...

For nearly twenty years, a charming con man poses as a globe-trotting CIA operative, seducing women and draining their savings in the name of “classified missions”—until one wife uncovers his lies and helps bring down the man she thought she would share her life with. Sources for this episode include: The Other Mrs. Jordan (Britbox documentary) The Bigamist by Mary Thompson (Amazon Publishing) “My...

The wife of the “sausage king of Chicago” disappears without a trace…until police search a suspicious vat in the basement of his factory, fueling rumors of exactly how he got rid of her. Sources for this episode include:Alchemy of Bones: Chicago's Luetgert Murder Case of 1897 by Robert LoerzelContemporaneous reporting by the Chicago TribuneThe 'Sausage Vat Murder,' 1897 by Harold Schechter, The Ya...

Branded "the female Charles Manson" for a double murder she claims she didn't commit, a young woman executes a daring prison escape to reclaim her life—only to find that while she can outrun the law, she can’t outrun the reputation built to bring her down. Sources for this episode include: Girl, Wanted: The Chase for Sarah Pender by Steve Miller“Sarah Jo Pender asks for mercy 25 years after double...

In broad daylight at the world’s most prestigious museum, a disguised team of thieves breached Musée du Louvre in just seven minutes, made off with eight priceless pieces of the French Crown Jewels, and exposed how even the most iconic institution can be undone by audacity and a single overlooked window. Sources for this episode include:“How the Louvre Heist Unfolded” (New York Times)“In Just 7 Br...

When the glamorous wife of the Gucci heir faces losing her fortune and status, she trades champagne for vengeance—proving that in the world of high fashion, nothing is more cutthroat than a woman with everything at stake and nothing left to lose. Sources for this episode include: House of Gucci: A True Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden“Murder in the House of Gucci” by...

In 1972, two young hippies hijack a commercial airplane in a wild attempt to free a famous political activist from jail, setting off one of the strangest, most idealistic crimes of a radical era. Sources for this episode include: The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan I. Koerner “Convicted Hijacker Arrested in New Plot” (LA Times) “Black Panther Extradite...

In the craggy peaks of Greece, a modern outlaw proves that you can rob a bank, kidnap a billionaire, and still be the most beloved man in the mountains. This is the story of Vassilis Paleokostas: the 'Robin Hood' who treats his hostages like guests and uses a helicopter as his preferred get-out-of-jail-free card. Sources for this episode include:“The Uncatchable” (BBC)A Normal Life: The Autobiogra...

Kidnapped on his 38th birthday by criminals who think every federal prosecutor is secretly wealthy, a calm-under-pressure lawyer survives a chaotic 25-hour ordeal—part hostage crisis, part absurd comedy—by befriending his captors. Sources for this episode include: The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival by Stanley N. Alpert 48 Hours, “The Birthday Party” Try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at https://zipre...

After their mother’s death and years living under a controlling father, two Texas teens are pulled into their dad’s string of bank robberies—turning a broken family into an outlaw crew and forcing a daughter to choose between loyalty, survival, and the truth she was raised to ignore. Sources for this episode include: “I Would Only Rob Banks for My Family” by Skip Hollandsworth, Texas Monthly20/20,...

A teenage runaway becomes a folk hero and a nationwide fugitive as he steals planes, boats, and cars—often barefoot—turning a two-year crime spree into one of the most unlikely manhunts in modern American history. Sources for this episode include:Reporting by The Daily Herald (Everett, Washington)"Barefoot Bandit: His Life and Crimes" (CBS News) Keep up with Killer Stories! Instagram: @killerstori...

A notorious internet troll builds a revenge-porn empire that terrorizes thousands—until a determined mother launches a relentless campaign to bring him down and dismantle the most toxic community on the web. Sources for this episode include:The Netflix docuseries The Most Hated Man on the Internet“Hunter Moore: The Most Hated Man on the Internet” (Rolling Stone) Keep up with Killer Stories! Instag...

When a brilliant intelligence officer from MI6 is discovered dead inside a padlocked duffel bag in his London flat, investigators face an impossible crime scene—no signs of forced entry, no fingerprints, and theories ranging from suicide to espionage—as the shadow of secrecy around his work at GCHQ breeds one of the most perplexing mysteries in British intelligence history. Sources for this episod...

To some, Helen Duncan is a powerful medium who bridges the realms of the living and the dead. To others, she's a dangerous con artist blending deception and stolen top-secret information to prey on the grieving and the gullible. Try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at https://ziprecruiter.com/KILLERS Sources for this episode include: The Strange Case of Hellish Nell: The Story of Helen Duncan and the Witch T...

A libertarian idealist known only as “The Dread Pirate Roberts” builds the Silk Road—an anonymous online black market that explodes into a billion-dollar empire—until the digital kingpin is unmasked, revealing how one man’s dream of radical freedom spiraled into crime, paranoia, and downfall. Sources for this episode include: American Kingpin by Nick BiltonJoshuah Bearman’s reporting for Wired mag...

In 1977, candy heiress Helen Brach – one of the richest women in America – vanishes. Detectives consider the many people who might have wanted to get their hands on her money. Ultimately, the primary suspect that emerges is… the Chicago horse mafia. Sources for this episode include: Hot Blood: The True Story of an Heiress, a Gigolo, and a Shocking Murder by Ken Englade“The Puzzle That’s Missing On...

A 19th-century island experiment founded by two nature-loving Germans goes from Gilligan's Island to Lord of the Flies when an entitled and eccentric heiress moves in. Sources for this episode include: Satan Came to Eden: A Survivor's Account of the "Galapagos Affair by Dore StrauchFloreana by Margaret WittmerThe Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Documentary)“An Unsolvable Mystery: Captain Han...

When a lonely Milwaukee housewife lives a double life, her secret world spirals into a decade of deception — culminating in a deadly confrontation, a staged burglary, and one of the strangest true-crime scandals in American history. Sources for this episode include:“‘Bat Man’ Case: a Lurid Tale of Love and Death” (LA Times)“Old Killing Recalled, Spook Stuff Seen in Queer Case” (The Independent Rec...

Molly Watson had waited seven long years for her happily-ever-after wedding with her boyfriend, Jim. Then, less than 48 hours before they were supposed to walk down the aisle, Molly was murdered. And Jim either had the wildest, unluckiest story ever... or he'd fabricated a strange and demented series of lies. Sources for this episode include:State of Missouri vs. James Addie (Respondent’s Brief)20...

A charismatic leader convinces his devoted followers that salvation awaits aboard an alien spacecraft trailing a comet—leading the Heaven’s Gate cult to a tragic, otherworldly mass suicide that exposed the dangerous power of blind faith and cosmic delusion. Sources for this episode include: Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults (HBO Max)Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion by Benjamin E. ZellerBounded...

A brilliant con man turns his life into a high-stakes romantic heist, embezzling fortunes and pulling off mind-bending jailbreaks—all to keep the man he loves in the lifestyle he thinks he deserves. Sources for this episode include: I Love You Phillip Morris : A True Story of Life, Love and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker Reporting from Alex Hannaford in Esquire The Guardian Keep up with Killer St...

26-year-old "trunk murderess" Winnie Ruth Judd killed her two best friends one hot Phoenix night in 1931. Then she stuffed both of them into trunks and loaded them on a train to Los Angeles. What the press assumed was a simple case of jealousy only got messier with each new version of the story Winnie told. Sources for this episode include: The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd by Jana Bommersbach...

When McDonald’s ran its beloved 1990s Monopoly sweepstakes, Jerome "Uncle Jerry" Jacobson had one job: Protect the game pieces. Instead, he used his position as Head of Security to rig the game. For years. To the tune of over $24 million in cash and prizes. Sources for this episode include:"How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions." by Jeff Maysh The Daily Beast, July 29, 2...

When two members of the same family contract a mysterious illness, evidence points toward one lethal commonality: the manipulative matriarch, Audrey Marie Hilley. But once she’s caught, she escapes, evading capture for years by turning her life into a soap opera. Sources for this episode include: Poisoned Blood: A True Story of Murder, Passion, and an Astonishing Hoax by Philip E. GinsburgHilley v...

A boisterous entertainer and wannabe opera singer disappears from her London home. Before detectives find human remains in the basement, her mild-mannered husband flees across the Atlantic with his lover, in disguise. Sources for this episode include: Thunderstruck by Erik Larson Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases by John Emsley Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold“Was Dr C...