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Two brothers, one a professor the other a cop, and North Carolina's most notorious cold case!

History is loaded with the stories of imposters, fraudsters and outright liars. Princess Caraboo, an Englishwoman who pretended to be a Princess from a fictional island. Frank Abagnale, Jr.- who in his career, impersonated a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, just to name a few.   Victor Lustig, who sold the salvage rights to the Eiffel Tower…twice! And my favorite, from the “gullible file,” David Hampton, con man and robber, who convinced a number of people in the 1980’s that he was the son of actor Sydney Poitier. Subject of the play and movie, “Six degrees of Separation.” But none match the chutzpah of Stephane Bourgoin, the serial killer expert who fooled the world. If it weren’t for “The 4th Eye,” a group of True Crime enthusiasts in Bourgoin’s home country of France, he might be still chugging along today. The group exposed Bourgoin for the dangerous fraud that he was. In 2022, author Lauren Collins wrote, "The Unraveling of an Expert on Serial Killers," for The New Yorker. In August 2024, Bourgoin was the subject of a National Geographic docuseries entitled "Killer Lies." Please join out host, Jim Sulanowski, as he welcomes the producer of “Killer Lies”, Ben Selkow.

For two years, silence shrouded the vanishing of a woman from the small Southern town of Malvern, Arkansas. Now, the mysterious disappearance and the suppression of the truth are cracked open by the FBI Agent, Jerry Spurgers, who worked this case of drug conspiracy, witness intimidation, and murder from start to finish.  Murder at Midnight is the true story of how the Agent Spurgers and a team of local officers, sheriff deputies, and a federal analyst combined traditional police work with new technologies to unravel the circumstances of Susan Cooper’s fate. Beyond sharing the facts from the case file, it offers insight into the thought processes of the victim and those responsible for her disappearance from a veteran investigator’s perspective, and it gives readers a better understanding of the dedication and effort required of law enforcement officers to uncover the truth.

In the summer of 1998, FBI agent Bob Hilland reluctantly picked up the phone to call the famous psychic John Edward. Bob didn’t expect much from the call, but he was working on an unsolvable cold case and had nowhere else to turn. What Bob never imagined was that the call would lead to a shattering of all his preconceived notions, a huge break in the cold case, and an unlikely crime-solving partnership that spanned twenty-five years. As Bob and John took on more cases together, they slowly learned how to rely on each other and trust their skills, ultimately finding not only justice for the crimes they solved, but resolution and healing in their own lives. Centering on the investigation of the gruesome John Smith murders that rocked the nation, Chasing Evil is a heart-stopping story of murder, justice, and finding help in unexpected places.  My guest today is G-Man, Robert Hilland. NOTE: Video version is available on YOUTUBE at: https://youtu.be/xFSA1LkbRvc

On July 29th, 2023, in Leongatha, a smalltown in rural Victoria, Australia, family and friends of local woman Erin Patterson sit down for Saturday lunch. On the menu, Beef Wellington. The next day, four of the guests are hospitalized. Doctors suspect death- cap mushroom poisoning. Within a week, three of them will be dead. On November 2nd of that same year, Erin Patterson is arrested and charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder. Held in custody at Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison until her trial began in April 2025, the case captured media attention around the world. Did Patterson deliberately poison her estranged husband's parents, aunt and uncle? Was the lunch a recipe for murder? Patterson insisted no. She was innocent of any crime. Not guilty, she declared to the court. A jury of her peers have now decided the answer to those two questions. So how did a respected country woman come to find her relationships and behavior dissected by police and prosecutors? Bestselling author, investigative journalist and former detective, Duncan McNab has sifted through the evidence, spoken to witnesses and attended the nine-week trial. And joins me now via ZOOM from "Down Under!"  

On February 4, 2021, 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton, Massachusetts apartment. Her death was initially ruled as a suicide by asphyxia. Federal authorities later determined that her death was a homicide, with local police officer, Michael Farwell, alleged to have killed her. Birchmore's murder has drawn parallels to the death of John O’Keefe, another high-profile investigation in Norfolk County. Both cases involve allegations of law enforcement misconduct and have raised questions about the integrity of local authorities. My guest today is Kevin Lenihan of YELLOW COTTAGE TALES and frequent guest on COURT TV.    

Florence Bennet is found dead in a bathtub of scalding water. Her husband, Casper, claims that he found her like that, but his burned hands tell a different story. Or so the police and almost the entire population of Lorain believe. And as the Bennetts’ marriage with its secrets of alcohol, affairs and abuse is laid bare in the courtroom, it looks like the only possible verdict is murder. Bennett’s sensational trial more than fifty years ago pitted an aggressive, mercurial county prosecutor against a defense team that included Ray Miraldi. In the tradition of John Grisham and Scott Turow, The Edge of Innocence, written by Ray Miraldi’s son, David, recreates the tension and excitement of this true courtroom battle, and also reveals the uncertain edge that often divides guilt from innocence. And there is more than one twist in the case that was revealed long after the case was settled!

On death row for 42 years at San Quentin, artist and inmate William Noguera formed an unlikely bond with the notorious serial killer Joseph Naso. Over years of disturbing conversations—and at great personal risk—Noguera gained his trust. What he revealed was far worse than anyone imagined. Behind prison walls, Naso described his brutal crimes in chilling detail, disclosing evidence that had eluded investigators for decades and exposing the darkness that drove him. Now, for the first time, Noguera lays bare in his book, Through the Lens of a Monster, those confessions and the psychological games behind them—offering long-overdue answers for grieving families and fresh leads in cases gone cold. Through the Lens of a Monster is both a window into the twisted mind of a predator and a haunting memoir of a man seeking redemption for his own violent past.  My guest today on Murder Most Foul is William Noguera.  

On February 15, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their two young sons were reported missing from their new home in San Diego County. They left eggs and fruit rotting on the counter. Their Dodge truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were abandoned outside without food. But investigators found no blood, signs of a struggle, or clues to their whereabouts. Did the family take an unannounced vacation? Were they running away from personal problems? Or were they victims of foul play? In her book, DOWN TO THE BONE, Caitlin Rother presents the riveting story of a botched investigation, multiple suspects and a web of lies. Was justice ever served?  The question will remain with you long after you finish reading.  

Recently there has been a renewed interest in the Son of Sam Case in the form of documentaries, the latest by NETFLIX. Many are subtitled, “The Lost Tapes,” a reference to recordings of multiple interviews with David Berkowitz in Attica prison, shortly after he was incarcerated. Luckily for us, the tapes were never lost! They were recorded by Rochester, New York, Democrat and Chronicle reporter, Jack Jones, and are thankfully still in his possession. Jack, a repeat guest here on Murder Most Foul, joins us today to share his thoughts on his interviews with David Berkowitz and the murders that gripped New York City in the Summer of 1977, hyped by the tabloid media.

On December 30, 1999, in rural Oklahoma, sixteen-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend, Lauria Bible, were having a sleepover. The next morning, the Freeman family trailer was in flames and both girls were missing. While rumors of drug debts, revenge, and police corruption abounded in the years that followed, the case remained unsolved, and the girls were never found. In 2015, crime writer Jax Miller--who had been haunted by the case--decided to travel to Oklahoma to find out what really happened on that winter night in 1999, and why the story was still simmering more than fifteen years later. What she found was more than she could have ever bargained for: evidence of jaw-dropping levels of police negligence, entire communities ravaged by methamphetamine addiction, and a series of interconnected murders with an ominously familiar pattern. My guest today is Jax Miller who is here to share her story…HELL IN THE HEARTLAND with us.

On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, WY, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard's death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie the event was deeply personal and it's their voices we hear in this stunningly effective theater piece.  Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project of NYC made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the murder andconducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town.  From these interviews as well as their ownexperiences Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater members have constructed A deeply moving theatrical experience.  The Laramie Project chronicles the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder, using 8 actors to embody more than 60 different people in their own words--- from rural ranchers to university professors.  The result is a complex portrayal that dispels the simplistic media stereotypes and explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable. My guest today is Stephen Belber, one of the Tectonic Theater Project members responsible for THE LARAMIE PROJECT.

When Black women and girls are targeted and murdered their cases are often categorized by police officers as “N.H.I.” — “No Human Involved.”  Dehumanized and invisible to the public eye, they are rarely seen as victims. In the United States, Black women are killed at a higher rate than any other group of women, but their victimhood is not covered by the media and their cases do not receive an adequate level of urgency. That is until now. My guest today is sociologist, Cheryl L. Neely, whose newly published book, “No Humans Involved,” presents a disturbing picture of the treatment of minority women, often on the fringes of society, by law enforcement in America. It is my honor to welcome Professor and author Cheryl Neely to this episode of MURDER MOST FOUL.

On Christmas night in 1996, the brutal murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey shocked the nation. Found dead in her family's Boulder, Colorado home, JonBenét's body was discovered in the basement, with a broken skull, strangled by a garrote and sexually assaulted. A ransom note left in the home added to the confusion, but the truth would prove even more elusive. As the case unfolded, the media swarmed and speculation ran rampant. JonBenét’s status as a child beauty queen only fueled the fire, with many focusing on her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, as the primary suspects. However, the case took an unexpected turn when Boulder District Attorney's office brought in legendary homicide detective Lou Smit. Already known for bringing to justice the killers of actor Kelsey Grammer’s sister, Karen, Lou was a good choice. Unfortunately, Smit, known for his unyielding pursuit of the truth, quickly grew disillusioned with the Boulder police’s focus on the Ramsey family. He believed that vital evidence pointing away from the parents was being ignored. Resigning from his official role, Smit chose to continue his investigation privately, using his own resources, determined to find justice for JonBenét. In his book, Lou and JonBenet, Smit’s longtime friend and colleague, John Anderson, reveals the story behind Smit’s tireless investigation and the profound legacy he left behind. Drawing on Smit’s extensive work, Anderson and the detective’s family and colleagues believe the elusive killer can finally be identified, bringing justice to a case that has haunted the nation for nearly three decades.

Imagine, spending 18 years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit! October 1997. Late one night in Fairbanks, Alaska, a passerby finds a teenager unconscious, collapsed on the edge of the road, beaten nearly beyond recognition. Two days later, he dies in the hospital. His name is John Gilbert Hartman and he's just turned 15 years old. The police quickly arrest four suspects, all under the age of 21 and of Alaska Native and American Indian descent. Police lineup witnesses, trials follow, and all four men receive lengthy prison terms. Case closed.  But journalist Brian Patrick O'Donoghue can't put the story out of his mind. When the opportunity arises to teach a class on investigative reporting, he finally digs into what happened to the "Fairbanks Four." A relentless search for the truth ensues as O'Donoghue and his students uncover the lies, deceit, and prejudice that put four innocent young men in jail.