Advertise on podcast: True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History

The Ravenous Paparazzi had descended on Winnipeg, anxious for any photos, or any story involving Jennifer Lopez and her castmates, Susan Saarndon and Richardf Gere, in the Miramx 's followup to "Chaicago", being filmed in Winnipeg, instead of Toronto—because of the fear of the SARS epidemic,     On July 1st, 2003, Winnipeg Police were called by a representative for the "Shall We Dance" movie, to report that a gold necklace belonging to Susan Sarandon had been stolen from Sarandon's trailer on a outdoor movie shoot location near the Legislative Building that morning.. The next morning, July 2nd, around 9:30 a.m., Sidney Teerhuis walked calmly through the visitors entrance into the Winnipeg Remand Center.. He said to a guard there, "I would like to speak to someone. I found a body chopped up in my bathtub, and I've turned myself in because I've killed somebody".       On July 1st, Susan Sarandon and her assistant, called police from the set of "Shall We Dance".to report the theft of some of Sarandon's jewelry, including her gold chain necklace, with amber amulet depicting the 3 saint Christophers , featured prominently. in the film.  The next morning, July 2nd,phers around 9:30 a.m., Sidney Teerhuis walked through the visitors entrance into the Winnipeg Remand Center.. He said to a guard, "I would like to speak to someone. I found a body chopped up in my bathtub, and I've turned myself in because I've killed somebody". At the rented room police found the victim dismembered, beheaded, sawn in half, disemboweled and castrated with the chest sliced open and all of the internal organs missing! One eye had been removed and the body was posed, almost entirely bloodless, crudely reassembled. Hollywood mega-celebrity Susan Sarandon's stolen gold necklace was found a few feet away from the True-Murder-, Shocking-Serial-Killer Spectacle. Obsessed with celebrity, his role models, legendary serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy—armed with Susan Sarandon's stolen jewelry, Sidney, suddenly takes his next shocking.step in fulfilling his diabolical plan—to achieve his ultimate fantasy...TROPHY KILL:The"Shall We Dance" Murder—The Trial and Revelations of a Psychopathic Killer—Dan Zupansky

A self-proclaimed vampire. His harem of “witches.” And the small-town murder that shocked America. When twenty-four-year-old Sydney Loofe disappeared after a Tinder date, the quiet town of Wilber, Nebraska was stunned. Days later, her dismembered body was found scattered across nearby fields—and the horrifying truth began to emerge. Sydney hadn’t just met the wrong man. She had crossed paths with a deeply disturbed psychopath and his dangerous accomplice. In The Vampire’s Cult, investigative journalist Chet Hardin exposes the twisted world of Aubrey Trail, an aging con man who presented himself as an all-powerful being, and Bailey Boswell, the woman who called herself his “queen.” Together, they lured vulnerable young women into a spiral of sex, theft, and psychological manipulation—with deadly consequences. Through exclusive interviews, firsthand reporting, and chilling detail, Hardin unravels the making of a modern cult—and the social desperation that feeds it. In an era defined by false realities and toxic charisma, The Vampire’s Cult reveals just how easily darkness can disguise itself as devotion. THE VAMPIRE'S CULT: The Untold Story of Obsession, Control, and a Small Town Murder—Chet Hardin

A riveting new look at the parallel lives of Charles Manson and Roman Polanski reveals connections beyond the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders.Since the horrific murder of Sharon Tate in 1969, the names Charles Manson and Roman Polanski have been brutally linked. But new analysis of the parallel and intertwining stories of these two men reveals a connection that preceded that fateful day. Manson and Polanski shared remarkably similar, and similarly awful, childhoods. In their early years they both developed a hatred of the establishment and of authority—Manson, from being abused by relatives, school staff, and jailors, and Polanski from living under the Nazi regime and then Polish Communists in the 1950s. Manson was released from prison and promptly went to the wildest place in North America (San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury) at around the same time as Polanski got out of communist Poland and headed for the wildest place in Europe (swinging London). Both men went overboard with the new freedom of the era. Their paths crossed in Hollywood in the late 1960s, where Polanski had wild success, Manson utter failure. Then on August 8, 1969, Manson orchestrated the murder of Polanski’s wife, actress Sharon Tate, and her unborn son. Combining international celebrity biography, analysis of a high-profile murder, and in-depth consideration of the lasting legacy of the crime in Polanski’s directorial work, Blood and Fame is a riveting investigation that will appeal to both film lovers and true crime readers alike. BLOOD AND FAME: The Intersecting Lives of Roman Polanski and Charles Manson—Peter Rowe.

A startling profile of one of the most prolific serial killers and the disturbing experience of the journalist who earned his trust for the sake of justice. When crime journalist Maria DiLorenzo mailed a letter to Gary Ridgway, she never expected him to reply. He refused to speak to reporters and would send only religious materials back to anyone who contacted him in prison—if he replied at all. But instead of silence or a boilerplate letter, Maria’s phone rang–and it was the Green River Killer calling. Over the next several years, Ridgway would call Maria hundreds of times, using all of his free time in prison to speak with her. Her goal: to pry the details of his dozens of unidentified and unsolved murders from him. His motivation in speaking to her: unknowable. Through these hundreds of hours of phone calls, Ridgway revealed new details about his life, his crimes, and his motives – and manipulated Maria much like he tormented his victims. An insightful and deeply personal profile of a dangerous mind, Confessions of the Green River Killer is the closest depiction of Gary Ridgway ever seen and a disturbing glimpse into what it’s like to truly know a killer. Experience Gary Ridgway through the eyes and ears of a woman he came to deeply trust—and deeply covet. CONFESSION OF THE GREEN RIVER KILLER: A True Story of Manipulation, Madness and A Search for Justice-Maria DiLorenzo

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Detroit investigators faced a nightmare few police divisions ever encounter: multiple serial predators operating at the same time, in the same city, often targeting vulnerable victims in overlapping neighborhoods. To the public, the crimes appeared scattered. A schoolgirl attacked on her way to class. A woman assaulted before dawn. A victim deceived, coerced, or ambushed. A body discovered. Separate incidents. Separate headlines. Inside Detroit’s Major Crimes Division, a more disturbing picture began to form. As detectives compared reports, victim statements, timelines, geography, and behavior, the investigation became something far more difficult than a search for a single suspect. The city was not hunting one predator. It was hunting several. SERIAL CITY: Detroit and the Hunt for Multiple Serial Predators—G.H.Cliff

Jerry Langton is a veteran investigative journalist and bestselling author, writing primarily about outlaw motorcycle gangs and organized crime. Former Harris County Sheriff's Department Deputy Joseph Kent McGowen was sentenced in 2002, to 20 years, his second conviction—for murdering Susan Diane White, in her home, August 25, 1992. In 2021, after almost 20 years—Kent McGowen was released. A bestselling book and documentary, depicting McGowen as a killer had been widely seen by the public. In 2025 McGowen contacted Langton—he wanted to set the record straight and have Langton tell his story.. Langton was very skeptical but decided to conduct his own investigation—and what he discovered—was a man wrongfully convicted of murder. Author Jerry Langton joins me to discuss his new book, Reasonable Doubts: How Rumor and Innuendo Convicted Deputy Kent McGowen of Murder.

Texas Deputy Kent McGowen shot and killed Susan White after she pulled a gun on him.It seemed like an open-and-shut case of an officer acting in self-defense. But before his first court date, the Houston region was inundated with rumor, innuendo and speculation about the case. Many believed those fabrications and half-truths to be fact. And an unsubstantiated-but-persistent story of how McGowen allegedly set up White as a murder victim because they had a relationship, or that she refused to have one, sealed his fate. McGowen was found guilty, Twice. He's already done his almost 20 years in prison, with this case worth examining for all the incredible ways criminal courts can be manipulated by media, fast-talking lawyers and dubious witnesses. REASONABLE DOUBTS: How Rumor and Innuendo Convicted Deputy Kent McGowen of Murder—Deputy Kent McGowen

The District Attorney began his opening statement with, "If you don't know what hell is like, you're about to find out." In 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris went on a rape and killing rampage. The pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, sledgehammers, and ice picks they used on their victims became their calling card and moniker: The Toolbox Killers. They were soon apprehended and convicted for their atrocities, but for decades, refused to reveal the location of their victims' bodies. More than two decades later, criminologist Laura Brand had the opportunity to interview this sadistic pair as they sat behind bars, probing the depths of their depravity right up to the days of their deaths. Over this relentless six-year period, Bittaker finally gave Brand what he had withheld from law enforcement and families alike: the precise locations of two victims' remains. Brand's investigation tore open sealed police reports, court transcripts, and witness accounts, and unearthed brutal and shocking new findings: undisclosed victims, forgotten evidence, and chilling new insights that resurrected this nightmare in unimaginable ways. God's Not Here, Only Devils is told through a powerful blend of narratives: the voices of Bittaker himself, his victims, traumatized witnesses, the tenacious lead detective, and the hardened District Attorney.. A visceral retelling of the horrors that unfolded and the legacy of terror the Toolbox Killers left behind. GOD'S NOT HERE, ONLY DEVILS: Revelations From The Toolbox Killers—Laura Brand

Truth is supposed to be a journalist’s north star. But during the 2010s, the fourth estate lost its way, abandoning reporting for straight-up activism. In Crimes of Omission, seasoned investigative journalist Rob Rosen will reveal the full story of the high-profile cases of law enforcement violence that rocked the world. Through dozens of exclusive interviews, this book transports readers inside the nation’s most influential newsrooms at those crucial moments when the people we trust to inform us chose instead to mislead and inflame. Crimes of omission aren’t about what is reported—they’re about what’s left out. Discover the disastrous decisions that ripped a nation apart and shattered the credibility of a once noble profession—and prepare to question everything you thought was true. CRIMES OF OMISSION: Distorted Justice—The Media's War on Truth—Rob Rosen

Why do certain women become icons of evil? This book offers the first comparative, non-sensationalist account of five of the most reviled women in the modern Anglophone world: Myra Hindley, Rosemary West, Aileen Wuornos, Karla Homolka, and Karla Faye Tucker.  It examines their lives, crimes, and cultural reception in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada, asking how violence committed by women is understood, judged, and remembered.  Going beyond moral outrage or tabloid headlines, the book explores how concepts of “evil” are shaped by history, belief systems, and social context. Through historical and ethical reflections, it offers a deeper, more critical engagement with female violence and considers how society should respond to those who commit acts of unimaginable harm. FIVE EVIL WOMEN: Hindley, West, Wournos, Homolka, Tucker—Joanna Bourke

A True Crime Mystery Four Decades in the Making. On the cold night of January 27, 1976, twenty-two-year-old college student Kyle Clinkscales vanished after leaving his bartending shift at the Moose Club in LaGrange, Georgia. His disappearance baffled investigators and devastated his parents, John and Louise, who spent decades chasing rumors, suspects, and false leads in one of the South’s most haunting cold cases. For years, Kyle’s story became a staple in true crime circles, a case that blended small-town secrets, whispers of foul play, and the agony of parents who refused to give up. Then, in 2021, a shocking discovery was made: Kyle’s car submerged in an Alabama creek, with his remains inside. Suddenly, the case once thought frozen in time was thrust back into the spotlight. Was Kyle’s tragic end the result of an accident? Or was it a carefully staged cover-up, concealing a brutal murder that eluded justice for nearly half a century? With modern forensic analysis and renewed investigative efforts, this chilling mystery raises more questions than answers. Delve deep inside the twists and turns of Kyle Clinkscales’s disappearance and discovery―exploring law enforcement missteps, local rumors, and the enduring fight of a family unwilling to surrender hope. More than just a Southern true crime story, Kyle’s case helped inspire legislative reform for families of the missing, proving that even decades-old mysteries can change lives. Author James B Longshore details the forty-plus-year ordeal. THE DEATH OF KYLE CLINKSCALES—James B. Longshore and Sheriff Donny Turner

One Man. One Mission. Justice. In the Hunt for the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer. Rodney K. Harrison’s life could have gone the way of the drug dealers he grew up with in South Jamaica, Queens. Instead, a twist of fate and relentless drive led him to become the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer and, later, Police Commissioner of Suffolk County on Long Island—where he engineered the arrest of the elusive Gilgo Beach serial killer. Harrison survived a false arrest as a teenager and later dodged bullets as an undercover in Brooklyn. He calmed the fallout of Eric Garner’s chokehold death on Staten Island, worked shoulder-to-shoulder with outspoken community leaders in Harlem, brought Jam Master Jay's killers to justice, removed bricks from the 9/11 Twin Towers, dealt with looters during the pandemic on the streets of New York—and always advocated for every victim. This real-life Blue Bloods true crime story chronicles the triumphs, controversies, politics, and dangers that define modern policing in America’s largest city. Harrison shares these true crime stories: The harrowing night his undercover partner was shot on the street. An insider’s view of the investigations that shaped headlines—from Jam Master Jay to his career-defining case, putting the Gilgo Beach serial killer (he called him "the Devil that walks among us") behind bars, and the personal sacrifices and moral dilemmas behind the badge. More than a cop’s story—a rare, unfiltered look at crime, justice, and resilience in New York. Now a crime commentator on CBS and corporate security consultant, THE COMMISSIONER: From Street Cop To Top Cop in the NYPD, and the Inside Story of the Hunt for the Long Beach Serial Killer—Rodney K. Harrison

They hunted together. They killed together. And for years, no one stopped them. For years, Gerald and Charlene Gallego traveled the highways of California and Nevada, searching for their next victims. They didn’t look like killers. He was quiet, calculating, and obsessed with control. She was young, vulnerable—and willing to do whatever it took to survive. Together, they abducted, tortured, and murdered young women, leaving behind a trail of fear that stretched across state lines. But behind the headlines was something even more disturbing. Charlene wasn’t just a witness. She was part of it. And Gerald wasn’t just a predator. He was building something far darker—a life fueled by domination, manipulation, and violence. As investigators closed in, the truth began to unravel: A pattern of calculated abductions. A partnership built on fear and dependency. A series of crimes that went unchecked for far too long. Stolen Lives: The Gallego Murders takes you inside the interrogation rooms, the courtroom, and the minds of two people bound together by something far more dangerous than love. This is a story of survival. Of manipulation. And the moment the killing finally stopped. A chilling true story of control, survival, and the deadly bond between two killers. STOLEN LIVES: The Gallego Murders—A Shocking True Crime Story—Rod Kackley

The infamy of Miami's cocaine wars of the 1970's and 80's is forever etched into the darkest chapters of U.S. history, and Lt. Raul Diaz was on the frontlines for all of it. The decorated and controversial law enforcement figure identified the shifting tide in the Magic City when law enforcement lost their grip on crime as a new breed of criminal flooded South Florida to ply their billion-dollar trade. In a deadly exclamation mark, Colombian cocaine godmother Griselda Blanco and her assassins swept through the city with a bloody and ruthless ambition that left countless dead bodies along the way. Lt. Diaz organized and spearheaded the multi-agency task force CENTAC-26 to combat Blanco and the cartels. Raul came to the US at age thirteen accompanied by only his younger brother and overcame insurmountable odds after finally finding law enforcement as his calling. He never did things the traditional way, and that wasn’t a popular position in the regulated world of police work. His successes came at a costly price, both professionally and personally, putting him in the crosshairs of those with an axe to grind, shockingly on both sides of law enforcement. The man profiled in books, documentaries, and the Netflix series Griselda is here to share the story previously told by others—now, finally told by the one man who knows the truth behind every kilo, kidnapping, and corpse. KILLING THE LIEUTENANT: Fighting Miami's Cocaine Wars, Hunting Griselda Blanco, and My Fight To Stay Alive—Lt. Raul J. Diaz and Sean Oliver

An immersive account of a seemingly loving father's transformation into a "family annihilator." In March 2023, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and younger son at Moselle, their home in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. By then, the story had become headline news across the country, with its revelations of corruption in high places, massive fraud, opioid abuse, fake suicides, suspicious accidents, and the generational recklessness of the wealthy legal dynasty at its center. Having covered the case for The New Yorker, where his article became the magazine’s most read story of the year, the acclaimed novelist James Lasdun brings his long-standing interest in the darker drives of the human psyche to an investigation into the serial embezzlements, fatal boat crash, and other events leading up to the slaughter at Moselle. “Justice may have been served,” Lasdun writes in the preface to The Family Man, "but the human element of the story didn’t seem to add up." Having traveled extensively in the Lowcountry, Lasdun draws on original interviews (including with Murdaugh’s notorious "Cousin Eddie"), transcripts of phone calls Murdaugh made from prison, the literature of criminal psychology, and the murder trial itself. Deeply researched, sharply written, and with the page-turning intensity of a Southern gothic novel, The Family Man constructs a masterful portrait of Murdaugh and the mind-boggling crimes that wreaked havoc on his community. THE FAMILY MAN: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh—James Lasdun