Copycat Killers

As Murder Made Me Famous takes a break, we're thrilled to bring you Copycat Killers, the next great true crime podcast from Reelz and Podcastone!

Hosted by Forensic Psychologist Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner, this series goes behind the headlines of real-life murder cases which copy memorable slayings seen in Hollywood movies. Each episode features a mystifying murder scene and law enforcement’s hunt for the killer. Whether it’s two high school students terrorizing and killing a female classmate to copy the horror blockbuster Scream or the gruesome acts of pig farmer and serial killer, Robert Pickton, who copied Hannibal and fed his victims to his pigs—these horrific scenes actually happened but very few people know the real stories that led to these killings. CopyCat Killers includes interviews with investigators, family members of victims and forensic experts. The series also features high quality recreations, extensive archive and original documents from police case files. Check back every Tuesday for new episodes!

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Episodes

The Matrix

When the DC Snipers terrorized the Washington, DC area in 2002, few realized that the killers were motivated by a movie. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo watched The Matrix before their shootings. The film inspired their mission to create chaos and change a world that they believed had been overtaken by an oppressive system. To Muhammed and Malvo, everyone was part of that system and had to be eliminated. New Copycat Killers podcasts drop each Thursday. Next week, Forensic Psychologist Dr....

Mar 17, 2020•46 min

The Dark Knight

On a warm summer evening in Aurora, Colorado, an excited audience sits down for the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. But little do they know, this will be a night to remember, and not because of the movie. For sitting among them is James Holmes, and he’s taken a little too much inspiration from one of Batman’s most recognizable supervillains, “The Joker.” Intent on causing chaos and destruction, this copycat uses the latest Batman release as the inspiration for a deadly rampage that tu...

Mar 10, 2020•44 min

American Psycho

Like the handsome killer, “Patrick Bateman,” played by Christian Bale in American Psycho, a real-life copycat murderer is hiding behind expensive sunglasses and designer clothes. New Copycat Killers podcasts drop each Thursday. Next week, Forensic Psychologist Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner and the experts dissect the Colorado theater massacre inspired by The Dark Knight. Like what you hear and want more true crime and mystery? Go to https://www.reelz.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri...

Mar 03, 2020•45 min

The Purge

The dystopian horror film, The Purge, explores the ruthless nature of humans when all crime—even murder—is legal one night a year. Jonathan Cruz, a troubled Indianapolis teen, obsesses over the idea of crime without consequence. He also identifies with the outsiders in The Purge who seek vengeance. Encouraged by members of his gang, Cruz decides to stage a copycat “Purge” of his own. New Copycat Killers podcasts drop each Thursday. Next week, Forensic Psychologist Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner and ...

Feb 25, 2020•45 min

Deliverance

In Deliverance, a group of friends from the city take a seemingly innocent weekend canoe trip in rural Georgia. But the weekend takes an unimaginable turn to murder. The same horrific scene plays out in real-life as a Poughkeepsie, New York history teacher named Albert Fentress sees a young man trespass onto his lawn. Inspired by Deliverance, Albert enters a psychotic state that unleashes his disturbed and deeply rooted urges to kill, copycat-style. New Copycat Killers podcasts drop each Thursda...

Feb 18, 2020•45 min

Breaking Bad

TV’s Breaking Bad is infamous for violent scenes that are so heartless, they have you peeking through your fingers! In the second episode, “Cats in the Bag,” Aaron Paul’s “Jesse Pinkman” disposes a body in a tub full of acid. For Spokane single, Regan Jolley, life seems too good to be true when she meets a charming young war veteran, Jason Hart, and starts a whirlwind romance. But when the relationship turns sour, Reagan has no idea that her boyfriend has plans to copy his Breaking Bad hero’s mo...

Feb 04, 2020•44 min

Hannibal

Inspired by the Hannibal TV series and The Silence of the Lambs horror franchise, a real life “Hannibal Lecter” sets out to find human victims as his appetite for human flesh increases. New Copycat Killers podcasts drop each Tuesday. Next week, Forensic Psychologist Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner and the experts expose a real-life Hannibal Lector. Like what you hear and want more true crime and mystery? Go to https://www.reelz.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva...

Jan 28, 2020•45 min

Silence Of The Lambs

Sir Anthony Hopkins’ chilling cannibal in The Silence of the Lambs spawned a Hollywood horror franchise. But the macabre gentleman-killer also inspired 14-year-old Florida boy, Michael Hernandez, to develop a dark obsession with serial killers like Lecter. In an attempt to mirror the cold-blooded monster, Hernandez embarks on his very own killing spree. He lures classmates Jamie Gough and Andre Martin into the bathroom of their school. What happened next was unspeakable and only Andre lived to t...

Jan 21, 2020•45 min

Fight Club

Brad Pitt and Edward Norton form an underground fight club to counter their boredom and discontent with life in Fight Club. The film inspired Australian cousins Tony Bagnato and Diego Carbone to join a real-life Fight Club hoping to have some fun sparring with like-minded men and, in Tony’s case, further his boxing career. But when Tony starts pushing drugs for some money on the side, he quickly turns from an up-and-coming fighter to a wannabe crime boss. And when Tony fears a conflict within th...

Jan 14, 2020•46 min

Casino

Martin Scorsese’s film, Casino, takes us back to a time when Las Vegas was still the “wild west” and the mob ran gambling and damn near everything else in sin city. Vegas-teen Matt Baker watched Casino over and over again, trying to mimic the dapper gangsters portrayed by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Inspired by what he saw, Matt forms a clique of other high school students who start their own drug enterprise and call themselves “The Crew.” But when one member, Jared Whaley, decides wants out, ...

Jan 07, 2020•45 min

Goodfellas

Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta grew up to be mob-murderers in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas.But for one New Jersey man named Joe Post, the fictional characters became his inspiration. Joe joined the “Pit Bulls,” a gang of local drug addicts who terrorize their neighborhood. While the Pit Bulls’ crimes start off small, Joe is convinced that fellow gang member, Andrew, may have ratted them out to the authorities. Joe takes no mercy in a brutal Goodfellas–inspired copycat crime. New Copycat Killerspo...

Dec 30, 2019•44 min

Natural Born Killers

Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis are two attractive serial killers who take their crime spree on the road in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. But for two troubled lovers, Natural Born Killers inspired them to become the film's characters in real life. Together, these copycat killers go on a cross-country killing spree and leave a trail of blood in their dust. New Copycat Killers podcasts drops each Tuesday. Next Week, Forensic Psychologist Dr. J. Buzz Von Orsteiner dissects the mob-style k...

Dec 24, 2019•46 min

Copycat Killers - Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino is affectionately known as “The Master of Suspense” for his movie scenes that depict excessive violence and cutthroat retaliations. One English fan, 16-year-old Allan Bentley from the Liverpool, drew inspiration from Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and, along with two friends, reenacted a brutal murder scene from the film. The boys got it right --including mutilation and an attempt to cut off their victim’s ear. The copycats even hummed a familiar tune that played under the grisly s...

Dec 17, 2019•46 min

Copycat Killers - The Sopranos

Tony Soprano, the fictional New Jersey mob boss in HBO’s The Sopranos, could seemingly get away with anything, even the eight murders his character committed in the series. But for Riverside, CA residents, Jason Bautista and his half-brother Michael Montejo, one particular Sopranos episode inspired them to murder their mentally ill mother and dismember her in an attempt to conceal the identity of her body. It was a familiar mob tactic that the boys learned from watching an episode of The Soprano...

Nov 21, 2019•46 min

BONUS - Autopsy: The Last Hours of...

Happy Halloween! Enjoy this bonus episode of the new Reelz and PodcastOne podcast 'Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..." featuring an in depth look at the death of Patrick Swayze. If you like what you hear be sure to subscribe! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....

Oct 31, 2019•47 min

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