Episode 67 In 1989, a fire at a religious camp in Pennsylvania claimed the life of 20-year-old Ji Yun Lee. Her father, Han Tak Lee, a Korean immigrant with no criminal record, was swiftly arrested, tried, and sentenced to life in prison. But what seemed like a clear-cut arson case quickly unraveled into a cautionary tale of flawed fire science, cultural bias, and the dangers of rushing to judgment. In this episode, we examine how prosecutors built a case on burn patterns and cultural ignorance—a...
Jun 30, 2025•47 min•Ep. 67
Episode 66 The story of the Lords of Chaos comes to a close in this final installment. After the murder of Mark Schwebes, the cracks begin to show. Confessions spill. Arrests are made. And the twisted empire Kevin Foster built starts to collapse under the weight of its own violence and paranoia. In this episode, we follow the unraveling—how a confession born of manipulation ultimately led to the group’s downfall, how law enforcement closed in, and how the trials exposed the devastating consequen...
Jun 23, 2025•54 min•Ep. 66
Episode 65 In Part 2, the Lords of Chaos escalate from chaos to carnage. What began as vandalism and firebombs takes a darker turn when Kevin Foster declares war—not just on authority, but on anyone who stands in his way. As their plans spiral, the group bombs a Coca-Cola plant and stalks their high school band director, Mark Schwebes, ultimately ambushing him at his front door. In this episode, we unravel the events that led to Schwebes’ murder, the manipulation tactics Kevin used to turn fear ...
Jun 16, 2025•50 min•Ep. 65
Episode 64 Obedience to Ashes, Part 1 It started with friendship. With a promise of belonging. With a charismatic—yet deeply flawed—leader. But beneath the surface of this group of misfit boys, something much darker was brewing. In Part 1 of this series, we examine how Kevin Foster recruited the teens who would become his self-proclaimed militia: the Lords of Chaos. We explore how this band of rebels ended up on the wrong side of the razor-thin wire separating camaraderie from cult. A warped ide...
Jun 09, 2025•43 min•Ep. 64
Episode 63 The Pants, the Plot, and the Pickle Rain: Sodium Chlorate's Wild Ride This week on Crime to Burn, we celebrate our one-year podiversary with an explosive tale—literally. From flaming trousers and banned weedkillers to accidental city-shaking disasters caused by petty crime, we trace the chaotic path of sodium chlorate: the chemical that just couldn’t stop stealing the spotlight. We cover: The fiery fashion faux pas that haunted New Zealand farmers The whiskey heist that accidentally l...
Jun 02, 2025•43 min•Ep. 63
Episode 62 The Finale. For over two decades, Lorene Bible has chased whispers through rural Oklahoma—across backroads, into burned-out houses, and deep into the shadows of fear and corruption. In this final chapter, we follow her relentless pursuit as it collides with rumors of meth, murder, and men who believed themselves untouchable. We’ll trace the steps of private investigators blocked by politics, uncover the objects that linked killers to the crime, and examine how a mother—just a mother—d...
May 26, 2025•41 min•Ep. 62
Episode 61 Whispers. The town of Welch, Oklahoma was full of whispers after the bodies of Danny and Kathy Freeman were located in the burned out Freeman home. Whispers about drugs, wrongful deaths, police involvement, intentionally botched investigations, and whispers about where the girls were and who had taken them. The whispers swirled around allegations related to Shane Freeman's death after a Craig County Sheriff's Deputy shot him on a rural Oklahoma road nearly a year before. The whispers ...
May 19, 2025•38 min•Ep. 61
Episode 60 In the early hours of December 30, 1999, a mobile home in Welch, Oklahoma went up in flames. Inside, the bodies of Kathy and Danny Freeman were discovered—but their daughter Ashley and her best friend Lauria Bible were gone. In this episode, we unravel the tangled first 24 hours of the case that would come to haunt two families and an entire community. From missing evidence to missteps in the fire investigation, we explore how two teenage girls vanished into the smoke—and why it took ...
May 12, 2025•37 min•Ep. 60
Episode 59 In this special episode of Crime to Burn, we go beyond the headlines with investigative journalist Liliana Segura of The Intercept, one of the first reporters to dig into the troubling details of the Michelle Taylor arson case. From flawed forensic science to systemic failures in the justice system, Liliana shares what drew her to the story, worrisome problems about the crime lab she learned while reporting, and why this case matters far beyond one woman’s conviction. If you've ever w...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 59
Episode 58 When Michelle Taylor lost her son in a tragic house fire, she thought the nightmare couldn’t get worse. She was wrong. Fueled by junk science, broken forensics, and a crime lab running on expired credibility, the prosecutors turned a grieving mother into a murder suspect. Twelve debris samples. Twelve false positives. And a justice system more interested in closing a case than finding the truth. This is the story of how bad science—and worse judgment—can burn an innocent life to the g...
Apr 28, 2025•46 min•Ep. 58
Episode 57 An illegal nightclub in the Bronx was the scene of the largest mass murder in US HIstory at the time it occurred in 1990. A scorned lover went to the club to persuade his ex-girlfriend to take him back and when his attempts were unsuccessful, he did the unthinkable. With a bottle he found in the street and a dollar worth of gasoline purchased at a nearby gas station, he returned to the club and committed an arson attack that would claim 87 lives. What could drive a man to such drastic...
Apr 21, 2025•44 min•Ep. 57
Episode 56 This is the finale of our coverage of the Sydney Ghost Train fire that took 7 innocent lives. Was the fire accidental as the original inquest determined or was it arson and murder orchestrated to allow a greedy man to get control of the valuable real estate the park occupied? While the circumstantial evidence pointing to corruption is very convincing, just how high did the corruption extend into Sydney's government? Some allege that it went all the way to the top and in this episode, ...
Apr 14, 2025•47 min•Ep. 56
Episode 55 This week we continue our coverage of the Ghost Train fire that occurred in July of 1979 at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia. The fire ultimately claimed 7 lives and investigators initially told the public it was an accidental electrical fire. However, an electrical engineer showed up at the inquest explaining that there was no way this fire was an electrical fire. Many people believe it was intentional arson arranged by an organized crime boss that wanted the valuable real estate upon ...
Apr 07, 2025•52 min•Ep. 55
Episode 54 In July of 1979, seven people would walk through the iconic clown face gates at the Luna Park amusement park in Sydney, Australia but they would not walk out. That July night, a horrific fire occurred in the Ghost Train ride that would claim the lives of six children and one adult. The fire was devastating and despite the nearly total destruction of the site, investigators would announce less than 24 hours after the fire that they'd identified the cause, an electrical fault. However, ...
Mar 31, 2025•46 min•Ep. 54
Episode 53 This is the conclusion of our coverage of the horrific fire that claimed 41 lives at the St. Elizabeth Hospital and Davenport, Iowa in January 1950. The fire, wtill the deadliest fire in state history, was set by a patient at the hospital and this week we cover her confession and the subsequent legal proceedings. We also take a look at the heroes that stepped up to help save lives during the fire, including some very unlikely heroes. Ultimately 40 patients and one nurse lost their liv...
Mar 24, 2025•50 min•Ep. 53
Episode 52 Today we are revisiting the deadliest fire in Iowa's history. On January 7, 1950, a fire occurred at a mental health facility called St. Elizabeth Hospital on the Mercy Hospital campus in Davenport, Iowa. When a diagnosed schizophrenic woman, due to be released that day, acted in paranoid desperation, she caused a fire that claimed the lives of 41 people including one staff member. What factors led her to take such drastic measures? More importantly, why was the fire so deadly? We cov...
Mar 17, 2025•46 min•Ep. 52
Episode 51: In this episode we conclude our coverage of Angela Garcia's case on Crime to Burn. Angela was faced with an impossible decision, risk another trial or accept what is known as a Dark Plea from prosecutors to secure her freedom. However, when he offered her the plea, prosecutor Richard Bell knew just how flawed his case against her was and many have suggested that his offer of this plea was really an effort to try to prevent his office from negative optics related to the mishandling of...
Mar 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 51
Episode 50. Angela Garcia was a 22 year old mother of two when her house caught fire claiming the lives of her two toddler daughters. After her first trial ended in a hung jury, prosecutors tried Angela a second time. However, this time they had new witnesses and new statements "remembered" by investigators 8 months after the event. When her second trial ended in another hung jury, prosecutors completely changed their tactics for a third go at Angela Garcia. But Angela Garcia didn't commit arson...
Mar 03, 2025•44 min•Ep. 50
Episode 49. Angela Garcia was a 22 year old mother of two when her house caught fire claiming the lives of her two toddler daughters. Angela soon found herself standing in a courtroom accused of arson, murder, and insurance fraud. What evidence did investigators have to prove Angela had done such a horrible deed? They had some photos and some arson investigation myths that had been debunked already by the time she was tried. Two juries couldn't be convinced of her guilt and resulted in back-to-b...
Feb 24, 2025•50 min•Ep. 49
This is the finale of our series on the mine fire that destroyed an entire community. From the government missteps to the toxic attitudes that drove division in the town, so many factors compounded and the residents of Centralia paid the price. This week we cover how divided the town's residents became including death threats and a firebombing. We discuss the government's final plan for Centralia, and what remains today where Centralia once stood. Correction: Around the 22 minute mark I indicate...
Feb 17, 2025•54 min•Ep. 48
As we continue our deep dive into everything that went wrong in the government's response to the Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire tragedy, we can't ignore the conspiracy theories that were rampant among many town residents. This week we discuss how such conspiracies started and what made them easy for some residents to believe. We discuss the evidence in support of and in opposition to those theories so you can make a decision about whether there was any conspiracy between private mining compan...
Feb 10, 2025•46 min•Ep. 47
We've all heard about the canary in the coal mine being an indicator to miners that the air quality in the mine was getting dangerous to breathe. When one Centralia family woke up one morning after suffering unusual and unexplainable ailments in recent weeks to find their pet canary dead in its cage, the people of Centralia could no longer ignore the deadly fire that had been inching closer to their town year after year while they waited for the government to find a way to control it. As the fir...
Feb 03, 2025•44 min•Ep. 46
This week we continue our coverage of the mine fire that has burned in rural Pennsylvania for over 60 years. Last week we covered the physics of a mine fire and the most widely accepted theory of how the fire started. This week in addition to covering the other theories of how the fire may have started, we also discuss the initial projects undertaken to control the fire. What went wrong? While it's easy to look in hindsight and see how certain missteps by government officials contributed to the ...
Jan 27, 2025•48 min•Ep. 45
In central Pennsylvania, there's a fire that's been burning for over 60 years and it's still burning. They said it was just a tragic accident. A fire burning in the underground abandoned coal mines in Centralia, Pennsylvania was at first a nuisance, then a concern, then a crisis of epic consequence. However, many investigators over the decades have uncovered evidence that this fire wasn't actually an accident at all. We'll bring you not just the evidence uncovered in support of the different the...
Jan 20, 2025•44 min•Ep. 44
In this week's episode we conclude our coverage of the Evelyn Zigerelli Henderson case out of Harrisburg, PA. Evelyn was tried and convicted for setting her husband, a former sheriff's deputy, on fire on the back porch of their home following an argument over money. This week we evaluate the interpretations of the physical evidence by the fire investigator hired by the defense. I take you through his interpretations of the evidence and explain why it didn't sway a jury to find Evelyn not guilty....
Jan 13, 2025•49 min•Ep. 43
In June of 2022, Evelyn Zigerelli Henderson called 911 to report that her husband of more than 30 years, a former sheriff's deputy, had either intentionally or accidentally set himself on fire. However, police quickly suspected foul play. Evelyn changed her story multiple times but ultimately, she was convicted for the murder of her husband by arson. Does the evidence presented in court stand up to scientific scrutiny? We'll go through it all so you can decide for yourself. This is a case of Mur...
Jan 06, 2025•55 min•Ep. 42
Crime to Burn is a true crime podcast about criminal fires including arson, bombings, and criminal negligence. Hosted by April, a fire protection engineer with over 20 years of industry experience. Her husband, a self-proclaimed professional idiot, is her hilarious co-host and he may not be a fire expert but he's seen the movie Backdraft at least twice.
Jan 02, 2025•50 sec
Let's close out 2024 with some festive... arson? Turns out that one holiday tradition in Sweden, the Gävle Goat or Gävlebocken has a dark and sinister history associated with the otherwise festive tradition. The Gävle Goat has been damaged or destroyed 42 out of 58 years. It's been hit by cars, beaten with clubs, and even subjected to an Alfred Hitchcock style bird massacre. However, the most popular way to dispatch the over 40 foot tall goat is arson. It's been roasted a record 38 times. As of ...
Dec 30, 2024•47 min•Ep. 41
In this final episode of the Juwan Deering Wrongful Arson Conviction Case, we learn even more allegations of investigatory and prosecutorial misconduct. We find out what evidence the independent investigator found indicating that Deering's rights were violated and who was allegedly responsible for those actions. In addition, we uncovered new court documents for a civil suit that sheds new light on some of the undisclosed witness testimony and offers an alternative plausible theory of how the fir...
Dec 23, 2024•51 min•Ep. 40
This week we continue our coverage of the Juwan Deering wrongful conviction. Juwan Deering was a Michigan man accused of setting a fatal fire that killed 5 children in Royal Oak Township, Michigan. Deering was convicted based on now-debunked arson investigation myths but that isn't the only reason he was convicted. The prosecutor in the case stands accused of some shocking misconduct and we get into it in this episode. Could it be that political motives pushed a prosecutor violate ethics standar...
Dec 16, 2024•50 min•Ep. 39
