While his wife and eight of his children lay sleeping, James Peterson awoke to a stranger at his farmhouse door. Within a matter of minutes, all but one family member would be shot to death in Canada’s worst random murder spree. The scope of the 1967 crime shook Saskatchewan, leaving locals in fear for their lives. Mounties would later interrogate a neighbor who’d been recently released from a hospital and had been hallucinating about the devil. Rawlco Radio presents the six-part podcast “The Sh...
Oct 19, 2023•46 min
In 2009, nineteen-year-old Renee Bach said the Lord called her to go to Uganda and establish a charity to feed the hungry. But the Serving His Children clinic morphed into an intensive care unit for gravely malnourished babies and toddlers. Her work attracted Christian donors and filled her social media feed. But Bach became the target of Ugandan activists opposed to white missionaries using African children as props for their own agendas. And observers noted why starving babies continued to die...
Oct 16, 2023•50 min
People are spending thousands of dollars to get the guidance of life coaches, so-called experts who promise to motivate clients, provide clarity to their problems, and set them on the path to financial reward. But often these gurus recruit new coaches, ensnaring them and their downstream clients in a multi-level marketing cycle. But who gets to say they’re an expert in giving life advice or promising prosperity to clients for the right fee? And why do people think these self-styled gurus can cha...
Oct 12, 2023•47 min
In 1999, Great Britain was shaken when popular BBC news presenter Jill Dando was gunned down at her front door. In their search for the shooter, police examined loved ones, fans, assassins, political extremists, and connections to her popular TV show “Crimewatch.” After months of false leads, a neighbor caught the attention of authorities. Would a single particle of gunpowder be enough to convict a suspect of killing the nation’s most beloved television star…or put the wrong man in jail? The Net...
Oct 09, 2023•45 min
When last we saw our heroes, temperamental actor Ben Gilroy had died on stage at the premier of Oliver’s new Broadway show. But a very-much alive Ben returns from the hospital, only to plummet to his death in the Arconia’s elevator shaft. Who among the cast and crew would want Ben dead? Oliver fears the show will tank if it’s a cast member - like the alluring Loretta Durkin whom he’s crushing on. Charles is struggling with both his love life and the musical’s patter song. Meanwhile Mabel is leav...
Oct 04, 2023•49 min
After a patient reported Dr Robert Hadden assaulted her in the exam room, many women came forward with similar accusations. But aggressive tactics by lawyers for the OB-GYN stymied the prosecution, ultimately resulting in a slap on the wrist. Survivors learned behind the hardball maneuvers was Hadden’s employer. For years, Columbia University ignored the complaints against the doctor, choosing to protect its brand instead of its patients. In the Wondery podcast “Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia Uni...
Oct 02, 2023•47 min
Though thought of as a leading youth group for skills and character building, the Boy Scouts often attracted adults who preyed on children. For decades, the national headquarters cataloged these incidents in confidential files, but publicly they denied there was a problem. It wasn’t until a former scout sued that the files were disclosed, revealing leaders knew about, but never acted on, hundreds and hundreds of cases of abuse. And even today, after a multi-billion dollar settlement with victims...
Sep 28, 2023•44 min
In December 2000, Florida’s Mike Williams disappeared in alligator-infested waters while duck hunting. His loss seemed to crush his wife Denise and his best friend Brian Winchester. While authorities ruled his presumed-death an accident, his mother Cheryl believed it was foul play. For years, she begged police and reporters to look into Denise’s involvement. It wasn’t until years later, when Denise got an insurance payout and married Brian, did investigators reopen Mike’s case. From Wondery come...
Sep 25, 2023•43 min
In 2019, Boulder, Colorado residents were shocked by the death by suicide of 24-year-old Alana Chen. The woman who once dreamed of being a nun had struggled with her sexual identity and was left scarred by conversion therapy. The reports intrigued Simon Kent Fung, who interviewed her mother and friends to learn more about Alana’s story. Exploring her inner life through the journals she left behind, Alana’s journey made Simon reflect on the parallels of his own struggles to reconcile his faith wi...
Sep 21, 2023•47 min
America was introduced to Ohio’s Bishop Sycamore High School during a nationally televised football game. When they lost 58-0, people first questioned how a team so clearly bad made it on to ESPN. But there was a bigger twist: the high school they played for didn’t exist! Coach Ray Johnson had dreamed up Bishop Sycamore just so he could put together a football team. Along the way, he flouted safety rules and sporting codes, while taking financial advantage of the players, creditors, and the gove...
Sep 18, 2023•44 min
In the 1990s, Carole Fisher started dating Doctor Bob Bierenbaum, but she broke it off with the charming physician after seeing his dark side. Carole created a kind of support group among Bob’s ex-girlfriends and talk soon turned to a strange part of his past: the doctor’s first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Gail Katz vanished from New York City in 1985, around the time she told friends she was going to leave Bob. The case stayed cold for years, until detectives turned to Caro...
Sep 14, 2023•47 min
Teenager Sam Lipman-Stern started videotaping his eccentric co-workers at a chaotic New Jersey call center which raised money for police organizations. When his friend Pat Pespas discovered Civil Development Group was keeping most of the donations, the pair hoped to expose the fraud. Though the feds took down CDG, Sam and Pat wondered why the police organizations were never held accountable for their role in the scheme. A decade later, the pair resumed their investigation, only to meet resistanc...
Sep 11, 2023•47 min
A cult takes over an Oregon town, then resorts to violence to keep their community…built on love. We'll return to our March 28, 2018 review of Netflix's "Wild Wild Country." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Sep 07, 2023•40 min
In 1984, a man shot four Black teens who approached him in a subway car, then vanished into the station. Reflecting New Yorkers’ growing anxiety about crime, the shooter was hailed by residents and the media as “The Subway Vigilante.” The unknown suspect was Bernie Goetz, who told investigators his unrelenting fear of city life fueled his actions. But as a more accurate portrait of the events emerged, a heated debate began whether his use of force was appropriate. And the case became a Rorschach...
Sep 04, 2023•53 min
How did a man get away with kidnapping his neighbors’ daughter not once - but twice? We'll revisit our January 28, 2019 review of the unforgettable true crime documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Aug 31, 2023•45 min
Teenager Tina Resch made news in the 1980s with stories of supernatural disturbances in her Ohio home. The so-called “Poltergeist Girl” was the focus of academics who wanted to research her powers and skeptics who believed the whole thing was an act. As an adult now going by Christina Boyer, the young mother returned from work to find her three year old Amber fatally injured while in the care of her boyfriend. Though she maintained her innocence, Boyer accepted a life plea to avoid the death pen...
Aug 28, 2023•53 min
On this CWO Classic, we revisit our October 20, 2017 split-decision review of Accused season 2. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Aug 24, 2023•35 min
After Susan Woods’s killer died from cancer, his diary about the 1987 case was discovered. The 30 year old woman was murdered in her Stephenville, Texas home. Family and friends were convinced the killer was her estranged husband, Michael. Had Stephenville police taken the story of a teenage rape victim more seriously, they might have spotted a big clue to the killer’s identity. But it would take decades and advances in technology to finally solve the cold case. “Stephenville” from Texas Monthly...
Aug 21, 2023•48 min
On this CWO Classic, we revisit the panel's December 16, 2019 review of Ronan Farrow's "Catch and Kill." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Aug 17, 2023•33 min
In 1992, authorities were slow to make connections between separate murders. A pair of affluent, but closeted men disappeared after leaving New York City gay bars, their dismembered bodies later discovered in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As more men were killed, gay activists tried to sound the alarm that someone was stalking club-goers. But New York police were indifferent to the crimes and hostile to the queer community. The culprit known as The Last Call Killer escaped detection for a decade ...
Aug 14, 2023•47 min
On this CWO Classic, we revisit our February 24, 2017 review of "Missing Richard Simmons," the first of six episodes dedicated to the groundbreaking podcast series. The panel heralded the arrival of Dan Taberski as a fresh, new voice in the industry. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Aug 10, 2023•30 min
No one has seen Gabriel Johnson since 2009, when his mother took the eight month old from her home in Arizona to Texas. In the middle of a custody dispute with her ex, Elizabeth Johnson told him she smothered the baby and threw his body in the garbage. When she returned home, Elizabeth had a different story. She said she gave Gabriel up in a black market adoption in San Antonio - a transaction facilitated by a couple who’d been trying to adopt the child themselves. The Peacock series “Where is B...
Aug 07, 2023•51 min
On this CWO Classic, we revisit of February 3, 2017 review of the scary, provocative HBO documentary, "Beware the Slenderman." It looks at the case of two young girls who stabbed their friend to appease a modern-day internet boogeyman. The panel is split but agrees on one thing: don't watch this one in the dark. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com....
Aug 03, 2023•30 min
Patients at a Yale fertility clinic complained of severe pain during common egg retrieval procedures. Despite nurses’ insistence they’ve received the maximum dosage of fentanyl, the women continued to suffer, unaware they were actually receiving a simple saline solution. After a tampered vial was discovered, authorities arrested an addicted nurse who’d been swapping out the opioid. But the many patients had more questions. Why were their complaints ignored? Could the clinic have done more? And h...
Jul 31, 2023•48 min
On this CWO Classic, we look back at our December 9, 2016 review of "Crimetown." Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier take us to Providence, Rhode Island, a city where organized crime corrupted every aspect of public life. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
Jul 27, 2023•24 min
Leon Benson says he’s innocent of the 1998 murder of Kasey Schoen, who was shot in his truck in Indianapolis. Despite his alibi, no motive, and a lack of physical evidence, Leon was convicted based on a cross-racial identification from 150 feet at night. Attorney Lara Bazelon looks for clues to winning Leon’s exoneration. Was evidence about alternative suspects withheld? And should Bazelon’s team approach the man they believe actually pulled the trigger? “Suspect: Five Shots in the Dark” is seas...
Jul 24, 2023•46 min
Fresh off the news of an arrest in the Long Island serial killer case, we go back to March 23, 2020 for the panel's review of Netflix's film adaptation of "Lost Girls" staring Amy Ryan. Does this two-hour dramatization of Bob Kolker's excellent book live up to the expansive source material? For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com....
Jul 20, 2023•27 min
In 1988, twenty-two year old Jane Boroski was attacked at a soda vending machine. The seven-month-pregnant New Hampshire woman was stabbed 27 times and left for dead. Boroski is believed to be the last victim and only survivor of the Connecticut River Valley Killer, a suspect who murdered at least seven women between 1978 and ‘88. Decades later, the question remains why did he kill and where did he go? In the podcast “Dark Valley'' from Crawlspace Media and Glassbox Media, Jennifer Amell looks b...
Jul 17, 2023•43 min
America was fascinated with the lives of the Duggars, a devout Christian family with 19 children and their own reality TV show. While they projected an image of wholesomeness on screen, off screen the Duggars tried to cover up allegations their son Josh had molested his sisters. The Duggars’ views on marriage, education, and childrearing were formed by the Institute of Basic Life Principles, a radical religious organization that espoused obedient children and subservient wives. Its practices sha...
Jul 10, 2023•52 min
Jared Fogle became the pitchman for Subway after his unconventional sandwich diet helped him lose 245 pounds. While on a promotional tour, Fogle shocked a local radio host with a sexual comment about children. Rochelle Herman began taping their phone calls, hoping to record the celebrity’s fascination with pedophilia. While Herman helped an FBI investigation, Fogle’s business associate Russell Taylor was creating explicit images of children. The two paths would cross, exposing the pop culture ic...
Jul 03, 2023•53 min
