It all started with a 911 call—“I’ve been abducted.” When this arresting call came into the Ashland County, Ohio police dispatcher on September 13, 2016, no one could have seen coming that it would lead to a landslide of information and a shocking series of crimes against area women. Join Tommy as she takes Mick back to central Ohio for the story of this unbelievable contemporary serial killer.
A young girl seeking a new job to support her family and her future, suddenly goes missing after a job interview. Police have a solid lead, but are stonewalled for years. While their main suspect lives the life of a career criminal, there’s little they can find to connect him to the disappearance. Mick shares the story of the disappearance of Hang Lee, a young immigrant from St. Paul, MN and the frustrating nature of this unsolved case. Can recent changes in the suspect's criminal status help br...
We're back! And since we missed last week, we're giving this one to you a day early with the story of Richard Speck. The evening of July 13, 1966 started off as a quiet and typical night for nine nursing students sharing a townhouse in Chicago until there came a knock at the door that unfurled into a night of utter terror. What kind of person could attack and kill so many young women entering into one of the most challenging and noble careers out there? Join Tommy as she walks Mick through one o...
When Gregory Green is sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, he diligently serves his time in prison. After winning over the parole board, he is released in 2008. But history tragically repeats itself when he slips back into old behavior. His new wife seeks protection for herself and her family, but this story ends in a gruesome tragedy that no one could have imagined. We travel back to Tommy’s hometown to explore this story of family devastation. If you're experiencing Domestic or Intimate...
Christopher Regan was a successful, well-liked 53 year old and recent transplant to the sleepy town of Iron River, Michigan when he was last heard from on a cool day in October. After two weeks of no contact from Chris, a friend with a gut feeling that something was wrong enlisted the help of Police Chief Laura Frizzo, whose dogged determination to solve this case and find Chris would eventually cost her her job. Join Tommy as she walks Mick through a tale of lonely hearts, manipulation, and a p...
A small town in southern Ohio hides a nuclear secret. When factory worker David Bocks goes missing, rumors swirl about the goings on at the Fernald Feed Plant. While investigators feel they have their answers quickly, David's family and isn't so sure. What stopped this case from being solve? Fear? Obfuscation? Stigma? Join Tommy and Mick as they explore a decades old unsolved mystery.
Krystal Tobias and Laura Hobbs were two seconds grade best friends who loved spending time together in their neighborhood in Zion, Illinois. When they were found killed in a local park in 2005, a perpetrator close to the victims was quickly apprehended. However, that isn’t the end of the story. Listen as Tommy tells Mick the tale of a double murder who’s ripple effect would cross state lines and cause havoc and confusion for years to come.
The stunning conclusion to the story of Ed Gein. Mick and Tommy try to stitch together all the parts of Ed Gein to explain the man whose crimes and crafts stunned the world. When the horrors of the Gein home are discovered the town of Plainfield reacts with disbelief, and then rage. Police simply do not believe his explanations. But the truth is stranger, and scarier, than fiction when it comes to this particular character. Mick reviews (and judges) Gein’s psych eval, his confession, and his fat...
He’s been called a Ghoul, a Deviant, and a Psycho. He’s the inspiration behind some of the greatest fictional villains. But how much do we really know about Ed Gein? The man who horrified a nation when grisly crafts of skulls, skin masks, furniture, and clothing made of human body parts were discovered in his home. How did Gein become the monster that we've come to know him to be? In the first of this multiparter, Mick deep dives into the life, the family, and the psyche of The Butch of Plainfie...
On October 6, 2002, 11 year old Shawn Hornbeck vanished into thin air while riding his bicycle along the country roads of his hometown of Richwoods, Missouri, leaving behind no trace of what might have happened. In the years following his disappearance, his parents founded organizations to help find other missing children, channeling their grief into action, while leads dried up and the case went cold. When 13 year old Ben Ownby disappeared under similar circumstances from nearby Beaumont in 200...
When Don and Janet Allen put their used truck for sale to fund Don’s heart surgery, they could never have imagined the chaos and tragedy that would ensue. Their two daughters are assaulted, and the younger Kathy is kidnapped and murdered. The offenders are quickly apprehended and sentenced, with one being put to death. But our story has a twist when decades later, the state of Iowa begins to investigate cold cases and we get a deeper look into the horrors committed by Andrew Wessel Six....
As 1999 rolled over into 2000, southwest Detroit’s close knit community of sex workers is shaken by an extremely aggressive John on the prowl. As assaults turn into slayings, Detroit police must uncover a mystery man who has been called “the smartest serial killer you’ve never heard of.” Join Tommy as she spins for Mick a tale of hometown horror and the backstory that shaped a coldblooded killer.
We’ve all heard the cliché that Chicago is a dangerous town. With a high murder rate and a low clearance rate from police, many families are left without justice or closure. But in the cases of 51 murdered Chicago women, there seem to be some suspicious connections. Over the past two decades, 51 women have been murdered and their bodies abandoned in strangely similar ways. Mick and Tommy explore the question of whether there is a serial killer operating in the Windy City. And Mick discusses some...
On a brisk night in November, 1973, a group of teenagers gather in the woods for a night of acoustic guitar and cuddling around the campfire. As their night goes on, they hear the rustling of branches and approaching footsteps--footsteps that would come to signal a night of horror at the hands of three madmen impersonating police. Listen as Tommy regales Mick with a survivor’s tale so bizarre that it defines that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
Lorraine Kirkley truly was the All American Girl, a hardworking cardiac nurse and active member of her Indiana community. Until a break-in reveals a bizarre obsession that ends in tragedy. Her killer’s defense amounts to little more than character assassination and nonsensical lies. Mick tells the unbelievable story of Lori’s murder and how the family finally found some closure.
Hell’s Princess. Lady Bluebeard. The Black Widow. Belle Gunness was a woman of many names, and her death toll in turn-of-the-century rural Indiana is nothing short of shocking. As a mother, she was doting, maternal, and generous. As a killer, she was a ruthless predator of recent European immigrants. With all of the legend surrounding this infamous character, who really WAS Belle Gunness? Join Tommy as she walks Mick through the tale of one of the most notorious serial killers in American histor...
On a cool October Evening, the 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten walks over to a friends house to play. When she doesn’t return in a timely manner, her family immediately begins to worry about the typically cautious and responsible girl. When police and the community discover what happened, they’re left with nothing but rage toward her 15-year-old killer, Alyssa Bustamante. Mick walks Tommy through an exploration of what makes a teenager kill, and gives a mini-dive into the Prozac Defense. Quick warnin...
Skidmore, Missouri, a town infamous for its decades-long history of violent occurances, probably never realized it would make national headlines yet again in 2004--this time, for it’s more atrocious crime yet: the brutal murder of a pregnant 23 year old named Bobbie Jo Stinnett and the abduction of her 8 month fetus. Join Tommy as she guides Mick through this horrible situation and fallout--along with it’s baffling “Why?”
The weekend of July 4, 1999 Benjamin Smith begins a spree shooting that will cover 3 days and 2 states. In the end, 2 people are killed, 7 wounded, and Smith dies by suicide. All driven by a racist church and it’s small following. What led a 21-year-old to this disgusting ideology and act? Mick walks Tommy through an infuriating tale of racism and tragedy.
In 2001, Standing Rock Indian Reservation resident Ivy Archambault, whose Lakota name was Pretty Bird Woman, devoted herself to helping her community through her work as a social worker. On one October night, she mysteriously disappeared. While the investigation and subsequent arrest that followed were fairly expedient, the systemic issues that lead to her rape and murder are anything but simple. Join us as Tommy takes Mick through a crash course in reservation dynamics and the beautiful legacy ...
In the summer of 1965, Sylvia and Jenny Likens were entrusted to the care of Gertrude Banizewski while their parents traveled to earn money for the family. Over the course of just a few months, Sylvia experienced unimaginable abuse and humiliation. But it wasn’t just Gertrude who was responsible; children from the family and around the neighborhood all participated in her death. Sylvia’s murder is a dark spot in Indiana history, changing both the culture and the law to ensure that the tragedy of...
In the major metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul, a brutal attack that leaves a young woman hanging on for dear life is tragic, but perhaps not unremarkable. When another attack happens, this one resulting in death, police are flummoxed by a weeping 911 caller who admits to the ruthless attacks. Over a two year span, the Twin Cities would be collectively captivated and terrified--who was this weeping man who kept attacking and stabbing their women? Why the phone calls? What motivated these...
On the night of July 3, 1929, a man enters the home of a local business man, mystic, and occult leader, Bennie Evangalista. He is shocked to see Evangalista, beheaded and surrounded by photos of his deceased infant son. Upstairs, the bodies of his wife and children are found in their beds. The scene mirrors those of Evangalista’s own visions and writings. Investigators are left with little more than a single bloody fingerprint. Mick shares one of the oldest unsolved mysteries in Detroit history....
In May 1995, a house fire in North Dakota claimed the life of five year old Amanda Marie Froistad. A family and a town grieved this tragic accident, until an internet confession three years later changed everything. This confession would catalyze an investigation that uncovered the real truth: a tragic life cut short and marked by bureaucratic failures within every system designed to protect her.
On a cool November afternoon, Sydney Loofe leaves work to prepare for a date, excited for the prospect of a new relationship. When she doesn’t show up for work the next day, friends and family immediately know something is wrong. The investigation leaves a community reeling, and confused. Join Mick as she takes Tommy through this disorienting tale of tragedy.
On a calm April day in 1991, the small town of Cushing, Wisconsin is shaken when a family of five go missing. When their vehicle is found burnt out next to a trout fishing stream, a community becomes consumed with anxiety, fear, and Satanic panic as investigators uncover a devious plot to destroy this family.
Black women are going missing in Cleveland, OH. Despite reports and pleas from grieving families the Cleveland Police fail to investigate, costing more and more lives. Mick tells the story of the Cleveland Strangler and the powerful survivors who helped finally put him behind bars.
The second half of this two parter takes us through the last two victims of the Ypsilanti Ripper, a final leg of investigation with more twists and turns than a corn maze, and the arrest and arraignment of a perpetrator whose guilt shocks the Ypsilanti community.
In the first half of this two-parter, Tommy takes Mick back to 1967 Ypsilanti, Michigan, when this idyllic college town becomes host to the diabolical serial killings of several young women by a killer dubbed The Ypsilanti Ripper. As the crimes escalate, two university communities wonder when they will next know peace, safety, and justice.
