Today's case takes us to Marietta, Georgia. The book centered on this case was one of the first true crime books I had read, and it has always stuck with me. The book Secrets Never Lie: The Death of Sara Tokars- A Southern Tragedy of Money, Murder, and Innocence Betrayed is by R. Robin McDonald. It is November 29, 1992, and Thanksgiving weekend has just ended. 39-year-old Sara has been visiting with her parents and her sisters in Bradenton, Florida, for the holiday weekend, but it was time for h...
Jun 26, 2024•47 min
It was 1996, and all anybody could talk about in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada was the Abbotsford Killer. A few months before, a sadistic, barbaric individual had beaten two girls with a baseball bat, raped one, and thrown her body in the Vedder River. The killer taunted the police and terrorized an entire community of 108,000 people by promising that there would be more bodies. And he was still at large. People, especially women, were terrified to go anywhere. What would make somebody do...
Jun 19, 2024•51 min
Former Dauphin County Chief Detective Thomas Brennan’s phone rings between 3 am and 4 am from a responding officer requesting assistance on a crime scene. When the detective arrives, he notices a car pulled close to a ditch. Brennen, who received training at the FBI Behavioral Science Unit during his tenure with the state police, knew immediately what he was dealing with when he arrived at the Conrail crime scene. After Brennan asks the officer for details, the officer explains that a Conrail tr...
Jun 12, 2024•38 min
In the summer of 1991, Krystal Naab was sixteen years old. She lived in a mobile home in Ramsey, Illinois, with her mother and two siblings. She spent time with her boyfriend, whom she had plans to marry, and hung out with her friends. Everyone described Krystal as a genuinely sweet person. July 23rd was shaping up to be a scorcher, and by 7:30 a.m., it was already warm and humid. Since one of Krystal's chores was to mow the lawn, her brother Curtis woke her up before he left for work. He remind...
Jun 05, 2024•44 min
*Content Warning: This episode deals with domestic violence that may be disturbing to some of our listeners.If you or someone you love needs help, please call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or visit their website at https://www.thehotline.org/ . Thank you to Jessi and Kristin for speaking with us about their friend Leanne. Leanne Davidson Beck was known for being fiercely independent, tenacious, and kind. She had a good heart, and she was loved by everybody who knew...
Jun 02, 2024•1 hr 4 min
On August 7, 1995, in Aroma Park, Illinois, 9-year-old Christopher Meyer approached his mom, Mika Moulton, asking for permission to visit the Aroma Park boat launch by the Kankakee River. Christopher, who spent his summers with his mother but resided with his father, Jim Meyer, in Walla Walla, Washington, during the school year, was eager to explore. Mika permitted him to go but set a curfew, instructing him to return home by 5 pm. When 5 o'clock came and went, Mika began to worry. She went out ...
May 29, 2024•35 min
In April 2001, Jerry Heimann's son, Greg, had come to Washington State to visit his father. When his father didn't pick him up from the airport, he grew concerned. When he arrived at his father's home, and there was no answer, he broke into the house. Jerry wasn't there, and neither were most of Jerry's belongings. As he made his way into the dining room, he found an 89-year-old grandmother, Evelyn, and an Alzheimer's patient slumped in her wheelchair. She had been left alone, starving. Greg cal...
May 22, 2024•55 min
In the early hours of May 14, 1983, two California Highway Patrol officers pulled over a suspected drunk driver on the San Diego Freeway in Mission Viejo, California. Instead of staying in his vehicle, the driver jumped out, pouring the contents of a beer bottle onto the road as he exited. His disheveled appearance caught the officers' attention as he approached their patrol car. The officers asked for the man’s driver’s license, and he readily admitted that he had been drinking beer, but he cla...
May 15, 2024•59 min
All considered twenty-five-year-old school teacher and beauty queen Irene Garza to be a “devout” Catholic. She attended daily mass at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen. There was nothing pretentious or fake about Irene, and she lived her faith. Being good to others was part of her life’s mantra. She told a friend of hers that she found strength and comfort from her daily communion, so it was only natural that she would go to confession that Saturday evening before Easter. In fact, her family said t...
May 08, 2024•50 min
Nancy Brophy fills her novels with romantic betrayals and murder. It’s a far cry from her quiet life in the suburbs, where she and her chef husband, Dan, are living out their golden years. But when Dan is shot dead, Nancy finds herself at the center of a murder case that could be ripped from the pages of her novels. From Wondery, this is a story about what happens when the line blurs between fiction and reality. Listen to Happily Never After: Dan & Nancy early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join W...
May 06, 2024•6 min
Warning: Today's episode deals with mental health struggles. If you or someone you love need help please contact 988, where resources are available to you. On Friday, July 25, 2002, Ernie Williamson woke up to the alarm at either 6 or 6:30 AM, preparing to head to work. As he starts his day, his 6-year-old daughter, Cassandra, affectionately known as Casey, approaches him, telling him she is hungry. Ernie assures her that he'll quickly take a shower and then accompany her across the street to gr...
May 01, 2024•48 min
Annie McCarrick, an American living in Ireland, left her home on March 26, 1993, and vanished into thin air. Her father, John McCarrick, said, “It’s as if somebody came along and just vacuumed her up off the planet.” It's been thirty-one years since Annie was last seen. Many theories have been suggested and investigated in Annie’s disappearance. One is that Annie was abducted and murdered by a total stranger. And for most people, this theory seemed the most plausible for decades. The reason for ...
Apr 24, 2024•58 min
Today, we are going to Harrington, Delaware, where 41-year-old Charles Holden returns home from work just after 1 am. Pulling up to his home, he notices a man lurking outside, peeking in the windows. Charles, who shares the property with his mother, left the scene to phone the police. Charles explained to the dispatcher that he feared the man was trying to break into his mother’s home and was worried since she lived alone. Charles went back to the location to wait for the police. Corporal Myrna ...
Apr 17, 2024•36 min
It was a cold and snow-covered morning in February 2010 when Thomas and Lynn Love decided to take the scenic route to Woodbridge, a suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. The area had recently been pummeled with snow, not once but three times that month, leaving record-breaking accumulations across the Washington, D.C. area. They drove by Prince William Forest and turned east onto Minnieville Road. The area is a sleepy suburb, with wide open roads interspersed with the occasional subdivision or neighbo...
Apr 10, 2024•59 min
We are headed to Indiana, near the famed Speedway where the iconic Indy races unfold. It's September 12, 2000, around 7 a.m. when a call comes into police, reporting a vehicle ablaze near Decatur Township off State Road 67. Detective Larry Sanders swiftly responds, observing the inferno and sensing its deliberate nature. Amidst the efforts to douse the flames, a chilling discovery emerges from the trunk: a charred body, its gender indiscernible, limbs bound with wire. Amidst the chaos, crucial i...
Apr 03, 2024•40 min
In 2007, Carly became friends with a musician named Brandon Kane on MySpace. The two initially bonded over their love of music, and soon, Brandon regaled her with stories of growing up in the wide-open spaces of the American Southwest and traveling to other exotic places. Carly hung on to his every word. Carly soon shared with her mother that she’d “met” this awesome guy named Brandon Kane. Within 18 months, Brandon quickly became Carly’s entire world. Unfortunately, Brandon Kane didn't exist. T...
Mar 27, 2024•53 min
Commerce City, Colorado, is a working-class community with a higher-than-average crime rate. On March 17, 2013, Nate Leon embarked on a journey to Domino's Pizza around 10:45 a.m. Nate, a devoted father of three and a full-time employee at IBM, also worked weekends at Domino's to supplement his income. On that particular day, Domino's received a call requesting a pizza delivery to an unspecified intersection. The employee informed the caller that an exact address was needed for delivery, prompti...
Mar 20, 2024•42 min
Come travel to the UK with Jen and Cam! Find out how to join the tour HERE . To book, you can call 800-438-7672, & mention the group reference number # 70971994 Seats are filling up! On the balmy night of June 28th, 2015, 46-year-old Dr. Teresa Sievers lugged her suitcases through Southwest Florida International Airport. At 4’ 11” tall, Teresa was known as a “little dynamo.” She was intelligent, abrupt, forceful, and, above all, caring. She always wore high heels, and she always spoke in an ...
Mar 13, 2024•51 min
Want to travel to the UK with Jen and Cam? Go to ourtruecrimepodcast.com and find out how to join the tour, or click HERE. To book, you can call 800-438-7672, and mention the group reference number # 70971994 Today, we are headed to North Philadelphia. It is March 25, 1987, and police are about to enter a run-down home on North Marshall Street. Even though officers were told what they were about to encounter, there was no way anyone could ever prepare for what they saw. The smell hit them first ...
Mar 06, 2024•55 min
Sometimes, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can have deadly consequences. Sometimes, it's not just the place that's the problem; it's the who that you're with. In the two cases we discuss in this episode, neither of these men intended to kill their victims. They did not set out that morning to take the life of another human being. Nor did they gain anything from the demise of their victims. But they were responsible for their deaths all the same. The first case is in London, England, w...
Feb 28, 2024•58 min
Katie Eastburn had posted a classified advertisement in a local newspaper catering to the military community near Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg to sell their English setter, Dixie. At the time, Katie's husband Gary, an Air Force captain, was away attending a squadron officer's school in Alabama, leaving her at home with their three young children. The couple had met twelve years prior at a singles' softball game, and Gary vividly remembers her powerful impact on him, saying, "It was like so...
Feb 21, 2024•54 min
Want to travel to the UK with Cam and Jen in June of 2025? Check out the itinerary for Our True Crime Podcasts Dark History Tour. Or go to ourtruecrimepodcast.com and check out the link there. Thank you to Holly Elenor for the episode request. The entertainment district of Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, draws people from all over the world to participate in its blues music and dine on the famous Memphis-style barbecue. Home of Sun Studios and Graceland, it’s often referred to as the birthpl...
Feb 14, 2024•50 min
It is 4 pm on Thursday, November 11, 2010, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, when a phone call comes from police. On the line is Valerie Haythorn, manager of the nearby Dairy Queen, who is concerned that her employee 32 year- 32-year-old Tina Herrmann, has not shown up to work today or the previous day. This was very unlike Tina’s character, who has always been dependable. Valerie tells the police she is so worried she goes to Tina’s house to check on her. She is there as she is phoning the police. She infor...
Feb 07, 2024•38 min
***This episode talks about the school shooting at West Nickels Mines Amish School. If you are sensitive to this subject, you may want to skip this one. ***Jen had points where her voice cracked and tightened as this topic is very difficult for her, so please bear with her. On October 2, 2006, the sun peeked over the horizon at 7:05 a.m. in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, bathing the green, undulating hills in a warm glow. It should have been a perfect day filled with friendship and laughter. In...
Jan 31, 2024•40 min
We are headed to Bemidji, Minnesota, where firefighters are at the scene of a mobile home fire where 35-year-old single mother Melissa Norby lived. As they worked to put out the fire, they noticed that windows had been blown away from the building by as much as 12 to 15 feet. They determined that the start of the fire seemed to be the primary bedroom. Once inside the home, in the bedroom they locate a gas can that had not burnt up in the fire. What else they find is much more disturbing. They fi...
Jan 24, 2024•46 min
This is a listener request from Kari Schaan on our FB discussion page. Thank you Kari! On a cold January night in 1985, just outside Wichita Falls, Texas, a bloodied and naked Toni Jean Gibbs tumbled from an abandoned trolley car where she had just been brutally raped and stabbed. Her attacker, knowing his job was done and that her death was inevitable, had already fled the scene, driving away in Toni’s brand-new Camaro. Stumbling through the dark across the thick and scratchy grass of a north T...
Jan 17, 2024•57 min
SURPRISE! We have one last episode for 2023! Thank you to Tina for requesting this episode. She's been a listener since pretty much the beginning of OTCP. On the evening of September 11th, 2017, a fisherman spotted an unusual object floating along the surface of Lake Ontario near Oshawa Pier. After several attempts to bring the object closer with his fishing line, he realized he had made a grim discovery - the dismembered torso of a woman. There were no signs of identification, such as age indic...
Dec 27, 2023•48 min
Welcome to Our True Crime Podcast’s original “12 Nightmares Before Christmas,” where we discuss a true crime story daily for the days leading up to December 24. Make sure to like, subscribe, and tune in each day. We made it to Day 12! We hope you've had a wonderful holiday season! Thank you all for such a great 2023! Most people have heard of the Green River Killer. Washington State’s most notorious serial killer was hard to miss in the 1990s. His moniker and his horrendous deeds could be found ...
Dec 24, 2023•44 min
Welcome to Our True Crime Podcast’s original “12 Nightmares Before Christmas,” where we discuss a true crime story daily for the days leading up to December 24. Make sure to like, subscribe, and tune in each day. On June 2, 1985, the Southern San Francisco police department received a report of a shoplifting incident. A man calmly exited a store with a tool called a vice, placed it in the trunk of a beige 1980 Honda Prelude, and vanished before apprehension could occur. Officer Daniel Wright rep...
Dec 23, 2023•46 min
Welcome to Our True Crime Podcast’s original “12 Nightmares Before Christmas,” where we discuss a true crime story daily for the days leading up to December 24. Make sure to like, subscribe, and tune in each day. Day 10 is here! On September 4, 2022, 32-year-old Myles Sanderson went on a killing spree in Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada, on the James Smith Cree Nation. Eleven people lost their lives, and eighteen more were injured. This event is considered to be one of the deadliest massacres in Can...
Dec 22, 2023•35 min
