RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares.
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In December 2006, the town of Ipswich was rocked by a spree of brutal murders targeting sex workers in its notorious red light area. But the story didn’t end with the capture of the so-called ‘Suffolk Strangler’, Steve Wright… The murders of Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell would go on to transform policing strategies for prostitution in the UK (and even inspired a tone-deaf musical). And with killer Steve Wright back in the news in February 2026 aft...
RedHanded welcomes comedian Abi Clarke for a special Valentine's episode delving into the racy, risky, and romantic. They share their celebrity crushes and play a fun "this or that" game before diving into listener-provided "Empty Handed" stories. The episode features hilarious and shocking tales of first dates gone wrong, unexpected relationship developments, and encounters with truly bizarre individuals, exploring everything from bad kisses to elaborate scams and questionable dating practices.
This episode unearths the bizarre history of contraception, exploring ancient methods like coitus interruptus and disgusting pessaries made from crocodile dung, alongside toxic concoctions and superstitious charms. It traces the evolution of barrier methods, including early condoms, through periods of religious opposition and legal battles. Finally, it highlights the heroic efforts of advocates like Margaret Sanger and the transformative societal impact of the birth control pill.
When Brendan Banfield frantically called 911 in February 2023 to report a double murder at his million-dollar suburban home in Virginia, it seemed like an extramarital sex game gone wrong. But as police dug deeper, the deaths of Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan – the stranger found beside her – proved even weirder than they once appeared. And all the evidence pointed to a dastardly plot between Brendan and the family’s Brazilian nanny, Juliana Peres Magalhães, in a twisted web of infidelity, catf...
For all the centuries of slavery throughout human history, you might think one group came through mostly unscathed: white Europeans. But for more than a thousand years, Barbary pirates from North Africa (funded by the Ottoman Empire) prowled European coastlines, snatching unsuspecting Christian folk and taking them to be slaves in the Islamic world. At their height, huge fleets of privateers were raiding coastal towns, sliding their ships silently up onto English beaches in the dead of night, an...
The ever-changing story of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, and the Countess of Chester baby deaths, has been given the Netflix treatment – and We. Have. Thoughts. For our coverage of the full story, check out our previous deep-dive just before this one in the feed. But in this week’s second-ShortHand, we talk about missed evidence, digital anonymisation, and decide whether or not it changed our minds. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video Episodes TikTok / Instagram So...
In light of the new Netflix documentary about Lucy Letby, we're dipping into the RedHanded archives to revisit our own coverage of this controversial case – following an expert panel's findings in February 2025... Want even more up-to-date analysis? Listen to our new ShortHand episode now: ' ShortHand: Lucy Letby – What Netflix Left Out'. -- An independent panel of experts has concluded that NO murders took place at the Countess of Chester hospital. If true, it would mean that Lucy Letby, curren...
In January 2016, a coffee date between three glamorous Indonesian gal pals turned deadly – when Mirna Salihin, a wealthy and beautiful newlywed, took a sip of a Vietnamese iced coffee that had been laced with a lethal dose of cyanide. The culprit? Her ex-bestie Jessica Wongso. The motive? A toxic case of the green eyed monster: with revenge served ice cold. At least, that’s how the Indonesian courts said it went down. But was it really that simple? A bungled trial, dodgy test results and a crook...
From faking insanity to go undercover in an asylum, racing around the world in 72 days, and reporting from the front lines of deadly war zones, this fearless investigative reporter risked everything to expose the truth… and she did it all in a corset. The unstoppable Nellie Bly rewrote all the rules to smash her way into the boys’ club of Victorian journalism, and blazed a trail for all the ladies who followed in her footsteps – including us. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - F...
Behind the façade of the white-picket-fence dream and adventurous childhoods of suburban, late-70s Michigan, lay a web of depravity that law enforcement was not remotely prepared for. Over the course of just one tragic year, the town of Oakland was terrorised: four children vanished, only to turn up dead. Chillingly, one had even been fed his favourite food, just before his murder. Was this the work of a lone killer? Or an organised, murderous child abuse operation involving a network of predato...
Not many of us need convincing that Sesame Street is good; the Muppets have been chaotic TV icons for more than 50 years. But what not many people know is just how much good it did . Not just unmissable TV, but a revolutionary, massive-scale outreach program. One that used ad-land tactics and groundbreaking psychological research, to reset the balance of educational privilege – and teach disadvantaged, inner-city kids how to read. It’s a sunny day. We’re sweeping the clouds away. This is the Sho...
With 2026 bringing widespread anti-government protests to Iran, and the government’s brutal crackdowns leading to thousands of people killed and arrested, we’re rereleasing our coverage on the current regime – and how we got here – through the lens of Mahsa Amini’s murder. -- On 19 May 2024, Ebrahim Raisi – “The Butcher of Tehran” and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran – died in a helicopter crash. Immediately, theories of who had killed him and why, swept the worlds’ media. But while his...
In 2000, Christine Lundy and her seven-year-old daughter Amber were brutally hacked to death in their New Zealand home. Their husband and father, Mark Lundy, had a seemingly watertight alibi: he was over 90 miles away. But that didn’t stop the New Zealand courts from convicting him. Twice. With a controversial case built on junk science, shifting timelines, and a microscopic speck of what prosecutors called ‘brain tissue’ (but might have just been lunch), the Lundy saga was New Zealand’s answer ...
‘Anal seepage’ is one of the many potential risks to the consumer due to seafood fraud, a multi-layered conspiracy that goes as deep as the Mariana Trench. The stats speak for themselves: if you’re in the UK, there’s a 55% chance that the fish you’re eating has been deliberately mislabeled. In the US, 120 samples of ‘Red Snapper’ were tested, and only 7 turned out to be the real thing. Clearly there’s something fishy going on. -- Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes YouTube - Full-length Video...
When Luigi Mangione was charged as the UnitedHealthcare shooter – it changed everything. The public knew this was a political act, but Luigi was not the crackpot vigilante many had pictured. He had no clear personal link to UnitedHealthcare (or CEO Brian Thompson) – and he had everything to lose. To many, he became a certified, revolutionary, anti-capitalist heartthrob. But there’s also a lot more to Mangione than the selfless martyr with chiselled abs. In our concluding part, we take a deeper l...
One of the most powerful people in one of the most powerful organizations in the world, Shelly Miscavige, hasn't been seen in public in almost two decades. In the world of Scientology, Shelly was practically an apostle. Yet, since her relationship with her husband – the leader of The Church of Scientology, David Miscavige – fell apart, she has never been seen again. Where is Shelly Miscavige? Why is she so dangerous to The Church of Scientology? And does she know that today is her 65th birthday?...
Our 2026 listener survey is here – if you have 5 minutes to help inform the next year of RedHanded, we'd love to know your thoughts! https://forms.gle/jNhKVqtdyqoyF3ey9 -- Three words, written on bullet casings, instantly changed the New York City shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson from a senseless inner-city attack, into one of the most polarising, unique and culturally important events in modern memory. In part one of our coverage of the Luigi Mangione story, we run through the en...
Imagine a building as tall as the Empire State Building, that stretches for more than 100km through the Saudi Arabian desert. Inside are nine million people – with robot maids and a giant fake moon – living in self-sufficient pods where everything they need is a five-minute walk away. It’s part of NEOM, a futuristic megacity complex, which the Saudi government has already started building. And if you believe the PR, it’ll be a car-free, carbon-free, utopian existence – the most equitable and sus...
When the son of Mormon family vlogger Ruby Franke turned up bound, emaciated and apparently covered in blood – it horrified the police, the internet and Franke’s millions of followers. The uber-strict brand of parenting advice she preached on her YouTube channel, “8 Passengers”, had been drawing online criticism for years. But even her loudest detractors couldn’t know how despicable and unhinged her punishments had grown. That is, until a diary, found among evidence of torture in a windowless ba...
As RedHanded takes a festive pause, we've picked two of our favourite Patreon Bonus episodes from 2025. To get a full-length, bonus episode of RedHanded every month (plus weekly video episodes of Under the Duvet and much more besides) head to Patreon.com/redhanded and sign up. Or, head to patreon.com/redhanded/gift to buy a membership for someone else! -- Remember that time a bunch of wristband-wielding Western teens went on a mission to save the world from a megalomaniac Ugandan warlord with an...
As RedHanded takes a festive pause, we've picked two of our favourite Patreon Bonus episodes from 2025. To get a full-length, bonus episode of RedHanded every month (plus weekly video episodes of Under the Duvet and much more besides) head to Patreon.com/redhanded and sign up. Or, head to patreon.com/redhanded/gift to buy a membership for someone else! -- When Santa Claus robbed the First National Bank in Cisco, Texas, two days before Christmas 1929 – it was just the beginning of a wilder-than-f...
The important bits: At the end of this year we'll no longer be a Wondery show. New ShortHand and early-release episodes will no longer appear in Wondery+ and Amazon Music subscriber feeds after 29th December. The good news is that ShortHand will be free for everyone and living its best life on the main RedHanded feed! If you're reading this, you're already on our main feed and don't need to go anywhere. See you in 2026!
OJ Simpson wasn’t black, “he was OJ”. That was the narrative OJ had pushed his entire career… right up until he found himself in the dock for killing his ex-wife and a waiter. Then suddenly OJ Simpson was practically MLK himself. Last week in our first part on “The Juice”, we told you how OJ Simpson killed Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. In Part Two, we’re going to tell you how he went to trial, with all of the evidence stacked against him – and, with the help of the “dream team”, still got away w...
Orenthal James Simpson, aka “OJ”, aka “The Juice”: the single most famous man in American sporting history. By the early 90s he had not only established himself as the greatest American Football player who’d ever lived – but he had also transcended sport, turning himself into a charismatic advertising machine and national icon. However, in June 1994, it all fell apart – when he killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman in cold blood, leaving a trail of evidence and eventually g...
In 1937 Paris, Leticia Toureaux was found stabbed on an empty Metro train, sparking a century-old mystery. Investigators uncovered her secret lives as a factory worker, Balmuzette dancer, and a crucial undercover agent spying on both left-wing groups and the dangerous far-right terrorist organization, Le Cagoule. The case remains officially unsolved, shrouded in political secrecy and competing theories about her assassin.
Dalia DiPolito, a manipulative gold-digger, plots her husband Mike's murder, leading to a theatrical police sting operation captured on video. The episode details Dalia's elaborate schemes, from financial fraud and fake pregnancies to attempts to frame Mike with drugs, all culminating in her dramatic arrest and multiple trials. Ultimately, Dalia faces justice, while Mike finds a new lease on life after escaping her web of lies.
When Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious woke up in a pool of his girlfriend’s blood, most people thought they knew the score. Sid & Nancy were famous across the world: the ultimate dysfunctional, smack-addicted punk power couple – and their reckless lifestyle was bound to end in tragedy. But they were far from the only people in Room 100 of the infamous Chelsea Hotel that night. With a building full of shady characters coming and going; thousands of dollars in cash nowhere to be found; an endle...
Part two of the Robert Wone murder investigates the shocking autopsy results, revealing precise stab wounds but no defensive injuries or significant blood at the scene. The hosts dissect various theories, from consensual sex gone wrong to paralytic agents, while also scrutinizing the police's handling of evidence and the bizarre discovery of Robert's own semen. Ultimately, despite strong suspicions, the lack of definitive proof leaves the intricate case shrouded in mystery.
Just 79 minutes after Robert Wone arrived at the fancy Washington DC townhouse of his College pal, 911 received a call that he was dead. Was it a drug-fuelled gay orgy gone wrong? A horrific rape and murder? An opportunistic burglar? The scene, Robert’s injuries, the surviving residents’ stories – nothing added up… In part one, we introduce strait-laced lawyer Robert Wone – and hear from the other men in the apartment that night: a messy throuple, with a romantic dynamic as changeable as their a...
This Halloween special features a crossover between RedHanded and I Could Murder A Podcast, recorded in a magician's house. Hosts and guests share their elaborate costumes before diving into true crime discussions, covering dream cold case solutions, ethically "uncoverable" cases, and personal encounters with victims' families. The episode also includes a segment of chilling listener-submitted ghost stories, exploring unexplained phenomena in nurseries, encounters with faceless figures, haunted pubs, and mysterious child experiences.
