It’s one of the most haunting murder cases you’ll ever hear about, and it takes place in a small town in Israel. Tair Rada was only 13-years-old when her body was found inside a locked bathroom stall. She was viciously murdered during a school day, and yet no one saw or heard a thing. The police arrested the janitor, Roman Zadorov, and he eventually confessed, but this was far from being the end of it. Based on the hit true-crime series from Netflix, the podcast "Shadow of Truth" will take you o...
Oct 27, 2021•6 min
For our third annual Halloween special, we have the gorgeous and talented Shelby Scott, velvet-voiced host of Scare You to Sleep, a podcast that, while beautifully produced and hugely entertaining, might just make you wet yourself a little bit. Just a little bit, no big deal. It’s worth it. Shelby’s show is the gold standard in horror podcasts, but she’s also a true crime buff. So since it’s Halloween, and we have the Princess of Darkness gracing us with her presence today, we decided to pick tw...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 14 min
When we left you at the end of part 1, taxidermy enthusiast, landlord and former bullfighter Charles Albright had begun living a double life. By day, a loving and gentlemanly boyfriend, a considerate friend and a fun-loving softball teammate. By night, a regular in the red-light districts of Dallas—sometimes kind and generous to the sex workers he encountered, sometimes cruel and sadistic. And in December of 1990, the brutal murder of one of those woman had just rocked the community to its core....
Oct 15, 2021•46 min
A small town cop known as “GI Joe” is gunned down in a swamp in the summer of 2015 and quickly becomes a martyr in the national media. But when a dogged investigator and his team set out to get justice, they uncover unsettling secrets about Joe, the local police department, and the village of Fox Lake. From Wondery, the makers of The Shrink Next Door and Dr. Death comes the third season of Over My Dead Body: Fox Lake. Hosted by Matt Baglio. Listen to Over My Dead Body: https://wondery.com/shows/...
Oct 11, 2021•6 min
In the early 90s, the city of Dallas was thrown into a nightmare. Women started turning up murdered, with a bizarre signature facial mutilation unlike anything detectives had ever seen before. As fear grew in the streets, the killer moved confidently among his pool of potential victims—savvy but vulnerable women who had turned to sex work to survive. No one could have predicted that the predator they were hunting was anything but the typical profile of a killer. A Renaissance man, a brilliant pi...
Oct 08, 2021•43 min
In the winter of 2002, Dennis White suddenly found himself in a bizarre predicament. His prominent Long Island psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Karpf, seemed to be unraveling: showing up to appointments looking disheveled and distracted. Dennis was concerned about the doctor he'd come to trust over the past six years. But he had no way of knowing what would happen when, one afternoon, he offered Dr. Karpf a listening ear. Seething over a recent conflict with a female patient--and still angry about a wh...
Oct 01, 2021•52 min
Few things are more devastating than a loved one going missing. On The Vanished podcast from Wondery, host Marissa Jones tells stories of missing persons that have gone overlooked by mainstream media. She gets the story from friends and family of the missing person, and frequently talks with law enforcement and others close to the case. This is just a preview of The Vanished, but you can listen to the full episode at https://open.spotify.com/show/2yOiTki10BkHXkDisfTPT9 Become a supporter of this...
Sep 28, 2021•9 min
This week, we're giving you a sneak peek at another one of our Patreon-exclusive episodes! This was our patrons-only from July. Usually we just do regular TCC episodes for our Patreon extras, but sometimes we like to mix things up and do something different. For this episode, we decided to let Katie take a dive into her very favorite pool--weird internet drama. We bring you two true crime-adjacent stories: Tumblr blogger Sixpenceee, who got into hot water with her fans for an array of reasons, i...
Sep 24, 2021•48 min
Nineteen year old Martre Coles was an aspiring artist with dreams of designing video games and making a life with his girlfriend Ashlynn. He'd had a rough few years since the sudden death of his mom, but things started looking up in the spring of 2017, when he found out he'd been accepted to a prestigious art and design program at Florida's Full Sail University. Martre was ready to leave home and take off full speed in the direction of his dreams. But then, on the day he was scheduled to leave, ...
Sep 17, 2021•43 min
In the fall of 2011, Jason Hachmeister came home to find his 58 year old mother, Sheila, brutally murdered on her bedroom floor. Detectives quickly discovered that Sheila had been living something of a double life over the past few months, chatting with a much-younger online boyfriend who seemed almost too good to be true. She had also been seeing another boyfriend in real life--one her family much preferred to the mysterious Mr. Perfect from the internet. But Sheila couldn't seem to tear hersel...
Sep 10, 2021•46 min
Gallaudet University is one of the world’s most prestigious schools for the deaf and hard of hearing. For the gifted few who pass the exclusive admissions process, Gallaudet is an oasis—a center of learning, a place of infinite possibilities, a home away from home. It’s a place where they can celebrate deaf culture, network with some of the best minds in the country, and feel a deep sense of belonging. But during a four-month period in the fall and winter of 2000-2001, that sense of security was...
Sep 03, 2021•53 min
A big Halloween party at an apartment complex in Redmond, Washington. Themed rooms and costumed partygoers. But by the end of the party, one of the hosts is dead. The police look to the partiers as the prime suspects: was it the guy in the devil mask, the bank robber, the construction worker? As investigators comb through forensic evidence, witness testimony, DNA, and even consult with a psychic, they zero in on one suspect in particular. But for what reason? Host and reporter Matthew Shaer (Ove...
Aug 31, 2021•6 min
So, campers, today we’re excited to have a special guest with us. I’m sure most of you are familiar by now with the “Dirty John” story, either because of the six-part LA Times podcast or the TV series with Eric Bana and Connie Britton. They tell the story of con man and serial predator John Meehan, who seems to have devoted his entire life to using and abusing other people, especially women, to satisfy his drug addiction and his sadistic desire for control. Today we’re joined by Debra Newell, wh...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 8 min
There’s a Latin phrase, “Fortune favors the bold.” Con artists understand that better than anyone, I think. It always takes some degree of boldness to do what they do, from Bernie Madoff’s billion dollar Ponzi scheme to the three-card Monte guy on the street. But once in a while, we get ourselves a true master of the art—a con artist so audacious, so arrogant, so bold that they leave everyone they meet feeling like they just got swept up in a hurricane. We’re about to tell the story of one of th...
Aug 20, 2021•45 min
In 1930s Philadelphia, men all over town were dying—some in strange accidents, and some of a swift, excruciating illness. Their widows were devastated, of course—but it being the Great Depression and all, they were somewhat comforted by the substantial payouts they received from their late husbands’ life insurance plans. In medical examiners’ offices across the city, one death certificate after another was stamped “Natural Death” or “Accident.” One family doctor after another signed off: So sad,...
Aug 13, 2021•46 min
Washington, D.C. has a long history of frauds and fantasists, people who showed up out of nowhere claiming to be somebody important, somebody rich, somebody royal. And people believed them—let them into the inner circle, invested money with them, gave them a seat at the table—only to find out later that they’d been had. That’s bad enough when all you lose is money, or a little bit of your pride. Far worse when your heart is involved. This is the bizarre story of Viola Drath, one of D.C.’s most r...
Aug 06, 2021•47 min
In the mid-90s, a spate of bizarre robberies caught the attention of police in Houston, Galveston, and Las Vegas. The perpetrators were a pair of 30something women who met their victims through dating ads. The women forced the men to strip at gunpoint, handcuffed or tied them up, then ransacked their homes. In only two months' time, they amassed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash and stolen goods. Who were these lady bandits, and what motivated them to drop their seemingly normal live...
Jul 30, 2021•44 min
George Bernard Shaw once said that it’s not really power that corrupts people. It’s the other way around. Well, he said it fancier than that, but that was the gist. We all want power, to some degree. Physical strength, sexual prowess, political sway. Most of us don’t let it control our lives, eat away at our humanity to the point where it’s all we care about. But for some of us, power is kinda like steroids. It makes us big and strong, but it’s addictive and the side effects can be murder. Sourc...
Jul 23, 2021•49 min
Anger is a double-edged sword. When it’s justified, and properly channeled, it can be a powerful force for positive change. But often, anger is like a strangling vine, winding its way around us, choking us with rage until we can’t see straight, can’t think straight, can’t tell right from wrong. It’s powerful stuff. And when anger flames out of control, it doesn’t matter how smart we are, or how much good we may have done in our lives up til now. If we let it overtake us, we’re going to leave ash...
Jul 16, 2021•59 min
So campers, when we left you at the end of part 1, college-bound Jennifer Bailey, her boyfriend, high school senior, reincarnated executioner and wannabe vampire Paul Henson, Jr., and best friend Merrilee, were hatching a plot to murder their parents. In their minds, this was the only way for them to stay together in this life and the next—and y’know, avoid homework and chores. Hardworking single mom Susan Bailey had no idea what they were planning as she worked double shifts to pay for Jennifer...
Jul 09, 2021•37 min
Adolescence is a pretty wild ride. On the one hand, we’re starting to move past childhood, where make-believe takes up a ton of our time. But we’re still far enough out from adulthood that we can still get pretty wrapped up in fantasy. And when you combine a child’s ability to blur the line between real and make-believe with a young adult’s hormonal grumpiness and frantic desire for independence, you can end up with a recipe for nastiness. Sources: Let's Kill Mom by Donna Fielder Investigation D...
Jul 02, 2021•42 min
Osho said of enlightenment, “You have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don't leave any footprints. You cannot follow them.” I think this is probably true. But that doesn’t stop us from trying our damnedest to find that ready-made road to the truth. And as we’ve seen before on True Crime Campfire, there’s no shortage of self-proclaimed gurus, teachers and self-help experts who claim they can lead us ...
Jun 25, 2021•54 min
Our neighbors. We see them every day, usually just for a few moments—long enough to say hi as we head inside with our groceries, or out to walk the dog. For those of us who live in apartments, we’re sometimes uncomfortably close to each other’s lives: sharing cooking smells, overhearing intimate moments, getting annoyed by small inconveniences. Such close proximity, for total strangers. And as much as we may come to know about the small details of our neighbors’ lives—which night of the week the...
Jun 18, 2021•45 min
Do you believe in love at first sight? What about love at first sound? The sound of a soft, sexy voice, that is. There's something uniquely intimate about a phone conversation, especially when you're having it late at night. There's anonymity because you can't see each other, but there's intimacy too. You can bond quickly, share secrets you'd be too scared to share face to face. How many of us have had one of those marathon, up-til-dawn phone sessions with a new love interest? How many of us hav...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Today you get a sneak peek at what our Patreon-exclusive episodes are like. This was last June's patrons-only offering. We do one of these every month, just for our Patreon angels! Today we've decided to zero in on a subject that comes up all the time on our show: Intuition. That “gut feeling” that tells us our best friend’s new boyfriend is a wrong ‘un, our kid’s new basketball coach is creepy, we should have this Uber driver pull over and let us out…right now. I’m sure you’ve heard us mention ...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 18 min
The longest tournament chess match ever recorded happened in Belgrade in 1989. It lasted 269 moves and took over 20 hours to complete. Strategy can take time. Some killers lash out in the heat of passion, but others take their time. They may want to toy with their victim for a while first, ratcheting up the torment bit by bit until finally it’s time to pounce. Or they may be biding their time to make sure every game piece is perfectly placed before they make their final move. Whatever the reason...
May 28, 2021•45 min
There’s an old saying that if you want something done right, you better do it yourself. But for some people, DIY murder just isn’t right for them. Maybe they’re afraid to get their own hands dirty, maybe they know they’d be the prime suspect if their target were to meet with an unfortunate incident—there are any number of reasons why a prospective killer might turn to a hitman. But as we’ve said before on True Crime Campfire, there are some real pitfalls to contracting out your murder plots. We’...
May 21, 2021•54 min
The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is generally known as a fun story—a court jester-looking dude in bright colored clothes, playing a flute and jauntily leading the town’s children off into the sunset. Y’know, good times. Dancing and singing and whatnot. The real story may be a lot grimmer—in fact, some historians think the Piper led the youths of Hamelin to be abducted or slaughtered. We don’t really know for sure. But we’re pretty sure about this: When a full-grown adult starts collecting...
May 14, 2021•52 min
On the HBO series The Sopranos, retired mob boss Uncle Jun says, “Some people are so far behind in a race that they actually believe they’re leading.” He was talking about hubris, I think, the temptation to convince yourself you’re king of the mountain, when really everybody’s snickering behind your back. What goes hand in hand with that kind of arrogance, of course, is a seething well of jealousy and paranoia. Commit the unforgivable sin of being cooler, or smarter, or stronger than me, and I w...
May 07, 2021•43 min
Humans have always been seekers of truth. We’re not always great at finding it, but we’re always lookin’. And however noble that quest might be, our desire to understand the hows and whys of human existence can sometimes leave us open to scams, cons, and cults. Give us a confident, charismatic personality with the right buzzwords and promises of enlightenment, and we’re much too eager to hand over our judgment…and our wallets. Today, our special guest Noah Lugeons—cohost of God-Awful Movies—will...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 8 min
