Serial Killers

George Joseph Smith, the “London Bluebeard,” was said to have hypnotizing eyes that lured women into marriage – and on to their untimely deaths. But it was his strange method of killing them that would eventually lead to his downfall…after his third wife died in the bathtub during their honeymoon.

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When a Missouri real estate tycoon fell sick in 1909, he promised his family a large inheritance. But one in-law was after far more than a piece of the pie. Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde wanted the whole fortune, even if it meant using his medical knowledge for murder.

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By 1938, Philadelphia’s Bolber-Petrillo Murder Ring had collected an estimated $100,000 in insurance payouts. But like many criminals on a lucky streak, they got sloppy. As investigators unraveled the threads of the ring’s vast conspiracy, Dr. Morris Bolber put on one last show.

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In 1930s Philadelphia, self-styled “doctor” Morris Bolber claimed he could fix any ailment – even a broken marriage. His poisonous prescriptions for unhappy housewives killed dozens of men. When the prescriptions didn’t work, Bolber called a pair of conman brothers who were guaranteed to get the job done – as long as they got a chunk of the life insurance money.

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An Italian woman living in Rome during the 17th century sold black-market poison to women who wanted to escape their marriages. She packaged the liquid in glass vials and used labels that claimed it was a healing ointment. It was said to be slow-acting, tasteless, odorless, and completely undetectable. Warnings claimed just four to six drops were “sufficient enough to destroy a man.” But with the right dosage, aspiring widows could prolong their husband’s suffering — long enough for them to, say, get their affairs in order. Is Giulia Tofana history’s most prolific killer?

Vanessa is joined by the hosts of the podcast Women & Crime, Doctors Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg.

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Serial killer or serial liar? Kelly Cochran is guilty of two homicides, which she blames on a pact she made with her husband, Jason. But Kelly’s history of lies and manipulation may have concealed up to thirty-two murders and at least one case of cannibalism.

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In 1974, 17-year-old Carla Walker was abducted from a car in Fort Worth, Texas. Days later, her body was discovered in a remote culvert a few miles away. 46 years later, an arrest was made. But was she Glen McCurley’s only victim?

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At 11, Mary Bell was on trial for not one, but two murders – during which she was often considered a “bad seed” by those who couldn’t comprehend how such a young girl could commit these acts.

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It’s 2004, and Sheila LaBarre has inherited wealth, a massive farm, and animals she adores. She has everything she ever wanted…almost. What Sheila really wants is to find men who sexually abuse children, and kill them.

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Sheila LaBarre’s childhood dreams weren’t out of the ordinary: get out of her small town, become famous, marry a wealthy man. But after a near-death experience, Sheila’s perspective shifts and she sets her sights on revenge.

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April 25 marks National DNA Day in the US, and if you’ve been following true crime stories for a while you know how important DNA can be for solving even the most complicated of cases. In this episode, we’re exploring the first murder case ever solved using DNA analysis, and how it changed a small English town, and forensic science, forever.

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In 1989, Kristen Gilbert started her nursing career at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts. She impressed medical staff for her quick and skilled reactions to emergencies on her ward and in the ICU. But over the following seven years, so much death occurred during her shifts that she gained the moniker “The Angel of Death.” Was it a coincidence, or was Kristen Gilbert killing her patients?

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In 1975, two young girls, Kate and Sheila Lyon, disappeared from the Wheaton Plaza Mall in Montgomery County, Maryland. Investigators assumed the worst: that they were abducted by a stranger with sexual motivations. But the case went cold without answers — and all these years later, the truth is still complicated.

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All Anthony Garcia ever wanted to be was a successful doctor.  When anyone got in his way, he attacked – resulting in four violent murders.

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Israel Keyes died having only confessed to a handful of murders and crimes. Researchers and investigators are left piecing together evidence to solve cold cases.

Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.

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Over the course of six months in 2012, Israel Keyes sits down with the FBI for a series of interviews. In between toying with investigators and bargaining for what he wants, he confesses to a handful of other crimes — while alluding to a whole lot more.

Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.

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In 2012, Israel Keyes is arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old barista. Prior to that, he’d had just one blemish on his criminal record: a DUI. He’s since been called “the most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of.”

Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.

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On September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman took one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule to ease her sore throat and mysteriously died less than four hours later. The same day, three members of the Janus family ingested Tylenol. Brothers Adam and Stanley died hours later. Theresa, Stanley’s wife, experienced chest pain and was rushed to the hospital, where she passed away two days later.

In that span of time, two more victims – Mary Reiner and Mary McFarland – met similar fates. Shortly after, Paula Prince was discovered dead in her apartment

All seven victims were living in the Chicago area; all seven had taken Extra-Strength Tylenol. Authorities determined the capsules had been laced with deadly potassium cyanide; a task force was promptly assembled; and Tylenol’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, swiftly removed products from shelves amid growing concern around the country. Soon, they introduced tamper-proof packaging that became ubiquitous for medications and other products.

And yet, the crime remains unsolved to this day.

One name loomed large in the field of suspects connected to the unsolved 1982 Chicago Tylenol Murders: James Lewis. Investigators could never prove he did it, but Lewis held a certain fascination anyway. Why? Who was this man – and could he really have committed such an evil crime? CBS Chicago investigative reporter Brad Edwards decided to trace Lewis’s past to answer those questions for the docuseries PainKiller: The Tylenol Murders, on Paramount Plus.

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In July 2023, Rex Heuermann was arrested and charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello. Additional charges came in January 2024 for the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery joins the show to talk about the 16-year investigation, the apathy toward sex workers, and the lives and families of the Gilgo Four.

The audiobook edition of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker is available for Spotify Premium Subscribers in our Audiobook catalog, where you can check it out after listening to this episode.

To buy the hard copy, you can visit: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lost-girls-robert-kolker

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Olivia Hope and Ben Smart were partying with their friends on New Year’s Eve in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand. As the party was dying down they accepted an offer from a stranger to come aboard his yacht. They were never heard from again.

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In October 1983, police found Gertrude McCabe dead inside her San Jose home: Who would murder an 88-year-old woman in such a violent fashion?

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—

This episode is sponsored by ABC’s Will Trent, last season’s most talked-about new crime series. Special agent Will Trent has an eye for the crucial clues that close even the toughest cases. He uses his amazing gift for reading crime scenes to catch kidnappers, murderers – even a serial killer. Watch Season 2 of Will Trent, at its new time, Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and stream on Hulu.

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During a 1972 snowstorm, musical prodigy Lee Morgan and his band played a set at Slug’s Saloon in New York City. One minute, he was entertaining the crowd, his trumpet blaring with solo after solo. The next, he was dead.

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Sometimes violence comes from the people you least expect. ​Annie Elise, host of SERIALously and 10 to Life, joins Vanessa to discuss two shocking murders, overlooked warning signs, and how all of us can prevent future tragedies.

The case of Brenda Delgado and Ricky Paniagua begins at (2:53), and the case of Morgan McCaffery and Gilbert Newton III begins at (17:17). Annie and Vanessa share their final thoughts and the resources available to all of us starting at (28:11).

Visit https://impact.byspotify.com/serialkillers to learn more, get support, and take action on the specific types of abuse in this episode. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence in any form, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, confidential support 24/7. Call 1-800-799-SAFE, or visit TheHotline.org.

If you need support for a teen or young person experiencing dating abuse, visit the Love is Respect website at https://www.loveisrespect.org/.

For mental health resources and global domestic violence resources, you can visit https://resources.byspotify.com/

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Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores the music references Manson’s followers left at the crime scenes, how the crimes reverberated through the music business, and why Charles Manson blamed the murders on The Beatles.

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Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores how Manson’s failed music career morphed into a murder cult.

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50 years ago to this day, Dennis Rader, aka BTK, killed four members of the Otero family. These murders were his first of ten, and he would play cat-and-mouse games with media and law enforcement for the next 30 years before his own ego got him captured.

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A fire in the beautiful LaLaurie mansion reveals some ugly secrets. In this episode we recount the events of the night in 1834 when Delphine went from being the queen of Creole society to one of its most reviled citizens.

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Her New Orleans mansion is said to be haunted, but the truth behind the legend of Delphine LaLaurie is much scarier than a ghost lurking in the corner. Join Vanessa as she recounts the life and horror of the infamous mistress.

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Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year.

After Robert Garrow committed his first murder, he retreated to Adirondack Park to hide in the wilderness. But the peaceful atmosphere of the woods only agitated him more, leading him to go on a gruesome murder spree in the Adirondack Mountains. And even after being caught, he still planned to continue killing.

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Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year.

He grew up without any friends and suffered severe head injuries due to abuse from his parents. As Robert Garrow got older, he turned to crimes like larceny and burglary. But eventually, he gave way to darker and more twisted impulses.

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After the fallout at the PNC Bank, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Bill Rothstein scrambled to cover their tracks. But the FBI was already closing in, working to reveal the mastermind behind the entire plan.

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In order to deactivate the bomb, Brian’s co-conspirators set up an elaborate scavenger hunt around Erie, Pennsylvania. But as police started to follow the clues, tragedy struck.

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In August 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Wells strapped a collar bomb to his neck and chest and entered a PNC Bank demanding $250,000 in cash. He thought it was the perfect bank robbery, and that the bomb on his chest was fake. He was wrong on both counts.

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After her sentencing, investigators and the American public thought the case of ‘Bloody Babs’ was finally over. But as Barbara revealed new details about her version of events, her guilt was once again put into question.

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The case of Barbara Graham has mystified people for generations. She was convicted for the murder of Mabel Monahan in 1953, but was she actually guilty? Or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

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Adolfo Constanzo may be known as the leader of The Narco Satanists cult, but equally deserving of the title was his right-hand woman, Sara Aldrete. Following Adolfo’s recruitment, Sara accompanied him everywhere – from ritual magic to murder.

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For Halloween, we’re presenting an urban legend about a terrifying Texas child-killer… and discussing how real-life cases echo the legend.

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In Hayward, California, in 1988, the unthinkable happened – 9-year-old Michaela Garecht was abducted by a stranger, witnessed only by her best friend. Her mother endures decades of stalled-out investigations and false leads, until the abduction is linked to a possible serial killer.

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The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: Members of Osage Nation are being targeted for their high-priced oil headrights. There’s so many murders that the small local police department can’t investigate thoroughly, so the tribe turns to the newly-formed FBI to get the job done.

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The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: In the early twentieth century, Oklahoma’s Osage Reservation was rich in oil and spread the wealth across the tribe. But in the 1920s, it became clear that someone was killing members of the tribe. Was it a serial killer? A ploy to grab rights to the oil money? Or was it both?

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In the early 2000s, a serial killer attacked at least six young women around Jacksonville, Florida. Though we’re still awaiting official justice, authorities have strong suspicion around convicted murderer Paul Durousseau. Today, Vanessa analyzes how well the Strangler’s crimes line up with Durousseau’s MO.

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You may have heard of ‘boy moms’, but we promise you’ve never heard of one like Sante Kimes. In the final part of our story you’ll hear about how Kimes’ grifts grew in scale and complexity, and how the only person she trusted to carry out her deadly plans was her own son, Kenny Jr.

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What would you steal if you knew you could get away with it? After years of robbery and fraud Sante Kimes moved on to steal something much more sinister than coats and cash: people’s freedom. Specifically, the freedom of service workers and undocumented immigrants who she enslaved in her homeusing terrifying threats and physical violence.

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Sante Kimes grew up with very little, so after she moved in with millionaire real-estate investor Kenneth Kimes, she took advantage of all that his wealth had to offer. Enough was never enough: and once she got what she wanted, she couldn’t stop.

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Rudy Bladel claimed he murdered his coworkers in an act of revenge — but most of his victims were complete strangers. Vanessa examines his life and crimes to understand Bladel’s twisted logic. 

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Harvey Miguel Robinson committed his first murder when he was just 17. As the son of a convicted murderer and violent abuser, did he ever have a chance? 

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In 1969, a 23-year-old law student at the University of Michigan was found murdered in a cemetery outside of Ann Arbor. Jane Mixer’s death was considered part of a string of violent killings known as the Michigan murders, thought to be the work of a serial killer. That changed when new evidence came to light. But more than 50 years later, doubt remains. Was the right person sent to prison?

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Eliot Ness went to the grave in 1957 without ever convicting the Cleveland Torso Murderer. Decades later, his family would reveal a secret suspect hidden within his notes, that was too well-connected to be accused publicly. This episode originally aired in April 2019. 

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When a torso washed up on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in 1937, the police initially assumed a crime of passion. But when the next torso was found, they knew they had a serial murderer on their hands. Nicknamed the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, a notorious killer stalked the slums of Cleveland, killing vagrants he thought no one would miss. This episode originally aired in April 2019. 

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In the 1980s, after decades of snowballing violent impulses, Dayton Leroy Rogers began murdering women and leaving their bodies in the Molalla forest in Oregon. 

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After a repressive religious upbringing filled with abuse from his fundamentalist father, Dayton Leroy Rogers grew into a rage-filled young man. 

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After a 7-month hiatus between 1918 and 1919, the Axeman jumped back into his killing spree. City officials tried to track down the mysterious killer, but their hunt led to nothing but dead ends and wrongful convictions. To this day, the Axeman's true identity remains unknown. This episode originally aired April 2020.

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While the U.S. was wrapped up in the final days of World War I, New Orleans was facing an enemy right in their own backyard. In the early 20th century, a wave of fear rolled through Crescent City as a mysterious man began axing people in the dead of night while they were fast asleep. This episode originally aired March 2020.

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By 1985, the Monster of Florence had claimed 16 lives—but authorities were no closer to catching the killer than when they'd started their investigation, and the trail was getting colder every day.

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One of Italy’s most notorious serial killers has never (definitively) been identified. The mysterious Monster of Florence murdered couples in their cars, beginning in 1974. The crimes were so horrific that all of Florence was on edge, and the hunt for the killer was vast. This episode originally aired February 2021.

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In the so-called murder capital of the world, Terry Childs grew up in the shadows of infamous serial killers. Until he became one himself. 

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Following a string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the Zodiac Killer continues to write letters taunting the press and police. This episode originally aired in February 2020.

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In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s. This episode originally aired in February 2020.

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Some hitmen must walk the line between being a family man at home and a killer at work. But Greg Scarpa wasn't your ordinary hitman. He was paid by the FBI as a Criminal Informant and was instrumental in helping them solve crimes. But some think his close relationship with his handler gave him a license to kill.

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Starting in the 1950s, Greg Scarpa killed his way up the ladder to become the Colombo family's main hitman. By the mid-1980s, his children were in on the family secret. And the only thing more surprising than the number of kills he racked up was who else was paying him.

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In 1982, while Richard Biegenwald was on a killing spree along the Jersey Shore, he also groomed a young woman he lived with to be his protégé. But when she ultimately wasn't up to the task, it meant Biegenwald's secret was out. And it would lead to his downfall.

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Before he was even five years old, Richard Biegenwald was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After more than a decade in institutions and reform schools, he finally got the freedom he longed for. But once out in the world, he reverted to old habits and destructive behavior.

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During his twenties, he spent his free time reading books about how to kill a human being. Naturally, a job as a mafia hitman was perfect for Thomas Pitera. But when he went from a cold, calculated killer to slowly torturing his targets, it became harder for him to evade authorities.

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While many know his son, Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson, Charles Harrelson spent most of his adult life on the wrong side of the law. As a contract killer, he successfully killed his first two targets but went to trial for both. Years later, he was back on the streets, ready to make a big payday.

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After Robert Garrow committed his first murder, he retreated to Adirondack Park to hide in the wilderness. But the peaceful atmosphere of the woods only agitated him more, leading him to go on a gruesome murder spree in the Adirondack Mountains. And even after being caught, he still planned to continue killing.

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He grew up without any friends and suffered severe head injuries due to abuse from his parents. As Robert Garrow got older, he turned to crimes like larceny and burglary. But eventually, he gave way to darker and more twisted impulses.

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Hitmen need a certain level of detachment to do their job. They typically think of their victims as targets, not people. So when brothers Steve and Robert Homick were hired to kill Gerald and Vera Woodman, their inability to be cool, calm, and collected led to a series of mistakes and, ultimately, their capture.

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There is an old saying that blood is thicker than water. But on Sept. 25, 1985, Gerald and Vera Woodman were gunned down in the parking garage of their condo — victims of a hit put on them by two of their adult sons.

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By the end of 1993, seven decomposed bodies had been pulled from Australia's Belanglo State Forest. The nation was terrified, and the police force was put on notice: There was a serial killer on the loose. This episode became a Parcast Instant Classic when it initially aired in November, 2020.

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The bodies of two missing backpackers were recovered from Australia’s Belanglo State Forest in 1992. They weren’t the last. This episode became a Parcast Instant Classic when it initially aired in November, 2020.

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Being outside with nature is where he felt most comfortable. That’s why Gary Michael Hilton targeted avid hikers in peaceful, wooded areas. But while he chose his victims carefully, he didn't give the same type of thought to getting away with his crimes.

If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.

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Out in nature, alone with only the trees for company, Gary Michael Hilton found a peace that always eluded him in day-to-day life. Numerous run-ins with landlords, spouses, and law enforcement complicated things in the city. And in October of 2007, he went from petty thief to murderer.

If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.

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Philadelphia’s first Earth Day celebration made him a minor celebrity. When he met 25-year-old Holly Maddux, he knew he had to be with her. They lived together for a few years before Holly started to see the real Ira Einhorn. Just days after she told others she was leaving him, she disappeared.

If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. 

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If you were in Philadelphia during the 1960s and interested in the counterculture movement, you probably saw Ira Einhorn storm the stage at the city’s very first Earth Day. While peace and love were the mainstays of his belief system, Ira didn't always practice what he preached. 

If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.

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By early July 1988, he had already tortured, mutilated, and killed two women. Police were stumped until they sent in one of their own undercover. And while his wife and children slept, 30-year-old Steven Brian Pennell took the bait.

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With fear of confrontation and anxiety about disappointing loved ones, Steven Brian Pennell pent up his rage. He'd often drive along Highway 40 in Delaware to clear his head. After killing his first hitchhiker, he realized there was only one way to satisfy his desires.

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While she was a pediatric nurse at Bexar County Hospital, Genene Jones' colleagues were alarmed by how many babies were dying during her shift. When evidence was presented to the hospital's medical director, an investigation was launched. But during that time, Jones stayed on the job, and her patients were still in danger.

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She had experienced her share of tragedy, losing her father and a brother to cancer. That's why Genene Jones went into nursing. She wanted to make a difference. And while she was very devoted to her job in the pediatric ICU, it seemed far more babies were dying during Genene's shifts than any other nurse's.

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His family says that a traumatic brain injury when he was 13 changed Peter Kudzinowski's behavior. But alcohol always made him aggressive. When he was 25 years old, he was found intoxicated on the street in Detroit and put in the drunk tank. He hinted at committing horrible crimes — and the police wanted to know more. 

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Imagine knowing who a serial killer is for years but not having enough evidence to prove it. This is what happened to police in Sydney, Australia. During the 1980s, Leonard Warwick was angry when he lost custody of his daughter after his divorce, so he targeted employees of the family court system. And the only way to stop the violence was for his ex-wife to surrender custody.

Today, Vanessa joins Carter Roy for a special crossover episode with Cold Cases.

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With Mir Aimal Kansi safely back in Pakistan, the FBI had to try to find him and bring him home. After a raid on Kansi's family home yielded nothing, authorities realized they were in over their heads, until a raise in the reward money for Kansi's capture led to new tips.

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On the morning of January 25th, 1993, Mir Aimal Kansi carried out an assault on members of the CIA without ever stepping onto the grounds. After killing two and injuring three others, Kansi left the scene and waited to be apprehended at a nearby park. When the FBI didn't come for him, he fled the country.

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Before he earned his nickname in prison, Manuel Pardo Jr was a corrupt cop in Florida during the 1980s. But when law enforcement didn’t let him get the justice he wanted, he took the law into his own hands.

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Holed up in a cabin in Big Bear, California, Christopher Dorner was trapped. A perimeter of 40 officers with guns drawn was waiting in the snowy forest. Police wanted the standoff to end sooner than later. But the method they would use would be controversial.

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In February 2013, a former police officer fired by the LAPD, had a score to settle. His name was Christopher Dorner and his manifesto included a list of people he wanted to kill, many of them cops. But before authorities could stop him, they needed to find him.

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He found a way to fit into his new surroundings everywhere he moved. Terry Rasmussen would change his name, marry someone new, then brutally murder them – only to move somewhere else and do it all over again.

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In 2001 Robert Durst was posing as a woman, hiding from authorities in Galveston, Texas. He befriends a neighbor, Morris Black, who he later kills and dismembers. Though he avoids conviction, over a decade later, he seemingly makes a confession admitting guilt for not only Morris’s fate, but Kathie’s and Susan’s too.

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Before he was the subject of HBO’s “The Jinx,” he was the son of a wealthy real estate developer who had everything at his disposal. As he grows up he finds a best friend in Susan Berman and marries his first wife Kathie. Within decades, they’d both be gone — one vanished, one murdered. 

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp.

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He was bullied at school and abused by his mother. As an adult, he had violent fantasies of raping and strangling women. But Carroll Cole's first murder was actually as a child. And once he did it, he couldn't stop fantasizing about doing it again.

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By the time he aged out of the foster system, Vincent Johnson had already shown signs of being violent. As an adult, he became increasingly unstable while living on the streets of Brooklyn. Then as his rage grew, he targeted women in his neighborhood, some of whom knew each other. 

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No matter where Bill Suff lived, he was seen mainly by neighbors and co-workers as a helpful and happy man. It was a massive shock to them, and especially his wife, when he was indicted on 14 murder counts and one count of attempted murder.

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It was the late 1960s when Bill Suff, the oldest of five children, was forced into a co-parenting role after his dad walked out on the family. His lack of control over the world around him made him angry. And one day, he would let out all that anger in a violent fashion.

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In the weeks after their third murder, Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky disappear into the woods of northern Manitoba, over a thousand miles away from where their killing spree began. The RCMP throws their resources into the investigation, but the biggest headway comes from a local man named Billy Beardy — an expert hunter and Cree Nation trapper who knows the land better than anyone.

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In the start of a new special series on Serial Killers, we’re delving into the minds of killers on the run — cracking open some of the largest manhunts ever undertaken. Our first episode takes us into the vast wilderness of Northern Canada, where the discovery of three bodies along remote highways begins an unprecedented search for a pair of killers.

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In the 1980s, Richard Angelo was a Long Island native working as a nurse in the ICU. He’d found his passion — emergency medicine — in college. But somewhere along the way, his drive to be a hero took an ugly detour.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp.

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While the Stocking Strangler terrorized a Georgia suburb, another killer stalked military bases in the state. William Henry Hance was an army officer with an eruptive temper who was charged with the murders of three women. Police caught onto his crimes in part because Hance wrote them letters blaming the attacks on an evil cabal named the Forces of Evil.

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After a confession leads police down the wrong path, they establish the Strangling Task Force and redouble their efforts. 27-year-old Carlton Gary keeps up appearances, until he’s arrested for the last time. For police, it’s an open-and-shut case. Yet Carlton maintains his innocence until the very end.

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For several terrifying months in the 1970s, elderly women in a Georgia suburb were turning up dead or brutally injured in their homes. The murders set the community on edge as police reckoned with a serial strangler.

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In 1946, the mysterious Phantom Killer who had terrorized the town of Texarkana for months disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. With little evidence to go on, the police home in on one suspect. But justice proves harder to come by than they'd hoped.

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In 1946, the city of Texarkana was plagued by a series of attacks and murders on couples parked in their cars. Police, however, failed to act quickly enough, potentially giving the murderer enough time to get away.

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The spree continues into Christmas Day and beyond, during which the teen gang murders their third, fourth, fifth and sixth victims. After a tip, police catch the group wearing victims’ clothing, driving a victim’s stolen car, and in possession of the guns they used in their murders.

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In the early hours of Christmas Eve 1992, a senseless murder in Dayton, Ohio, marks the beginning of a rampage. What started as a desire for Christmas cash turns into a three-day killing spree that leaves six people dead. Even more shocking was that the brazen killers were just teens.

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Eddie’s crimes escalated in the ‘90s as he continued to dodge police. By 1996, he had attacked eight people, killing three of them. But unlike the original Zodiac Killer, Eddie didn’t stay anonymous for long. 

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Twenty years after the notorious Zodiac Killer terrorized San Francisco, someone else picked up their mantle. Heriberto “Eddie” Seda was a Brooklyn native and one-time street preacher who began targeting victims and taunting police with cryptic letters. His plan: kill twelve people — one of each Zodiac sign.

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Once back in the U.S., Maust serves time for manslaughter before regaining his freedom. He continues befriending teenage boys who fill his need for companionship. But time and again, Maust caves to his violent urges. Despite his guilt, and his spontaneous ability to stop himself mid-murder attempt, he takes four more lives by 2004.

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A volatile childhood and stints in a hospital psych ward set the stage for a violent killer who murdered teenage boys in Germany and the U.S. from the 1970s to the early aughts.

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Over the ages, arsenic has had many lives — beauty fad, household product, medical prescription… and weapon of choice wielded by killers everywhere from Alabama to ancient Rome. Brine your turkey, knead your dough, and listen to our Thanksgiving Special on the regime-changing, assassination-aiding King of Poisons.

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With his caked-on makeup and pathological lies, Charles “Smitty” Schmid cut a distinctive figure among Tucson’s youth. The 22-year-old wanted to draw misfit teens to himself like moths to a flame, before holding a cultish sway over them. Schmid was a corrupting force. And by the summer of 1965, he had killed at least three young women, burying their bodies in the Arizona desert.

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When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre debuted in 1974, audiences had a visceral experience so frightening, many believed what they witnessed was real. Its main villain, Leatherface, slaughtered innocent youths and wore their skin for pleasure. This depiction of violence seemed surreal, but echoed the real-life crimes of a man who inspired some of Hollywood’s most infamous characters: Ed Gein.

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Premiering in 1991, The Silence of the Lambs was anything but your typical horror movie. While it made the name Hannibal Lecter famous, at its core, the film was a psychological thriller that tracked the moves of a murderer at large: Buffalo Bill. But while Bill’s methods may have seemed too gruesome to be true, the inspiration was a combination of three of the most heinous killers of all time.

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In 1996, a new horror movie with an innovative twist would reinvigorate the slasher genre. But behind the fictional Ghostface was an inspiration steeped in reality. A man in a makeshift mask who stalked and tormented teenage girls during a three-day murderous rampage. A man known as the Gainesville Ripper.

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Andrei’s murders don’t go unnoticed. A pattern emerges: young victims, bodies mutilated, left in isolated patches of wilderness. But even with police on high alert, the serial killer eludes capture until 1990 — when his twelve-year reign of terror finally ends.

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In the USSR, an engineer hid a secret he was deeply ashamed of — his inability to have sex with women he dated. His frustration made him withdraw from others, until he developed a proclivity for sexual violence that, at last, could satisfy him.

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In the late 1950s, a Los Angeles native started a crime spree that would stretch into the ‘80s. John Floyd Thomas Jr. spent those decades terrorizing his hometown, targeting women aged 50 and older who lived alone, and occasionally even going to jail for his assaults. But it’s not until the early aughts, and the creation of the Cold Case Homicide Unit, that that LAPD is able to pin him with multiple rapes and murders.

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By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… and rumors that someone is still out there, replacing Halloween treats with fatal tricks. This is a crossover special with Conspiracy Theories.

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If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the more police dig into Lewis’s life, the more questions they have. The road ahead is paved with extortion, false identities, and revenge. This is a crossover special with Conspiracy Theories.

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Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” We’re joined by Carter Roy from Conspiracy Theories to tell the story.

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In 1972, Schaefer was the newly appointed Deputy Sheriff of Martin County. He used his badge to gain trust and wield authority over teenage girls — particularly hitchhikers, whose sudden disappearances could be explained away. Authorities connected Schaefer to nearly thirty missing persons cases, but he was only ever convicted in the murders of two. 

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Obsessed with moral power and control, Gerard Schaefer was a police officer in Florida who targeted teen hitchhikers in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Schaefer spent his youth nursing deviant sexual urges, taking solo hunting trips to indulge in self-inflicted rope torture and animal necrophilia. But the most damning evidence of his descent into brutality may be the hellish fantasies he recorded in his journals.

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In April 1892, the man authorities now realized was Frederick Deeming was on trial for the murder of his second wife, Emily Williams. But as his story circulated the globe, media began alleging his supposed crimes resembled those of a notorious London criminal — Jack the Ripper. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast.

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In March 1892, investigators in Australia were looking for an Englishman named Albert Williams who had allegedly killed his wife and buried her in their home. Once he was taken into custody, a reporter back in the UK decided to do some digging, and unearthed a terrible secret. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast.

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What kind of person confesses to multiple heinous crimes — while innocent? Gerald Stano did just that, until there was nothing left to confess to. But while there was no forensic evidence linking him to the 41 murders he implicated himself in, Stano was sentenced to death three times over.

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After a childhood of being bullied and living with a well below-average IQ, Gerald Stano's need to connect with other people was intense. When police questioned him about the stabbing death of a young woman, he wanted to impress the detective. So he confessed. But did he really kill her?

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Although he had developed a sense of discipline in the military, a traumatic brain injury and deep-rooted rage inched Wayne Adam Ford closer to losing control. In 1997, over a decade after he was honorably discharged, he killed his first victim. He would kill three more over the next year.

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In 1979, Wayne Adam Ford was looking for a fresh start. He arrived at boot camp for the U.S. Marine Corps leaving a childhood of chaos and negligence behind him. While the Marines did teach Ford how to curb his aggression using self-control, they also taught him something else… how to kill.

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Elizabeth Short’s gruesome murder is the LAPD’s most infamous unsolved case. But there’s one person who thinks he’s cracked it — the alleged killer’s own son. Today, we reopen the case against George Hodel, a certified genius and once-celebrated doctor who rubbed elbows with noted surrealists... and had a vile history of abuse and terror, even against his own family.

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In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile. The investigation takes police into the hidden sides of the city — illicit romances and gang-related crimes. But when another mutilated body is found weeks later, the hunt is on for a possible serial killer. 

This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at the murder of Elizabeth Short and other unsolved cases surrounding it.

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Henry Busch had a love-hate relationship with maternal figures. Perhaps it was because he lacked one growing up. He had already killed a 74-year-old family friend when he saw “Psycho” in 1960. Identifying with the film’s main character, Henry left the screening with his 65-year old date sure of one thing: he needed to kill again. 

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Throughout 1989 and 1990, elderly women in Sydney were being preyed upon. But because investigators were wrongly looking for a young man, John Wayne Glover was free to kill without suspicion. Until one day, a simple mistake led police right to him.

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He started by stealing and shoplifting as a teenager in the UK. When he was 24, John Wayne Glover moved to Australia, where he became a peeping tom and eventually escalated into physically assaulting older women. It was an obvious red flag, and yet nobody realized he would become Australia's worst serial killer.

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As an overweight Black kid growing up in a white suburb, Kendall Francois dealt with his fair share of bullying. His parents were hoarders, so he wasn't even allowed to have friends visit. The shame he felt as a child turned to rage as an adult, and he took it out on local sex workers.

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As he got older, Sean Vincent Gillis's impulses got darker. He committed murder, necrophilic rape, and even cannibalism. After eight victims, he finally made a mistake at one of the crime scenes. It was all the police needed to track down the killer.

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As a kid, Sean Vincent Gillis would visit his grandmother's funeral home and sleep in the empty coffins. He'd sometimes hold the bodies' cold hands or fondle them. The corpses gave him precisely what he was looking for: a female partner who wouldn't say "no.”

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For years, people had been disappearing along the Osage Mission Trail. Between their odd behavior and the horrible stench inside their cabin, the Bender family were obvious suspects. So a town trustee led 75 volunteers onto the property. But things didn’t go as planned. .

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In Kansas during the 1800s, people who traveled along the Osage Mission Trail began to disappear. And if people had been paying attention, they may have noticed that those who entered the Bender family cabin never came out.

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In 2005, the disappearance of 22-year-old Tamara Chipman changed everything. Her case brought enough attention to the Highway of Tears that the Canadian government was forced to act. They launched a task force to reexamine cases, hoping to find links between crimes. But despite the momentum, their investigations have stalled out — leaving residents to live under the specter of the next murder. 

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Every once in a while, authorities would catch an extraordinary break: In 1985, a tip led to a man responsible for three murders. Then in 2010, a routine traffic stop led to a man responsible for four murders. Even still, there were so many more women unaccounted for. And more cases to come.

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Gloria Moody was 27 years old and the mother of two young children when she was found dead in Williams Lake, British Columbia. She is one of the earliest cases of indigenous women who have been found dead or have disappeared along a lonely stretch of roads known as the Highway of Tears.

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He was a cannibal, a necrophiliac, and even kept his victims' dismembered body parts carefully preserved in his refrigerator. Yet, Jeffrey Dahmer's horrific crimes don't mesh with his timid personality. His pathological fear of being alone meant finding people he could make stay with him forever.

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He kidnapped, raped, and murdered more than 30 women. There's a belief that Ted Bundy got away with these crimes because he was a confident and savvy manipulator. But a look back shows that because he was young, educated, and conventionally attractive, he could hide in plain sight.

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The "Killer Clown" likely contributed to people's fears of makeup-wearing jesters. But the truth is, John Wayne Gacy's personas, "Pogo" or "Patches," didn't harm a soul. It was the successful suburban businessman hiding in plain sight who was preying on young men and boys. This is the second episode in our 5-year anniversary special, looking back on the serial killer boom of the 1970s.

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It’s been five years since the Serial Killers podcast debuted, and to celebrate the anniversary, we’re reexamining a grisly time in America: the serial killer boom of the 1970s. Edmund Kemper was one of the first serial killers to be profiled by the FBI. His deep-rooted issues with his mother, extremely high IQ, and ability to outsmart police allowed him to kill all the co-eds he wanted.

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Even while on the lam, Gary Ray Bowles continued to kill. The FBI posted flyers in gay communities near Interstate 95. Just as the police closed in, he assumed a new identity and went back into hiding. Detectives had to wait for a mistake.

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At age 13, he had his first violent outburst. It was a sign of things to come for Gary Ray Bowles, who preyed on men he met in gay communities. When police traced his first murder back to him, he went on the run. From town to town along Interstate 95, he wanted to kill as many people as possible before the law caught up to him.

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After four horrific murders, a joint task force was no closer to identifying the Last Call Killer. But improvements in crime technology allowed them to send the killer's fingerprints to law enforcement nationwide. The one murder Richard Rogers got away with in Maine wound up putting him behind bars for his other murders.

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!

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Before he became a cardiac surgical nurse, Richard Rogers killed his grad school roommate and got away with it. Twenty years later, he turned local NYC watering holes into his hunting ground. 

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!

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He was the picture of rehabilitation. After serving 13 years in prison, Mark Goudeau re-entered society with a steady construction job, passed every drug test, and checked in with his parole officer. And he used this new reputation to fly under the radar of law enforcement for years.

Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults! 

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When the relationship with his live-in boyfriend deteriorated, Donald Harvey took it out on the patients at Daniel Drake Memorial Hospital. But he was tired of killing the same old way. So he switched things up, and it ultimately led to his arrest. 

Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!

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After settling into the gay community of Cincinnati, Donald Harvey did his best to live a normal life. He moved in with a boyfriend and held a steady job. But deep down, that urge to control others still pulled at him. And he satisfied that impulse with poison.

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!

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He didn’t have control of much growing up in rural Kentucky. His family was poor. His uncle sexually abused him. And his parents were ashamed of his homosexuality. But once Donald Harvey was hired as a hospital orderly, he found he could wield absolute power over the powerless.

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!

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After years of dead ends and roadblocks, detectives finally tracked down the old man they believed was responsible for kidnapping 10-year-old Grace Budd. His name was Albert Fish, and he would turn out to be one of the most twisted murderers in American history. This is the final episode of a two-part crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders: True Crime Mysteries.

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When a family acquaintance offered to take 10-year-old Grace Budd to his niece’s birthday party, the Budd family warily accepted the old man’s invitation. Little did they know it would be the last time they would see their daughter again. This is a crossover episode with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Parcast show that investigates what it takes to catch a killer. 

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!

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Fritz Honka was a German serial killer who shared drinks with his victims at his local bar before killing and dismembering them in his Hamburg apartment. He might have gotten away with his crimes if not for a building fire that exposed the bodies in 1975. 

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Los Angeles in the ‘70s was a dangerous place to be. The city was menaced by multiple serial killers, and by 1978, yet another one had emerged on the scene. In Skid Row, nearly a dozen identical murders put the area’s homeless residents on high alert. Police put their prime suspect, Bobby Joe Maxwell, in jail — adamant they’d gotten their guy. But ultimately, the charges wouldn’t stick. 

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In March of 1991, after the murder of three sex workers in four months, Dallas investigators only had one lead: Charles Albright. The problem was that they had no proof he had been involved in any of the crimes. Their only hope was finding somebody on the street who would talk.

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As a child, Charles Albright developed a penchant for eyes while learning taxidermy. But his most dangerous trait was always his charm. Able to talk his way out of trouble, he rarely suffered any consequences for his actions. How far could his talk take him?

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Two families in mid 20th century America became tragic tales of recurring Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Over and over, their babies died without any real explanation. Except there was an explanation. By the time authorities caught on, it was too late. 

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There's a common belief that all mothers are inherently good. But these two women have something to say about that misconception. Amelia Dyer ran a business where the more kids she killed, the more money she made. Mary Ann Cotton found that it was hard to support all the extra mouths to feed as a working woman, so she poisoned her family. And for years, authorities were none the wiser.

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John Christie felt alive and in control after his first murder. It's no surprise that he would want to recreate that feeling. So he did. Over and over and over. And the bodies started to pile up at 10 Rillington Place.

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John Christie wasn’t good at very much. Not relationships. Not even petty crime. But one evening in 1943, he strangled a sex worker to death and hid her body under the floorboards of his flat in Notting Hill, London. He’d found what he was good at, and he’d keep doing it for a decade.

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Thomas Dillon had a degree, a good job, a house, and a family. But what he wanted more than anything, was to hunt. His prey: people. Dillon would drive through the backcountry of Ohio and fire upon unsuspecting people before driving away. 

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He lured young models into his home with promises of fame in true detective magazines. But once they were tied up and photographed, Harvey Glatman would rape them and kill them. Then he would keep the photos of their last moments alive as souvenirs. 

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Every time Timothy Krajcir felt the urge to kill, he would find a target and then fasten a blue bandana over his face. He committed these crimes over and over and never felt any remorse. Not for his victims. Not for their families. Not even for the man who went to jail for one of his crimes.

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Believing he had been reformed, the parole board released 31-year-old Timothy Krajcir from prison in 1976 after serving a little over 10 years for attempted murder and rape. He then enrolled in a criminal justice course. Not to start a new career, but to learn how to get away with murder.

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For over a year, Robin Gecht had been leading his own satanic cult composed of three of his own workers. But as they committed more murders, they got sloppy. When a victim left for dead survived her attack, it opened a window for police.

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Robin Gecht lived his public life like a model citizen. He operated his construction company, played with his kids, and went to church every Sunday. But there was a dark side he kept secret from them. One that involved Satan, torture, and cannibalistic acts.

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After committing his first three murders, Joseph's struggle with schizophrenia persisted. He couldn't ignore the voices. And by the time he'd done their bidding, 12 people had died, and he’d been given a new nickname: "The .22 Caliber Killer."

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Two years before he embarked on a killing spree in Buffalo and New York City, Joseph G. Christopher’s friends and family noticed a seismic shift in his personality. The 23-year-old was beset by mood swings and paranoia. His hold on reality was unraveling. In the end, it would prove fatal. 

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Thanks to an unsuspecting benefactor, Duncan gets a fresh start in North Dakota. But his blog entries begin leaving chilling clues as to what lies ahead. In 2005, his violent impulses lead him to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and his worst crime yet.

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A teenage sex offender carried out horrific crimes against young boys in Washington in the late 1970s before being sent to a treatment program, followed by prison. Fourteen years later, Joseph Edward Duncan III was paroled, free to carry out a murder spree that claimed the lives of three kids. 

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In the 1970s, after abusing his children and getting away with it, Joseph Kallinger enlists his son in a mission from God that terrorizes the suburbs of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

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The adopted son of cobblers began having hallucinations as early as 15 years old. They were harmless at first — but tragically, they wouldn’t stay that way. 

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After years of charming women into getting engaged to him, Henri Désiré Landru had perfected his system of making his fiances, and all of their wealth, disappear. But when the sisters of two of his victims catch on to his ploy, they threaten the whole complex process.

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In France, a con man charmed women into getting engaged before robbing them and taking them to his country villa. Where they all mysteriously disappeared.

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Numerous childhood traumas led Tsutomu Miyazaki to create a monstrous character in his head named "Rat Man" that eventually took control of his thoughts and actions. "Rat Man" required human sacrifices and his preference was little girls.

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In 2010 a serial killer terrorized an area of Philadelphia known as the Badlands. Police swabbed hundreds of men for DNA before a CODIS backlog revealed they’d had what they needed all along.

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Mack Ray Edwards was proud of his career as a heavy machine operator. It made him important on construction sites. But the very same machine he used to build a series of freeways in Los Angeles would also be used to hide the bodies of his murder victims. 

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When Veronica Compton met Kenneth Bianchi, she was working on a play about serial killers. She interviewed the “Hillside Strangler” as part of her process. But then he charmed his way from research subject to love interest, and Veronica found herself wrapped up in a horrifying scheme. 

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Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog went from hunting animals to preying on humans. Even as they grew older and settled down, they continued their spree. When they finally faced justice years later, their killer instincts would lead them to turn on one another.

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Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog grew up in the California countryside, hunting for deer and elk. In high school, they turned to methamphetamine to recreate the thrill they once got from hunting. But as their drug use intensified, they needed something stronger to maintain their high. They needed to kill, and this time, their prey was human.

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At a young age, Mikhail Popkov developed a deeply misogynistic view of the world. As an adult, he used his power as a police officer to act on these feelings, murdering women he deemed to be morally defunct. By the time he was finally caught, he’d claimed over 80 lives and become one of Russia’s worst serial killers.

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Police had taken Roger Kibbe into custody numerous times but never had enough evidence to arrest him. Each time he was let go, he went on to claim more victims. But a discovery by a forensics investigator was exactly what authorities needed to put him away for good.

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After killing his first victim, Roger Kibbe decided to keep a low profile. But years later, his urge to kill returned. By mid-July of 1986, he had killed four young women — three of them in the past three months. And he had no intention of quitting.

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Roger Kibbe spent most of his adolescence filled with rage. And while he had a long list of arrests by his mid-30s, it was never for violent crimes. Until one day in 1977, he finally snapped.

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In 1946, the mysterious Phantom Killer who had terrorized the town of Texarkana for months disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. With little evidence to go on, the police home in on one suspect. But justice proves to be harder to come by than they'd hoped.

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In 1946, the city of Texarkana was plagued by a series of attacks and murders on couples parked in their cars. Police, however, failed to act quickly enough, potentially giving the murderer enough time to get away.

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As a child in the ‘80s, Matthew Macon was thrust into a world of chaos and turmoil. From a young age, he was in and out of federal institutions, but nothing seemed to curb his darker impulses. Eventually, he gave into them, and his killing spree began.

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Viktor Sayenko and Igor Suprunyuk were insecure children, scared of the world around them. As teenagers in the 2000s, they pushed themselves to move past their fears. But in the process, they unlocked something even more terrifying: an uncontrollable desire to kill anything and anyone.

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Glennon Engleman had claimed two lives during his insurance fraud schemes and escaped police detection with ease. His love of deceit and murder propelled him forward as he continued to manipulate those around him. But eventually, his inflated ego would lead to his downfall.

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Glennon Engleman seemed like your average neighborhood dentist, but he was harboring a dark secret. He had a deep desire for money and power, and would do anything to get his way. Even kill.

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He got a taste for killing while he was a soldier. But when the conflict between Iran and neighboring Iraq ended, his desire to kill remained. Only now, the targets were the people who Saeed Hanaei hated the most: sex workers.

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In the early 1900s, a man lured his victims with lonely hearts ads, drained their blood, and stored their bodies in barrels filled with methanol. 

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Like many serial killers who get caught, Michael Bruce Ross became more reckless — attacking teenagers and young women in high-traffic areas, and often returning to where he dumped their bodies. He was later deemed to be a sexual sadist, and agreed to be chemically castrated.

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After experiencing severe emotional abuse as a child in the ‘60s, Michael Bruce Ross got a fresh start at Cornell University. But in his senior year, as his relationship with his fiancée began to unravel, he started acting out his perverse childhood fantasies — thrilled by the terror he could instill in his victims.

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In the early 1980s, Larry Eyler haunted the highways of the Midwest, leaving the gay communities of Indianapolis and Chicago paralyzed with fear. But eventually, the people closest to him brought him down once and for all.

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In the 1970s, Larry Eyler seemed like your regular, easy-going guy. Behind closed doors, he was anything but. He had an insatiable appetite to dominate. When BDSM wouldn’t do it, he hit the Midwest highways, offering desperate hitchhikers a ride and leaving behind a trail of dead bodies.

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After serving his first prison sentence, Graham Young entered the world again, ready to start poisoning people once more. And though he largely avoided drawing suspicion — even once his victims started dying — Graham's big mouth and even bigger ego led to his own downfall.

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Graham Young always had an obsessive personality, but when his father bought him a chemistry kit, it unlocked a terrifying interest in poisons. Before long, the teenager was poisoning mice just to see what happened. Then he set his sights on his best friend, and every member of his own family.

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In 1981, Wayne Williams was a 23-year-old with aspirations of putting together the next Jackson 5. But after he’s found leaving the scene of a crime, he’s charged and convicted for two murders — and implicated in a dozen more. Had police finally found the Atlanta Child Murderer? Or was an innocent man about to pay for crimes he didn’t commit?

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In the late 1970s, a killer stalked the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, abducting and murdering young Black kids. The city was paralyzed with fear and theories abounded on the identity and motivation of the killer. But when a suspect was finally apprehended, it wasn’t who anyone expected.

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Todd Kohlhepp’s behavior was growing increasingly erratic. In the real world, he made unsettling comments to his employees and friends. Online, he continued posting a string of disturbing Amazon reviews. And on his private compound, he locked his victims inside a shipping container.

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At 15, Todd Kohlhepp raped his 14-year-old neighbor, and 17 years later, he committed mass murder in broad daylight. Yet somehow, he became a pillar of society, building a successful real estate business from the ground up. He also built a 95-acre compound, where he planned to bring his darkest fantasies to life.

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Benjamin Pedro Gonzales lived in a fantasy world. He’d imagine entire relationships that didn’t exist. And when his so-called “girlfriend” told him to get lost, he went into a murderous rage, leaving a horrific trail of dead bodies in his wake.

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Joe Metheny tended to exaggerate and lie about his own life, but if half the atrocities he confessed to are true, he certainly earned his gruesome moniker. 

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When Harvey Carignan’s murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, he no longer faced the death penalty. But he wasted no time returning to his murderous ways. As police start closing in, Harvey goes on the run, starting a horrific killing spree along the way. 

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After developing a reputation in the armed forces as a hulking, scowling figure with abnormally strong hands, Harvey Carignan was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, where his first hyper-violent murder in 1948 stunned locals.

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After 14 years behind bars, Arthur Shawcross struggled to settle into civilian life. He moved from town to town, but a change of scenery didn't change the truth: Arthur was still the same killer. In a matter of a single year, Shawcross would earn the title of the "Genesee River Killer" as he slowly picked off sex workers in the Rochester area.

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Arthur Shawcross was always a little "off." As a boy, he was unsympathetic and violent, exploding with anger at the slightest provocation. When he was older, fighting in the Vietnam War only intensified his aggressive, unpredictable nature. Arthur returned from service traumatized and harrowed by the experience — but that didn't stop him on his hunt for blood.

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Derrick's fixation with stalking, raping, and murdering women leads him to the University of Louisiana campus, where he terrorizes students and locals alike. As police work to crack the case, a false assumption leads them down the wrong path.

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Ever since he was a little boy in the ‘70s, Derrick Todd Lee liked to peep. He would stare through the window of his neighbor's house, watching women undress. But the older he got, the more Derrick realized that peeping wasn't enough for him. He wanted to hold complete power over these women. And soon, that urge turned deadly.

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Love makes us say and do the strangest things. For Turner, it made him jealous, paranoid, and extremely violent. When another relationship comes to an explosive end, he hits the streets of Los Angeles with a vengeance, ultimately becoming one of the city’s most prolific killers.

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When Chester D. Turner moved to the City of Angels, it wasn’t by choice. In fact, Turner pretty much had no say in anything during his adolescence. He had a strict upbringing and was often a victim of bullying. That all changed in the late 1980s, when he started leaving behind a trail of dead bodies all around South L.A.

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In this chilling conclusion to our Working Late series, we're diving into the frightening world of medical professionals who killed again and again. And this wasn't just malpractice — these healers from hell delighted in their power, and got away with it for years.

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In our continuing exploration of the most popular jobs for serial killers, we're taking a deep dive into those murderers who spent time in the military. It's a job that literally taught these men to kill, and they wielded that skill with alarming ferocity.

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The number of psychopaths who hold positions with "CEO" in the title would alarm you… even if it wouldn't surprise you. Today, we're turning our attention to the business world, where a termination doesn't just mean you're losing your job…

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At the halfway point of this Working Late series, we want to look at the people whose work is often overlooked, but that keeps society running. Laborers possess the skills to repair our homes, build roads, and keep us safe — but these same skills can also help them get away with murder.

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You pass them every day in the car, truck drivers hauling things from one end of the country to the other. But do you ever think about how that transient lifestyle makes truckers the perfect serial killers? Well, if you haven't yet, you will now. Welcome to episode two of our Working Late series on the most popular jobs for serial killers.

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This is the first episode in our Working Late series, where we'll be taking deep dives into the most popular jobs among serial killers. We'll look into what makes each of these six professions so perfect for killers, and explore stories of the monsters who twisted their day job to suit their darkest after-hours pursuits.

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By the end of summer, 2000, Joshua Wade had murdered at least one woman, and possibly many more. Despite the evidence against him, and tips from people who knew what he did, Josh got away with the crime, leaving him free to kill again.

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In 1993, a 13-year-old boy was sent to live with his father in Alaska, where he grew into one of the state’s deadliest serial killers. He committed his first murder just a year later — a case that ran cold for well over a decade before a series of confessions revealed more than one ghastly crime. 

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As an adult, Cary Stayner finally turned his darkest fantasies into reality. Using TV crime shows as textbooks, he killed his victims, then laid out a path of false clues to confuse investigators. But when he eventually slips up, it all comes crashing down.

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As a troubled teen in the ‘70s, Cary Stayner experienced violent fantasies and compulsions, as well as the traumatic kidnapping of his brother. He found refuge in Yosemite National Park as an adult, but unfortunately, it didn't halt his spiral into murder.

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Timothy Joseph McGhee joined the Toonerville Rifa Gang as a boy, and quickly rose through the ranks. By the year 2000, he had turned the low-level Los Angeles gang into a very real threat. But McGhee’s violent nature went beyond the role he played in the gang. For him, murder was an obsession.

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Carl Großmann’s entire life was marked with an obsession with sexual dominance. As a young man, he violated children and animals as a way to emphasize his own power. But when World War I left Berlin in a state of desperation, Großmann found a new, horrific way to satisfy his murderous cravings.

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After spending much of his early life as a devoted career criminal, Ed Edwards emerged from prison willing to turn things around. But after playing the role of devoted husband and father for a few years, his darker impulses emerged, and he started killing — first for revenge, then for fun, and then for profit.

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Beginning with a traumatic childhood is a common origin story among serial killers. But not every child with a troubled upbringing sets out to become a lifelong criminal. That's what makes Edward Wayne Edwards so unusual — he wanted to be a crook. And there weren’t many lines he wouldn’t cross. 

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By the summer of 1984, Leonard Lake finished construction on his fallout shelter. There, Lake and his partner-in-crime, Charles Ng, tortured, raped, and murdered countless female victims. But women weren’t their only targets. Over the course of the next year, the murderous duo even killed off entire families.

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Fearing a nuclear apocalypse was imminent, survivalists Leonard Lake and Charles Ng dreamed of building a bunker in the middle of nowhere. Only, it wasn’t just meant to withstand the nuclear fallout — they wanted to use it to imprison female sex slaves.

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After he killed his friend Cherie in 1980, Randy Woodfield was a clear suspect in the murder — but he still managed to walk free. The failed football star went on to commit a horrifying string of assaults and murders along the West Coast.

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He was a star football player in the early 1970s. A talented athlete with every chance for boundless success. But he developed a nasty temper, and a ferocious sense of entitlement. Whatever Randy Woodfield wanted, he was going to take. By any means necessary. 

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After his first three murders, Kenneth McDuff was quickly apprehended and brought to trial. But while it seems like that should be the end of the story, the tale of Kenneth McDuff still had a long way to go…

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Kenneth Allen McDuff led a charmed life. He was an angelic child. At least, that's what his doting mother thought. But in reality, Kenneth concealed a sadistic desire to hurt people, and his first murders left his hometown shaken.

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As a long-haul trucker, Eckert realized his job afforded him the perfect conditions to kill. And claiming victims was the perfect way to finally complete his macabre trophy — a life-sized human doll, complete with a full head of hair.

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From a young age, Volker Eckert displayed a strange fascination with women’s hair. His fetish led him to murder in 1974, when he was just 14 years old. Eckert spent the next decades assaulting women across Western Europe.

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Some serial killers’ reigns of terror are cut mercifully short, due to careless mistakes or careful police work. Pedro Alonso López was not one of those killers. The number of his victims is staggering — but the way his story ends is perhaps the most terrifying of all.

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John Joseph Joubert was plagued by disturbing daydreams, along with a horrifying urge to hurt little boys, and in the 1980s, he finally acted on both. But when he targeted a teacher's young students, her determination signalled the end of his deadly spree.

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Having graduated from brutal assaults to murders, Paul Ogorzow felt untouchable as he rode the rails, throwing his victims off speeding trains. But every train has to stop somewhere, and Paul's was headed for one very specific ending: swift and brutal justice.

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Coming of age alongside Adolf Hitler's political rise, Paul Ogorzow took his cue from the Nazi party, and looked at some of his fellow Germans as little more than rodents to be stamped out. He took advantage of World War II to carry out his terrifying attacks around Berlin.

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There are few criminals so reviled as a child killer. David Elliot Penton was one of them. His crimes were so horrendous, he earned the nickname "The Bogey Man."

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A lifelong drifter and con man, Roy Melanson charmed and manipulated his way into his victims’ lives beginning in the 1960s. As his crimes became more gruesome, his vagabond lifestyle made him virtually impossible to track down.

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Avoiding capture as Amherst’s terrifying “Bike Path Rapist” emboldened Sanchez to commit his first murder in 1990. His crimes were escalating — but inexplicably, after nearly two decades of violence, he vanished. Twelve years later, the Bike Path Killer returned.

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An elusive rapist stalked areas around Buffalo, New York, for decades beginning in the late 1970s. When he moved to a city once dubbed the “Safest City in America,” he began using his signature weapon to not just subdue… but to kill. 

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Harry Powers lived a life shrouded in mystery, so tracing his origins is difficult. But here's what we know: he was a conman without a conscience, and he was a ruthless killer whose victim count might be higher than anyone ever imagined...

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In 1973, 7-year-old Susie Jaeger fell asleep in a tent with her siblings while on a camping trip with family. When her siblings woke up, the tent had been slashed open and Susie was gone. A team of profilers believed David Meirhofer was responsible for the kidnapping — they just had to prove it.

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By 1999, Sells had murdered men, women and children in multiple states, and showed no signs of slowing down. He might never have been stopped, had he not attacked a little girl who survived to identify him, and finally put an end to his decades-long murder spree.

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For over 20 years, Tommy Lynn Sells hitchhiked across the U.S., killing indiscriminately and without mercy. What started as a revenge fantasy involving his childhood abuser grew into a deadly impulse that would claim nearly two dozen lives. 

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By the beginning of 2011, Bruce McArthur had killed and dismembered two men, hiding their bodies in enormous planters at a client's house. But when police let him slip through their hands, he was free to kill again. 

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For most of his life, Bruce McArthur led an unremarkable existence. But in the 1990s, he split from his wife and moved to Toronto's gay village — free to be his true self. Unfortunately, McArthur's true self was violent, bloodthirsty... and murderous.

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After amassing wealth and influence as a spiritual advisor in the 1980s, Adolfo Constanzo set his sights on the lucrative drug trade in Matamoros. To claim a piece for himself, he needed more power. And for that, he turned to one thing: human sacrifice. 

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Schooled in the darkest corners of his family’s Afro-Carribean religion, Adolfo Constanzo decided to make his fortune using magic granted through animal sacrifices. In Mexico City, he grew his power and esteem — but he wanted something more. He wanted revenge.

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By 1828, Burke and Hare’s scheme of murdering people and selling their bodies was making them rich. But eventually, one curious woman crashed their entire operation.

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When a tenant at their boarding house died in 1827, William Burke and William Hare found a way to make some extra money: selling bodies to a medical school. But to keep it up, they’d need a fresh supply of dead bodies — and those were hard to come by. Naturally, at least. 

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Having moved from break-ins to aggressive sexual assault, David Russell Williams carefully planned his first horrific murder in late 2009. It was not his last. But the high-ranking military officer could only fly under the radar for so long.

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As an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, David Russell Williams had a spotless record for decades before beginning a breaking-and-entering spree in 2007. Stealing into women’s houses, he photographed himself wearing their underwear, setting the baseline for crimes that would later include rape and murder. 

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After his first murder in San Francisco, Richard Ramirez headed back to Los Angeles to begin a killing spree that had the whole city terrified. His brutal attacks came after dark and without warning, earning him the chilling nickname "Night Stalker.”

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A troubled relationship with his father, his religion, and the demonic visions he saw during seizures dominated Richard Ramirez’s childhood in the 1960s. When he witnesses a horrific crime at the hands of a sadistic cousin, he comes face to face with his own dark nature. 

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Organized and meticulous, Timothy Wilson Spencer evaded suspicion until a detective began connecting the dots between Arlington’s “Masked Rapist” and Richmond’s “South Side Strangler.” The 1988 case against him helped exonerate a wrongfully convicted man, and made forensic science history.

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Growing up in Arlington, Virginia in the 1960s, Timothy Wilson Spencer displayed an alarming interest in torturing animals and burglarizing homes. With practiced cruelty and stealth, he eventually became known as “The Masked Rapist” for his attacks on women.  

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Born in 1935, Florencio Fernández grew up in a region of Argentina nicknamed the “fortress of folklore.” As a teenager, destitute and alone, he watched a film at a local theater that would change his life — and inspire his crimes. That film’s name? Dracula.

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Salvator Perrone’s early life in the 1950s is a murky mystery, but by the time he was in his 60s, the failed fashion entrepreneur had a grudge against the world — and he was ready to exact his revenge. 

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By the 1980s, Ted Kaczynski had set off several bombs, causing only minor injuries — but for him, it wasn’t enough. What had started as a plot for revenge grew into an unrelenting need to change the world. To do that, he needed to kill. The reign of the Unabomber had begun.

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Spotting his genius at a young age, Ted Kaczynski’s parents pushed their son to academic excellence — but Ted never found a true home in the hallowed halls of academia. Instead, by 1969, he was a former math professor with a festering hatred for the modern world. 

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By Thanksgiving 1986, Gary Heidnik had captured a woman and locked her in his basement, where he intended on making her carry his children. But Gary wanted an entire “birthing harem.” Over the next four months, he lured five more women to his Philadelphia home…

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Estranged from his family, Gary Heidnik’s behavior grew more and more troubling as he grew older. By 1976, no one was around to notice when he started digging a pit in his basement — one big enough to hold a person...

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When a six-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Chicago in 1945, the public and the press demanded answers. Luckily, police found the killer by chance when they arrested a teenage burglar named William Heirens. Or did they?

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Growing up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money, William Heirens turned to burglary to ease his economic anxiety. It became a compulsion he couldn’t control, and got him into trouble with the law in the early 1940s. Then, one day, it changed his life forever.

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Herbert Mullin believed he was saving the world. After all, God had told him that murdering people would prevent catastrophic earthquakes. So, with his heaven-sent mission, he set out to kill and kill again.

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