Podcast
Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes
Hosted by Crime House · EN
Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a true crime and conspiracy theories podcast about the people who take belief too far and the deadly consequences that follow.
Hosted by Vanessa Richardson, two weekly episodes unpack real stories of murderous cults, criminal cover-ups, mass manipulation, and twisted conspiracies. From Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate to CIA mind control experiments, presidential assassinations, and the Octopus Murders. This is true crime at the intersection of faith, fear and manipulation.
Follow now for new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is a Crime House Original, powered by PAVE Studios.
114episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Banana Wars
Jun 100:39:50Summary readyIn 1954, the CIA orchestrated a covert coup that removed Guatemala's democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz, at the behest of Cold War anxieties and the United Fruit Company's political influence. What looked like a communist threat to Washington was, in reality, a land reform program that dared to challenge American corporate power in Central America. In this episode, Vanessa untangles how Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes intersect in Operation PBSUCCESS, a blueprint for covert intervention whose consequences destabilized the region for decades.Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@ConspiracytheoriescultscrimesIf you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosX: @crimehousemediaYouTube: @crimehousestudios
SummaryCRIME: The Vampire of Düsseldorf
May 2900:43:55Summary readyIn 1929, Peter Kürten terrorized the German city of Düsseldorf in a months-long killing spree that claimed at least nine lives, including those of young children. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa traces how decades of abuse, sadism, and unchecked violence forged one of history's most disturbing serial killers: a man so controlled in his charm that he evaded capture for years. Contains descriptions of murder and extreme violence, sexual abuse including the abuse of children, and animal cruelty. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCULT: Rod Ferrell & the Vampire Clan Murders
May 2700:41:48Summary readyIn November 1996, a group of teenagers calling themselves the Vampire Clan drove from Kentucky to Eustis, Florida, and beat Richard Wendorf and Ruth Queen to death in their own home. Their leader, 16-year-old Rod Ferrell, believed he was a 500-year-old vampire named Vesago. But beneath the mythology was a deeply traumatized kid who had mastered the art of making lonely people feel chosen. In this episode, Vanessa traces how neglect, abuse, and an obsession with supernatural role-play created the conditions for two senseless murders. Contains descriptions of murder and extreme violence, sexual abuse including the abuse of a child, animal cruelty, and self-harm. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCONSPIRACY THEORY: Mercy Brown & the Vampire Panic featuring Dr. Harini Bhat
May 2500:49:06Summary readyIn 1892, as tuberculosis ravaged the small town of Exeter, Rhode Island, a grieving family made a desperate decision: they exhumed the body of 19-year-old Mercy Brown, convinced the dead were feeding on the living. What followed became one of the most well-known cases of vampire hysteria in American history, a moment when fear and superstition filled the gaps that medicine could not. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa Richardson explores the Mercy Brown case, the tuberculosis panic that fueled it, and how grief can turn a community toward the unthinkable. How far will people go when science has no answers and the people they love keep dying? Follow Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhat wherever you listen to your podcasts: https://play.megaphone.fm/k9kh4ftdtagplino7jodyw Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCRIME: Chandra Levy, Pt. 2
May 2200:39:14Summary readyIn May 2001, 24-year-old Chandra Levy vanished from Washington, DC, and all eyes turned to the married Congressman she'd been secretly dating. But while Gary Condit stonewalled investigators and dominated headlines, a man who had already attacked two women in Rock Creek Park may have gone unnoticed for years. The investigation spanned a decade, produced a conviction, and then unraveled entirely on a prosecutorial technicality. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCRIME: Chandra Levy, Pt. 1
May 2000:36:09Summary readyIn May 2001, 24-year-old Chandra Levy, a government intern from Modesto, California, vanished from her Washington, DC apartment without a trace, leaving behind her wallet, half-packed suitcases, and no sign of a struggle. When her parents combed through her phone records, one number appeared more than almost any other: a sitting US Congressman with every reason to keep their relationship hidden. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa Richardson traces Chandra's life, her ambitions, and the secret affair that put her at the center of one of the early 2000s' biggest political scandals. Was the truth buried by power, or lost in the chaos of a nation about to change forever? Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCRIME: Idaho Murders
May 1800:40:55Summary readyIn November 2022, four University of Idaho students, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was a PhD criminology student who had been circling their house for months and who pled guilty without ever explaining why. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa Richardson examines the evidence, the investigation that led to Kohberger's arrest, and the unanswered questions that still surround the case. When a killer offers no motive, what does justice really look like for the families left behind? Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCRIME: Lizzie Borden
May 1500:45:07Summary readyOn August 4th, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found hacked to death in their Fall River, Massachusetts home, and their daughter Lizzie became the prime suspect almost overnight. In an era when wealthy young women were above suspicion, the case exposed a fractured family, a botched investigation, and a media frenzy that convicted Lizzie long before she ever saw a courtroom. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa Richardson revisits one of America's most infamous unsolved murders, the evidence that pointed toward Lizzie, and the questions that still linger more than 130 years later. Was justice served, or did the real killer walk free? Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCULT: The Fall River Cult Murders
May 1300:45:15Summary readyIn 1979 and 1980, three young women, Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa, and Karen Marsden, were brutally murdered in Fall River, Massachusetts, in killings linked to a small satanic cult led by pimp Carl Drew. Investigators built their case around a web of unreliable witnesses, psychic confessions, and a star witness whose story kept changing. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes, Vanessa Richardson examines the Fall River cult murders, the fractured investigation, and how satanic panic shaped both the narrative and the courtroom. The trials sent some perpetrators to prison, but left at least one murder officially unsolved, and questions about who truly led the violence remain unanswered. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryCONSPIRACY THEORY: The Missing Scientists
May 1100:39:29Summary readySince 2022, at least thirteen people connected to American scientific and defense research have died or disappeared under circumstances that have drawn scrutiny from the FBI, Congress, and the White House. Some cases have clear explanations — a revenge killing, a system failure, a man lost to grief — but others remain genuinely unsolved, with no confirmed sightings and no answers for the families left behind. Vanessa Richardson examines every name on the list, the skeptics who see pattern-seeking over evidence, and the real human cost when tragedy becomes a conspiracy theory. This episode includes discussion of suicide. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summary