RedHanded x I Could Murder A Podcast | Halloween Special 2025 (#423)

RedHanded with Wondery | Date: October 30, 2025

Overview: “Halloween Hijinks & Hauntings”

This special crossover episode brings together the hosts of RedHanded (Suruthi and Hannah) and I Could Murder A Podcast (Freddie and Elvis) for a raucous, spooky Halloween celebration. Set in Sam Drake’s House of Magic in South London, the crew dons costumes, swaps chilling listener tales, dives into iconic unsolved mysteries, and shares personal stories of brushes with true crime cases and hauntings—all with their trademark dark humor and playful British banter.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Introductions & Costume Chat (03:00–07:15)

• The episode begins with laughter over the elaborate and eccentric costumes each host wears, including Freddie Mercury, Elvis, Hannah as Darla, and Suruthi’s “toilet snake” (her biggest fear: a snake emerging from a toilet).
• Memorable moment: The group jokes about awkward Halloween costumes and pop culture references.
  • Freddie: “I used to get my mum to buy the little fake mustaches when I was little…I wanted to have a hairy chest and that was all I wanted.” (04:38)
  • Suruthi: “It’s basically the idea of sitting on a toilet and a snake coming out of the U bend and biting you. Biting me on the vagina.” (06:08)

2. Death Row Meals & True Crime Icebreakers (08:07–10:40)

• The classic “death row meal” question is posed:
  • Hannah: “A bucket of BBQ fried chicken from Changwon, South Korea. Nowhere else.” (08:26)
  • Elvis: “Probably some form of curly fry. Maybe a loaded one…a stone-baked pizza would be on there as well.” (08:38)
  • Freddie: “I might go back to eating meat for a doner kebab for the final one…I’ll lose my morals at the very end.” (08:57)
  • Suruthi: “Right now I would just like a big bowl of fried rice…my biggest anger is when I go to a restaurant and...they won’t let me take [rice] away because they tell me it’s like health and safety.” (10:12)
• Freddie shares a harrowing story about nearly choking on doner kebab, which required hospital intervention (09:15–09:53).

3. Ethics in True Crime Podcasting (10:37–13:12)

• The group discusses whether there are cases they won’t cover, citing high-profile, sensitive UK tragedies (James Bulger, Dunblane massacre) and the careful approach required.
  • Elvis: “James Bulger, that case absolutely broke my parent’s heart, as did much of the country at the time...” (10:48)
  • Freddie: “We were quite light-hearted with our true crime, but we were quite down the middle for that one.” (11:18)
• Suruthi shares a spooky glitch with her laptop while attempting to write about the James Bulger case, unsettling her and reinforcing the gravity and strange coincidences around sensitive material. (11:38–12:47)

4. Listener Engagement: Signal Awards Shout-out (13:12–14:57)

• The RedHanded team encourages fans to vote for their new series Flesh and Code at the Signal Awards, describing the show as an 18-month labor of love about AI relationships and digital ethics.

5. Unsolved Mysteries: The Case We’d Solve (15:55–21:57)

Each podcaster picks the unsolved criminal mystery they most want answered:

• Freddie: The “Staircase”/Michael Peterson (“I’ve landed on the owl theory…the little micro owl feathers”—16:24)
• Elvis: JonBenet Ramsey (“I don’t feel comfortable when I watch interviews with brother Burt”; also mentions Yuba County Five—17:03)
• Suruthi: Robert Wone (“There is literally not one shred of evidence that anybody came into that house…”—18:00).
  • Details the striking forensic oddities: undisturbed crime scene, no sign of forced entry, and unexplained bodily evidence.

6. Fan Contact: When the Case Comes to You (21:57–26:09)

• Both podcasts recall times when people related to their cases reached out:
  • Freddie: “We’ve had a couple interesting ones—a jury member from the Menendez case; … Randy Herman Jr’s wife messaged us, offering access to him in prison.” (22:09–22:52)
  • The crew reflects on the emotional impact of receiving feedback from victims’ families, perpetrators’ relatives, and people living through infamous events.
• Suruthi: “It’s easy to lose sight of who’s listening and how many people are … it’s just good to be cognizant.” (26:12)

7. Notorious Listener-Initiated Fallout: The ‘Ham Face’ Affair (26:43–30:38)

• Suruthi recounts covering the Gable Tostee case (Australian Tinder death) and the unexpected aftermath when Tostee himself, angered by her on-air joke about his face, got in touch and threatened to report them for tax evasion:
  • Suruthi: “I did say he’s got a bit of a ham face…our listeners…were like, don’t call him ham face. It was just a little joke between us.” (29:08)
  • Elvis: “Midway through… I realized you were holding a snake going for a toilet lid and I just started staring at the snake.” (30:14)

8. Ghost Stories & Red Haunting Returns (32:38–43:10)

• Red Haunted segment: The group reads chilling paranormal listener submissions:
  • Nursery Ghost (34:15): A phantom baby appears on a video monitor in an attic nursery and cold spots, lights flicker; staff shaken but the incident leaves no physical trace. (Story at 34:15–37:34)
  • Discussion about the famous Kurím child abuse case, where a baby monitor helped uncover horrific abuse. (34:43)
• The hosts riff on how different people visualize true crime—some in first person, others as cinematic “fly on the wall” (41:09–43:10).

9. “Spooky Corner” Listener Story Swap (43:12–52:00)

• Jim B.’s Haunted Shortcut (44:00):
  • Jim, “fortified by the world’s supply of alcohol,” takes a nighttime shortcut through woods, encounters a bobbing, internally-lit, faceless Regency-era ghost—he literally wets himself in fear.
  • Listeners learn about the tragic historical duel that may explain the apparition.
  • Hannah admits, “Oh I definitely would have pissed myself.” (52:12)
  • “A wheelbarrow on a port is something I’ve never pictured before.” (Freddie, 60:13)

10. How Would You Commit the Perfect Crime? (52:48–54:31)

• The hosts joke about methods for getting away with murder:
  • Elvis: “Old folks home, just slip something in the food…” (52:58)
  • Hannah: “Ice sword is a good one.”
  • The “icicle knife” myth is discussed and refuted.

11. Listener Haunting: “Fisherman’s Friend” at the Anchor Inn (54:45–59:55)

• Hannah reads a listener’s account of a haunted pub in Cockwood, Devon, including ghostly apparitions, unexplained alarm triggers, and the sighting of a spectral fisherman matched to a historic photo.

12. Double Vision Haunting (60:18–62:58)

• Another listener, “Darren Pittway”, describes a childhood event where two toddlers in different flats simultaneously see an old woman with a dog (“woof woof”), are later found soaking wet, and each points to the same spot. Neither of the (now adult) witnesses can explain it.

13. Final Thoughts and Plugs (62:58–end)

• Each team thanks listeners, encourages them to check out both podcasts (and the Flesh and Code series), and teases future holiday specials.
• Elvis: “Thank you so much to you guys and to your lovely crew, and thank you so much for having us on. It’s been a very big pleasure.” (63:16)

Notable Quotes & Highlights

“I used to get my mum to buy the little fake mustaches... when I grew up, I wanted to have a hairy chest and that was all I wanted.”
—Freddie (04:38)

“It’s basically the idea of sitting on a toilet and a snake coming out of the U bend and biting you. Biting me on the vagina.”
—Suruthi (06:08)

“You either believe in rehabilitation or not when it comes to children… my idea was just like, you can’t just say one thing for one case, one thing for another… Some people just went to town.”—Freddie on the James Bulger case debate (12:51)

“I’ve landed on the owl theory… the micro owl feathers!”
—Freddie (16:19)

“There is literally not one shred of evidence… It’s one of them. It’s definitely one of the men in the house.”
—Suruthi, on the Robert Wone case (18:00)

“It’s easy to lose sight of who’s listening and how many people are… it’s just good to be cognizant.”
—Suruthi (26:12)

“I did say he’s got a bit of a ham face…”
—Suruthi, on the Gable Tostee fallout (29:08)

“That was very good vocabulary, Jim. It was great.”
—Suruthi, on Jim B’s haunted shortcut story (51:48)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 – Costume introductions and shenanigans
• 08:07 – “Death row meal” and food talk
• 10:37 – Ethical lines in true crime content
• 13:12 – Signal Awards & Flesh and Code pitch
• 15:55 – “Case you’d solve” roundtable
• 21:57 – Listener contact and feedback from cases
• 26:43 – The Gable Tostee/Ham Face saga
• 32:38 – Paranormal story swap begins
• 43:12 – “Spooky Corner” and Jim B.’s ghost story
• 52:48 – “How would you commit the perfect murder?”
• 54:45 – “Fisherman’s Friend” listener tale
• 60:18 – Cardiff ghost dog/old lady story

Tone & Takeaway

The episode is a hilarious and often mischievous blend of macabre storytelling, true crime nerd-outs, and irreverent group chemistry. The combined hosts build an atmosphere both lighthearted and chilling, never taking themselves too seriously but always honoring the spooky subjects and the real-world impacts of the stories they tell. Listener stories, unsolved cases, and an open discussion about the ethics and feedback loops in true crime podcasting make this a rewarding Halloween treat for fans old and new.