Podcast Summary: Someone’s Hunting Us

Episode 8: "Chasing a Serial Killer"

Release Date: March 10, 2026
Podcast by: NJ.com

Overview

This final episode of "Someone’s Hunting Us" examines the pursuit of serial killer Khalil Wheeler-Weaver—a man who preyed upon marginalized Black women and girls in New Jersey. The hosts, journalists Rebecca Everett and Daisy Calavia Robertson, reflect on their exhaustive efforts to get Wheeler-Weaver’s perspective, spotlight the systemic failures that allowed him to go undetected, and center the stories and grief of his victims’ families and friends. The episode pulls the lens back to address how law enforcement, media, and society often neglect—and devalue—the lives of missing and murdered women of color.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Attempt to Interview Khalil Wheeler-Weaver

• Initiating Contact:
  • Rebecca and Daisy discuss strategizing how to "charm a charmer," sending Wheeler-Weaver messages—eventually even a videogram—to entice him into an interview ([03:31]-[04:55]).
  • Their discomfort and unease are clear: "I felt sick thinking of him watching this... I felt like a total fraud. Even if he is a killer..." (Rebecca, [02:37])
• His Response:
  • Wheeler-Weaver’s written refusal:

    "No, thank you. I'm innocent. And your company is one of the main ones that have pushed a one-sided narrative of the situation..." ([04:22])

  • Despite the polite tone, the hosts are undeterred, continuing their outreach.
• Videogram Exchange:
  • He eventually sends a video back—calm, smooth, and personable—leaving both hosts unsettled:

    "The way he talked was so, you know, chill and normal. It almost makes you forget that you're talking to a serial killer." (Daisy, [06:20]) "This is how he turns it on to fool women." (Rebecca, [06:36])

• Barriers and Final Rejection:
  • Wheeler-Weaver later asks for their home addresses (necessary for a prison visit but refused for safety), then finally, after months, declines an interview on legal advice ([08:53]-[09:12]).
  • He claims their media outreach is a sign of bias:

    "It in essence said something to the effect of 'come to terms with what he did.' And when I heard that, I was like, but I didn't, and I'm innocent." (Reading Khalil's message, Daisy, [10:25])

• Reflection:
  • "He was always trying to stay one step ahead of us... And to be fair, he was right about us. We had made up our minds about him." (Rebecca, [11:09], [11:13])

2. Systemic Media and Law Enforcement Failures

• Police Response Disparity:
  • The podcast contrasts the full-court press for Sarah Butler’s case with the neglect of other victims ([14:06]-[15:08]).

    "But where was the round the clock police work for the other victims?...Nobody cared, plain and simple." (Rebecca, [15:08]-[15:34])

• Missed Opportunities & Media Accountability:
  • Both journalists and peers admit missing earlier signs and stories:

    "It bothered me so much because I don't even have any memory of it. Didn't I wonder who orange Jane Doe was?...Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference at all in getting Mawa's case solved sooner. But what if it had? Sure, the police and the system failed Mawa, but so did I." (Rebecca, [16:01]-[17:24]) "B: 'Yeah, I think it’s pretty clear cut that if any of the victims had been an attractive white woman...CNN, the cable news...would have been there every day of the trial.'" (Christopher Mogg, columnist, [17:38]-[17:53])

• Uncovered Missing Girls and Systemic Neglect:
  • The episode names other young women of color whose disappearances received little to no media or police attention ([18:05]-[18:41]).

3. The Work of Black and Missing Foundation

• Derecka Wilson Interview:

  "We are going missing at a disproportionate rate. And when it comes to people of color going missing, the resources just aren’t there...We can’t wait on anyone else. We control the narrative." ([19:05]-[19:28])

  • The hosts discuss the burden placed on families and communities to amplify missing persons cases for people of color.

4. Stigma of Sex Work and Victim Blaming

• Minimization and Stigma:
  • Even loved ones and media often minimize victims if they are believed to be sex workers, further dehumanizing them ([21:15]-[22:12]).
  • Example:

    "It was like, yeah, that’s what she was doing, but that’s not who she is...we literally had just started doing it." (Brunisha on Robyn, [21:33])

  • Families' struggle with the label and public perception.

5. The Importance of Community Action

• Grassroots Response:

  "People of color in these situations just go out there and do it themselves...Just look at all the things the Black women in this case did. They were searching for each other when police wouldn’t, warning each other about violent men, even trying to catfish a serial killer." (Rebecca, [22:41]-[23:11])

• Resilience Amid Mistreatment:

  "Even when they were disbelieved, even when they were mistreated, they still showed up for each other and for themselves." (Daisy, [23:11])

6. Remembering Mawa and the Friends She Left Behind

• Personal Remembrance:
  • The hosts join Mawa Dumbia’s friends for a birthday memorial tradition at Riverbank Park ([24:23]-[25:52]).
  • The lingering grief, guilt, and love of her friends as they navigate adulthood without her ([30:16]-[31:42]).
• Desire for Justice and Closure:

  "I want to go and I want to face him. I want to tell him, how could you do that to somebody so small?...You extinguished every dream this little girl had." (Janesha, [29:21]-[29:34])

• Host Reflection:

  "It means everything to me that we’re finally telling this story we should have told back then...that Janisha, Deanna, and Kiki feel listened to the way they should have on day one." (Daisy, [31:42])

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Khalil’s responses:

  "So nice and polite, right? I was like, well, there it is. He said, no." (Rebecca, [04:47])
  "But that’s not how it went down. Because with someone as slick as Khalil, you never know what you’re gonna get." (Daisy, [04:12])

• On institutional failure:

  "Did all of us, police, media, their communities, have to do such a good job of proving him right? Nobody cared, plain and simple." (Rebecca, [15:16])

• On the ongoing trauma and remembering Mawa:

  "I kind of feel a little bit better that I’m finally talking about it because I held it and everything changed...But we still have that strong love for Mawa." (Kiki, [31:21]) "She was just a little 15-year-old girl who was just trying to make it out here. She was just like everybody, every other teenager out here who wanted to have fun, live life, work, who had dreams. So that's who Mawa Dumbia was." (Janesha, [32:17])

• On systemic negligence:

  "If any of the victims had been an attractive white woman … TV stations, I believe, would have been there every day of the trial." (Christopher Mogg, [17:38]) "If you have someone with an established criminal record...That person should not be treated with distrust. They should be treated as a canary in the coal mine..." ([20:48])

Important Timestamps

• Contacting Khalil & His Response: [03:15]-[11:19]
• Media & Law Enforcement Reflection: [14:06]-[17:53]
• Missing Girls & Systemic Failures: [18:05]-[19:54]
• Black and Missing Foundation/Derecka Wilson: [19:05]-[19:28]
• Sex Work Stigma Discussion: [21:15]-[22:28]
• Community Response: [22:41]-[23:11]
• Mawa’s Memorial/Birthday: [24:23]-[25:52], [32:44]-[33:43]
• Friends Reflecting on Mawa and Justice: [29:21]-[31:42]

Tone

The episode is somber, introspective, and honest, mingling investigative rigor with personal accountability and deep empathy for the victims’ families and friends. The language is thoughtful and vulnerable, acknowledging both the systemic and individual failures that allowed Khalil Wheeler-Weaver’s crimes to continue and focusing on resilience, community, and a plea for real change.

Conclusion & Final Reflections

The series closes with a commitment to ongoing coverage of the Mawa Dumbia case and Wheeler-Weaver’s trial, while urging listeners—and society—to reflect on the value of marginalized lives, media complicity, and the grassroots efforts needed to demand justice. The community’s actions, the grief and love of those left behind, and the importance of telling these stories become the episode’s lasting message:

"This story needed to be told...She was just a little 15-year-old girl who was just trying to make it out here...That's who Mawa Dumbia was." (Janesha, [32:06]-[32:17])

For more: Visit someoneshuntingus.com for photos, videos, timelines, and extras from the investigation.