Podcast
True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers
Hosted by Dan Zupansky - · EN
Every week host Dan Zupansky will interview the true crime authors that have written about the most shocking killers of all time.
35episodes
Episodes
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WHEN A KILLER CALLS-John Douglas
Jul 8, 2024Tap to summarizeOn May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor’s repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled “Last Will & Testament,” in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari’s body.Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith’s murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari’s lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed.One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas’s storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created—alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer’s psychology—combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari’s family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer. WHEN A KILLER CALLS: A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town-John Douglas Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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RECKLESS-Douglas Thompson
Apr 29, 2024Tap to summarizeJohn F. Kennedy's life is promoted by sentimental myth-makers as pure legend, but a sinister shadow lies across his life. JFK's death was such a shocking event that the vivid memory of his assassination still blinds us to much of what went before. It is almost always seen through the prism of that single, terrible day in Dallas, obscuring the dark corners of his life and government. For JFK, power was soundbites over policy, the White House a fairytale castle, and the President a hypersexualised movie star. As with Hollywood, the willing suspension of belief was required. Reality imposes no such limits. Drawing on essential new material, Reckless shatters the secrets and lies with a revelatory true-life thriller focusing on JFK and Robert F. Kennedy, both before and after they bought the White House. All the usual suspects, from FBI titan J. Edgar Hoover and billionaire Howard Hughes to CIA rogue agents and Mob hitmen appear in a narrative which sweeps from wartime London to the salons of Washington, from the bedrooms of Hollywood to the torture chambers and jungles of Central America, and on to revolutionary Cuba and the the tragic, bloody political carousel of Vietnam. RECKLESS: Sex, Lies and JFK-Douglas Thompson Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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MURDERABILIA-Harold Schechter
Dec 11, 2023Tap to summarizeFrom veteran true crime master Harold Schechter comes a unique look into the history of crime told through the dark objects left behind. The false teeth of a female serial killer from 1908, the cut-and-paste confession of the Black Dahlia killer, the newly cracked cipher of the Zodiac killer, the shotgun used in the Clutter family murders, which were made famous by Truman Capote's true crime classic In Cold Blood—these are more than simple artifacts that once belonged to notorious murderers. They are objects of fascination to the legion of true crime obsessives around the world. And not merely for fleeting dark thrills, but because they represent a way to better understand those who we typically label monsters in lieu of learning how they actually became one.In Murderabilia, veteran true crime writer Harold Schechter presents 100 murder-related artifacts spanning two centuries (1808–2014), with accompanying stories of various lengths. A visual and literary journey, it presents a history unlike any previously told in the true crime genre, one that speaks to the dark fascination of true crime fans while also presenting a larger historical timeline of how and why we continue to be captivated by the most sensational crimes and killers among us. MURDERABILIA: A History of Crime in 100 Objects-Harold SchechterRitual.com/murder Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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SNAKE EYES-Bitty Martin
May 20, 2022Tap to summarizeBy 1966, Hot Springs, Arkansas wasn’t your typical sleepy little Southern town. Once a favorite destination for mobsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, illegal activities continued to lure out-of-state gamblers, flim-flam men, and high rollers to its racetracks, clubs, and bordellos. Still, the town was shaken to its core after a girl was found dead on a nearby ranch. The ranch owner claimed it was an accident. Then the rancher was found to be the killer of another woman – his fourth wife. The story begins when 13-year-old Cathie Ward was found dead after horseback riding at Blacksnake Ranch on the outskirts of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Frank Davis, the owner of the ranch, tells authorities Cathie’s death is an accident. He claims her foot caught in a stirrup and she was dragged to her death despite his pursuit of the runaway horse. People who know the 42-year-old skilled horseman don’t believe his story, and soon rumors of her rape and murder begin swirling around town. The rumors reach a crescendo after Davis viciously guns down his fourth wife and mother-in-law in broad daylight outside of a laundromat. Davis is arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Soon after, Hot Springs authorities re-open the investigation into Cathie Ward’s death. Snake Eyes is the first book to examine this decades-old murder and cover-up, and the only in-depth account of the man who would become the town’s most notorious villain. Featuring personal interviews, crime scene records, court documents, and Davis’ own prison files, author and lifelong Hot Springs resident Bitty Martin reveals the true story for the first time. SNAKE EYES: Murder In A Southern Town-Bitty Martin Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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IMMUNITY FOR MURDER-David M Beers
Dec 3, 2021Tap to summarizeIn the small city of Binghamton in upstate New York, 23-year-old Veronica Taft, a single mother with four small children, all under the age of five, was convicted of Murder and Manslaughter for the brutal murder of her two-year-old son Lyric. She was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in state prison, with her surviving children taken away and placed in foster care.After more than five years in prison, Taft was set free after a bombshell Appellate Court decision found the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. The court overturned the theory and evidence used by authorities, including time-of-death, Taft’s alibi, and controversial testimony of a desperate jail-house snitch.Working on behalf of Taft, Defense Investigator, David M. Beers conducted an independent investigation. In his account, Immunity for Murder, he’ll guide you through the ill-fated police investigation and the shameful prosecution that, contrary to the evidence, quickly turned the tides towards Veronica and away from the real killer. This book will look closely at the suspect, bizarre events, and disturbing facts never before revealed. Furthermore, it’ll show how the evidence proves Taft’s innocence, which is why he considers her story a tragic miscarriage of justice. IMMUNITY FOR MURDER: The Veronica Taft Story-David M. Beers Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR
Nov 22, 2021Tap to summarizeVeteran journalist Joe Nocera’s neighbor in the Hamptons was a therapist named Ike. Ike counted celebrities and Manhattan elites as his patients. He’d host star-studded parties at his eccentric vacation house. But one summer, Joe discovered that Ike was gone and everything he’d thought he’d known about his neighbor -- and the house next door -- was wrong. From Wondery, the company behind Dirty John and Dr. Death, and Bloomberg, “The Shrink Next Door” is a story about power, control and turning to the wrong person for help for three decades. Written and hosted by Joe Nocera, a columnist for Bloomberg. The Shrink Next Door is now an Apple Original series, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd. Watch now only on Apple TV+. Listen to the Shrink Next Door now! https://link.chtbl.com/shrink_next_door?sid=Audio-Shrink_Next_Door_2021-True_Murder Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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MANIAC-Harold Schechter
Mar 12, 2021Tap to summarizeHarold Schechter, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Hell’s Princess, unearths a nearly forgotten true crime of obsession and revenge, and one of the first—and worst—mass murders in American history.In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school—one of the most modern in the Midwest—Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it. Thirty-eight children and six adults were murdered that morning, culminating in the deadliest school massacre in US history.Maniac is Harold Schechter’s gripping, definitive, exhaustively researched chronicle of a town forced to comprehend unprecedented carnage and the triggering of a “human time bomb” whose act of apocalyptic violence would foreshadow the terrors of the current age. MANIAC: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer-Harold Schechter Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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HELL IN THE HEARTLAND-Jax Miller
Jul 27, 2020Tap to summarizeS-Town meets I'll Be Gone in the Dark in this stranger-than-fiction cold case from rural Oklahoma that has stumped authorities for two decades, concerning the disappearance of two teenage girls and the much larger mystery of murder, possible police cover-up, and an unimaginable truth...On December 30, 1999, in rural Oklahoma, sixteen-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend, Lauria Bible, were having a sleepover. The next morning, the Freeman family trailer was in flames and both girls were missing.While rumors of drug debts, revenge, and police corruption abounded in the years that followed, the case remained unsolved and the girls were never found.In 2015, crime writer Jax Miller--who had been haunted by the case--decided to travel to Oklahoma to find out what really happened on that winter night in 1999, and why the story was still simmering more than fifteen years later. What she found was more than she could have ever bargained for: evidence of jaw-dropping levels of police negligence, entire communities ravaged by methamphetamine addiction, and a series of interconnected murders with an ominously familiar pattern.These forgotten towns were wild, lawless, and home to some very dark secrets. HELL IN THE HEARTLAND: Murder, Meth, and the Case of Two Missing Girls-Jax Miller Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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WANNA'BE COP KILLER-Dan Zupansky
Jul 6, 2020Tap to summarizeGabriel Wortman was a 51-year-old Denturist with a successful practice where he worked with his common-law partner. They were staying in the tiny seaside community of Portapique, Nova Scotia, Canada.The Coronavirus pandemic had been declared by the World Health Organization and with the resulting personal restrictions Wortman was not allowed to work. He felt it necessary to stockpile food, firearms and $800 dollars in gasoline. He also decided to transfer money from his bank account to a Brink's facility. On March 30th, 2020 he took out 475,000 in cash.Gabriel Wortman in his graduating high school yearbook wrote, "That his future may include being a RCMP officer." One of his hobbies was restoring RCMP police cars he had bought at auctions. He had purchased 4 former police cars and bought roof lights and siren for one of the cars through an on-line auction and he and his friends installed it. He had an official looking RCMP police decal created by his neighbour and drinking buddy Peter Alan Griffon, who in 2017 was convicted of cocaine trafficking and weapons charges, linking him with the La Familia drug cartel in Mexico. Wortman even managed to acquire an official RCMP uniform. Wortman told friends that the restored RCMP car project was to be a type of tribute to fallen officers...WANNA BE COP KILLER: Mass Murder and the RCMP-Dan Zupansky Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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REIGN OF INJUSTICE-David M. Beers
Jan 7, 2020Tap to summarizeOn September 12, 2001, Michele Harris went missing from a small town in upstate New York. She has never been found, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance remains. Four years after she went missing, her wealthy husband, Cal Harris, was arrested and charged with her murder.With neither a body nor a murder weapon, Cal was shockingly tried and convicted of her murder. Then new evidence surfaced. His conviction was overturned, and a new trial granted. But once again, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. That conviction, too, was overturned on appeal. The saga continued as Cal went on trial for the third time. This one ended in a mistrial.By the time Cal went on trial the fourth time, Michele had been missing for nearly 15 years.Defense investigator, David M. Beers, worked on the Cal Harris case from start-to-finish. His account, “Reign of Injustice,” walks you through the details and events of the case never before revealed. It provides a inside view of the scandalous case facts you will not find elsewhere, including why he considers Cal’s story a reign of injustice. REIGN OF INJUSTICE: The Cal Harris Story-David M. Beers Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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