UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast – Episode 5: Bob Berdella – The Confession No One Heard – Part 2 (January 14, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this intense continuation, host James Buddy Day dives deeper into the chilling world of Bob Berdella, unraveling the serial killer's gruesome crimes and the systemic failures that let him continue. The episode meticulously reconstructs Berdella’s pattern through archived confessions, crime scene evidence, interviews with detectives, and previously unheard case materials, including Berdella’s own haunting journals. This part traces the years following his first known murder, exposing the mounting trail of victims, the escalation of violence, the missed red flags, and the bizarre plea deal that suppressed secrets for years.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Early Pattern: Routine, Records, Missed Opportunities (01:12 – 04:24)

• Recap: After Christopher Bryson’s escape (last episode), police discover a trove of evidence in Berdella’s home: Polaroids, journals, and handwritten notes.
• Berdella's meticulousness: “This wasn’t a sit down and planned scientific experiment by any means, but just to have some record or reference to it in the future.” — Bob Berdella (02:01)
• Victim #2: Robert Sheldon (April 1985)
  • Sheldon, a drifter known to Bob, becomes the next victim.
  • Detective Troy Cole underscores how long it took to even identify Sheldon after his disappearance (03:24).
  • Journals reveal the obsessive tracking of sedation and victim’s state: Sheldon was documented from 8 PM to 12:45 AM, with continuous notations for 24 hours (04:24).
  • Notable quote: “The sound of the Polaroid camera was enough to kind of rouse him, just enough to open his eyes a little.” — Bob Berdella (04:24)
• Intervention missed: Al de Valkaner recalls seeing Bob in a panic the day his handyman unwittingly worked above the room where Sheldon was held (05:37).
  • Notable quote: “If you knew Bob, he didn’t run anywhere... I found out in the police department much later that he freaked when he saw me on the other side of that window because that’s where he had the second victim tied up.” — Al de Valkaner (05:37)
• Berdella’s admission: “I talked to him briefly and told him I had to run into the house and take care of something and I’d be right back out.” — Bob Berdella (06:22)
  • This is one of the few times Berdella directly acknowledges his responsibility for a death.

Escalation and Routine: New Victims, More Daring Acts (07:30 – 11:34)

• Victim #3: Mark Wallace (June 1985)
  • Wallace, a neighborhood handyman, seeks shelter in Berdella’s shed during a storm and becomes an unintended victim (08:04).
  • Notable quote: “I found him out in my back tool shed hiding from the rain. I invited him in the house to dry out and get warm.” — Bob Berdella (08:19)
  • Bob immediately drugs and restrains him; Wallace’s struggle is meticulously logged.
  • Haunting journal entry: “He was saying that the notation I have here is please untie. As I remember, he was also saying to let him loose.” — Bob Berdella (09:13)
  • Wallace dies while Berdella is absent; the remains are quickly disposed of for trash pickup.
• Victim #4: James Ferris (September 1985)
  • Ferris, a regular at Berdella’s store, is targeted more deliberately.
  • Planned abduction: Berdella drugs him at home; logs show he escalates abuse, employing electric shocks (09:41).
  • Chilling notation: “No resistance to retiring. Thirty minutes later, Ferris is unresponsive. Bob records the time of death at 12am with a chilling notation that reads 86.” — James Buddy Day (10:41)
• Victim #5: Todd Stoops (June 1986)
  • Known to police and previously interviewed about another case — in Bob's own home.
  • Detective Cole recounts that Stoops directly accused Berdella of drugs and murder, but police took no direct action (12:40).
  • Had police searched upstairs, they might have found the torture room (12:57).
  • Revealing quote: “If the investigator had simply walked upstairs in 1984, he may have stopped Bob altogether.” — James Buddy Day (12:57)
• Bob’s medical delusions: Berdella claims to have tried to nurse Stoops back to health with penicillin (14:19).

The Final Murder and Bob’s Undeniable Confidence (14:42 – 18:54)

• Victim #6: Larry Pearson (1987)
  • Unique dynamic: Pearson is even taken to Ohio to meet Berdella’s mother, showing an unprecedented level of openness.
  • Family oddity: “Larry’s the only one that I took up to see my family.” — Bob Berdella (15:54)
  • Details of their interaction: Bob’s mother questions the unusual relationship, but accepts it after Bob’s vague explanation.
• Pearson’s end: After weeks in captivity, Pearson fights back, biting Berdella in a violent confrontation that sends Bob to the hospital (17:03).
  • Aftermath: With Pearson still restrained, Bob manipulates hospital staff to rush home, murders Pearson, then returns for treatment (18:23).
  • Notable moment: “He goes inside, feeds the dogs Then goes upstairs and kills Pearson, all while the meter is running.” — James Buddy Day (18:23)
  • Detective Cole recounts the disposal of Pearson’s body (18:40).

Confession, Fallout, & Bizarre Plea Deal (18:54 – 23:50)

• Christopher Bryson’s escape (recapped): Leads to Berdella’s arrest and possession of overwhelming evidentiary material.
• Berdella’s plea deal: Berdella offers full confession if the death penalty is off the table, and tapes are destroyed (19:27).
  • Prosecutors agree, confession is transcribed, and police accept after consulting with families.
• Police perspective: Al de Valkaner describes Berdella as “the personification of evil,” noting the pleasure he seemed to get reliving his crimes while reading the logs (20:11).
  • “There’s just absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was getting gratification by reliving these events by reading those logs and relating those stories.” — Al de Valkaner (20:11)
• Ironic twist: The DA intended to make the confession public by submitting it as evidence, but a tragic explosion in Kansas City shifts all attention away from the case (21:40).
  • With the city focused on the explosion, Berdella’s plea and its damning details go nearly unreported.
  • Tom Jackman, one of the few journalists who stayed with the story, explains how the confession was essentially lost to public record due to this disaster.
• Key question—Why?
  • Detectives press Berdella for motive. His answer: “It will always be a question on my mind. I think at this point, I was insulating myself from my own emotions. I just didn’t deal with it. It’s like it didn’t happen.” — Bob Berdella (23:32)

Final Ironies & Aftermath (24:03 – 24:45)

• Berdella’s perspective: “I’m not going to sit here with my finger to my chin and say, nobody understands me.” — Bob Berdella (24:03)
• Berdella’s death in prison: Sources allege constant harassment and that medical neglect may have contributed to his demise, echoing themes of control and neglect from his own crimes.
• Host reflection: The episode closes by highlighting the tragic repetition of power and apathy, both in Berdella’s acts and in the system’s handling of him.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Bob Berdella… he is the personification of evil.” — Al de Valkaner, Police Officer (02:51, 20:11)
• “This wasn’t a sit down and planned scientific experiment… just to have some record or reference to it in the future.” — Bob Berdella (02:01)
• “If the investigator had simply walked upstairs in 1984, he may have stopped Bob altogether.” — James Buddy Day (12:57)
• “He goes inside, feeds the dogs Then goes upstairs and kills Pearson, all while the meter is running.” — James Buddy Day (18:23)
• “There’s just absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was getting gratification by reliving these events by reading those logs and relating those stories.” — Al de Valkaner (20:11)
• “It’s like it didn’t happen.” — Bob Berdella, on reflecting about his crimes (23:32)
• “Their names in a log.” — James Buddy Day, on Berdella’s chilling detachment (24:03)
• Revelation on death: Allegations that Berdella’s medicine was tampered with in prison, possibly hastening his death (24:09).

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:12] – Recap of Bryson escape and discovery of evidence
• [03:24] – Introduction of second victim, Robert Sheldon
• [04:24] – Berdella’s documentation and lack of empathy revealed
• [05:37] – Al de Valkaner’s first-hand brush with evidence of a captive in the house
• [09:13] – Mark Wallace’s pleading, Bob’s clinical account
• [10:41] – Use of car battery on James Ferris, escalation in abuse
• [12:57] – Todd Stoops’ 1984 police interview in Berdella’s home, missed opportunity
• [14:19] – Berdella’s claimed “medical care” of Stoops
• [18:23] – Sequence of the Pearson murder after Bob’s hospital stay
• [19:27] – The plea deal: confession in exchange for sparing the death penalty and tape destruction
• [20:57] – DA’s plan to make confession public, but explosion shifts city’s focus
• [23:32] – The “why” question: Berdella’s chilling and evasive answer
• [24:09] – Allegations of deliberate medical neglect in Berdella’s death

Final Thoughts

This episode underscores how Berdella’s crimes were as much about control and record-keeping as violence, and how systemic failures allowed him to continue for years. The episode’s sober tone, firsthand testimony, and use of Berdella’s own words build a chilling portrait of a killer—one more interested in documenting than understanding his own evil. The episode serves as both a damning indictment of missed intervention and a harrowing account of one of America’s most disturbing criminal cases.