Crime Writers On...

In an effort to find the elusive criminal, the FBI encourages publication of the UNABOMBER’s Manifesto. Agent Joanne Miller thinks the essay contains linguistic clues to his identity, and its denouncement of the Industrial Revolution sounds familiar to the brother of Ted Kaczynski. As a teen math prodigy, Kaczynski attended Harvard and took part in a psychology study where he was made to defend his views on free will during confrontational interviews. The provocative experiment nurtures something within the student that will someday be expressed through violence. 

Netflix’s “UNABOMBER” stars Jacob Tremblay, Russell Crowe and Shailene...

In 2012, fledgling war correspondent Austin Tice was abducted in Syria. No group claimed responsibility, but the U.S. believed he was being held by the Assad government. When rebels toppled the dictator and opened the borders in 2024, Western journalists seized the chance to search the regime’s files for clues to Tice’s fate. Guided by secret documents and new contacts, the reporting team crisscrossed the fractured nation for new information on who held Tice, where he was kept, and why he was targeted for abduction. Their investigation took them through abandoned prisons, interrogation facilities, and active conflict zones in s...

Lizzie Borden struggles to thrive as a young woman in Gilded Age New England. With the help of a worldly housemaid, Lizzie devises a plan to rid herself of her inattentive father and repressive stepmother, and live life on her own terms. The gruesome axe murder of her parents leads to Lizzie’s arrest and America’s first “trial of the century.” The public is divided on whether a woman could commit such a violent crime, creating an enduring cultural myth that both dismisses — and underestimates — the power of female rage.

Netflix takes a whack at the legendary tr...

Folks in Gainesboro, Tennessee were curious about who was scooping up large swaths of land in their tiny Appalachian hamlet. They were shocked to learn the buyers were venture capitalists with ties to Christian nationalists who planned on moving en masse and changing the town to fit their extremist views. Longtime residents banded together in fear of a far right takeover. As the newcomers became more emboldened, so do the townsfolk who try to stand up to them. The question becomes how far will people go to defend their world view and who in town gets to define what...

True crime enthusiasts Eileen and Keen Umbehr convince an investigative journalist to cover the case of a woman they say has been wrongfully convicted for a double murder. Dana Chandler says she was in Colorado when her ex-husband and his girlfriend were killed in Kansas. After Chandler wins a retrial, reporter Joe Sexton looks into the problems with the state’s case and the conduct of prosecutors. But he’s also intrigued by the Umbehrs, who’ve spent a decade trying to prove Chandler’s innocence. 

The HBO documentary series “A Killer Story” follows the journalist and two armchair...

When Kayla Elliott agreed to be a surrogate mother, she thought she was helping a wealthy Chinese couple add a second child to their family. After the girl was born, the intended mother seemed indifferent. Only later did Kayla discover that Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang had been paying multiple surrogates to carry children to live in their fortress‑like mansion in Los Angeles. The pair had been exploiting the largely unregulated world of surrogacy, establishing their own agency in which women carried the couple’s children. Both investigators and the surrogates were left wondering why these two had gone...

In 2014, after law professor Dan Markel was murdered in his Florida home, investigators turned to his ex‑wife for answers. The pair were in a contentious custody battle, and Wendi Adelson wanted to move their children closer to her affluent parents and brother. Police arrested the shooter, whose ex‑girlfriend was on the payroll at the Adelson family dental practice. But evidence that any of the relatives paid for the hit was elusive. Nearly a decade after the killing, secret recordings and accomplice testimony finally led investigators to those who orchestrated Markel’s death: his ex‑wife’s brother, Charlie Ad...

Jacob Kingston was a member of “The Order,” an insular Mormon polygamist sect, when he built a biodiesel refinery. He partnered with shadowy Armenian businessman Levon Termendzhyan to ship the fuel overseas and take advantage of lucrative tax credits given to renewable energy producers. But the operations were largely on paper, as the company racked up big government checks for fuel never produced. The unlikely pair spun a web full of dirty cops, political connections, and transnational money laundering that ripped American taxpayers off for nearly one billion dollars.

In the podcast “Kingdom of Fraud” from Novel and iHea...

FBI rookie Alice Black believes the death of a billionaire’s son has been staged to look like an overdose. She goes on the hunt for a suspect. Catherine Grace is killing those involved in the underage prostitution ring, seeking revenge for being trafficked and for the death of best friend. While the case progresses, Alice deals with her own trauma as a domestic violence victim forced to work the case with her abusive ex. As both women walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to bl...

Six months after the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge, Idaho Falls police homed in on a suspect, who later implicated his friend in the crime. After a sham polygraph and 100 hours of intense questioning, Christopher Tapp confessed to his involvement in the killing, despite the lack of evidence implicating him. After Tapp’s conviction, Angie’s mother remained fixated on DNA at the scene pointing to an unknown suspect. When Carol Dodge sifted through all the evidence in her daughter’s case, she was convinced the wrong man was in prison. It would take years of persistence and a discarded cigare...

Mica was a devout member of Myrtle Beach’s Solid Rock Church when she fell in love with Pastor JP Miller, 15 years her senior. Though she seemed to flourish as the pastor’s wife and singer in the church choir, signs began to emerge of her husband’s coercive control. Not long after she filed for divorce, Mica Miller’s body was found in a state park. Her death raised questions whether the church leader had driven his estranged wife to die by suicide - or whether he played a more active role.

The Netflix documentary series “Death of t...

Two boys emerge from the woods into a Canadian town claiming to have grown up in the wilderness. What’s the real story behind their appearance? In this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re going back to our discussion from February 10, 2022 of the podcast “Chameleon: Wild Boys” from Campside Media and host Sam Mullins.

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About the show: Crime Writers On… is t...

On July 4, 2025, Aaron Parsley and his family were enjoying the holiday at their cabin on Texas’s Guadalupe River. But violent thunderstorms caused flash flooding, which swept the house down river with everyone inside it. After a night in which his family fought the current and dangerous debris, his 20-month-old nephew Clay was among the more than 130 people killed - including many children at summer camp. After suffering an unspeakable loss, the Parsleys try to navigate their grief, their guilt, and their unanswerable questions, as they and their neighbors search for a way to move forward.

From Te...

A group of quirky characters goes on the hunt for millions of dollars in drugs buried somewhere in Puerto Rico. Their efforts to hit it rich go wildly wrong. In this CWO Classic Rewind, we’ll return to our June 10, 2019 review of the boundary‑breaking Netflix documentary film “The Legend of Cocaine Island,” recorded live in Nashville at PodX.

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About...

In 2020, 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled to Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone, a several block encampment that demonstrators declared to be a police-free area. But one night, Mays was shot to death in a stolen Jeep while protestors and journalists livestreamed the aftermath. Protestors said the group’s internal security forces shot in self-defense, while video shows someone approaching the stopped Jeep and firing at close range. The conflicting narratives have muddied the truth about that night, and Mays’s shooter remains unidentified.

From NPR’s “Embedded,” KUOW, and The Seattle Times comes the podcast “We Keep Us Saf...

She was a music superstar, a national treasure, and a surprising cultural touchstone. On this special CWO Classic Rewind, we’re going back to our November 4, 2019 review of “Dolly Parton’s America,” from NYC Studios and OSM Audio and host Jad Abumrad.

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crim...

Neurosurgeon John Henry Schneider was known for his extreme confidence and the cowboy boots he’d wear in the OR. But more and more patients were complaining of botched operations and unbearable pain. Whenever authorities would examine his work or threaten his license, Schneider would start over in a new location, leaving a trail of shattered trust and long-term injury.

In season five of the Audible Original podcast “Dr Death: The Cowboy,” host Laura Beil brings another story of shocking medical malpractice. The series highlights Schneider’s efforts to discredit critics and placate suffering patients, as well as highl...

An American woman found in a Syrian refugee camp says her family was tricked by her husband into joining the Islamic State. A British journalist tries to fact‑check whether she was a militant or just a mother. In this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re returning to our January 11, 2021 review of season 1 of the podcast “I’m Not a Monster” from BBC Panorama and PBS’s Frontline with host Josh Baker.

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In 2016, Angela Connell started getting threatening emails from someone invoking the persona of a vengeful demon from Jewish mythology. Her husband, US Marshal Ian Diaz, told cops the messages were sent by his ex-girlfriend, Michelle Hadley. Despite a restraining order, the threats continued, including a plan to trick men into attacking Angela, believing she had a rape fantasy. After things turned violent, police made an arrest. But when new details emerged, authorities took another look at the crimes and concluded all was not as it seemed.    

The Netflix documentary “A Toxic Love Story” tells a twisted tale, filled w...

It was the hit DIY podcast that became the definitive telling of the crime of the decade. It was a true crime sensation — but was it any good? On this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re going back to our October 18, 2021 review of the legendary podcast recorded at Mandy Matney’s kitchen table, “Murdaugh Murders.”

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About the show: Crime Writers On...

Paula’s cybersex session with cam boy Trevor is interrupted when he’s abducted on screen. Police believe the kidnapping is a scam. But when the divorced mom tracks him down, Paula finds Trevor’s been murdered by a ruthless assassin who’s now looking for her. As Paula looks into the cam boy and his associates, she gets pulled deeper into a web of blackmail and violence - all while trying to be a super mom and maintain custody of her daughter. She tries to stay one step ahead of the killer, the police, her ex-husband, and the ghosts o...

It was the ride‑along show that entertained America and influenced how law enforcement behaved — on television and in real life. On this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re returning to our May 6, 2019 review of the series “Running from COPS” from Headlong and host Dan Taberski.

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the b...

They’re a cry for help, a counting of grievances, and a call to action. The manifesto is the tool of the dreamer and of the deranged, documents meant to scold and to inspire. The founding fathers, modern activists and mass murderers alike have used them to explain themselves and their views on what’s wrong with the world. Dan Taberski wants to champion the powerful and misunderstood form of the manifesto, taking it from the politicians and crackpots and returning it to the artists, warriors, and regular folks who have both something to say, and the courage to do s...

She was the daughter of an infamous serial killer. Then the woman teamed with a journalist to investigate what other crimes her father committed. On this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re going back to our August 5, 2019 review of “The Clearing” from Pineapple Street Media and Gimlet with host Josh Dean.

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About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original...

In 2008, teenage twins Elise and Marissa Giammanco were stunned when police said their dad was secretly the prolific bank robber known as the Boonie Hat Bandit. A single father, Keith Giammanco said their family was constantly on the edge of financial ruin, so he robbed a dozen banks to pay the bills and hold off foreclosure. Law enforcement and the public were not sympathetic to his claim that he did it just to support his daughters. With their father behind bars, the twins are left on their own to navigate finances, addiction, homelessness, and their deteriorating relationship. Giammanco came...

It was the biggest true crime book of the decade…and played a role in the capture of the Golden State Killer. 

In this CWO Classic Rewind, we’re going back to the days of lockdown and our review from June 29, 2020 of the HBO six‑part adaptation of Michelle McNamara’s true crime book “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.”

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In 2022, defense attorneys in Ohio were stunned when prosecutors rolled out a cutting-edge tool to place defendants at the scene of a crime. Cybercheck claimed to use AI and historical digital data to identify suspects. But when lawyers examined the technology for themselves, they couldn’t figure out how it worked. Attention turned to Cybercheck’s creator and expert witness Adam Mosher. The Canadian was cagey about the program’s code and his own credentials. Even though the attorneys were sure they had evidence both Cybercheck and its creator were frauds, persuading judges and prosecutors that the miracle tool was a...

Police had two suspects in a young woman’s murder. Did their interpretation of the DNA lead them to arrest the wrong man? On this CWO Classic Rewind, we're going back to our Sept 27, 2021 review of the podcast from Campside Media and Wondery. It’s season one of Suspect, with host Matthew Shaer.

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About the show: Crime Writers On…...

Mayor Tom Loftis wants to turn his struggling, New England island town into a thriving tourist attraction. But some residents believe Widow’s Bay is cursed, and his efforts to boost it are stirring up its otherworldly forces. Tom is thwarted by his staff’s bumbling ineptitude and a series of supernatural encounters that shake his confidence. As the skeptical mayor slowly becomes a believer, he works to break the curse in which any island-born natives die if they leave for the mainland.

Emmy nominees Matthew Rhys, Kate O'Flynn, and Stephen Root star in the surprise hit Appl...

He was the investor-to-the-stars who provided more than just financial advice. How was he able to lure and rape young women with no consequences for so long? In this CWO Classic Rewind, we're going back to our October 14, 2019 review of “The Mysterious Mr. Epstein” from Wondery with host Linsey Graham.

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About the show: Crime Writers On… is the origin...

Thirty years after being convicted of murdering six women and girls, David Wood is now only weeks from dying by lethal injection. Pointing to the fact the only DNA ever recovered points to a different suspect, and new statements accusing police of setting him up, lawyer Greg Warchuk and his team are rushing to win a stay. The lawyers look for alternate suspects, elusive witnesses, and holes in the state’s evidence, all as the clock ticks down to Wood’s execution. Warchuk and the other attorneys pull at every lever to stop the process to save the life of a...

The website OnlyFans democratized the world of webcamming, allowing independent creators to make big money attracting their own subscribers for adult entertainment.  But the nature of the forum changed anonymous online sex work to a more personalized service for both the models and their customers. These intimate relationships spawned a new kind of business, one that goes beyond sex. As those on both sides of the camera form parasocial connections, their interactions can feel more personal — leaving some vulnerable, some empowered, and some wanting intimacy that is more than skin deep.  

The Audible Original podcast “OnlyFantasy” investigates how the m...

When a Texas trooper pulled her over, Taylor Parker said she was rushing to the hospital, doing CPR on the newborn baby she just gave birth to in her car. But when doctors examined her, they realized she’d never been pregnant. For months, Parker had told everyone she was carrying her boyfriend’s baby, posing on social media with a pregnant belly. But friends knew she’d had a hysterectomy years before. Then as her purported due date arrived, miles away, police made a gruesome discovery.

The Netflix documentary “Maternal Instinct” recounts the 2020 story of Taylor Parker, an...

Relatives of those who died by suicide discovered their loved ones had been active in online forums for those looking for ways to end their lives. They were directed to a retailer selling fatal quantities of sodium nitrite to people in crisis in more than 40 countries. Police and journalists hunted down Kenneth Law, who admitted to selling to hundreds of people worldwide. But authorities wanted to know whether Law was just providing a lethal product — or whether he was actively pushing people in crisis to take it.

The CBC podcast “Hunting the Suicide Salesman” recounts the effort to sto...

As André deals with the shock of his girlfriend’s brutal murder, he reluctantly allows police to question the only witness to the crime: his two-year-old son. When the interviews prove too traumatic and press coverage too intrusive, André flees London with Alex — but finds putting the past behind them is difficult. Meanwhile, using information from the toddler, police home in on a man who shares his violent sexual fantasies with an undercover cop. Detectives are sure they’ve got Rachel Nickell’s killer — even though a similar murder suggests a different suspect.

Netflix’s “The Witness” is a dramatized ve...

In 1992, Rachel Nickell was brutally murdered in broad daylight in a London park. But her killer left behind a witness: her two-year-old son Alex. With the uneasy consent of his protective father, André, police spent months working with the toddler to coax details about the attacker. After André put an end to his son’s distressing questioning, police laid a honeytrap for a nearby suspect with violent sexual fantasies. They arrested Colin Stagg even though there was nothing connecting him to Rachel’s death. And when a similar murder stunned the city, investigators were at odds with one another on whe...

In March 2021, after Faithe Ely left a cookout, her body was found on the side of a rural Oklahoma highway. Officials from one law enforcement agency said it looked like a hit and run accident; however, members of the Highway Patrol weren’t so sure. Her boyfriend said Faithe stormed off after a drunken altercation, and that a white truck towing a black trailer had been traveling in that direction before she was found. Five years later, her family still wants answers as to who was responsible for Faithe’s death — and whether it was an intentional act.

The...

For her school project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi solved the murders of two students, rescued a girl held captive in an attic, and exposed a serial rapist. Now Pip is dating the victim’s brother; recording a podcast; and still needs to testify against Max for the rapes. But just as she thinks she has left the crimes behind her, Pip’s friend Jamie goes missing. She learns Jamie had been catfished before he vanished. Is his disappearance connected to Max’s coercion campaign to beat the charges? Or the missing son of a serial killer? And who has been sending her wa...

After a 2000 murder case went cold, Kentucky housewife Susan Galbreath did her own snooping. With the help of cooperative cops and a British journalist, she identified Quincy Cross as Jessica Currin’s killer. Quincy got a life sentence and Susan became a local hero. But in a story already filled with inconsistencies and recantations, Susan never disclosed the original prime suspect was her friend’s son. Now, Susan’s own son is stepping forward with new evidence, saying her mother’s tales should not be believed.

From Message Heard and Sony Music Entertainment comes the podcast “My Mother’s L...

Willy Nast was a passing acquaintance of Jeff Signorelli, an Aurora, IL teen who was killed in 2002 when a bullet went through a wall at a party. As a college student, Nast interviewed Signorelli’s parents for an essay on the crime and the community it happened in. With plans for a sprawling book, Nast continued to interview Al and Mary Ann Signorelli over the years, documenting the ways they turned their grief into action. It included stints in local politics and nonprofits, but time and again city leaders dismissed them as inconvenient gadflies. While Jeff’s murder remains unso...