Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

Before we begin our bonus coverage of the three part documentary CTRL+ALT+DESIRE, we’re revisiting our original 2019 episode about Grant Amato. Whether you’re hearing this case for the first time or need a refresher, this episode gives you the background before our documentary discussions begin.

In January 2019, Cody Amato failed to show up for work at an Orlando hospital. A welfare check at his family’s home in Chuluota, Florida, led deputies to discover that Cody and his parents, Chad Amato and Margaret Amato, had been killed. His younger brother, Grant, was missing. The invest...

Tyler Nulisch loved his life in the Florida Keys, especially days on the water with his dog, Chief. At 30, he was restoring a boat and working toward starting a fishing charter business. He was also building a life with his girlfriend, Brittany Holbrook, though his longtime friends had begun to worry about what they were seeing in the relationship.

Early on June 17, 2023, the couple’s roommate woke to Brittany screaming for help. He found Tyler bleeding on the living room floor of their Big Coppitt Key home. Brittany initially said she could not remember what happened, but Ty...

On July 17, 2020, Brandon Rollins, Keven Springfield, and Damion Tillman met near Lake Streety Road in Frostproof, Florida, for a night of fishing. Later that evening, Brandon called his father, Cyril Rollins, and pleaded for help. When Cyril arrived, he found all three friends had been shot.

A receipt left at the scene led investigators back to a Dollar General and surveillance footage from earlier that evening. As detectives pieced together the group’s movements, they focused on a dispute involving a truck engine, a remote road, and the evidence left behind after the shootings.

In th...

In November 1928, Nelson Rehmeyer was killed inside his farmhouse in southern York County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and a practitioner of powwowing, a Pennsylvania German healing tradition that used prayers, scripture, and folk remedies.

John Blymire believed a hex was responsible for years of illness, sleeplessness, and bad luck. After a woman told him Nelson was the person behind it, John became convinced that he needed Nelson’s copy of The Long Lost Friend or a lock of his hair to break the curse. He recruited 14 year old John Curry and 18 year old Wilbert Hess, and th...

On July 2, 2021, Krista Halderson did not show up for work. When a friend went to her Windsor, Wisconsin, home to check on her, Krista and her husband, Bart Halderson, were both gone, but their cars were still in the garage. Their son, Chandler Halderson, said they had left for the family cabin with friends, but he could not say who had taken them there.

As the holiday weekend passed, the cabin trip made less and less sense. Investigators found that Chandler’s story was only one part of a much larger pattern involving college records, a job he...

In the woods of northwest Georgia, Dr. Charles Lee Scudder and Joseph “Joey” Odom built an off grid home unlike anything their neighbors had seen. There was stained glass, a golden harp, a pink gargoyle, and a reputation that grew stranger with every rumor told about the place they called Corpsewood Manor.

On December 12, 1982, two men Charles and Joey had welcomed onto the property arrived with a plan to rob them. What happened next left Charles and Joey dead inside the home they had spent years building, sent two teenage witnesses fleeing in fear, and led to anot...

Faith Danielle Hedgepeth was 19 years old and studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she was killed inside her Durham apartment in September 2012. Investigators recovered DNA evidence, a handwritten message, and other clues from the scene, but the case remained unsolved for years.

Now, 14 years later, Miguel Salguero Olivares is on trial in connection with Faith’s death. He is charged with murder, burglary, rape, and sexual offense, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. There has not yet been a verdict.

In this episode, we review Faith’s fina...

We have a shorter spooky season story for your Friday. In 1977, firefighters found Teresita Basa murdered in her Chicago apartment, but months passed without an arrest.

Then a doctor told police that his wife had entered a trance and spoken in a voice that identified itself as Teresita. Detectives could not verify that explanation, but they could investigate what the voice claimed to know. The lead took them back to Edgewater Hospital and helped uncover evidence in a case that still raises questions nearly 50 years later.

New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday!

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This week, we tell the 1897 story of Elva Zona Heaster Shue, known as Zona, whose sudden death in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, was initially treated as natural causes. After Zona’s mother said her daughter appeared to her and described what happened, an exhumation revealed a broken neck, and Zona’s husband went to trial for her murder.

Since so many of you enjoyed Black Hope Cemetery, we are spending Thursdays for the rest of October on historical cases with a little mystery and a spooky season feel.

New episodes every Tuesday and...

On May 12, 2018, Joleen Cummings finished a shift at the Tangles Hair Salon in Fernandina Beach, Florida. The 34 year old mother of three was supposed to pick up her children the next day for Mother’s Day and her birthday, but she never arrived.

When Joleen’s SUV was found abandoned near a Home Depot, surveillance footage pointed investigators toward a new coworker. But the woman Joleen knew as Jennifer Sybert was not who she said she was. As detectives followed the trail, they uncovered false names, a stolen identity, and a history that stretched across states.

In...

When Sandra Birchmore was 12, she joined a Stoughton, Massachusetts police youth program because she hoped to become an officer herself. What began as trust in the adults around her became the basis for years of alleged exploitation by men connected to the program.

In 2021, Sandra was found dead in her Canton apartment while pregnant with her first child. Her death was initially ruled a suicide. Federal prosecutors now allege that former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell, who had known Sandra through the Police Explorers program, strangled her and staged the scene to look like a suicide. They...

In 1983, Sam and Judith Haney were preparing to install a swimming pool behind their home in the Newport subdivision of Crosby, Texas, when they uncovered two human graves. The discovery led them to the Black Hope Addition Graveyard, a largely forgotten African American cemetery whose boundaries and burial records had faded from public view. Court records later confirmed that Purcell Company, Inc.'s field superintendent had been warned about a possible grave during construction and had ordered the marked area cleared.

After the graves were found, the Haneys and other Newport residents began sharing unsettling accounts of...

This is a new follow up to last week’s episode on Ashley Flynn’s death. We cover the trial of her husband, Caleb Flynn. Prosecutors argued that Caleb staged a home invasion after killing Ashley, while the defense maintained the state had built a circumstantial case around an affair, with no recovered murder weapon, eyewitness, or gunshot residue evidence.

Over eight days of proceedings, the jury heard testimony about the garage door, the missing 9 mm handgun, phone and Apple Watch data, and more than 107,000 messages between Caleb and Alleigha Botner. On September 29, 2026, the jury found Caleb guil...

In late 2019, 69 year old Patricia Bennett suddenly stopped answering calls from her family. Messages continued coming from her phone, but her grandson John knew something was wrong. The wording did not sound like Patricia, and no matter how often he asked, he could not hear her voice.

As police checked the shifting stories told by Patricia’s daughter, Carol Rey, the lies began to unravel. Patricia was not at her sister’s house or at the doctor’s office, and her phone was found hidden inside the home. We cover Patricia’s disappearance, John’s persistence, and the invest...

From the archive, we are revisiting the disappearance of former NBA player Bison Dele.In July 2002, Bison Dele, his girlfriend Serena Karlan, and boat captain Bertrand Saldo vanished while sailing through the South Pacific. Bison’s older brother, Miles Dabord, was the only person to return from the trip. When he arrived in Tahiti, Bison’s catamaran had been repainted and renamed.

As investigators searched for answers, they uncovered evidence that someone had been using Bison’s identity after he disappeared. Authorities came to believe Miles was responsible for the deaths of Bison, Serena, and Bertrand, but he die...

In June 1994, Vickie Beckham dropped her three children off for a visit with their father and was supposed to go to work. Hours later, she was found dead behind the wheel of her car in a ditch along a rural South Carolina road. Her vehicle had barely any damage, but Vickie had catastrophic injuries that could not be explained by a crash.

Investigators quickly realized someone had tried to stage Vickie's death as an accident. More than a year later, an arrest brought police a detailed account of an alleged murder for hire plot involving Vickie's estranged...

In February 2026, Ashley Flynn was fatally shot inside her Tipp City, Ohio, home while her two young daughters slept nearby. Her husband, former worship pastor Caleb Flynn, called 911 and said an intruder had broken in, taken a gun from his truck, and shot Ashley.

Investigators soon questioned whether the scene matched that account. Caleb was later charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, and witness intimidation. Prosecutors allege Ashley's death was planned and that the scene was staged to look like a burglary. Caleb has pleaded not guilty, and the charges have not been...

Former plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski is currently on trial in Florida for the 2023 disappearance and alleged murder of attorney Steven Cozzi. Steven represented defendants in a civil lawsuit Tomasz had filed, and prosecutors allege Tomasz became increasingly angry with the case before planning the attack.

Steven vanished from the Largo law office where he worked, leaving his wallet, keys, and phone behind. His body has never been found. Prosecutors say surveillance footage, phone data, and forensic evidence connect Tomasz to the crime. Tomasz has pleaded not guilty, is representing himself in a bench trial, and a judge...

On March 24, 2013, Aliza Sherman went to downtown Cleveland to meet with Gregory Moore, the attorney handling her contentious divorce. She arrived early, waited outside his locked office building, and exchanged messages with him. Minutes later, Aliza was attacked and fatally stabbed.

For more than a decade, her murder remained unsolved. In 2025, a grand jury indicted Moore, Aliza's former divorce attorney, on charges including aggravated murder, conspiracy, murder, and kidnapping. Prosecutors allege he deceived Aliza into waiting outside the office and either participated in or arranged the attack. Moore has pleaded not guilty, and the charges have not...

On September 21, 2023, Austin Kanuch and his wife closed on a new home where they planned to raise their family. Before they could move, someone entered their rental home in the early morning hours, attacked Austin in his bedroom, and left his wife Mary and their young son physically unharmed.

Investigators believe Austin was targeted. Nothing was stolen, no one else in the house was injured, and detectives found no known conflict in Austin's work, relationships, or personal life that explains why someone would want him dead. Nearly two years later, surveillance video showed an unidentified person arriving...

On September 19, 2024, Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins and Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines ate lunch together in Whitesburg, Kentucky, then walked back to the courthouse for a private conversation in the judge's chambers. Nearly 10 minutes later, surveillance video showed Stines pull out his gun and shoot Mullins. The video has no audio, leaving the central question unanswered: what was said in that room before the shooting?

Stines surrendered at the courthouse and is charged with murder of a public official. He has pleaded not guilty. His defense is expected to focus on his mental condition in the days...

Between 2001 and 2017, at least 75 women were strangled or smothered in Chicago. Many were found in alleys, vacant buildings, garbage cans, and other places where it was easy for their deaths to become separate case files instead of a citywide emergency. The women were daughters, mothers, artists, business owners, caregivers, and friends. Their names included Angela Ford, Gwendolyn Williams, Nancy Walker, Margaret Gomez, Teresa Bunn, Hazel Lewis, and Rio Renee Holyfield.

In 2018, the Chicago Tribune identified 75 women whose cases showed a devastating pattern. 25 cases had been closed, while more than two thirds remained unsolved. Families and advocates had...

In June 2006, 24 year old Lori Ann Slesinski left an Auburn Walmart to pick up drink mixes before a night at her best friend’s house. She never arrived. Days later, her Yorkshire Terrier, Peanut, was found safe in her mobile home, but Lori was gone. Her kitchen rugs and telephone cord were missing, the answering machine messages had disappeared, and her Mazda was later found burned on a secluded Auburn street.

Lori’s friend Derrill Richard Ennis, known as Rick, was the last person known to be with her. He claimed she had left to make a drug...

Today, we’re replaying our 2024 episode about Emma Compton Layne, a woman remembered by the people who loved her for her generous heart, her contagious joy, and the way she always showed up for her family. Emma disappeared in June 2017 after working at her store in Halifax County, Virginia. Months later, her remains were found, leaving her loved ones with years of grief and unanswered questions.

Since we first shared Emma’s story, there has been a significant development in the case. In November 2024, Emma’s husband, Russell Wayne Layne, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in con...

In the fall of 1988, Peggy Carr, her son Duane Dubberly, and her stepson Travis Carr became violently ill inside their rural Florida home. The symptoms were strange and terrifying: severe nerve pain, numbness, weakness, trouble walking, and eventually, hair loss. Doctors discovered they had been exposed to thallium, a rare and deadly heavy metal.

The source was even more disturbing. Someone had carefully opened glass bottles of Coca-Cola, added thallium, resealed the caps, and placed the bottles inside the Carr home. Peggy died after spending more than four months in a coma. Six other members of the...

When 32-year-old nurse Alex Pennig was found dead inside the bathroom of her St. Paul apartment, the man who called 911, Matthew Ecker, insisted she had taken her own life behind a locked door. Alex had struggled with depression and addiction in the past, and at first, there were details that seemed to support his story. But the scene inside the bathroom told a much more complicated story.

Investigators found a strangely clean gun resting on Alex’s chest, almost no blood on Matthew despite his claims that he had tried to save her, and a...

On September 14, 2007, 14-year-old Andrew Gosden left his home in Doncaster dressed for school. After his family left for the day, he returned home, changed out of his uniform, withdrew £200 from his bank account, and bought a one-way ticket to London.

Andrew arrived at King’s Cross Station at 11:20 that morning. CCTV captured him walking out of the station alone five minutes later. That is the last confirmed image of him. Nearly 19 years later, his family still does not know why he went to London or what happened after he arrived.

We cover Andrew’s life, the c...

For months, Harold Allen suffered from worsening illnesses that doctors could not fully explain. When he died in Freetown, Indiana, just days before Christmas 2022, his death was attributed to serious cardiac problems. His family believed they had lost him to a sudden decline in his health.

Nine months later, a burglary at the home of Harold’s widow, Marsha Allen, gave investigators a reason to look again. What began as a break in led detectives to thousands of text messages between Marsha and her daughter, Ashley Jones, and evidence of a poisoning plot that included a root be...

In March 2010, Holly Bartlett, a 31 year old blind public servant and graduate student, left a party in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and took a cab toward her condo. Seven hours later, ironworkers found her critically injured inside a fenced area beneath the MacKay Bridge, less than 1,000 feet from her home.

Police concluded Holly became disoriented after leaving the cab, entered the restricted area, climbed a steep concrete abutment, and fell. But the people who knew Holly best struggled to accept that explanation. Holly had spent years mastering the orientation and mobility skills that allowed her to live independently...

In September 1987, Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret were found shot to death inside their Biloxi, Mississippi home. Vincent was a former Air Force colonel, a law professor, and a sitting circuit court judge. Margaret was a prominent local attorney and politician. Neither had any known enemies. The investigation would take years and lead directly into the heart of the Dixie Mafia, a loose network of contract killers, drug smugglers, and corrupt officials who had turned Biloxi's Gulf Coast into one of the most lawless stretches in the American South.

What investigators eventually uncovered was that Vincent's...

On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded a flight in Portland, handed a flight attendant a note saying he had a bomb, and walked away with $200,000 in ransom after jumping out of the plane somewhere over the Pacific Northwest. He was never identified. His body was never found. And to this day, most of the money has never turned up.To the public, it looked like he got away with it. That was enough.

In the months and years that followed, a string of men tried to copy what Dan (or who the public would...

On the night of his 21st birthday, U.S. Army soldier Zarius Hildabrand came home drunk from the bars in Anchorage, Alaska. His wife Saria, also a soldier and also 21, spent the next hour going through his phone and finding proof he had been cheating. A neighbor heard a single gunshot at 2:46 AM.By the next morning, Zarius was texting her coworkers from her phone, telling her friends she had walked out, and joining the search party that formed to find her. He knew exactly where she was the entire time.

Saria Hildabrand was a National Guard...

In the summer of 2023, police in the Bahamas were investigating a routine bar burglary when they stumbled onto something shocking . And that was WhatsApp messages on a suspect's phone containing a photo of Robert Shiver, a former Auburn football player and Georgia businessman, alongside a text that read: "Kill him." The messages were allegedly sent by his wife, Lindsay Shiver, a former beauty queen from south Alabama.

Three years later, Lindsay has still not gone to trial. The case has been delayed over and over again — and now her U.S. attorney is arguing it should be th...

When successful Houston veterinarian Valerie McDaniel began dating Leon Jacob, they bonded over the problems they believed their former partners were causing them. Leon presented himself as a brilliant surgeon, but the reality was a trail of failed residencies, massive debt, and a history of stalking and abuse. Within weeks of their relationship starting, those private grievances escalated into a shocking murder-for-hire plot.

In this episode, we dive into how Leon and Valerie arranged to have both of their exes killed, the undercover sting operation at an Olive Garden that brought them down, and the tragic aftermath...

After the release of Netflix's A Toxic Love Story, we knew it was time to bring this one back. We originally covered the case of Michelle Hadley in 2019, but the story has changed dramatically since then, and this week we are telling the whole thing from start to finish.

In 2016, Michelle Hadley was accused of terrorizing her ex-fiance's pregnant wife and sending strangers to her home to carry out a violent sexual attack. The evidence appeared so overwhelming that Michelle spent 88 days in jail and faced the possibility of life in prison. But the case was never...

When twenty-four-year-old expecting mother Jade Benning suddenly collapsed during a quiet date night at her Nashville apartment, it was initially reported as a severe allergic reaction. But when paramedics arrived, the scene didn't match the story being told by her boyfriend, former NFL scout Blaise Taylor. Jade was rushed to the hospital where she was placed on life support, but both she and her unborn daughter, Ivy, tragically passed away days later.

As investigators began uncovering what really happened inside her apartment on February 25th, 2023, they discovered a chilling timeline of events. A frantic final phone call...

In 1996, the quiet community of Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas was shattered by the brutal double murder of seventy-five-year-old Sally Snowden McKay and her fifty-two-year-old nephew, Joseph Lee Baker. The historic Snowden House, a landmark family estate that had belonged to Sally's family for generations, was set on fire to cover up the crime. Investigators eventually arrested fifteen-year-old Travis Lewis, a local teenager who lived across the field in a home his family rented from Sally. Travis eventually pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to twenty-eight and a half years in prison, though he never publicly admitted to pulling...

In the fall of 2023, Steven Edward Riley Jr. was living in Minot, North Dakota with his longtime partner, Ina Kenoyer, when he received a letter claiming he was the sole heir to a $30 million estate left behind by a relative he had never met. For months, Steven communicated with a man named Richard Eglin, who identified himself as the estate's attorney, as the two worked toward a meeting that would finalize the inheritance. On September 3rd, 2023, Steven collapsed after attending a series of airport meetings where Eglin never appeared. Two days later, he was dead. His official cause of...

This episode has been one of your most requested since we first released it, so we are bringing it back.

Lake Lanier, Georgia's largest lake, is one of the deadliest bodies of water in America, with over 700 deaths since its creation in 1956. But the lake's dark history goes deeper than tragic accidents. Built by flooding entire communities, including a predominantly Black town that was never properly evacuated, Lake Lanier sits atop homes, churches, and even cemeteries. Locals believe the lake is cursed, haunted by the spirits of those whose graves were disturbed. We explore the eerie history...

Shirley and Virgil Best were beloved, hardworking members of their Riverview, Florida, community. For forty-five years, they built a life centered around their faith, their family, and their successful tropical fish farm, Quality Fins. They were finally looking forward to a well-earned retirement traveling the world together in their RV.

But beneath the surface, the couple spent decades dealing with the constant crises of their oldest son, Robert Best. A convicted con artist who had once defrauded a blind woman out of nearly a million dollars, Robert was facing a new, deeply disturbing criminal trial set to...