True Crimecast

Just after midnight on June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy stood at the peak of his political life. He had just won the California primary, flashing his trademark smile and telling a roaring crowd, "On to Chicago." Moments later, while cutting through a crowded kitchen pantry to avoid the crush of the ballroom, the trajectory of American history was altered by a .22 caliber revolver.

In this episode of True Crimecast, John and Jamie trace the evolution of "Bobby" from a ruthless political operative to a voice for the voiceless. We break down the chaotic scene in the pantry, the...

In July 2024, Michael Fosler was charged with 43 felony counts of sexual assault involving a 13-year-old girl. Three months later, that girl’s father, Aaron Spencer, found her in the passenger seat of Fosler's truck in the middle of the night. What happened next on a darkened Arkansas highway sparked a legal firestorm that has reached the state’s Supreme Court and the local ballot box. In a new, unexpected twist, Aaron Spencer won a primary election and is now on his way to becoming the Sheriff of Lonoke County.

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Most people reach for a rolled-up newspaper or a can of bug spray when they see a spider. But in February 2026, authorities say Sean McDermott reached for a lighter—and didn't stop until four homes were in ruins.

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In the 1980s, John Gotti wasn't just the boss of the Gambino crime family—illegally, he was the face of New York City. With his $2,000 Brioni suits, silver hair, and a smirk that defied the FBI, he became a folk hero to some and a nightmare to the Department of Justice. But behind the "Dapper Don" persona was a man who clawed his way to the top through a bloody coup outside a Manhattan steakhouse.

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In the mid-1940s, Chicago was a city gripped by a unique kind of terror. It wasn’t the mob wars or the wartime rationing that kept people awake—it was the phantom breaking into high-rise apartments and leaving behind a plea scrawled in red: "For heaven's sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself."

In this episode of True Crimecast, John and Jamie dissect the case of William Heirens, the 17-year...

In 1925, the sweltering heat of Harlan County, Kentucky, was matched only by the intensity of a manhunt for 14-year-old Mary Vickery. When skeletal remains were discovered in an abandoned mine shaft, the case seemed closed: a grieving father identified her jewelry, a "witness" claimed to have seen the murder, and local taxi driver Condy Dabney was sent away for life. But justice in coal country is rarely buried deep enough.

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In the quiet community of Lakeport, Florida, deputies were on a mission to track down a elusive boat thief. What they found instead was a "woman" in a light blue dress, a white cardigan, and a blonde wig, casually strolling away from a residence. This episode of True Crime To Go explores the bizarre arrest of Joshua Kolotka, a man whose wardrobe change wasn't quite enough to fool the sharp instincts of the Glades County Sheriff’s Office.

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In the affluent suburbs of Fairfax County, Virginia, IRS Special Agent Brendan Banfield seemed to have the perfect life. But on the morning of February 24, 2023, when police arrived at his home, they walked into a horrific scene of a double homicide. Brendan claimed he had walked in on a handyman, Joseph Ryan, attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, and acted in self-defense.

But as the "Au Pair Murders" investigation unfolded, the story of a heroic husband crumbled. In this episode of True Crimecast, we dive into a twisted web of a secret affair between Brendan and the family’s...

In the high-stakes world of college football, a single season can be the difference between a multi-million dollar NFL contract and a life of "what ifs." But for many athletes, the NCAA’s strict eligibility clock is a barrier they are no longer willing to accept. From the "stolen" seasons of the COVID-19 pandemic to the new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) wealth, players are increasingly trading their cleats for courtrooms.

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In 2021, a fatal confrontation in Morgan County, Tennessee, left one man dead and another behind bars. But as the case wound through the legal system over the next four years, it became one of the strangest files in the state’s history. The reason? The defendant repeatedly and adamantly claimed in open court that he was the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

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On a Tuesday afternoon in March 2024, Ashley Smylie—a beloved high school mathematics teacher—returned home with her 14-year-old daughter, Carly. Minutes later, the quiet of their Brandon, Mississippi, home was shattered by three gunshots. What followed was a chilling sequence of events captured on home security footage: a teenager calmly texting on her mother’s phone, a lure set for a stepfather, and a friend invited over to see a "dead body."

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In 1974, Sweden delivered 1,000 Volvo 144 sedans to North Korea, hoping to spark a new era of trade. The cars arrived, but the payment never did. Five decades later, the debt has ballooned into the billions, and the vintage Volvos are still being spotted on the streets of Pyongyang. This episode of True Crime To Go breaks down the largest "car theft" in history—a state-sponsored swindle that remains on Sweden's books to this day.

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On May 17, 1995, a quiet evening in San Diego turned into a scene out of a war movie. Shawn Timothy Nelson, a struggling Army veteran and plumber, breached a National Guard armory, hot-wired an M60A3 tank, and began a 25-minute path of destruction through suburban streets.

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In 2016, Nathan Carman was found drifting in a life raft eight days after his boat, the Chicken Pox, sank during a fishing trip. He was a survivor—but to the FBI, he was a cold-blooded killer.

This episode of True Crimecast explores the disturbing history of the Chakalos-Carman family. From the unsolved 2013 murder of Nathan’s multimillionaire grandfather to the "suspicious" modifications Nathan made to his own vessel, we examine the government’s theory that Nathan orchestrated multiple deaths for a massive inheritance. We also cover the shocking 2023 conclusion that left both families without a final verdict.

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In this fascinating bonus episode of True CrimeCast, we are joined by homicide prosecutor and author Jarrett Ferentino to dissect one of the most polarizing ethical dilemmas in legal history: The "Buried Bodies" Case.

When serial killer Robert Garrow confessed to his attorneys, Frank Armani and Francis Belge, that he had murdered two missing women and hidden their remains, the lawyers did the unthinkable. They used Garrow’s hand-drawn maps to find the bodies, photographed the remains, and then… they stayed silent. For six months, while the victims' families pleaded for answers and searched the woods, the lawy...

Most fugitives run to escape the law, but Christopher Daniel Gay ran to find his way home. Known by the nickname "Little Houdini," Gay didn't commit violent sprees or masterminded conspiracies; instead, he became a national folk hero and a law enforcement nightmare through a series of daring escapes and one of the most bizarre vehicle thefts in history.

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A quiet Sunday morning in Tucson, Arizona, turned into a national nightmare when Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, failed to show up for church. By Monday morning, what began as a frantic search for a missing grandmother escalated into a full-scale criminal investigation, with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department declaring her home a "crime scene."

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In the early 1970s, as the "Golden Age of Skyjacking" gripped the American skies, one man didn't just want to pull off a heist—he wanted to outdo a legend. Just months after the mysterious D.B. Cooper vanished into the Pacific Northwest wilderness, Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot, and Sunday school teacher, decided to put his own elite training to the test.

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In 2017, a social media firestorm in Trumbull County, Ohio, turned 18-year-old Austin Burke into the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of 22-year-old Brandon Sample. What followed was a whirlwind investigation that culminated in a five-day trial where Austin was convicted of both murder and an unrelated pizza shop robbery—despite significant questions surrounding the physical evidence.

In this episode, we sit down with Austin’s mother, Jamie Sell, and author Donna Waters (Wrong Ride Home) to dissect a case they argue is a textbook example of a wrongful conviction. We explore the glaring inconsistencies in the...

Happy February! In this Patreon exclusive episode, we dive into the murder of Louise Cicelsky. She was found brutally stabbed to death in her home in 1995. Louise was a 69-year-old go getter. She was a strong, independent woman who could handle her own affairs and her property rental business. When police found her murdered, they found themselves chasing leads down a rabbit hole rather than chasing evidence.

To hear the rest of the episode, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/truecrimecast.

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In a bizarre collision of NFL stardom, pop-culture drama, and legal procedure, a quiet Sunday at Travis Kelce’s Kansas home turned into a police matter. This episode of True Crimecast examines the arrest of Justin Lee Fisher, a process server who jumped a fence to hand-deliver a subpoena to Taylor Swift.

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In a legal first that made headlines across the globe, a small town in North Wales became the backdrop for a case that redefined the boundaries of digital harassment. What began as a domestic dispute took a surreal turn when 25-year-old Rhiannon Evans decided to weaponize her phone camera in the most juvenile—yet legally consequential—way possible.

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Ana Montes seemed like the ultimate American patriot. By day, she was the "Queen of Cuba," the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) top analyst at the Pentagon. By night, she was the most dangerous mole in U.S. history, using a Toshiba laptop and a shortwave radio to dismantle American operations from within.

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Cairenn Binder is the Assistant Director of the IGG (Investigative Genetic Genealogy) Center and the Director of the IGG Certificate Program. Cairenn has been at the forefront of IGG since its inception, applying genetic genealogy to identify human remains with the nonprofit organization DNA Doe Project from 2018 through 2023. In 2022, she co-founded Coast to Coast Genetic Genealogy Services to fulfill the need for additional IGG practitioners to generate leads in violent crimes. She began working at Ramapo in October of 2022, helping to launch the IGG center in December 2022. Her casework has been featured on BBC news, ABC, NBC, Fox, Oxygen...

In the scenic hot spring city of Beppu, Japan, a 21-year-old college student noticed a few missing items from her laundromat dryer. What seemed like a minor inconvenience led police to a discovery that left seasoned detectives speechless: 730 pieces of women’s undergarments meticulously stashed in a single apartment.

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In the early morning hours of late December 2025, a quiet residential street on Liberty Road in Lexington, Kentucky, became the scene of a terrifying home invasion. Neighbors watched in horror as a man went door-to-door, eventually forcing his way into a home and launching a violent knife attack on a resident.

This episode of True CrimeCast breaks down the chaotic arrest of Dion Hale, a 35-year-old who now faces a mountain of felony charges—including first-degree burglary, strangulation, and assaulting a police officer.

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Byron Paul Griffy was a pillar to his community in Fowler, Colorado. He owned Griffy Family Funeral Home and brought comfort to countless families during their time of grief. He also served on the Fowler School Board for over 13 years. On October 12th, 2012, one day before his 77th birthday, Bryon was found murdered in his home. When police began the investigation, they uncovered more questions than answers. Bryon's case, and his life, was complicated and made solving his murder difficult.

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In January 2026, Pennsylvania police conducting surveillance at a historic cemetery spotted a man emerging from the shadows with a crowbar and a burlap bag. What was inside that bag launched an investigation into what authorities called "a horror movie come to life."

This episode of True Crime To-Go digs into the macabre case of Jonathan Christian Gerlach. We explore the discovery of over 100 human remains—including skulls, mummified limbs, and even an active pacemaker—hidden in a basement and a storage unit. It’s a story of graveyard desecration on an industrial scale and a man who treate...

In Lexington, Kentucky, a funeral home is supposed to be a place of sanctuary and respect. But for Ronald Jerome Woolfolk Jr., it was a data mine for a heartless federal fraud scheme.

In this episode, we expose how a 27-year-old employee exploited the identities of deceased infants and homicide victims to swindle a local charity.

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In the quiet village of Briarcliff Manor, Clay Tiffany was a divisive to say the least. With his shock of red hair and his low-budget public-access show, Dirge for the Charlatans, he spent years filming himself heckling police officers and local politicians. Most neighbors viewed him as a polarizing, perhaps unhinged, eccentric—especially when he claimed a local cop was a dangerous "rogue."

But as it turns out, Clay Tiffany wasn't just shouting into the wind. He was describing a monster.

This episode explores the intersection of two lives: a star-athlete-turned-activist and Nicholas Tartaglione, a po...

When you hear about a "break-in" at a music store, you expect to hear about stolen guitars or smashed windows. You don’t expect to find the sinks running, the snacks eaten, and a cinnamon-colored Capuchin monkey named Chester staring back at you.

In this episode of True Crime To-Go, we head to Morristown, Tennessee, to investigate the bizarre Sunday morning when a local pawn and music shop became a primate’s playground. But as investigators dug deeper, they realized this wasn’t just a random escape—it was a case of animal theft that crossed state lines.<...

This episode explores a case that proves truth is often stranger than fiction: the botched robbery of Northeast Pizza in Barre, Massachusetts.

When a masked man jumped over the counter with a handgun in early 2018, the staff didn't just see a criminal—they eventually saw a former colleague. We dive into the story of Sean Coulson, a 30-year-old former manager who traded his apron for a ski mask, only to be tackled by the very people he once supervised.

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On December 6, 1991, Austin, Texas, changed forever when four young girls—Eliza Hope Thomas (17), Jennifer Ann Harbison (17), Sarah Louise Harbison (15), and Amy Leigh Ayers (13)—were brutally murdered inside an "I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!" shop. This episode explores the 34-year journey from a horrific crime scene to the 2025 DNA breakthrough that finally identified the true killer.

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This episode investigates the chilling events of December 17, 2025, when 48-year-old Susan Erica Avalon allegedly carried out a calculated double homicide, targeting two of her former husbands in separate Florida counties within a single day.

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This episode explores the tragic death and complex legal aftermath of Mica Miller, a story that has ignited a national conversation on coercive control, pastoral power, and the gaps in our legal system. In this Patreon exclusive, John and Jamie interview LUNASHARK's Beth Braden to talk about the new indictments for John Paul Miller and how they relate to the bigger story.

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In mid-October 2025, 13-year-old Wynter Wagoner vanished from her home in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, sparking a desperate, two-month search that crossed state lines and involved the FBI and U.S. Marshals. Just after Christmas, a tip led investigators 500 miles away to a residence in Silver Spring, Maryland, where Wynter was found alive and safe.

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When a young woman is found in her home after suffering a mysterious death, where should authorities turn for answers? Witnesses? Evidence? A ghost? That's right, in today's episode, you will get to hear about how a ghost presented testimony during a murder trial. We hope you had a fantastic Christmas! We are looking forward to 2026! Thanks for making this year awesome! -- For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon!    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For over four decades, the 1983 KFC Murders stood as one of the most haunting and brutal cold cases in East Texas history. Five people were abducted from a Kilgore restaurant and executed in a remote field, leaving a community shattered and investigators with a puzzle that was only partially solved—until now.

In this episode, we dive into the 2025 breakthrough that finally identified the third and final participant in the crime. We explore how the Texas Rangers and modern forensic analysts used advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy to bridge a 42-year gap and provide a long-overdue se...

In this episode, we dive into one of the most creative—and ill-fated—contraband plots in recent history. In February 2025, two Colorado teenagers were caught outside USP Pollock in Louisiana with an industrial-grade compressed-air cannon and nearly $200,000 worth of methamphetamine and tobacco.

Their plan, dubbed "Operation Up & Over," was to launch the massive haul over the prison’s high-security perimeter. We discuss the "arms race" of modern prison smuggling—from drones to cannons—and how a vigilant deputy stopped a major drug infiltration before a single shot was fired. It’s a story of high-tech ingenuity mee...

The Oklahoma State Fair is a beloved tradition, but for some families, it’s the place where everything went wrong. In this episode, we examine two chilling cases that began at the fairgrounds. In 1981, 13-year-old friends Charlotte Kinsey and Cinda Pallett disappeared after being lured away by a man offering a carnival job.

Six years later, sisters Cheryl Genzer and Lisa Pennington vanished after a night at the fair. Their murders would lead to conflicting stories, failed prosecutions, and decades of unanswered questions. Together, these cases reveal how trust is exploited, how investigations can unravel, and...