On today’s episode, Benita Alexander joins us to talk about her former relationship with con artist surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. We dive into the insane love con that shattered Benita’s reality and Paolo’s experimental trachea transplants that killed 7 people.

225: The Wild Love Con Case Of Benita Alexander & Dr. Paolo Macchiarini: Experimental Surgery & Married By The Pope? The Ultimate Con Man Story

Crime. Conspiracy. Cognizance. Welcome to Mile Higher hosted by husband & wife duo Josh Thomas and Kendall Rae! Our show focuses on True Crime but we delve into many other topics including conspiracy theories, unexplained phenomena, metaphysics, futurism, ancient civilizations and news stories the mainstream media doesn't cover. Our guests include experts in these topics as well as like-minded individuals who share our passion for uncovering the truth and exploring the mysteries of our universe. Come chill with us every Thursday and prepare to take your mind a mile higher! Watch the show on YouTube every Thursday!

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On the chilly morning of May 8th, 2008, a beloved high school musician, Joshua Maddux, walked through his forested neighborhood in Woodland Park, Colorado. His family knew Josh would take these walks alone, and he often told his family that he would leave for a big adventure one day. But this time, he never returned. Days turned to months turned to years until, in 2015, property developer Chuck Murphy discovered Josh’s body stuffed into a chimney in an abandoned cabin less than a mile from Josh’s home. What followed was a lackluster police investigation, easy answers from the coroner, and cries from Josh’s friends and woodland park locals that he was put in that chimney by someone. Everyone has tried to answer this question: How did Joshua Maddux get stuck inside that chimney?

298: Found Stuffed In A Chimney 7 Years After He Vanished: The Suspicious Death of Josh Maddux

Dian Fossey was one of the world’s most well-known primatologists, as she dedicated nearly 20 years to the study of Rwanda’s critically endangered Mountain Gorillas high up in the Virunga Mountain Range. Without Dian, we wouldn’t know the habits of these animals, their social structures, and the efforts necessary to save the species. But, as an untrained scientist, Dian’s methods weren’t always scientific, and as the years went on, her war against local poachers made her grow increasingly unhinged. She called the locals slurs, captured and tortured anyone she accused of poaching, and engaged in witchcraft to prey upon the beliefs of the locals living around her. She also made enemies with her Western research assistants and even fired shots at Dutch tourists exploring the park with her ex-students. Her antics made her hated by the Rwandan government, too, whom she accused of assisting poachers and using the park to engage in illegal smuggling. Dian had made many enemies before she was

296: The Gorilla Lady, Terrifying the Locals & Extreme Conservation: Who Murdered Dian Fossey?

On May 19th, 1996, a young couple went to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia for a camping trip. 26-year-old Lollie Winans and her 24-year-old girlfriend Julie Williams had made the trek with their golden retriever, Taj, in celebration of Julie’s new job in Lake Champlain, Vermont. However, Julie would never get to start her new career, and the budding dreams of the enamored couple would come to an end in the Shenandoah backcountry as someone entered the women’s campground and brutally attacked the pair, leaving both to bleed out just feet from their camp. Now, nearly 28 years later, police still don’t know who killed Lollie and Julie. Today, we will find out what happened to these women, learn about the man who was nearly implicated in their deaths, and hear how some people involved believe the FBI themselves have prevented the case from being solved.

295: Couple Found Murdered In Their Sleeping Bags Their Killer Never Caught:The Unsolved Shenandoah Park Murders

Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has been a music industry fixture for over 30 years, working with everyone from Mariah Carey to Biggie Smalls, Usher to Justin Bieber. Known for his outrageous parties and larger-than-life persona, Diddy has been the blueprint for those looking to get their start in the music industry since he founded “Bad Boy,” records in 1993. But there is a darker side to Diddy’s wealth and fame, being named in several lawsuits since November 2023 accusing him of physical abuse, sex and drug trafficking, the purchase and distribution of illegal firearms, consorting with and giving laced alcohol to minors, and multiple instances of rape and sexual assault. Although not formally charged, these lawsuits led to an investigation into Diddy’s crimes by the Southern District of New York, which culminated in massive raids of his LA and Miami homes’. But accusations against Diddy have existed since his career began, marring his rise to fame with connections to assaults, pedophilia, and

294: Deep Diving the P. Diddy Trafficking Investigation & His Highly Questionable Past

On December 13th, 1973, French Journalist Claude Vorilhon claimed to have met extraterrestrials named Elohim while walking along the Puy Lassolas mountain. The Elohim took him on his craft for 6 consecutive days and told him the truth about humanity: that there is no god, the Elohim created humankind in their image, and they wanted Claude to build an embassy for them when they arrived. He attracted a small following of sci-fi fans interested in joining his budding religious movement. Then, on October 7th 1975, the Elohim took him to their planet where they revealed that humanity was in the age of Apocalypse, that all previous prophets were alive through cloning on their planet, and that not only was Claude the brother of Jesus, but that he was the Messiah and was given a new name: Rael. What followed was nearly 40 years of growth, legal issues, jumping countries, and international hoaxes that kept the Raelian movement in the limelight.

225: The Wild Love Con Case Of Benita Alexander & Dr. Paolo Macchiarini: Experimental Surgery & Married By The Pope? The Ultimate Con Man Story

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