True Crime stories are riddled with serial killers and their crimes. But how do they get started? 

From BTK to The Nightstalker to the Rest Stop Killer, many serial killers begin with what forensic psychologists call rehearsal fantasy. 

That's the term for the young teen or young man outside, in the bushes, watching. Eventually, for some, these voyeuristic, Peeping Tom fantasies evolve into something far, far worse -- like break ins and eventually physical violence.

I couldn't help thinking of that term and all those killers, because wasn't I doing the exact same thing? 

I headed to the Palmer house on Friday night, hoping to find some answers. But I soon found myself outside, in the bushes, watching ... peeping.

And what I discovered turned this case upside down.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime thriller told weekly. 

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Margie Miller spent her life trying to escape Ridgewood. But a series of unfortunate events always pulled her back home, and right back into the heart of this case.

At 18, she was accepted into the University of Chicago, but her family just couldn't afford it, and so she stayed home. At 22, she was offered a job in San Francisco, but her father suddenly died and she remained home to help her mother.

After a few years, she was offered another job, a dream job in the history department of the University of San Francisco, but then she met Bob Miller. He was new to town. And unlike every other man in Ridgewood, he liked her. They married, had a daughter, and settled in Ridgewood.

When Bob died in 2023, Margie saw her chance. By December of that year, she had put the house on the market and was packing up, looking at senior communities in Napa and Fairfield. This was, finally, her chance to escape Ridgewood once and for all.

Margie Miller was abducted just a block from her home on Dec. 15, 2023, and her body was discovered just hours later in the valley. Sort of. 

This is her story.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime thriller told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

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Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

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On Sept. 27, 1969, the Zodiac killer donned a black hood and approached a young couple on the shores of Lake Berryessa — just a few miles north of Ridgewood.

Once he tied up the couple, he stabbed them mercilessly. 

I told you the Zodiac kept appearing in strange ways in the case of the Rest Stop Killer, and it happened again here, at Lake Berryessa. 

Because this exact spot where the Zodiac struck back in 1969 -- it was the exact same location where the body of Michelle Diaz was discovered by hikers in 2023.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime thriller told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

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Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

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The disappearance of Michelle Diaz happened at the worst possible time in a small town with limited resources and in a media environment desperate for information about a different case altogether. 

So although her death would eventually lead to uncovering the true volume of horror committed by the Rest Stop Killer, she would, sadly, become a footnote in the larger story. 

Michelle Diaz was anything but a footnote to her family and those who loved her most.

This is her story.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime thriller told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/crimeadjacent

Web site -- www.crimeadjacent.com

Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was Mollie Miller who alerted me to the death of Gary Pugh. It was Mollie Miller who said the Rest Stop Killer was back, who said the Palmer family was involved somehow, and that the police were covering for them. 

And yet, she now refused to talk. 

Something was happening in Ridgewood, and on Thursday Dec. 14, 2023, I went home for the first time in nearly 30 years to figure it out. 

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime thriller told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/crimeadjacent

Web site -- www.crimeadjacent.com

Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Curiosity is a dangerous thing. Kingscreek is a weekly horror semi-anthology podcast, with weekly episodes. Follow Damien Bachman as he reads through his late uncle's old research, centered around the strange and paranormal occurrences in Kingscreek, Washington.

Case A-95: Serial Roadside Phenomena (Fall 1997)

Recording Date: 09/16/08

Content Warnings:

- Animal Death

- Animal Body Horror

Starring Thomas S Dennis as Damien Bachman

Written, Edited, and Directed by Thomas S Dennis

Produced by James Makepeace

Score by Kai After Kai

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The killer disappeared for nearly 30 years. Police thought he moved or was caught or just decided to call it quits, which happens occasionally with serial killers.

Then Gary Pugh was abducted from a quiet street in Ridgewood on December 11, 2023, and discovered dead in the valley just hours later.

The Rest Stop Killer had never left. 

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime story told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

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Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

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When Len Macy arrived in San Francisco in 1967 for the Summer of Love, he was immediately tempted by the cults and charismatic narcissists who preyed on young people at the time. 

Charles Manson. Jim Jones. Synanon. They were everywhere.

But it was Mitch "Moon" McDaniel that would lure Len to Ridgewood, where he would soon find himself alone and forgotten. Until a killer started dumping bodies just yards from his front door.

This is the story of suspect #2: Len Macy.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime story told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/crimeadjacent

Web site -- www.crimeadjacent.com

Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Three Ridgewood men have been abducted and murdered, their bodies found in a valley on the outskirts of town. And the same man found two of them. This is Daniel Palmer Jr., a millionaire housing developer who owns the valley land.

On the nights of each murder, Palmer said he was home, hosting fund-raisers for local politicians. People saw him each night, vouched for him. But are his alibis as airtight as he claims? Is it possible to slip away from a large party, murder men, and then simply slip back into the party as if nothing happened?

Both Detective Jones and I put his alibis to the test.

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime story told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/crimeadjacent

Web site -- www.crimeadjacent.com

Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One man built a flamethrower and patrolled the town’s sewer system, positive the killer lurked underground. A posse of women formed an armed vigilante group and roamed the streets at night. Neighbors reported other neighbors to police. Kids called the tip line on their teachers. 

As Ridgewood waited for the killer to strike again, mass hysteria settled over the entire town. But then, just as suddenly as they began, the murders stopped. The case went cold. 

Crime Adjacent is the never-ending true crime story told weekly. 

New episodes every Wednesday.

Weekly BTS info and profiling group at Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/crimeadjacent 

Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/crimeadjacent

Web site -- www.crimeadjacent.com

Crime Adjacent is produced & edited by Multitude.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.