Crime and Motive

She thought she was dating a fellow college student. He was actually a 37-year-old convicted sex offender using a fake name.

In this episode of Murder U, we investigate the heartbreaking case of Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old track star at the University of Utah who tried everything she could to stay safe—reporting threats, breaking off the relationship, even calling campus police more than 20 times. But when her cries for help went unanswered, it ended in tragedy.

We walk through Lauren’s final weeks, the system failures that led to her death, and the shocking revelations that surfaced in the aftermath. From the university’s botched response to the civil lawsuits that followed, we explore how a campus tragedy exposed deeper flaws in institutional accountability, victim protection, and law enforcement response.

This is the story of a student who did everything right... and still lost her life to a predator hiding in plain sight.

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Two brilliant students at the University of Virginia. One forbidden romance. And a secret so dark, it ended in blood.

In 1985, the mutilated bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were found in their Virginia home. Their daughter, Elizabeth Haysom, and her boyfriend, Jens Soering, quickly became the focus of a case that would span decades, cross international borders, and spark global controversy. In this episode of Murder U, we unravel the shocking story of Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom—two elite scholars whose deadly obsession led to a gruesome double murder and a tangled legal saga that still makes headlines today.

We examine their privileged backgrounds, the brutal crime scene, and the explosive letters and confessions that prosecutors said proved their guilt. And we dig into the media storm that followed, including a Netflix documentary and Soering’s release in 2019—despite never undergoing new DNA testing that could supposedly prove his innocence. Was this the wrongful conviction of a young man in love? Or the calculated manipulation of a killer who knew exactly how to play the system?

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She was a star athlete, weeks away from graduating from the University of Virginia. He was her ex-boyfriend, a fellow lacrosse player, and increasingly volatile. Then, on May 3, 2010, Yeardley Love was found brutally beaten in her campus apartment.

In this episode of Murder U, we examine the violent murder that shocked the collegiate sports world and sparked national conversations about dating violence, toxic masculinity, and institutional blind spots. We explore the disturbing behavior of George Huguely leading up to the killing, the warning signs that were ignored, and the heartbreaking aftermath for Yeardley’s family and community.

We also reflect on how this high-profile case changed policies on campus safety and inspired a nationwide push to better protect student-athletes from intimate partner violence.

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On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the University of Texas tower with a footlocker full of guns. By the time it was over, 16 people were dead, dozens more were wounded, and America had experienced its first modern mass shooting.

In this episode of Murder U, we trace Whitman’s life from gifted child and former Marine to the deeply disturbed killer who changed the way police, schools, and the public responded to mass violence.

We explore his childhood trauma, psychiatric red flags, suicide letters, and the brain tumor discovered during his autopsy. We also honor the stories of the victims, survivors, and heroic responders whose courage stood in stark contrast to the chaos. The Texas Tower massacre wasn’t just the beginning of a tragic new chapter in American history—it was a warning we’ve still failed to fully heed.

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The mystery gripped the nation—four University of Idaho students murdered in their off-campus home, and for weeks, no suspect in sight. Then, investigators made a stunning discovery: Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old PhD student studying criminology at Washington State University, became the focus of a sweeping multi-state investigation.

In this second part of our true crime podcast series, we revisit the turning point in the case. From forensic evidence to digital trail analysis, we break down how law enforcement identified and arrested Kohberger—and explore the unsettling theories about what may have motivated the Idaho college murders.

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In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were found brutally murdered in their off-campus home — stabbed to death as they slept. Weeks passed with no arrest. Then came Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student no one expected.

In Part 1 of this two-part Murder U episode, we trace the night of the killings, the victims’ final hours, and the investigation that led to Kohberger’s arrest. Who is he, and how did investigators link him to the crime? 

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She was texting her boyfriend one minute… and gone the next. What happened to Brittanee Drexel would haunt Myrtle Beach for thirteen years—until her killer finally confessed, and his accomplice revealed a disturbing truth.

In this episode of Murder U, we examine how 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel vanished while walking alone at night during an unsanctioned spring break trip in South Carolina. As rumors swirled, false confessions surfaced, and pressure mounted, law enforcement struggled to make an arrest—until investigators circled back to Raymond Moody, a convicted sex offender whose name had quietly surfaced early in the case. We follow the events that led to a long-awaited breakthrough and the role Angel Vause played in covering up the crime. From Brittanee’s final messages to the courtroom verdicts, this case reveals what can happen when a predator hides in plain sight—and justice takes far too long to catch up.

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A popular cheerleader. A desperate classmate. And a lie that would turn deadly. When 15-year-old Kirsten Costas answered an invitation to a secret club dinner, she had no idea it was a trap. Hours later, she was bleeding to death on a neighbor’s porch, and the hunt for her killer would expose a world of jealousy, obsession, and betrayal lurking beneath the surface of suburban Orinda, California. In this episode of Murder U, we dive deep into the chilling case that inspired the Lifetime movie Death of a Cheerleader. We follow Kirsten’s final hours, the bizarre clues investigators uncovered, and the unraveling of Bernadette Protti’s shocking confession. How could a bright and promising girl’s life be destroyed over a quest for social status — and how did the town’s own fears and assumptions nearly let her killer slip away? From the trap that was set with a simple phone call to the haunting fallout that scarred an entire community, we uncover the true story behind one of the most infamous murders of the 1980s.

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When 17-year-old Alissa Turney vanished from her Phoenix high school in 2001, her stepfather claimed she ran away to California. But her abandoned phone, untouched paycheck, and sudden silence told a darker story. Two decades later, a shocking arrest turned this cold case into a courtroom cliffhanger. Was this a teenage runaway—or a carefully staged cover-up of an unsolved disappearance?

In this episode of Murder U, we trace the final hours of Alissa’s life, the strange behavior of her stepfather, Michael Turney, and the relentless efforts of her sister, Sarah Turney, whose viral true crime podcast helped bring national attention to the case. From early failures by law enforcement to a trial that ended in a judge’s stunning dismissal, we explore how one of Arizona’s most haunting missing person cases became a symbol of family advocacy, accountability, and the long fight for justice.

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On May 4, 1970, a student protest against the Vietnam War at Kent State University ended in unimaginable violence when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of unarmed demonstrators. In just 13 seconds, four students were killed and nine others wounded—some of them bystanders simply walking to class. What led to such a deadly confrontation on an American college campus? Who gave the order to fire—and was there an order at all? In this episode of Murder U, we examine the escalating tensions of that weekend, the confusion and panic in the moments before the shooting, and the devastating aftermath that changed the national conversation about protest, authority, and accountability.





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