The official One Chicago Podcast kicks off with Jason Beghe, who has played Sergeant Hank Voight on Chicago P.D. since day one. He joins host Brian Luce, a former Chicago cop and current P.D. producer, to discuss their work on set, Voight’s moral complexity, and the importance of telling the truth of the story. Production Designer Greg Van Horn, known on set as “Merlin,” also shares how he creates the iconic locations that bring the series to life.

You can watch this interview on the One Chicago YouTube channel, and check out the season premieres of Chicago Med, Fire and P.D. Wednesday, October 1st starting at 8/7 Central on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

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Fascinated by a 2000 unsolved local murder, Susan Galbreath decided to become a citizen sleuth. With the help of a British journalist, the Mayfield, KY homemaker identified Quincy Cross and five others of kidnapping and killing Jessica Currin, then raping her lifeless body and setting it on fire. While the press loved the story of an amateur detective cracking the case, serious problems were overlooked. The theory of the crime changed, evidence was circumstantial, and interrogation techniques were coercive. Witnesses have recanted their statements, and even Jessica’s father thinks the wrong man is in prison. But what the world didn’t know at the trial was that Galbreath had a reason to lead police to Cross and away from their original suspect.

“Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County” from Lava for Good asks whether the made-for-movie tale of an average citizen solving a murder is too good to be true and the consequences of that fiction. Host Maggie Freleng picks apart the inconsistencies in the investigation and actions of investigators and journalists too eager to believe the information Galbreath was selling.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BONE VALLEY SEASON 3 | GRAVES COUNTY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: torts and treats.

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TV producer Jodi Tovay caught a standup comedy set in Scotland that took a dark and captivating turn. Interwoven with his earnest jokes, comedian Edd Hedges told the terrifying story of how a killer struck his neighborhood - then attempted to get into his house. Years later Tovay convinced Hedges to further explore the crime that continued to haunt him. And as she learned more about what happened that night in 2015, and Hedge’s place in it, she wondered how much of the entertainer’s story is based in truth.

From Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts comes “Wisecrack.” Listeners hear Hedges tell his story of mirth and murder live on stage, before the pair dig deeper into the causes behind the violence his family escaped from. With its “Baby Reindeer” echos, the series explores unreliable memories, criminal behavior, and lingering trauma. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WISECRACK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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While studying in Italy, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend are arrested for the brutal murder of her British roommate. Although they convicted another man for killing Meredith Kercher, authorities also try Knox - relying on a coerced confession and compromised DNA evidence. She finds herself cartooned and slut-shamed in a Kafkaesque legal system. Despite an eventual acquittal, Knox remains vilified in the tabloids and pursued by prosecutors. Unable to fully clear her name and restart her life in America, she returns to Italy to confront the man who refuses to believe her innocence.

Hulu’s dramatic series “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” stars Grace Van Patten. Co-written by Knox and told largely from her point of view, the series recounts the many turns in the sensational case. It depicts its protagonist as powerless to control the events around her and her quest to reclaim her own narrative. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TWISTED TALE OF AMANDA KNOX" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: horse collar.

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True crime fan Lizz Melgar Rose found herself in the middle of her own case. In 2012, her father Jim was murdered in his Texas home while her mother Sandy was tied up and left in a closet wedged shut by a chair. But Sandy Melgar’s inability to recall details of the home invasion made police suspicious. Lizz claimed investigators never pursued other leads, including evidence of a burglary, choosing instead to believe Sandy tied her own hands behind her back and staged the crime scene. Even with no motive or evidence linking her to the brutal stabbing, prosecutors charged her with murder.

iHeartPodcasts and BBC Studios present “Hands Tied.” Host Maggie Robinson Katz explores the theory that a middle-aged woman with epilepsy and arthritis could stab her husband 30 times, stay spotless, then bind herself in a closet locked from the outside. The podcast also follows Lizz’s fight to prove her mother’s innocence.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HANDS TIED" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 15 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Ashley and Albert Debelbot had just put their newborn McKenzy to bed for the first time, but hours later rushed the infant back to the hospital after finding a bump on her forehead. When she died, police concluded the parents harmed her and charged them with murder. Facing an overzealous prosecutor, a partial judge, and ineffective defense attorneys, the Debelbots spent twelve years in prison trying to clear their names. But a new legal team uncovered evidence suggesting McKenzy died from a prenatal injury, not a beating.

Season 11 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigative series “Breakdown: Three Days in May” looks into the Debelbots’ complicated case. Hosts Bill Rankin and Tamara Hallerman recount the investigative rush-to-judgment, the flawed trial, and the evidence pointing to a medical cause of the baby’s death—not a criminal one.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BREAKDOWN: THREE DAYS IN MAY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THIS EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: going nuts!

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He left his child in the backseat of a hot car. He said it was a tragic accident - the police said it was a calculated murder. We’ll go back to our  May 7, 2016 discussion of “Breakdown: Death in a Hot Car" from host Bill Rankin and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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A group of pensioners at a British retirement village have an unusual hobby: they gather weekly to ponder cold cases. But when its co-owner is murdered in the midst of a business dispute over closing the Cooper Chase facility, the elderly sleuths insert themselves in the mystery. With a mix of senior citizen charm and a lifetime of hidden expertise, the Thursday Murder Club digs into the shady backgrounds and dodgy business associates of the retirement community’s remaining owners. As the bodies pile up, these armchair detectives find themselves in real-world peril as they get closer to solving the mystery. 

Based on the hit book series, “The Thursday Murder Club” stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley.  It brings the cozy murder trope into a quiet retirement village where the unlikely sleuths chase down a killer—and remind the world that experience, friendship, and love never grow old.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: I ain't saying she a gold digger™

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Many feared their lives would be forever altered after New Years 2000. For some, it was - just not in the ways they thought. We’ll go back to our Dec 10, 2018 review of “Headlong: Surviving Y2K” from Dan Taberski.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HEADLONG: SURVIVING Y2K" BEGIN IN THE FINAL SIX MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Thirteen-year-old Lauryn thought the cruel texts about her and her boyfriend were just another case of teenage cyberbullying. But the messages didn’t stop. They escalated, becoming more vicious, graphic, and relentless. Everyone had a theory. Parents blamed classmates. Teachers suspected students. Police hit dead ends. Then a digital breadcrumb buried deep in the texts exposed the last person anyone expected.

From Netflix and the director of “Abducted in Plain Sight” comes “Unknown Number: A High School Catfish,” a chilling dive into digital deception. Teen victims, shattered families, and stunned investigators retrace the damage. We also hear from the catfish, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions about their actions and motives.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "UNKNOWN NUMBER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: A Dark Knight's sleep.

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