Maine had 21 homicides in 2025, and we take a look at them. Guns and domestic violence continue to be the dominant themes, with mental health issues also a troubling contributing factor.

From people who know each other all too well, to the bizarre seemingly random shooting of a guy on his motorcycle, there are 21 stories of lives lost that may resonate with you, no matter where you live.

We also take a quick look at Maine’s biennial domestic violence homicide report, and what it says about how the public, police and the media perceive domestic homicide, and how that adds to the problem.

To check out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

We wrap up our three-episode look at the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide list, diving into the 1990s and beyond, looking at the cases of Lorna Brackett and Vincent White, Susan Hannah, Joseph Savitch and Louis Alexander, and Neil Salisbury, the most recent unsolved homicide on the list.

We also look at the introduction of DNA as an investigative tool, how the Maine Unsolved Homicide List was created and some stuff about the state’s cold case squad.

Even if you don’t live in, or care about, Maine, the issues related to unsolved homicides and how they were investigated are universal.

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

We continue our look at Maine’s cold cases with a dive into the 1980s: Beverly Polchies, Theresa Duran, Vincent LaVopa, Brian Kowalczyk and Alice Hawkes. Would they have been solved if they happened today? Should they have been solved four decades ago? We discuss.

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

While we wait for the state of Maine to release the 2025 homicide list, we’re taking a look at another list: Maine’s Unsolved Homicides.

In this first part of a three-part series, we dive into the Maine cold cases of the 1970s (and one from the 1960s), and discuss the still-unsolved cases of Effie MacDonald, Mary Olenchuk, Judith Hand, Joyce Tannarillo, Robert McKee, Ellen Choate, and James Cassidy. Would they have been solved if they’d happened today? Would they have even happened today?

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

Darrel Parker starts serving a life sentence. Wesley Peery is incarcerated in Ohio, doing “30 to 75 years,” which we know means he’ll be out soon. And Wesley’s gonna be Wesley.

As Nebraska officials pull out all the stops across decades to keep an innocent man in prison for the rest of his life, Peery is free once again, with no one fighting against it, and does exactly what he’s done every single time he’s been let out of prison since the 1940s.

When Darrel Parker was convicted in 1956, it set John Reid’s star on a trajectory that did change criminal investigation in the U.S. forever. What happened over the next 50 years, including a stunning twist, shouldn’ve altered that course. The fact it didn’t is the biggest crime of all. Maureen wraps up the three-part Darrel Parker saga.

Rebecca gives an NNW review to one of her all-time favorite TV shows.

It’s April 1956, and Darrel Parker is going to trial on first-degree murder charges in the murder of his wife, Nancy. The evidence? A confession wrung out of him by soon-to-be famous crimimologist John Reid, with the help of a lie detector and some very willing Lincoln, Nebraska, cops and county attorney

Meanwhile, career criminal Wesley Peery continues to wreak havoc in Lincoln and the surrounding area. He can’t have killed Nancy, of course, though he’s showing himself to be a violent rapist. He passed a lie detector test, so he’s been cleared.

Part 2 of our look at how the Reid technique and lie detectors and the false confession they elicited launched John Reid to national fame and influenced criminal investigations in the U.S., an influence that continues to this day. Maureen presents.

Rebecca gives an NNW review to the Netflix doc series “Missing: Dead or Alive?”

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

Sit back and rip the wrapping and bows off our annual holiday special. With special holiday “Am I the Asshole?” And two special holiday Negative Nellies Reviews!

Enjoy! And Merry Whatever Holiday You Celebrate!

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

In case you missed it, from January 2023: Brian Walshe’s many victims.

Brian Walshe was found guilty on Dec. 15, 2025, of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe, and dismemembering her body. As promised, we’ll have an episode on it in January. But if you want the full background on Brian Walshe, check out this episode from January 2023 that looks at his long history of fraud, including ripping off his father — twice! It’s not just about the Warhols.

We also have a special holiday issue coming later this week, and Part 2 of The Case That Changed Crime Investigation History coming up in the next couple of weeks.

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

Lie detectors. The Reid Technique. You’ve been listening to us rant about them for nine years. One case, in 1955, was not only the perfect storm of both, but also launched John Reid’s interrogation method into national use, changing criminal justice methods throughout the U.S. into what is now the norm.

But the funny thing about the investigation of Nancy Parker’s 1955 murder and the conviction of her husband, Darrel, is that it’s a huge honking cautionary tale of what can go wrong in an investigation. Maureen presents.

Rebecca gives the Netflix documentary “Sunday Best,” an NNW review.

So, on our ninth anniversary [!!!] check out a really good shooooeeee… [That’s an Ed Sullivan reference, kids, not misplaced ego].

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.

Singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye made beautiful music, but what most people didn’t know until his tragic death at his father’s hand was that his life growing up with Marvin Gaye Sr. had been anything but. What led up to the Gaye’s April 1, 1984, shooting death? Rebecca tells the story.

Maureen takes on iconic true crime series “Dateline” in our Negative Nellies Watching review.

We also have updates on the Cocoanut Grove fire, one of the stranger cases from our 2023 Maine Homicide List and the ongoing Brian Walshe murder trial.

If you’re interested in checking out Maureen’s Maine-based Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery novels, including the award-winning (seriously!) Dying for News, click here.

Looking for a cool Crime & Stuff T-Shirt, or another cool shirt designed by Rebecca? Check out her Bonfire shirt site, by clicking here.