Criminology

In 1966, Anita Taylor was murdered inside her home in Springfield, Ohio. Her husband came home from work to find her clinging to life and their infant son in his crib, alive, but with a broken leg. Anita was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The investigation into Anita's murder began and a number of persons of interest were ruled.

Join Mike and Morf as they dive into this baffling case. Anita's son, Aaron, who as a baby survived the attack that killed his mother, joins us for this episode and provides his insight into the case. Aaron has been searching for his mother's killer for many years. Over time, some revelations have come to light, and they have provided additional insight into possible motives for Anita's murder.

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Serial killer Richard Cottingham earned the moniker of "The Torso Killer" for his crimes. To the outside world, Richard seemed like a professional and a family man. But, he was unfaithful to his wife and he had urges deep inside that eventually resulted in a number of murders.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss serial killer Richard Cottingham. He operated in his home state of New Jersey but also ventured into New York to select his victims. Papers began calling him "The Torso Killer" when two victims were found missing their heads and hands. Richard targeted sex workers and later said that violence was the only thing that aroused him. After he was caught, he began confessing to murders that he committed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

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Nick and Lisa Masee were living what appeared to those around them to be a great life in Vancouver, Canada. But, even though they brought in a substantial income, they were deeply in debt. In 1994, the two began acting strangely in ways that were noticeable to those around them. In August of that year, they disappeared and have never been heard from or located.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious disappearance of Nick and Lisa Masee. Some of the details of their actions before they disappeared are troubling. This is a case that many people have speculated on over the years. Those speculations run the gamut from the Masees being killed over a business deal to them running off and setting up new lives somewhere in the world. Hear the facts for yourself and try to answer the burning question: What happened to Nick and Lisa Masee?

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Baby Hope was the name given to a four-year-old little girl found dead in a cooler near the Henry Hudson Parkway. Baby Hope's body was found by construction workers in Manhattan, New York, in 1991. Authorities found witnesses but were unable to figure out who Baby Hope was or what exactly had happened to her. It wasn't until 2013 that police caught a break in the case and the pieces started to fall into place.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the case of Baby Hope. Police learned that her real name was Anjelica Castillo. As they unraveled the mystery of her identity, they also zeroed in a suspect in her murder. It turned out that Baby Hope was victimized by relatives, the very people that should be there to help keep a little girl like Anjelica safe.

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In 2019, Canadian teenagers Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod embarked on a deadly crime spree. They told their families that they were headed to the Yukon territory to look for work. But, after stopping to buy a semi-automatic rifle, they started their killing spree. Their victims were selected at random and included a young couple whose van broke down on a road trip to Alaska and a botany professor and husband in his sixties.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss these two Canadian killers. It later surfaced that they had been thinking about murder. At first, the authorities believed they were in danger. But, as more information surfaced, it became clear that they were the killers and one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history began. Authorities were shocked when they finally caught up with the teenagers.

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In 1987, the small town of Ina, Illinois was rocked by the senseless and brutal murders of the Dardeen family. When 29-year-old Keith Dardeen failed to show up for work, his parents called the police. The police made a shocking discovery at the Dardeen home. Keith's wife Elaine, who was seven months pregnant, and their 3-year-old son Peter were found bludgeoned to death. Elaine delivered a baby girl during the attack and police found the infant deceased as well.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss this infamous case out of the Midwest. Keith was nowhere to be found and he was initially thought of as a suspect in the murders by police. That thought disappeared, however, when Keith's body was found in a field not far from the home. He had been shot in the head and his genitals had been mutilated. Police scrambled to try to figure out who could have committed these heinous murders. One serial killer took credit but police don't believe he had anything to do with the case. But who did?

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In Nevada, Interstate 80 runs through stretches of desert. The desert can be a very unforgiving place with temperature swings and dangers that await those who venture through it. There have been a large number of unexplained disappearances and deaths along a certain stretch of I-80. Pumpernickel Valley's Exit 205 is extremely interesting because it leads to nowhere. But, there have been some very mysterious disappearances that appear to have occurred at this exit.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss a number of mysterious deaths and disappearances. The details of these cases are as fascinating as they are mysterious. In many of them no body was ever found, although one was ruled a suicide. Did these cases involve a predator along I-80 or even multiple predators, or, were these cases where individuals ventured into the desert, got disoriented, and succumbed to the elements.

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In 1976, residents of Circleville, Ohio began receiving obscene and threatening letters that contained details and rumors regarding some of the residents in town. For residents of Circleville, it wasn't a serial killer that shattered their sense of safety and neighborly closeness. It was a serial writer - a writer who by the time he or she was done, had sent over 1000 letters targeting many of Circleville's residents, but seemingly targeting one resident more than the rest.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious and fascinating case of the Circleville writer. One man, Paul Freshour, was convicted of attempted murder and sent off to prison. It was thought that he was the Circleville writer, and handwriting analysis of some of the letters seemed to back that up. But, people continued receiving letters after Paul went to prison, something that the warden insists was impossible. Who was the original writer of the letters and just how many writers were there. One man died under mysterious circumstances. And, a woman who seemingly was the focus of early letters was seen as a target. How much misdirection was there in this case and did one or more persons conspire to frame Paul Freshour.

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High school senior Holly Branagan was murdered inside her Bethlehem, Pennsylvania home on March 28, 1979. She was brutally stabbed to death in a horrific manner, but, her murder case was overshadowed by the partial meltdown that same day at Three Mile Island. The police pieced together the timeline of Holly's murder through phone calls that she made that day. But, they have been unable to catch her killer.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the brutal murder of Holly Branagan. The police believe that Holly's killer used her home as an advantage. The two-story home had a strange layout and it was very secluded and sat away from the road. There were no signs of a sexual assault and this teenager didn't have to seem to have any enemies, so, developing a motive has been difficult. The one thing that seemed to be true is that, from the manner of the stab wounds, this murder appeared to be very personal. But, the question still remains over 40 years later, who killed Holly Branagan?

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In 2018, an unidentified hiker, which many began called Mostly Harmless, was found in Florida and what followed was a search for his identity. It was discovered that the hiker had been traveling the Appalachian Trail. People began to come forward with information about their encounters with Mostly Harmless after the story took hold on social media and people around the world started working on the mystery.

Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious case of the man known to many as Mostly Harmless. It took a lot of work by law enforcement, journalists, and amateur online detectives to help solve the question of the man's identity. It was announced in early 2021 that Mostly Harmless was a man named Vance Rodriguez. But, that wasn't the end of the story. Vance led an interesting life and the stories that emerged didn't always line up with the man that many hikers had met on their journeys. Also, many questions remain including exactly what happened to Vance Rodriguez on his long hike that ended with his death?

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