Dark and Devious

Join us for our very first minisode! This will be a quick rundown of a story in the headlines right now to keep things interesting between our bi-weekly longer episodes. Today, Patrick finally has some good news for us, with details on the discovery of 6-year-old Paislee Shultis who was found alive after being missing for 2.5 years.

Welcome back (or for the first time) to Dark and Devious!!  We are very excited to embark on our second year of providing quality, true crime stories. Our first case back is a big one; the story of Aaron Hernandez and the murder of Odin Lloyd. Aaron Hernandez seemed to have it all, a lucrative football career, a beautiful fiancee, a baby girl, and a million plus dollar house in a well-to-do neighborhood, but under the surface, Hernandez was dealing with a hidden violent streak. Brain trauma and abuse added fuel to the fire and the result spelled tragedy for his family and so many more around him.

Aileen Wuornos is said to be one of America’s first female serial killers not in a caregiving facility. Her murders reflected an intense rage and violence that was not associated with women, but it was only targeted at men whom she deemed to be evil. She killed at least 7 men between 1989 and 1990, claiming all were acts of self defense.  But were all the murders truly an act of self defense?  Or was there something more sinister behind her motives? Join us for our first ever collaboration with the hosts from the Rose Tinted Reels podcast as we discuss the true story of Aileen's rampage and the 2003 film Monster depicting her life and murder spree. 

On January 10, 2013, Kendrick Johnson, a Black, 17-year-old, junior at the Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, didn’t return home from school. The next day, he was found dead, his body rolled up in a wrestling mat that was standing upright in a corner of the school gymnasium. While authorities ruled his death an accident, Kendrick’s family sensed foul play and demanded a second autopsy which determined his cause of death as blunt force trauma.  9 years later, despite multiple investigations, lawsuits and autopsies, no one can say for certain whether the death of Kendrick Johnson was an accident or a murder.

It's no secret that many high profile crime cases often times have psychics tangled up in them in one way or another. Some are genuinely looking to help, while others are looking for exposure. In this episode we will explore a few examples of how psychic and paranormal phenomena actually ended up being correct or even helpful in police investigations. Even if it's all coincidence, some of these stories are just too scarily accurate to write off completely! 

It was supposed to be a night of celebration, ringing in New Year's 1998 with good friends in an ideal location. Ben Smart and Olivia Hope were celebrating in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. But when the bunk on their rental yacht was taken by other party-goers, they accepted an offer by a charming stranger to sleep aboard his boat. They climbed aboard that stranger’s boat and were never seen again. Police and judges believe they arrested the man responsible for Ben and Olivia’s disappearance, and possible murder. However, over 20 years later, the mystery around their disappearance remains.

’Twas the night before Christmas, 2008. The Ortegas — Joseph, 80, and Alice, 70 — were hosting their annual Christmas party at their Covena, California, home, about a half hour east of Los Angeles. There were 25 people in attendance, including Joseph and Alice’s five grown children, their spouses and children.

In the dining room, the adults were playing a late-night game of Texas Hold ‘Em while the children were all playing with their new games and gifts.

At 11 p.m. there was a knock on the front door, and the squeal of an 8-year-old girl happily crying, “It’s Santa Claus! It’s Santa Claus!” was heard as she peeked out the front window.

Little did the family know that this was no ordinary visit from Santa Claus.

For centuries explorers set out to make their names famous by discovering and mapping the ends of the earth. To be the first to set foot on new land meant a permanent place in the history books and fame throughout their lifetime. But the reality of exploring was dangerous and today's episode documents two failed polar expeditions; the quest for the Northwest Passage in 1845 by Sir John Franklin and the race to the South Pole with the 1910-1913 Terra Nova Expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Both are harrowing tales that ended in tragedy that are not to be forgotten.