Decoding Mysteries

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' overwhelmed police force missed the pattern of four women murdered by Joseph Brant over eleven months. This episode examines how systemic collapse after the storm created the perfect conditions for a careful killer to operate undetected, from the burned-out car containing the first unidentified victim in October 2007 through the high-profile September 2008 murder of activist Kirsten Brydum that finally drew national attention.

In 1996, three nurses at a Massachusetts VA hospital finally broke their silence and accused colleague Kristen Gilbert of murdering patients by injecting them with epinephrine, then rushing to the rescue to impress her police-officer boyfriend.

In the early hours of January 9, 1992, a routine traffic stop in Riverside, California, led authorities to William Lester Suff, an outwardly mild-mannered county stock clerk. Over the next three years, investigators would link him to at least twelve brutal murders of local women, uncovering a chilling double life hidden behind a friendly smile and community volunteer work.

In late February 1991, 21-year-old Mary Ann Newton escaped a brutal assault by long-haul trucker Clark Perry Baldwin at a Texas truck stop, only to have investigators identify him nearly three decades later as the killer of three women across multiple states. This gripping episode traces Baldwin’s predatory career and the groundbreaking DNA work that finally brought him to justice.