On a winter evening in 1931, a soft-spoken insurance agent was lured from his Liverpool home by a strange telephone message. The address he searched for didn’t exist. By the time he returned, his wife had been brutally murdered. Who was the caller? Was the alibi a masterstroke of deception? Or did someone exploit the perfect opportunity?

Tried. Convicted. Acquitted.

 Nearly a century later, the murder of Julia Wallace remains one of the most baffling cases in British criminal history.

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25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Jonathan Goodman – The Killing of Julia Wallace

The Julia Wallace Murder Foundation

Wikipedia – William Herbert Wallace

Wikipedia – R v Wallace (1931)

The Unredacted – The Killing of Julia Wallace: An Impossible Murder

Chess Notes by Edward Winter – Wallace Case

The Spectator Archive – "The Wallace Case"

Murder Archives: Liverpool Echo Retrospectives

Every December, thousands of letters addressed to Santa are sent to North Pole, Alaska. Boxes full of letters are then sent to North Pole Middle School, where they are included in the 6th Grade curriculum: North Pole’s 11 and 12-year-olds are nominated as Santa’s little helpers and reply to all the letters on Santa’s behalf.

But in April 2006, the peace in this snow globe of a town was shattered when six 7th Graders hatched a plan to kill their classmates. The would-be attackers had drawn up a “naughty list” of kids at school that they wanted to murder in one violent, coordinated attack. Just the previous year, they were acting as elves, writing letters to other children all over the country. A couple of months later, they were gearing up to be monsters.

Books: Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Tour of North Pole Alaska

Last night’s TV: Death in Santaland

Alaskan boys planned school massacre

North Pole, Alaska

Bad tidings

A man named Santa Claus was elected to city council in North Pole, Alaska

In May 1999, three members of the Orderud family were found shot to death in their home in rural Norway. The victims — Kristian and Marie Orderud and their daughter Anne — had been killed in the dead of night in what appeared to be a cold and calculated execution. Despite four people being convicted of complicity, no one has ever been held legally responsible for pulling the trigger. What followed was one of the most controversial criminal cases in modern Norwegian history. In this episode, we unpack the family tensions, forensic mysteries, legal battles, and lingering questions that still surround the Orderud case today.

Books: Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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For more information, visit: Evidence Locker Website

Listen ad-free: Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

NRK – Orderud: Det uløste trippeldrapet (Full archive)

VG Special – Bevisene etter trippeldrapet på Orderud gård

Store norske leksikon – Orderud-saken

News in English – Orderuds seek reopening of triple murder probe

News in English – Orderud convicts released

Wikipedia – Orderud Case

Global Freedom of Expression – Egeland and Hanseid v. Norway (re: trial publicity)

HubPages – The Orderud Case: Triple-Murder in Norway

Between 1970 and 1971, a series of brutal murders terrified the streets of Bucharest. The victims were mostly women — attacked at night, bitten, and mutilated. Their killer became known as The Vampire of Bucharest.

His crimes were frenzied and disturbing, leaving investigators to wonder whether they were dealing with a deranged killer or a man driven by superstition and obsession. He broke into homes, assaulted his victims, and sometimes drank their blood. When police finally caught him, the case exposed deep social anxieties in communist Romania — about violence, repression, and the darkness beneath a society that demanded silence.

Books: Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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Listen ad-free: Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Wikipedia – Ion Rîmaru

“Tatăl și fiul – criminali în serie” – Libertatea.ro (RO)

“Vampirul din București” – Realitatea.net (RO)

Interview with Dr. Tudorel Butoi – TVR Info

“Ion Rîmaru – the Vampire” – Evenimentul Zilei (RO)

Historic Mysteries – The Vampire of Bucharest

Romania Insider – "The Butcher of Bucharest"

In 1994, a custody dispute in South Carolina ended with a mother vanishing with her infant daughter. Dorothy Lee Barnett, accused of violating a court order, disappeared without a trace — along with 11-month-old Savannah.

For nearly two decades, the pair lived under new identities across the world — first in Europe, then South Africa, then Australia — as authorities searched for clues. In 2013, an international investigation finally uncovered the truth. Dorothy had been living as Alexandria Maria Canton, and Savannah, now a young woman, had grown up unaware of her past.

The case became one of the most remarkable parental abduction stories in modern history — a tale of love, fear, deception, and the long reach of justice.

Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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Listen ad-free: Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

NBC Dateline: "Finding Savanna" 

CBS 48 Hours: "Dear Savanna" 

Web

Family Abduction Watch

Articles

Dorothy Lee Barnett: Where is the Kidnapper Today?

Savanna Todd: Where is Dorothy Lee Barnett's Daughter Today?

Woman who kidnapped her own daughter during bitter divorce shares tales of nearly 20 years on the run

48 Hours' to feature baby Savanna abduction from Isle of Palms

Unsolved Mysteries Wiki: Dorothy Barnett Case

Between 1996 and 1997, the dismembered remains of at least five women were found stuffed in garbage bags and dumped inside suitcases around the Belgian city of Mons. The killer, who came to be known as Le Dépeceur de Mons — The Butcher of Mons — has never been identified.

The murders shocked the quiet provincial city and left investigators chasing one of the most disturbing unsolved serial murder cases in Belgian history. Decades later, questions still linger: Who was the Butcher of Mons, and why did he choose to scatter his victims’ remains along roads with names that translated to words like Hate, Fear, and Anxiety?

Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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Want an ad-free option? Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

YouTube – Le mystère du dépeceur de Mons

Wikipedia – Dépeceur de Mons (French)

Wikipedia – Butcher of Mons (English)

L’Avenir – Le dépeceur de Mons: 20 ans après

Le Monde – Morgan Vanlerberghe, l’enquêteur amateur qui veut confondre le dépeceur de Mons

TeleMB – Il est moins cinq… Enquête sur le dépeceur de Mons

TeleMB – Vers un nouveau souffle dans l’enquête du dépeceur de Mons ?

Fifty-One Mons-Levant – RS893 : L’affaire du dépeceur de Mons

In celebration of Halloween, this week’s episode is a re-release of one of our first episodes - still chilling...

Adolfo Constanzo, also known as El Padrino (or the Godfather), was the leader of a cult that believed that Black Magic would shield their drug cartel from being busted. Adolfo encouraged human sacrifice, and countless people fell victim to the cult, later dubbed the Narcosatanists. When American medical student Mark Kilroy disappeared after a night out in Matamoros, the cult’s sadistic activities finally came to light.

Books: Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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For more information, visit: Evidence Locker Website

Listen ad-free: Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/

http://www.markkilroyfoundation.org/

Serial Killers and Cult Leaders: Adolfo Constanzo “El Padrino”  - The Black Magic Torturer and Murderer

Wikipedia

Biography.com

Murderpedia

Lost to the Darkness

On Halloween night in 1974, eight-year-old Timothy O’Brien came home from trick-or-treating in Deer Park, Texas, excited to sample his candy haul. Among the treats was a Pixy Stix — one that would become infamous in American true crime history. Within hours, Timothy was dead, poisoned by cyanide.

Investigators soon discovered that the killer wasn’t a mysterious stranger slipping poison into Halloween candy. It was someone much closer to home — his own father, Ronald Clark O’Brien. His crime forever changed the way parents across the United States viewed Halloween, giving rise to decades of fear over tampered sweets.

Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.

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For more information, visit: Evidence Locker Website

For ad-free content: Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit their website at: https://www.doenetwork.org/

In 1974, 'Candyman' turned Halloween truly terrifying in Pasadena, Texas - ABC13 Houston

The Man Who Killed Halloween - Fort Worth Weekly

'Man Who Killed Halloween' still haunts holiday - Houston Chronicle

The Haunting Legacy of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, the Man Who Killed Halloween - A&E True Crime

50 years ago, a Houston killer dubbed the 'Candyman' poisoned his son's Halloween candy - KHOU

Looking into the eyes of evil: The day I covered the execution of Texas' infamous Halloween killer - Breckenridge Texan

The True Story of the Notorious Trick-or-Treat Murderer - Vice

Halloween Horrors: The Poisoning of Timothy O'Bryan - Criminal

The ex-wife of Ronald Clark O'Bryan - UPI Archives

The neighbor who accompanied condemned killer Ronald Clark O'Bryan - UPI Archives

Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Wikipedia

Timothy Marc O'Bryan - Find a Grave Memorial

Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Murderpedia

Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Alchetron

1984: Ronald Clark O'Bryan, candyman - Executed Today

THE CASE OF THE HALLOWEEN CANDY KILLER - Harris County District Clerk

Ronald Clark O'Bryan Murder Trial (1975) - KPRC-TV Collection

For nearly two decades, a nondescript farm outside Pretoria was the epicenter of South Africa’s most covert and brutal campaign of state-sponsored terror. Known as Vlakplaas, it served as headquarters for a police death squad targeting anti-Apartheid activists. Under the leadership of Colonel Dirk Coetzee and later Eugene de Kock – dubbed “Prime Evil” – Vlakplaas was responsible for countless abductions, torture, and murders masked by secrecy and political protection.

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Want to support our podcast? Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network - solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit their website at: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Resources

Know more about Vlakplaas where Prime Evil operated

The gruesome truth behind Vlakplaas and Eugene de Kock

TRC – Final Report – Volume 2

State v Wouter Basson

Wikipedia

Foundation for Human Rights - Nokuthula Simelane 

Lothar Neethling

The odd couple: why an Apartheid activist joined forces with a murderer

Vlakplaas and the history of Apartheid’s Death Squad

Olof Palme assassination: The South African connection

Anna Anton thought she'd found safety in small-town Nebraska, living below a police officer who had sworn to protect and serve. Instead, she became the victim of the very person she trusted most. In this episode, we uncover the shocking betrayal that shattered the peace of Lyons, Nebraska, and explore how one man's abuse of power led to a seven-year international manhunt.

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For more information, visit Evidence Locker Website

Want to support our podcast? Visit our page at Patreon

25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network - solving international cold cases. To learn more about it visit their website at: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Unsolved Mysteries Season 2, Episode 4

Find a Grave Memorial

Flatwater Free Press investigative report

Nebraska Public Media coverage