In 1790s colonial India, a secret brotherhood known as the Thuggee cult perfected the art of ritual murder. At its center stood Thug Behram—history's most prolific serial killer with 931 confirmed victims over a 40-year career.

From the roads of Madhya Pradesh, Behram built a shadow empire of organized killers who used deception, patience, and sacred devotion to the goddess Kali to strangle travelers with silk handkerchiefs. His victims never saw death coming—they were murdered by the companions they trusted most.

In 1840, British investigator William Henry Sleeman launched one of history's first criminal intelligence operations to dismantle the Thuggee network. Behram's capture and confession would revolutionize law enforcement forever.

This is historical true crime you've never heard.

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Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

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This is a re-release of a special Holiday collaboration episode I put together a few years ago. I have gotten a lot of requests to hear it again and thought now would be a great time to share it.

…1 campfire…

…1 dark forest…

…31 bone-chilling stories…

…Will YOU survive the night?

This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It’s an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem?

So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for ‘A Nightmare Before Halloween’

…but be warned…

…bad things happen in these woods….

Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:

In the last Part 1 Episode:

- Foul Play: Crime Series

- Murder She Told

- Crime Salad

- Crimelines

- Frightful

- Reverie True Crime

- Rotten to the Core

- The Trail Went Cold

- Once Upon A Crime

- Criminology

- The Peripheral & Generation Why

- Live, Laugh, Larceny

- The Hidden Staircase

- True Crime Cases with Lanie & It's Haunted...What Now?

- Obscura: A True Crime Podcast & Disaster

In this Part 2 Episode: 

- True Crime Island

- Based on a True Story

- The Asian Madness Podcast

- Sistas Who Kill

- Hometown History

- Coffee and Cases

- Military Murder

- Dystopian Simulation Radio

- Cults, Crimes & Cabernet

- Morbidology

- Dark Pountine

- Hillbilly Horror Stories

- True Consequences

- Gone Cold

- Crime Stories with Nancy Grace & Crime Online

- True Crime IRL & True Crime Sleep Stories

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

…1 campfire…

…1 dark forest…

…31 bone-chilling stories…

…Will YOU survive the night?

This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It’s an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem?

So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for ‘A Nightmare Before Halloween’

…but be warned…

…bad things happen in these woods….

Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:

In Part 1 Episode:

- Foul Play: Crime Series

- Murder She Told

- Crime Salad

- Crimelines

- Frightful

- Reverie True Crime

- Rotten to the Core

- The Trail Went Cold

- Once Upon A Crime

- Criminology

- The Peripheral & Generation Why

- Live, Laugh, Larceny

- The Hidden Staircase

- True Crime Cases with Lanie & It's Haunted...What Now?

- Obscura: A True Crime Podcast & Disaster

In Part 2 Episode: 

- True Crime Island

- Based on a True Story

- The Asian Madness Podcast

- Sistas Who Kill

- Hometown History

- Coffee and Cases

- Military Murder

- Dystopian Simulation Radio

- Cults, Crimes & Cabernet

- Morbidology

- Dark Pountine

- Hillbilly Horror Stories

- True Consequences

- Gone Cold

- Crime Stories with Nancy Grace & Crime Online

- True Crime IRL & True Crime Sleep Stories

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

This week we step into the shadows with a very special bonus episode. Shane sits down with paranormal investigator, author, and TV star Amy Bruni (Ghost Hunters, Kindred Spirits, Haunted Road).

Amy shares chilling stories of hauntings rooted in real tragedies—from childhood encounters with “Mr. Green Jeans” to cases where skepticism gave way to the unexplained. Together, Shane and Amy explore the intersection of crime, history, and the paranormal—and why treating the dead with dignity is as important as uncovering the truth.

If you’re near Indiana, you can hear even more stories live:

📅 October 7 at 7 PM — Amy Bruni appears at the Eagles Theatre in Wabash, Indiana.

🎟️ Get tickets here

Can’t make it to Wabash? Amy is touring the U.S.—find her upcoming events here.

Learn more about Amy at amybruni.com.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In 1772 Portugal, an 18-year-old caregiver named Luísa de Jesus turned the era’s child-welfare “foundling wheel” into a murderous money scheme. Before authorities intervened, at least 33 abandoned infants lay buried on Monte Arroio or hidden beneath her cottage floorboards. We expose the systemic cracks, the killer’s psychology, and the reforms her crimes set in motion. 

Episode Breakdown

00:00 Opening scene on Monte Arroio

04:15 How foundling wheels worked—and failed

09:02 Luísa’s early life & public façade

15:30 The money trail: 600 réis per child

22:47 Forensic discoveries: graves & hidden clay pots

30:18 Confession to 28 murders

36:55 Trial, garrote, and public execution

43:20 Child-welfare reforms that followed

48:05 Today’s take-aways on safeguarding the vulnerable

Why This Case Still Resonates

• First female serial killer executed in Portugal—and the last woman ever put to death there.
• Exposed lethal flaws in 18th-century child-protection policy, triggering nationwide reform.
• Challenges myths that women “only poison”; Luísa strangled newborns for profit.
• A cautionary tale of how financial incentives plus lax oversight can weaponize charity.

Fast Facts

• Years active: 1771–1772
• Confirmed victims: 33 infants (one child remains unaccounted for) 
• Method: Strangulation or suffocation within days of state payout
• Motive: Collecting stipends meant for wet nurses
• Sentence: Hands severed, garroted; body burned, ashes scattered (1 July 1772)

Sources & Further Reading

• National Archives, “Casa da Roda” foundling-wheel records, 1760-1775
• António Barata, Infanticídio e Justiça em Portugal Setecentista (2018)
• Royal Chancellery of Coimbra trial transcripts, 1772–1773

Stay Connected

• Follow & subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred app.
• Rate & review—it helps other ethical true-crime fans find us.

SEO Keywords

Luísa de Jesus, Foundling Wheel Killer, Coimbra infanticide, 18th-century serial killer, female serial killer history, child-welfare reform, Foul Play podcast

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In the 18th century paradise of Jamaica, Lewis Hutchinson, an immigrant from Scotland, became the island's first documented serial killer.

Known as the Mad Master of Edinburgh Castle, Hutchinson's strategic property in Saint Ann Parish became a deathtrap for wealthy travellers. He would invite them into his home or shoot them from his gunports, dispose of their bodies in underground chambers, and proudly display their possessions.

His reign of terror ultimately resulted in a manhunt, arrest, and a sensational trial that exposed the flaws in colonial law enforcement. Hutchinson was sentenced to death in 1773, leaving a dark legacy in Jamaican history.

Support the Show:

Enjoying the series? Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform. Share with fellow history buffs and true crime fans—evil wears many faces, but together we shine the light on the darkest corners of the past.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Beneath the chandeliers of Louis XIV’s Versailles, whispers of love and ambition turned lethal. Episode 2 of Serial Killers in History chronicles Catherine Monvoisin—La Voisin—the fortune-teller whose poison ring ensnared France’s elite and sparked the explosive Affair of the Poisons.

In this episode:

• How a Parisian herbalist built a criminal empire of black masses and murder-for-hire
• The secret pact with Madame de Montespan, the King’s mistress, to keep royal affection at any cost
• Gabriel de La Reynie’s investigation that unmasked 17th-century high-society corruption
• The Chambre ardente: France’s first special court for poison and witchcraft—and the 36 deaths it ordered
• Why La Voisin’s trial signaled the twilight of witchcraft fear and the dawn of Enlightenment scepticism

🔎  itsfoulplay.com

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

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Poison seeped through the marble corridors of ancient Rome—and one woman mixed every drop. In the Season 36 opener of Serial Killers in History, we track Locusta of Gaul, the herbalist-turned-assassin who helped Emperor Nero carve a blood-stained path to power.

What you’ll hear:

• How a captive chemist became the world’s first documented serial killer
• Deadly dinners: the mushroom that felled Emperor Claudius and the draught that doomed Britannicus
• The Senate’s panic and the birth of Rome’s anti-poison laws
• Modern forensic insights that finally decode Locusta’s toxic recipes

Stay to the end for a teaser of Episode 2—Paris’s infamous Affair of the Poisons.

🔍 Visit us online: http://foulplaypodcast.com/locusta

🎧 Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your true crime fix.

#FoulPlayPodcast #SerialKillersInHistory #LocustaOfGaul #TrueCrime #HistoryNerd

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In the final episode of our series on Charles and Jennifer Chia, we examine the known evidence and unanswered questions that continue to surround their tragic case. With insight from retired detectives Allan Fox and Ron Dreher, we revisit the timeline, key suspects, and overlooked details from the original 1989 investigation. From a mysterious ransom call to a suspicious shovel found near the burial site, every piece of information could be vital. If you remember anything—no matter how small—please come forward. This is a haunting, unsolved murder of two children that still cries out for justice.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this third installment of our series on Charles and Jennifer Chia, we delve into the discovery of their remains nine months after they vanished on October 18, 1989. Retired Detective Allan Fox and Retired Detective Ron Dreher share their firsthand experiences of this tragic case, describing the remote location where the children’s bodies were found and discussing the investigative steps that followed. We also explore how the authorities confirmed Charles and Jennifer’s identities and how the grisly discovery has shaped ongoing efforts to find their killer. Though more than three decades have passed, the children’s mother, Ann, is still seeking answers—and hoping that someone will come forward with information that could finally bring resolution.

Key Topics

• Recap of Charles and Jennifer’s Disappearance: A brief overview of the events leading to their disappearance and the efforts by law enforcement to locate them.
• Discovery of the Remains: How the children’s bodies were found by a Caltrans employee in a shallow grave near Highways 70 and 89, miles away from their Reno home.
• Insights from Law Enforcement: Commentary from Allan Fox and Ron Dreher on the crime scene, the surrounding area, and the significance of evidence (including a shovel found at the scene).
• Identification and Aftermath: Matching the children’s clothing to the descriptions from the day they went missing, and the grim confirmation via dental charts.
• Mother’s Plea for Justice: Ann Chia’s heartbreaking statement about her children and her call for anyone with information to speak up.

Why This Episode Matters

This episode underscores the profound impact of Charles and Jennifer’s tragic story and highlights the continued efforts to uncover what truly happened. By revisiting the scene and hearing directly from detectives who were there, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the challenges law enforcement faced—and the desperate need for any new leads that might finally solve this case.

Listener Discretion

While this episode does not include graphic forensic details, it addresses the sensitive topic of child abduction and murder. Some listeners may find parts of the discussion upsetting.

Call to Action

If you have any information regarding the disappearance or deaths of Charles and Jennifer Chia, please contact the Reno Police Department. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can reach out to us at itsfoulplay.com, and we will forward any tips to law enforcement.

Looking Ahead

In our fourth and final episode of this series, we will examine the evidence, publicly known suspects, and the open questions that linger decades after Charles and Jennifer were taken from their family. Be sure to tune in to learn how you can help keep their memories alive—and possibly move the case forward.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Every detail, no matter how small, has the potential to help. If you’ve found this episode valuable, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands