House of Mystery Radio on NBC

On an April night in 1989, Jo Ann Parks survived a house fire that claimed the lives of her three small children. Though the fire at first seemed a tragic accident, investigators soon reported finding evidence proving that Parks had sabotaged wiring, set several fires herself, and even barricade her four-year-old son inside a closet to prevent his escape. Though she insisted she did nothing wrong, Jo Ann Parks received a life sentence without parole based on the power of forensic fire science that convincingly proved her guilt.

But more than a quarter century later, a revolution in the science of fire has exposed many of the incontrovertible truths of 1989 as guesswork in disguise. The California Innocence Project is challenging Parks's conviction and the so-called science behind it, claiming that false assumptions and outright bias convicted an innocent mother of a crime that never actually happened.

If Parks is exonerated, she could well be the "Patient Zero" in an epidemic of overturned guilty verdicts—but only if she wins. Can prosecutors dredge up enough evidence and roadblocks to make sure Jo Ann Parks dies in prison? No matter how her last-ditch effort for freedom turns out, the scenes of betrayal, ruin, and hope will leave readers longing for justice we can trust.

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Set in the rowdy, often lawless town of Texarkana shortly after WWII, The Phantom Killer is the history of the most puzzling unsolved cases in the United States

The salacious and scandalous murders of a series of couples on Texarkana's "lovers lanes" in seemingly idyllic post-WWII America created a media maelstrom and cast a pall of fear over an entire region. What is even more surprising is that the case has remained cold for decades. Combining archival research and investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize nominated historian James Presley reveals evidence that provides crucial keys to unlocking this decades-old puzzle.

Dubbed "the Phantom murders" by the press, these grisly crimes took place in an America before dial telephones, DNA science, and criminal profiling. Even pre-television, print and radio media stirred emotions to a fever pitch. The Phantom Killer, exhaustively researched, is the only definitive nonfiction book on the case, and includes details from an unpublished account by a survivor, and rare, never-before-published photographs.

Although the case lives on today on television, the Internet, a revived fictional movie and even an off-Broadway play, with so much of the investigation shrouded in mystery since 1946, rumors and fractured facts have distorted the reality. Now, for the first time, a careful examination of the archival record, personal interviews, and stubborn fact checking come together to produce new insights and revelations on the old slayings.

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Monique, the daughter of San Diego Charger’s football great Earl Faison, married her high school sweetheart soon after she discovered she was pregnant with his child. Her relationship with Chris was shaky from the start, but turned tumultuous as he became verbally and physically abusive. When she could no longer put up with the abuse, she left him with their children. That was when the stalking and genuine threats began. Nothing stopped him—not protection injunctions, police warnings, or even arrests. One fateful Monday morning, Chris kidnapped Monique in front of her children and drove off on a nightmarish car ride that involved car crashes and rape. He mercilessly beat her on the head with a shovel and abandoned her brutalized body in the woods in the rain. He left, presuming she was dead…but was she?

"Monique Faison Ross shares with us her engaging, powerful, and ultimately shocking story of brutal intimate violence. Her survival, her strength, and her wisdom are an inspiration and a lesson to us all. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to hear what the targets of domestic violence are trying to tell us, told in a way that will keep you turning the pages."-- Lundy Bancroft, author of Why Does He Do That? and The Joyous Recovery

"Playing Dead is a compelling book—a true page-turner. Smart, strong, and protective of her children, Monique was barraged with snide comments and criticism, yet had no idea that this was verbal abuse and never suspected its extreme escalation. Every chapter compels the reader forward to what's next."—Patricia Evans, author of The Verbally Abusive Relationship, Controlling People, and more. www.VerbalAbuse.com

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Retirees Tom and Jackie Hawks were delighted when attractive, personable Skylar Deleon and his pregnant wife, Jennifer, offered cash to purchase their yacht, the Well Deserved. But a trial voyage turned into a nightmare. The Hawkses were never seen again, while the Deleons claimed the older couple had signed over control of their assets to them.

The outrageous story became even more shocking when Skylar and Jennifer were tried for murder. Now, in this updated edition of her true-crime classic, bestselling author and award-winning journalist Caitlin Rother reveals eye-opening developments in the case, including Skylar’s decision to transition to a transgender woman—despite living in a men’s prison. But for the former child actor, the answer to “Where Are They Now?” is still Death Row.

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When forty-year-old Esther Castellani died a slow and agonizing death in Vancouver in 1965, the official cause was at first undetermined. The day after Esther's funeral, her husband, Rene, packed up his girlfriend, Lolly; his daughter, Jeannine; and Lolly's son, Don, in the company car and took off for Disneyland. If not for the doggedness of the doctor who treated Esther, Rene, then a charismatic and handsome CKNW radio personality, would have been free to marry Lolly, who was the station's pretty twentysomething receptionist. Instead, Rene was charged with capital murder for poisoning his wife with arsenic-laced milkshakes in one of British Columbia's most sensational criminal cases of the century.

Murder by Milkshake is the compelling story of the Castellanis, and of their daughter, Jeannine, who was eleven at the time of her mother's murder and who clung to her father's innocence, even committing perjury during his trial. Rigorously researched, and based on dozens of interviews with family, friends, and co-workers, Murder by Milkshake documents the sensational case that kept Vancouver spellbound, while providing a snapshot of the city's Mad Men-esque social and political realities in the 1960s.

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In Death on the River, bestselling true crime author Diane Fanning recounts a tragic kayak accident that left one man dead—and his fiancée arrested for his murder.

A DREAM GETAWAY. A REAL-LIFE NIGHTMARE...

It seemed like the perfect romantic afternoon: a kayaking trip for two on the Hudson River. But it ended in tragedy when beautiful, blonde Angelika Graswald called 911 to report that her fiancé, the handsome and athletic Vincent Viafore, had fallen into the choppy frigid waters. Authorities assumed it was an accident. But when the bereft bride-to-be posted videos of herself doing cartwheels on social media—shortly before Vincent’s body was found—suspicions of murder rose to the surface…

After hours of questioning, Angelika made several shocking admissions. She said she felt “trapped” and fed up with Vincent’s “demanding” sexual lifestyle: the nightlife, the strip clubs, the threeways. “I wanted him dead,” she had said, even though she insisted that she didn’t kill him. But as more lurid details emerged—including a $250,000 life insurance policy—a killer question remained: Did Angelika remove the plug of her fiancé’s boat…and knock away his paddle as he sank?

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Lawyer and CNN Legal analyst discusses his legal work with the 'Stand Your Ground' law and his case with George Zimmerman as well as current stand your ground laws in Florida.

George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American known for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of all charges in Florida v. George Zimmerman. As of 2015 he remained the subject of media interest due to ongoing controversy over the Trayvon Martin case. In addition, he has been involved in other violent incidents, with allegations of violence made against him; however, he was not convicted. Zimmerman was later the target of a shooting, which resulted in a conviction for attempted murder against the perpetrator.

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Meet Q

On 28 October 2017, “Q” emerged from the primordial swamp of the internet on the message board 4chan. In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other stuff.

 Imagine a mix of Pizzagate, InfoWars and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, multiplied by the power of the internet

Since then, Q has continued to drop “breadcrumbs” on 4chan and 8chan, fostering a “QAnon” community devoted to decoding Q’s messages and understanding the real truth about, well, everything.

What do followers of QAnon believe?

It’s hard to say. The conspiracy theory is generally pro-Trump and anti-“deep state”, but it is not exactly coherent, and – like many conspiracy theories – is flexible enough to adapt to any new developments that might disprove it.

New York magazine and the Daily Beast have written articles explaining more of the basic beliefs of QAnon, but chances are that the more you read about it, the more confused you will be. Imagine a volatile mix of Pizzagate, InfoWars and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, multiplied by the power of the internet and with an extra boost from a handful of conservative celebrities.

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Over two grim nights in Los Angeles, the young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people, including the actress Sharon Tate, then eight months pregnant. With no mercy and seemingly no motive, the Manson Family followed their leader's every order-their crimes lit a flame of paranoia across the nation, spelling the end of the sixties. Manson became one of history's most infamous criminals, his name forever attached to an era when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.

Twenty years ago, when journalist Tom O'Neill was reporting a magazine piece about the murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Then he unearthed shocking evidence of a cover-up behind the "official" story, including police carelessness, legal misconduct, and potential surveillance by intelligence agents. When a tense interview with Vincent Bugliosi-prosecutor of the Manson Family, and author of Helter Skelter-turned a friendly source into a nemesis, O'Neill knew he was onto something. But every discovery brought more questions:

• Who were Manson's real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties?
• Why didn't law enforcement, including Manson's own parole officer, act on their many chances to stop him?
• And how did Manson-an illiterate ex-con-turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers?

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Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings looks at many famous ghosts―dead celebrities that haunt old Hollywood locales, famous generals that appear to witnesses at great battlefields, and noted politicians that roam the hallways of courthouses, statehouses, and even the White House! Plus, this fascinating frightfest examines the famous haunted locations themselves, such as the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the Hotel del Coronado, Gettysburg, the Stanley Hotel (which inspired Stephen King’s The Shining) and so many others that claim the supernatural as part of their heritage and history.

This riveting look at the unexplained also investigates movie lore, including the unsettling incidents on the Amityville Horror set; “The Dark Knight” curse that includes on-set accidents from the horrible death of Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, to the mass shooting at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises; the deaths and curse surrounding The Matrix; the Infamous Stage 28 at Universal Studios; and Paramount Studios’ long history of hauntings and strange goings-on.

Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, and Hank Williams. Presidents John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and Harry Truman. Henry VIII, beheaded Sir Walter Raleigh, and Prince Edward V. Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, Marilyn Monroe, and “Superman” actor George Reeves. Houdini, Redd Foxx, Liberace, and serial-killer Ted Bundy. They all lurk in this chillingly riveting book. Haunted graveyards (of course), haunted historical landmarks and battlefields, plus haunted libraries, courthouses, ships, submarines, lighthouses, hotels, roadways, byways, bridges, prisons, and hospitals are all gathered together in this comprehensive look at the ghastly afterlife of the renowned. From famous faces to famous places, if it involves fame and celebrity, fortune and notoriety, legend and lore, Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings covers it.

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