Copycat Killers

By PodcastOne

Personal Journals TV & Film

What's Copycat Killers about?

The unnerving psychology behind murder has long been source material for television, books and movies but why do certain killers capture the attention of millions? Each episode, author and PEOPLE crime reporter Steve Helling presents dramatic recreations of the crimes using archival material and insightful commentary from those connected to the case to help unravel the twisted personalities that were thrust into the spotlight.

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LAST EPISODE

Silence of the Lambs

01.21.2020

Sir Anthony Hopkins’ chilling cannibal in The Silence of the Lambs spawned a Hollywood horror franchise. But the macabre gentleman-killer also inspired 14-year-old Florida boy, Michael Hernandez, to develop a dark obsession with serial killers like Lecter. In an attempt ...

Copycat Killers episodes:

01.21.2020 Silence of the Lambs Sir Anthony Hopkins’ chilling cannibal in The Silence of the Lambs spawned a Hollywood horror franchise. But the macabre gentleman-killer also inspired 14-year-old Florida boy, Michael Hernandez, to develop a dark obsession with serial killers like Lecter. In an attempt ...
01.14.2020 Fight Club Brad Pitt and Edward Norton form an underground fight club to counter their boredom and discontent with life in Fight Club. The film inspired Australian cousins Tony Bagnato and Diego Carbone to join a real-life Fight Club hoping to have ...
01.07.2020 Casino Martin Scorsese’s film, Casino, takes us back to a time when Las Vegas was still the “wild west” and the mob ran gambling and damn near everything else in sin city. Vegas-teen Matt Baker watched Casino over and over again, ...
12.30.2019 Goodfellas Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta grew up to be mob-murderers in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas.But for one New Jersey man named Joe Post, the fictional characters became his inspiration. Joe joined the “Pit Bulls,” a gang of local drug addicts ...
12.24.2019 Natural Born Killers Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis are two attractive serial killers who take their crime spree on the road in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. But for two troubled lovers, Natural Born Killers inspired them to become the film's characters in ...
12.17.2019 Copycat Killers - Reservoir Dogs Quentin Tarantino is affectionately known as “The Master of Suspense” for his movie scenes that depict excessive violence and cutthroat retaliations. One English fan, 16-year-old Allan Bentley from the Liverpool, drew inspiration from Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and, along with two ...
12.10.2019 The Nurse Killer Richard Speck always believed he would shock the world and make headlines. He did just that when he systematically tortured, raped, and murdered eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital on the night of July 13–14, 1966. He craved ...
12.03.2019 Son of Sam The killer that brought New York City to its knees; David Berkowitz went on a yearlong murderous rampage killing six people in 1976. He mostly targeted long-haired brunettes, leading many women in New York City to cut and dye their ...
11.26.2019 The Boston Strangler It is one of the most famous cases of serial murder in American history. Albert DeSalvo wanted fame more than anything. He finally found it by striking fear into women - young and old. DeSalvo’s rape and murder spree took ...
11.21.2019 Copycat Killers - The Sopranos Tony Soprano, the fictional New Jersey mob boss in HBO’s The Sopranos, could seemingly get away with anything, even the eight murders his character committed in the series. But for Riverside, CA residents, Jason Bautista and his half-brother Michael Montejo, ...
11.19.2019 Whitey Bulger Notorious gangster Whitey Bulger was one of the most prominent figures in Boston’s organized crime scene. From 1975 to 1990, Bulger also served as an informant to the FBI and tipped off police of other crime families while simultaneously building ...
11.12.2019 Pablo Escobar He was a modern day Robin Hood, with a vicious bite. Pablo Escobar dreamed of being a millionaire as a small child and with ruthlessness and determination, he killed his way to the top, becoming the Columbian Cartel Kingpin of ...
11.05.2019 The Unabomber Ted Kaczynski A mathematical prodigy and former professor at Cal Berkeley, Ted Kaczynski became widely known as the “Unabomber” after mailing bombs to universities and airlines between 1978 and 1995. After struggling at Berkeley, he decided to live a survivalist lifestyle in ...
10.30.2019 BONUS - Autopsy: The Last Hours of... Happy Halloween! Enjoy this bonus episode of the new Reelz and PodcastOne podcast 'Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..." featuring an in depth look at the death of Patrick Swayze. If you like what you hear be sure to subscribe!
10.29.2019 Osama Bin Laden He was the king of terrorism. On the FBI’s Most Wanted list for more than a decade, Bin Laden was the founder of Al Qaeda and crusaded for global jihad. The prime target of his attacks was the United States ...
10.22.2019 Heaven's Gate A former Texas music teacher and choir leader, Marshall Applewhite was the founder of the Heaven’s Gate, a religious group which organized the largest American mass suicide since Jonestown. Applewhite lured and brainwashed willing followers with promises that extraterrestrials would ...
10.15.2019 Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek Police officer turned killer, Laurie Bembenek, was convicted for the 1981 murder of her then husband’s ex-wife, Christine Schultz. Schultz’s home was broken into and she was gagged and blindfolded along with her sons. The cold-blooded killer then made the ...
10.08.2019 Aileen Wuornos Hitchhiking, sex worker, Aileen Wuornos garnered national attention after she was charged with murdering at least six different men in less than a year by shooting them at point-blank range. Wuornos’ sanity proved to be a challenge for prosecutors, but ...
10.01.2019 Ken & Barbie Killers Karla Homolka The Canadian serial killer, alongside her husband Paul Bernardo, drugged, raped and murdered three women, including her own younger sister. While the world watched in shock as her sentencing unfolded, Karla struck a deal claiming that she had been an ...
09.24.2019 "Prom Mom" Melissa Drexler 18-year-old Melissa Drexler attended high school in New Jersey where she was impregnated by her boyfriend in 1997. Ignoring her stomach cramps, Drexler arrived at her school’s Prom and gave birth to her son in a bathroom stall. The miraculous ...
09.17.2019 Aaron Hernandez From All-American to convicted murderer, Aaron Hernandez’ early career success as tight end for the New England Patriots was shockingly overshadowed by his violent life as a killer. Hernandez’ temper seemed to get the best of him in situations, and ...
09.10.2019 D.C. Sniper Attacks For three weeks in 2002, the streets of D.C. were terrorized as two men, 17 year-old Lee Boyd Malvo and 42 year-old John Muhammad, hunted random civilians in broad daylight with a rifle. The sniper attacks made national news and ...
09.03.2019 The Gainsville Ripper Murder. Rape. Mutilation. August 1990. After 675 suspects and thousands of pieces of evidence, it all came down to one man: Danny Rolling. Three years after five brutal and disturbing murders in Gainesville, Florida, Danny Rolling is called to trial. ...
08.27.2019 BTK Killer Although a seemingly average husband and father of two, Dennis Rader lived a double life as a serial killer who terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area from the 1970s to the ‘90s. In letters to police and local news outlets that ...
08.20.2019 John Wayne Gacy The original “Killer Clown,” Gacy is widely thought to be the inspiration for the terrifying and nightmare inducing Stephen King character, Pennywise the Clown. Gacy’s death count totals 33 young men and teen boys, most of whom he buried in ...
08.13.2019 Jeffery Dahmer Responsible for killing and dismembering 17 young men between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer is arguably one of the most gruesome serial killers the world has ever seen. Mostly targeting African-American men at gay bars, Dahmer would lure his victims ...
08.06.2019 Green River Killer With a total of 49 confirmed murders (he confessed to 71), Gary Ridgway, otherwise known as the Green River Killer, is one of the most prolific serial killer in American history. While married, Ridgway began murdering sex workers and children ...
08.06.2019 Jack The Ripper The case is undoubtedly the most infamous murder-mystery in history. “Jack the Ripper” is the name given to the unidentified serial killer that murdered and mutilated five female prostitutes in London in 1888. While there have been over 100 theories ...
06.16.2019 BONUS - More from 22 Hours: An American Nightmare Hi MMMF fans! Loved the first episode of 22 Hours: An American Nightmare? Hear the next part of the story, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode! Hear the rest of the story with new ...
06.09.2019 BONUS - 22 Hours: An American Nightmare Hi MMMF fans! We want to share with you the first episode of a new podcast, 22 Hours: An American Nightmare. It's the frightening story of a D.C. power couple, their 10-year-old son and housekeeper held hostage and murdered inside ...
09.11.2018 Pamela Smart One-On-One Interview An exclusive prison interview with convicted murderess Pamela Smart, who recounts her affair with a 15 year-old student and the events that led to the brutal murder of her husband as well as a national media frenzy and the Nicole ...
09.04.2018 Yolanda Saldivar On one tragic afternoon in 1995, the Queen of Tejano Music, Selena Quintanilla, was inexplicably shot down by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, in a Corpus Christi hotel. Not only did Saldivar receive a life sentence in ...
08.28.2018 Susan Smith Blinded by her obsession for a man who wasn’t interested in women with children, Susan Smith did the unthinkable; pushing her car into a lake, killing her two young sons. Smith’s case first garnered national attention when – for 9 ...
08.21.2018 David Koresh As the leader of the Branch Davidians religious cult, David Koresh became highly known for leading his “Army of God” in a 51-day standoff against the Federal Government that resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and over 80 ...
08.14.2018 The "Dating Game Killer" With estimates that run as high as 130 murders, Rodney Alcala’s ruthless spree of murder, rape, and sexual assault throughout the 1970’s has been widely compared to that of Ted Bundy’s. During this time, Alcala took sexually explicit photos of ...
08.07.2018 John Gotti Known as the Teflon Don because charges against him would never stick, John Gotti was the invincible crime boss that ruled the streets of New York as head of the notorious Gambino family from 1985 to 2002. Following a four-year ...
07.31.2018 The "Night Stalker" In the span of only two years, Richard Ramirez became known as the “Night Stalker” for breaking into the homes of over 13 people in Los Angeles and viciously raping, torturing and often times, performing Satanic rituals on many of ...
07.24.2018 The "Playmate Killer" The “Playmate Killer,” Paul Snider, was the ex-husband of Playboy Model Dorothy Stratten. Snider was one of the creators of Chippendales, the male strip club chain, but he is most remembered as the killer of Stratten. Their marriage lasted barely ...
07.17.2018 Jim Jones Jim Jones was the cult leader and founder of the People’s Temple. Known for his extreme beliefs on Christianity, socialist politics, and racial equality, Jones is infamous for the mass murder-suicide he led of over 900 of his followers in ...
07.10.2018 The "Hillside Strangler" “The Hillside Strangler,” Kenneth Bianchi, was a serial killer that terrorized Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978. But what cops didn’t know was that he had a killing accomplice – his own cousin! During this time, Kenneth and ...
07.03.2018 “Angry Betty” Broderick “Angry Betty” Broderick is the former suburban housewife who skyrocketed to fame when she murdered her ex-husband and his new, much younger, wife in their bed in 1989. The ultimate crime-of-passion story included explicit recorded phone calls during her contentious ...
06.26.2018 Robert Durst Robert Durst is the former, high-profile real estate tycoon and star of HBO’s The Jinx. He first gained the media’s attention with the disappearance of his wife in 1982. Although Durst was investigated, his wife’s body was never found and ...
06.19.2018 The "Craigslist Killer" The “Craigslist Killer” also known as Philip Markoff, was 23 when he was preparing for a promising future as a doctor and a life of happiness with his fiancée, Megan McAllister. He seemed destined for greatness as one of Boston ...
06.12.2018 Jean Harris The 1980 murder of Scarsdale diet doctor, Herman Tarnower, shocks the nation. His lover and headmistress of a prestigious girls’ school is arrested and convicted in a sensational trial in the suburbs of New York City. Jean Harris claims the ...
06.05.2018 Billionaire Boys Club Con man Joe Hunt forms an investment club with wealthy young men who trust him with their families’ money. The Ponzi scheme leads to murder when Hunt gets involved with Ron Levin, a notorious con man, himself. Set in Beverly ...
05.29.2018 The "Preppy Killer" The partially clothed body of pretty, 18-year-old Jennifer Levin is discovered on the Upper East Side of Manhattan’s Central Park. The chief suspect is handsome 19-year-old Robert Chambers, who claims Jennifer wanted “rough sex” and blames her for her own ...
05.21.2018 Steven Avery The 2005 murder of young photographer Teresa Halbach shocks the central Wisconsin community of Manitowoc County. A grisly crime scene of her burned bones is discovered at the family auto salvage business of Steven Avery, recently released from prison after ...
05.14.2018 Charles Manson In 1969, nine people are killed by a notorious cult leader with mostly female followers living in a commune. Among the brutally murdered is pregnant actress Sharon Tate. The two-night murder spree terrorizes Los Angeles and uncovers a bizarre revenge ...
05.07.2018 Pamela Smart The horrific murder of 24 year-old Gregg Smart becomes a national media event when his attractive young wife is found to be having an affair with the 15 year-old killer, a case that inspired the Nicole Kidman movie "To Die ...
04.30.2018 Joran van der Sloot When beautiful, 18 year-old Natalee Holloway vanishes while on a graduation trip to Aruba in 2005, the international media converges on young Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot, who was the last person seen with her on the Caribbean island.

Older episodes

Copycat Killers

What's Copycat Killers about?

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Copycat Killers episodes:

Silence of the Lambs

Fight Club

Casino

Goodfellas

Natural Born Killers

Copycat Killers - Reservoir Dogs

The Nurse Killer

Son of Sam

The Boston Strangler

Copycat Killers - The Sopranos

Whitey Bulger

Pablo Escobar

The Unabomber Ted Kaczynski

BONUS - Autopsy: The Last Hours of...

Osama Bin Laden

Heaven's Gate

Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek

Aileen Wuornos

Ken & Barbie Killers Karla Homolka

"Prom Mom" Melissa Drexler

Aaron Hernandez

D.C. Sniper Attacks

The Gainsville Ripper

BTK Killer

John Wayne Gacy

Jeffery Dahmer

Green River Killer

Jack The Ripper

BONUS - More from 22 Hours: An American Nightmare

BONUS - 22 Hours: An American Nightmare

Pamela Smart One-On-One Interview

Yolanda Saldivar

Susan Smith

David Koresh

The "Dating Game Killer"

John Gotti

The "Night Stalker"

The "Playmate Killer"

Jim Jones

The "Hillside Strangler"

“Angry Betty” Broderick

Robert Durst

The "Craigslist Killer"

Jean Harris

Billionaire Boys Club

The "Preppy Killer"

Steven Avery

Charles Manson

Pamela Smart

Joran van der Sloot

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