In October of 1997, in a quiet town in Texas, Julie Rae awoke in the middle of the night to an intruder in her house. She struggled with the man and chased him outside. She raced back into the house to check on her 10-year-old son, Joel. At quick glance, she did not see him in his bed. Fearing the intruder might have had an accomplice and Joel had been kidnapped, she enlisted help from the neighbors. Sadly, Joel was found between his bed and the wall in his bedroom, butchered with a knife. Ultimately, Julie was convicted of the unthinkable crime and sentenced to a long prison term.

In March 2002, award-winning crime writer and friend of the podcast, Diane Fanning, was writing her first book, Through the Window. Because of that book, Julie was granted a new trial where she was not only found not guilty, but officially declared innocent by the state. In the fall of 2021, Diane was a featured guest on a 20/20 episode on the Julie Rae case entitled GOODNIGHT, MOTHER and joins us now to share her amazing story.

It seemed like the perfect romantic afternoon: a kayaking trip for two on the Hudson River. But it ended in tragedy when the beautiful, blonde Angelika Griswald called 911 to report her fiancé had fallen into the choppy, frigid waters. The 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 Angelika’s role rose to the surface.

WATCH ME DIE, by Dr. Bill Kimberlin.  Provocative title? Provocative subject. In researching his book, Dr. Kimberlin not only spent time interviewing death row inmates, but also ate meals with them and, in some cases, was the last person to speak with them before they were executed. From the moment they are placed on suicide watch until the moment they are pronounced dead right in front of him, Kimberlin walks you through the twisted and complex execution process in the state of Ohio.

Their writings, their artwork, and their own words puts the reader in the room with these dangerous killers. Nothing is off-limits and there is nothing to shield Kimberlin from the same hands that have taken countless lives, leaving Kimberlin himself asking, “Will this be my last trip to death row?”

Dr. Bill Kimberlin joins us now on Murder Most Foul.

“Bachelor #1 is a professional photographer. In his spare time, he likes skydiving, riding his motorcycle and killing women and young girls. Please welcome to the Dating Game….Rodney, Alcala.”

Serial killer Rodney James Alcala murdered at least nine women and girls across the United States in the 1970s, though his true death toll could number more than 100. He spent time in prison for sexual assault and other crimes in the 1970s but continued to rape and kill when he was released. Autopsies of some Alcala’s victims revealed that he would strangle women, then wait for them to regain consciousness before the final kill. Alcala also sometimes arranged the corpses of women he'd murdered in poses.

Although sentenced to death, 3 times, he died of natural causes in July of 2021 before he could be executed. During his reign of terror, he managed to appear as a bachelor contestant on the then hit T.V. show, the Dating Game.

It was the roaring 20’s, the Golden Age of Jazz, Prohibition, bathtub gin, Eliot Ness, speakeasies, flappers and newly found sexual freedom.  Fritzie Mann was a young, beautiful club dancer with everything to live for. In 1923, her scantily clad body was found on a San Diego beach, up the road from the Blue Sea Cottage. Was it suicide or murder staged to look like Fritzie took her own life?

Author James Stewart joins us here today on Murder Most Foul to help unravel the MYSTERY AT THE BLUE SEA COTTAGE.

GOLDEN BOY is the tragic tale of privilege, mental disease and murder. My guest today on Murder Most Foul is Journalist John Glatt whose book “Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite” takes an in-depth look at the devastating crime that rocked Manhattan’s upper class. With exclusive access to sources close to Thomas Gilbert, Jr., including his own mother, Glatt constructs the agonizing spiral of mental illness that led him to the ultimate unspeakable act of patricide!

For many of us, that vintage bit from SEINELD is all we know of Joel David Rifkin, who between 1989 and 1993 terrorized NYC and its environs. Rifkin was sentenced to 203 years in prison for the murders of nine women during that time, though he is believed to have killed up to 17 victims in all.

Former heavyweight boxer and decorated NYPD cop, Robert Mladinich, joins me today to discuss serial killer Joel Rifkin who he first met when they were college students together at Brockport State College in Upstate New York.

Some men think the phrase “til death do us part,” is a prescription on how to end a marriage or failing relationship. One such loser is Grant Hayes. When his relationship to Laura Ackerson, the mother of his two boys, was deteriorating, due to his drug abuse and philandering AND she was seeking custody of the boys, he decided butchering her was the obvious solution. In this episode, we delve into this heart-wrenching case of domestic violence taken to its all-too-often final conclusion.

On January 15th, 1947, the body of a beautiful young woman, that of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, was found by the side of the road in a quiet neighborhood of L.A. The body had been bisected, washed clean and the upper torso posed in an unusual way. This was the beginning of a case that captured the imagination of the world. Ms. Short was soon given the moniker “Black Dahlia” by the press. Her killer has never brought to justice. The Black Dahlia case remains L.A.’s oldest open, but unsolved murder. That is until now! Steve Hodel, author of the book “Black Dahlia Avenger,” believes he knows who killed the Black Dahlia and he joins me today. You’re gonna want to hang around for this one!

The Twilight Zone, an icon of the early days of television, that, thanks to streaming services and YouTube, lives on. It was such a popular small screen show that in 1983 it made it to the big screen. Twilight Zone: The Movie traded on the successful format of the TV show. Hey, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. The movie was divided into 4 free-standing vignettes about the same time length as a TV episode (without the commercials) 3 of the segments were based on stories from earlier incarnation. The 4th was written and directed by John Landis, who previously was known for movies such as The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and Coming To America. During the filming of a stunt for his segment, something went horribly wrong, and 3 actors died, including 2 children working illegally on the movie. Tragic accident or homicide? You decide.