(00:00:00) The Last Walk Home

(00:01:19) Who was Kristin?

(00:03:33) The night of May 24, 1996

(00:05:28) Early investigation missteps

(00:05:55) Who is Paul Flores?

(00:08:47) A family that wouldn’t stop

(00:09:52) A podcast changes everything

(00:10:45) A new interest

(00:11:07) Backyard searches & secret recordings

(00:11:55) Flores family secrets

(00:12:24) The push for justice

(00:16:05) What really happened?

Kristin Smart left a Cal Poly frat party and was never seen again. The nineteen-year-old freshman was last spotted walking back to campus with fellow student Paul Flores, who claimed he left her near his dorm. Kristin's face was soon splashed across missing-person posters and billboards as her family desperately searched for answers. Rumors swirled, leads dried up, and Paul stayed silent. 

It would take a relentless community, a backyard excavation, and secret recordings to finally bring new attention to the case — and push authorities closer to the truth.

What really happened to Kristin Smart that night — and why did it take decades for the truth to start coming out?



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When 18-year-old Katie Autry was found barely alive inside her Western Kentucky University dorm room, it triggered a frantic search for her killers. 

Katie had been beaten, assaulted, and set on fire in a crime so vicious it stunned the world. Detectives soon focused on two young men with ties to the area, unraveling a web of shifting stories, surprising alibis, and a trial that left many wondering if the full truth ever came out.

In this episode of Murder U, we examine the evidence, the contradictions that clouded the case, and the lasting impact on campus safety.


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A single rock, hurled from a passing car, turned an ordinary drive home into a fatal ambush. Nineteen-year-old Alexa Bartell was on the phone with a friend when it happened — the last words anyone would hear from her. What started as a reckless thrill for three teenagers ended in an unthinkable tragedy that shattered a family and shocked the entire community.

In this episode of Murder U, we trace the devastating final moments of Alexa’s life and the chaotic hours that followed as investigators raced to piece together what happened. From scattered debris on a Colorado highway to a growing list of similar attacks, detectives soon realized this wasn’t an isolated act of violence. It was part of a disturbing spree.

We’ll explore the suspects’ twisted motivations, the public outrage that fueled the manhunt, and the courtroom moments that finally brought some measure of justice. Along the way, we examine how a choice made in a matter of seconds can destroy lives forever. 

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She thought they were her best friends... until they led her into the woods and pulled out the knives.

In this episode of Murder U, we examine the shocking murder of 16-year-old Skylar Neese, an honors student from Star City, West Virginia, who vanished after slipping out of her bedroom window one summer night. 

For months, her disappearance remained a mystery—until one of the killers broke down and confessed to a crime so cold and calculated, it stunned the country. We follow the unraveling friendship between Skylar, Shelia Eddy, and Rachel Shoaf, and how petty teenage drama escalated into a deadly conspiracy. This story reveals the dark side of adolescent alliances, including chilling confessions and the justice that followed.

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She thought she was dating a fellow college student. He was actually a 37-year-old convicted sex offender using a fake name.

In this episode of Murder U, we investigate the heartbreaking case of Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old track star at the University of Utah who tried everything she could to stay safe—reporting threats, breaking off the relationship, even calling campus police more than 20 times. But when her cries for help went unanswered, it ended in tragedy.

We walk through Lauren’s final weeks, the system failures that led to her death, and the shocking revelations that surfaced in the aftermath. From the university’s botched response to the civil lawsuits that followed, we explore how a campus tragedy exposed deeper flaws in institutional accountability, victim protection, and law enforcement response.

This is the story of a student who did everything right... and still lost her life to a predator hiding in plain sight.

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Two brilliant students at the University of Virginia. One forbidden romance. And a secret so dark, it ended in blood.

In 1985, the mutilated bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were found in their Virginia home. Their daughter, Elizabeth Haysom, and her boyfriend, Jens Soering, quickly became the focus of a case that would span decades, cross international borders, and spark global controversy. In this episode of Murder U, we unravel the shocking story of Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom—two elite scholars whose deadly obsession led to a gruesome double murder and a tangled legal saga that still makes headlines today.

We examine their privileged backgrounds, the brutal crime scene, and the explosive letters and confessions that prosecutors said proved their guilt. And we dig into the media storm that followed, including a Netflix documentary and Soering’s release in 2019—despite never undergoing new DNA testing that could supposedly prove his innocence. Was this the wrongful conviction of a young man in love? Or the calculated manipulation of a killer who knew exactly how to play the system?

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She was a star athlete, weeks away from graduating from the University of Virginia. He was her ex-boyfriend, a fellow lacrosse player, and increasingly volatile. Then, on May 3, 2010, Yeardley Love was found brutally beaten in her campus apartment.

In this episode of Murder U, we examine the violent murder that shocked the collegiate sports world and sparked national conversations about dating violence, toxic masculinity, and institutional blind spots. We explore the disturbing behavior of George Huguely leading up to the killing, the warning signs that were ignored, and the heartbreaking aftermath for Yeardley’s family and community.

We also reflect on how this high-profile case changed policies on campus safety and inspired a nationwide push to better protect student-athletes from intimate partner violence.

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On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the University of Texas tower with a footlocker full of guns. By the time it was over, 16 people were dead, dozens more were wounded, and America had experienced its first modern mass shooting.

In this episode of Murder U, we trace Whitman’s life from gifted child and former Marine to the deeply disturbed killer who changed the way police, schools, and the public responded to mass violence.

We explore his childhood trauma, psychiatric red flags, suicide letters, and the brain tumor discovered during his autopsy. We also honor the stories of the victims, survivors, and heroic responders whose courage stood in stark contrast to the chaos. The Texas Tower massacre wasn’t just the beginning of a tragic new chapter in American history—it was a warning we’ve still failed to fully heed.

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The mystery gripped the nation—four University of Idaho students murdered in their off-campus home, and for weeks, no suspect in sight. Then, investigators made a stunning discovery: Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old PhD student studying criminology at Washington State University, became the focus of a sweeping multi-state investigation.

In this second part of our true crime podcast series, we revisit the turning point in the case. From forensic evidence to digital trail analysis, we break down how law enforcement identified and arrested Kohberger—and explore the unsettling theories about what may have motivated the Idaho college murders.

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In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were found brutally murdered in their off-campus home — stabbed to death as they slept. Weeks passed with no arrest. Then came Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student no one expected.

In Part 1 of this two-part Murder U episode, we trace the night of the killings, the victims’ final hours, and the investigation that led to Kohberger’s arrest. Who is he, and how did investigators link him to the crime? 

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