Murderess Podcast

Thanks for sticking with me through the replays — a new episode of Murderess Podcast drops on tomorrow.

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Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 MURDERESS REPLAY: #78 Stephanie Lopatka

MURDERESS PODCAST is back! Same host and a new research squad brings you Season 4.
 
I'm back. And we have a pretty strange one to kick off 2024 and Season 4. Come on in.

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Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 MURDERESS REPLAY: #29 Rose West

In this Murderess Replay, we revisit the story of Rose West — one half of Britain’s most infamous killer couple. Behind the walls of 25 Cromwell Street, Rose and Fred West built what neighbors thought was an ordinary family home. Instead, it became a house of secrets, abuse, and murder.

This episode traces Rose’s role as both partner and instigator, exploring how she balanced the image of a mother with the reality of unspeakable crimes. From the victims hidden beneath the floorboards to the trial that shocked the UK, Rose West’s story remains a chilling reminder of how evil can live in plain sight.

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 Murderess Replay: Ep. 51 — The Manson Women

August 1969. The world remembers the names Tate and LaBianca — but behind Charles Manson’s cult of personality stood a group of young women whose devotion turned deadly.

In this Murderess Replay, host Sidney Smith revisits the story of Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten — women who followed Manson into violence and infamy. Through trial transcripts, witness accounts, and the haunting image of a cult turned murderous, we explore how loyalty, manipulation, and identity left a permanent scar on American history.

Plus, more.

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 Episode 101: Sharon Kinne — “The Pretty Widow”
Part 1 of a multi-part series

Independence, Missouri. March 1960. A husband found dead in his bed. A young wife weeping, a toddler daughter blamed. Police call it an accident. Sharon Kinne walks free.

But before that shocking day, there was a restless teenager pushing against small-town life. A whirlwind marriage at sixteen, two children by nineteen, and a reputation for glamour, ambition, and danger. In Part 1 of Sharon Kinne’s story, host Sidney Smith takes you inside her beginnings—how a small-town girl became a wife, a mother, and then a widow with $29,000 in insurance money and a brand-new Thunderbird.

From church socials to whispered gossip at the beauty parlor, we follow how Sharon’s hunger for control, money, and excitement began to eclipse the quiet life James Kinne wanted. And how his death, ruled accidental, left neighbors and family wondering what they had really seen behind closed doors.

📍 Location: Independence, Missouri
📅 Key Dates: 1956–1960 (marriage, children, James Kinne’s death)
👥 Central Figures: Sharon Kinne, James Kinne, daughter Danna Kinne, Troy Kinne, Walter Jones, Patricia Jones
🧠 Themes: Restlessness, control vs. security, image vs. reality, the allure of glamour in small-town America
📖 Next Episode Preview: Patricia Jones disappears. A search begins. And Sharon’s name surfaces again—this time in a love triangle that will shake Independence to its core.

🎧 Murderess Podcast is written and hosted by Sidney Smith
🎙 Produced in partnership with Sidney Smith Cre8tiv, LLC and the You Hear Good Things podcast network
📅 New episodes every Thursday

🔗 Find past episodes, merch, and tour dates:
https://www.sidneysmithcre8tiv.com

🎧 Stream the show on your favorite platform:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

📱 Follow Sidney on social:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter → @sidneysmithcre8tiv

Official Sources Used:
– State v. Sharon Kinne, Supreme Court of Missouri, 372 S.W.2d 62 (1963) — trial records, testimony, jury instructions
– James Patrick Quinn & Martha Sperry Hickman, defense briefs (1960–63)
– Murderpedia: Sharon Kinne case file
– James Hays, I’m Just an Ordinary Girl: The Sharon Kinne Story
– The Mammoth Book of True Crime (1978)
– Candice DeLong, commentary on female psychopathy (Deadly Women, Investigation Discovery)
– Contemporary reporting: Kansas City Star, Associated Press (1960–1964)
– Local Independence oral histories and retrospective features (Missouri Historical Society collections)
– Susan Hatters Friedman & Michael H. Friedman, Just as Deadly (2020)

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 Episode 100: Megan Huntsman — “The Confession”
Part 2 of a multi-part series

February 2015. In a Utah courtroom, a mother admits to the unthinkable.
What began as a story of one stillborn child has unraveled into a confession of six murders.

In Part 2 of the Megan Huntsman story, host Sidney Smith takes you inside the interrogation room where eighteen years of silence collapsed into words, and into the courtroom where family voices, prosecution arguments, and judicial disbelief collided.

Through detectives’ testimony, letters from Huntsman’s daughters, and statements from her mother and sister, this episode examines how a community tried to reconcile the woman they thought they knew with the crimes she confessed to. And in the end, it considers the broader weight of neonaticide, hidden pregnancies, and the silence that thrives in places where appearances matter more than truth.

📍 Location: Pleasant Grove & Provo, Utah
📅 Key Dates: 1996–2006 (murders), April 2014 (discovery & arrest), February–April 2015 (plea and sentencing)
👥 Central Figures: Megan Huntsman, Detective Dan Beckstrom, Joyce Huntsman, Jamie Huntsman, Darren West, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman, Judge Darold McDade
🧠 Themes: Secrecy, addiction, neonaticide, hidden pregnancies, the silence of community denial
📖 Next Episode Preview: A new case begins — one where secrecy takes another shape, and where the truth is hidden in plain sight.

🎧 Murderess Podcast is written and hosted by Sidney Smith
🎙 Produced in partnership with Sidney Smith Cre8tiv, LLC and the You Hear Good Things podcast network
📅 New episodes every Thursday

🔗 Find past episodes, merch, and tour dates:
https://www.sidneysmithcre8tiv.com

🎧 Stream the show on your favorite platform:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

📱 Follow Sidney on social:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter → @sidneysmithcre8tiv

Official Sources Used:
– Utah v. Megan Huntsman, Utah County Court records (2014–2015) — guilty plea, sentencing, parole timeline
– Detective Dan Beckstrom testimony at sentencing (2015)
– KSL.com coverage: 6 life terms in prison for woman who killed newborns (2015)
– Associated Press reporting on guilty plea & sentencing (2014–2015)
– The Salt Lake Tribune coverage (2014–2015) — neighbor and community reactions
– Daily Mail contemporaneous reporting (2014) — discovery details and interviews
– Huffington Post: Questions Surround Case of Megan Huntsman (2014)
– Fox 13 Salt Lake City coverage (2014)
– New York Daily News reporting (2014)
– Public statements and letters from Joyce and Jamie Huntsman, and Huntsman’s daughters

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

Support the show

🎙 MURDERESS REPLAY: #9 Belle Gunness

April 1908. A farmhouse in La Porte, Indiana burns to the ground. When investigators sift through the ashes, they find more than charred timbers. Buried on the property are bodies — dozens of them — each pointing to the same woman at the center of the mystery: Belle Gunness.

In this Murderess Replay, host Sidney and his old co-host, Jamie, revisit the story of America’s most infamous black widow. From her early life as a Norwegian immigrant to the trail of suitors who vanished after answering her personal ads, this episode explores how Belle lured men with promises of love and land, only for them to disappear into the soil of her farm.

It’s a case that blends legend and fact, leaving behind one question that still haunts true crime history: did Belle die in the fire, or escape to kill again?

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

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🎙 Episode 99: Megan Huntsman — “The Garage of Secrets”
Part 1 of a multi-part series

April 2014. A quiet Utah neighborhood. A garage filled with boxes that look like ordinary storage. Inside one of them — a discovery that would unravel eighteen years of silence.

In Part 1 of the Megan Huntsman story, host Sidney Smith takes you inside the moment Pleasant Grove police opened box after box, finding six infants hidden in plain sight. Through the voices of detectives, neighbors, and family members, this episode examines the life of a woman described as “tiny, quiet, secretive,” and the decade-long pattern of secrecy and addiction that turned a suburban home into a mausoleum.

📍 Location: Pleasant Grove, Utah
📅 Key Dates: 1996–2006 (murders), April 2014 (discovery & arrest)
👥 Central Figures: Megan Huntsman, Darren West, Detective Dan Beckstrom, Joyce Huntsman, Pleasant Grove community
🧠 Themes: Secrecy, addiction, infanticide, community denial, the hidden vs. the ordinary
📖 Next Episode Preview: Confession and sentencing. How Megan’s story collapsed in the interrogation room, and why the courtroom struggled to comprehend her crimes.

🎧 Murderess Podcast is written and hosted by Sidney Smith
🎙 Produced in partnership with Sidney Smith Cre8tiv, LLC and the You Hear Good Things podcast network
📅 New episodes every Thursday

🔗 Find past episodes, merch, and tour dates:
https://www.sidneysmithcre8tiv.com

🎧 Stream the show on your favorite platform:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

📱 Follow Sidney on social:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter → @sidneysmithcre8tiv

Official Sources Used:
– Utah County Court records & sentencing documents (2014–2015)
– Detective Dan Beckstrom testimony at sentencing (2015)
– KSL.com coverage: 6 life terms in prison for woman who killed newborns (2015)
– Associated Press reporting on guilty plea & sentencing (2014–2015)
– The Salt Lake Tribune coverage (2014–2015)
– New York Daily News & Daily Mail contemporaneous reporting (2014)
– Fox 13 Salt Lake City coverage (2014)
– Huffington Post & national wire service reports (2014)
– Interviews and public statements from Joyce and Jamie Huntsman, Darren West, and Pleasant Grove neighbors

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

Support the show

🎙 Episode 98: Clara Harris — “Trial of a Wife”
Part 4 of a multi-part series

February 2003. A Houston courtroom holds its breath.
The prosecution plays the tape: a silver Mercedes circling, headlights sweeping across asphalt, a body lying still.
The defense pleads sudden passion — the collapse of a wife betrayed.

In Part 4 of the Clara Harris story, host Sidney Smith takes you inside the trial that transfixed the nation. From excluded evidence and expert testimony to the haunting words of Clara herself, this episode follows the courtroom battle that decided her fate.

Through witness accounts, legal rulings, and the powerful pull of the surveillance video, we examine how a jury balanced intent against passion — and why the verdict left the country debating who, and what, was truly on trial.

📍 Location: Houston, Texas
📅 Key Dates: February 2003 – trial and sentencing
👥 Central Figures: Clara Harris, David Harris, Gail Bridges, Lindsey Harris, Prosecutor Mia Magness, Defense Attorney George Parnham
🧠 Themes: Betrayal, sudden passion, media framing, the weight of evidence, the myth of the “perfect wife”
📖 Next Episode Preview: Aftermath. How Clara’s conviction shaped headlines, inspired television dramas, and followed her through prison, parole, and beyond.

🎧 Murderess Podcast is written and hosted by Sidney Smith
🎙 Produced in partnership with Sidney Smith Cre8tiv, LLC and the You Hear Good Things podcast network
📅 New episodes every Thursday

🔗 Find past episodes, merch, and tour dates:
https://www.sidneysmithcre8tiv.com

🎧 Stream the show on your favorite platform:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

📱 Follow Sidney on social:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter → @sidneysmithcre8tiv

Official Sources Used:
– Clara L. Harris v. The State of Texas, Court of Appeals Opinion (2004) — trial rulings, exclusion of defense videos, sudden passion finding
– CNN trial and sentencing coverage (2003)
– Houston Chronicle prison interview with Clara Harris (2005)
– KTRK/ABC13 parole coverage (2018, 2023)
– Oprah television interview with Clara Harris (2005)
– Skip Hollandsworth, Texas Monthly feature (2002)
– CBS television movie Suburban Madness (2003)
– Steven Long, Out of Control (2004)
– Snapped and Deadly Women series episodes on Clara Harris

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

Support the show

🎙 Episode 97: Clara Harris — “The Mercedes and Murder: Caught on Camera”
Part 3 of a multi-part series

July 24, 2002. A warm Texas night.
In the parking lot of the Nassau Bay Hilton, a silver Mercedes-Benz circles under the glow of security lights. Inside, a marriage shatters in real time.

In Part 3 of the Clara Harris story, host Sidney Smith takes you inside the moment that transformed suspicion into tragedy. Using case files, witness statements, and the grainy surveillance footage captured by a team of private investigators, we examine what Clara claimed happened that night — and what the evidence says instead.

From tire mark analysis and autopsy findings to the now-infamous “three times around,” this episode follows the impact — both literal and emotional — that would dominate headlines and divide public opinion.

📍 Location: Nassau Bay, Texas
📅 Key Dates: July 24–25, 2002
👥 Central Figures: Clara Harris, David Harris, Gail Bridges, Lindsey Harris, Blue Moon Investigations
🧠 Themes: Rage, humiliation, intent, public perception, forensic reconstruction
📖 Next Episode Preview: The trial. Competing narratives collide in a Houston courtroom, as prosecutors push for intent and the defense leans on heat-of-the-moment passion.

🎧 Murderess Podcast is written and hosted by Sidney Smith
🎙 Produced in partnership with Sidney Smith Cre8tiv, LLC and the You Hear Good Things podcast network
📅 New episodes every Thursday

🔗 Find past episodes, merch, and tour dates:
https://www.sidneysmithcre8tiv.com

🎧 Stream the show on your favorite platform:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

📱 Follow Sidney on social:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter → @sidneysmithcre8tiv

Official Sources Used:
– Nassau Bay Police Department incident reports and evidence logs
– Harris County District Attorney’s case files and trial transcripts
– Autopsy and forensic trajectory reports from Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office
– Blue Moon Investigations surveillance records and video
– Local and national media coverage (Houston Chronicle, ABC News, Court TV archives)
– Interviews and public statements from Lindsey Harris and other eyewitnesses

Tell me what stayed with you—I read every message. Your thoughts might even shape what the Quiet Jury hears next.

Support the show