Once Upon A Crime | True Crime

By Esther Ludlow & Studio71

Society & Culture History

What's Once Upon A Crime | True Crime about?

Once Upon a Crime is a weekly true crime podcast that tells “the story behind the story” of real life crime. Told in a storytelling style, listeners are presented facts and information about each case they won’t hear anywhere else.

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Episode 242: YouTube Mayhem...

05.16.2022

In this episode, a young man who dubs himself “Mr. Anime” gains a large following as a critic and reviewer on YouTube.. But, he’ll later admit to harboring dark fantasies most of his life after he commits a shocking act ...

Once Upon A Crime | True Crime episodes:

05.16.2022 Episode 242: YouTube Mayhem: Mr. Anime In this episode, a young man who dubs himself “Mr. Anime” gains a large following as a critic and reviewer on YouTube.. But, he’ll later admit to harboring dark fantasies most of his life after he commits a shocking act ...
05.09.2022 Episode 241: The Minds of Mass Killers with Author Shavaun Scott This week I have a special episode diving into the topic of the psychology of mass killers. What prompts someone to commit mass murder against random strangers? How did Columbine become a cultural touchstone that inspired others to plan and ...
05.02.2022 Episode 240: YouTube Mayhem: Dying To Be Famous A young couple on a quest for internet fame record a prank for their YouTube channel with tragic results. Resources: YouTube Prankster Jailed, BBC News, March 15, 2018 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43410816 The Last Moments Before a YouTube Stunt Went Fatally Wrong, Buzzfeed ...
04.18.2022 Episode 239: The Ties That Bind: The Crimes of Shelly Knotek - Part 2 This is part 2 of a 2-part- episode. As we continue the story, Shelly and Dave Knotek have isolated themselves, their three daughters, nephew, and a boarder, Kathy Loreno, in their Ramond, Washington home. The torture and abuse Kathy endured ...
04.11.2022 Episode 238: The Ties That Bind: The Crimes of Shelly Knotek - Part 1 Shelly Knotek has been called “America’s Most Evil Mom”. She abused, tortured, and humiliated her children and partners, but her control and abuse went beyond her own family members. One-by-one people she took into her home as boarders also found ...
04.04.2022 Episode 237: The Ties That Bind - The Turpin Family In this month’s series, we’ll take a look at the fascinating phenomenon of narcissistic family cults - a family unit that exhibits all the hallmarks of a traditional cult group but is led by a narcissistic family member - usually ...
03.28.2022 Episode 236: Livestreamed Crimes: The Christchurch Mosque Mass Shootings A young man’s racist ideology lead him to take the lives of 51 people and injure dozens more all while recording and uploading a video of the murders to Facebook Live. Resources: Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack ...
03.21.2022 Episode 235: Livestreamed Crimes: The Arizona Mall Mass Shooting A young man who identifies with as an Incel carries out a mass shooting at an Arizona mall while livestreaming it via Snapchat. Special thanks to Dr. Sohom Das for lending his expertise in this episode. Check out his YouTube ...
03.14.2022 Episode 234: Livestreamed Crimes: The WDBJ-TV On-Air Shooting A disgruntled, former television station employee takes out his revenge during a live news broadcast. Resources: “Ex-Broadcaster Kills 2 on Air Virginia Shooting” by Michael D. Shear, Richard Perez-Pena, and Alan Blinder, The New York Times, August 26, 2015. “Vester ...
03.01.2022 Episode 233: Revenge Attacks: UK Acid Attacks A bizarre and terrifying crime spree has been on the rise in the UK for the past several years. In this episode, I’ll share stories illustrating how acid attacks have increasingly been used to retaliate against a romantic partner once ...
02.22.2022 Episode 232: Deep Cover - A Conversation with Jake Halpern Esther sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jake Halpern to talk about Season 2 of his podcast Deep Cover: Mob Land. They also discuss podcast storytelling and Jake reveals which well-known actor makes a surprise guest appearance on Deep Cover ...
02.15.2022 Episode 231: Revenge Attacks: Burt and Linda Pugach In this episode I’ll share with you one of the craziest “love” stories you’ve ever heard - right in time for Valentine’s Day. Burt Pagach meets Linda Riss in 1957 and quickly becomes obsessed with her. When she breaks off ...
02.08.2022 Episode 230: Revenge Attacks: Sophie Elliott A 22-year-old recent graduate of a New Zealand University breaks off a short-lived relationship. Her ex would take deadly revenge on her in one of the most horrific attacks ever perpetrated in the country’s recent history. Resources: “Own Evidence Seals ...
02.01.2022 Episode 229: Mansion Murders: The Sachs Family Murders One family appears to have it all - success, wealth, a happy family life, and a beautiful ocean-view home on the California coast. But, trouble behind the scenes tears the family apart and the story of the Sachs family will ...
01.25.2022 Episode 228: Mansion Murders: Chateau Carolands An heiress builds a grand mansion as a showplace on a hill in the San Francisco Bay Area. But, it would become a white elephant and an eyesore during its long history. And, in 1985, it became a house of ...
01.18.2022 Episode 227: Murder in My Hometown: Jeanine Sanchez Harms July 27, 2001 Jeanine Sanchez Harms went missing after a night out with friends in Campbell, California. A man she'd only become acquainted with that night, Maurice Xavier Nasmeh, would be suspected of involvement in her disappearance. After a problematic ...
01.13.2022 Bonus Episode: Introducing: Families Who Kill: The Donut Shop Murders FAMILIES WHO KILL: THE DONUT SHOP MURDERS is a story about the McCrarys, a family who terrorized small-town America, committing murders, robberies, abductions and general mayhem everywhere they went. Led by the criminal duo of Sherman, and his son-in-law Carl, ...
12.23.2021 Bonus Episode: Introducing Lost Hills: Dead in the Water In this bonus episode, I speak with Dana Goodyear, the host of the true crime podcast series Lost Hills: Dead in the Water. In January 1981, Verna Johnson-Roehler and her young son, Doug, drowned while boating thirty miles off the ...
12.21.2021 Episode 226: Breaking Down Chris Watts with Lorena Show Notes: On the last episode of the year, Lorena and I break down the case of family annihilator, Chris Watts. Resources: “Chris Watts: A Complete Timeline of the Murder of His Wife and Daughters” by Rachel Change for Biography.com, ...
12.14.2021 Episode 225: Breaking Down the OJ Simpson Case with Yolanda This week I’ll discuss the Nicole Brown/Ron Goldman murders with my sister, Yolanda. We’ll go over the evidence, timeline, and motivation for the crimes that all point to OJ Simpson as the killer. We’ll also discuss why the jury may ...
12.07.2021 Episode 224: Breaking Down Kemper with Emerson Murray In this episode I break down the myths and realities of infamous serial killer, Edmund Emil Kemper, “The Co-Ed Killer”. My special guest is Emerson Murray, author of The Murder Capital of the World. You can find out more about ...
11.16.2021 Episode 223: Listener Suggestions - Aarushi Talwar A young girl living outside of New Delhi, India is found murdered in her own bedroom in a high-security apartment building with her parents sleeping mere feet away. Was her murder an inside job or caused by an unknown intruder? ...
11.09.2021 Episode 222: Listener Suggestions: Jamison Bachman Jamison Bachman spent his adult years being “the roommate from hell”. He destroyed property, bullied his housemates, filed lawsuits for petty complaints, and rarely paid his rent. But, growing more desperate once his history of scamming people was revealed, he ...
11.01.2021 Episode 221: Listener Suggestions: Paulette Gebara Farah The mysterious disappearance of a 4-year-old from her own bedroom takes a bizarre twist and rumors and conspiracy theories soon follow. This case would come to be known as “The JonBenet Ramsey Case of Mexico.” Resources: “Resignation in Mexican missing ...
10.27.2021 Introducing: Shadow of Truth It’s one of the most haunting murder cases you’ll ever hear about, and it takes place in a small town in Israel. Tair Rada was only 13-years-old when her body was found inside a locked bathroom stall. She was viciously ...
10.25.2021 Episode 220: Creepy AF Halloween Tales On this special Halloween episode, I’ll share creepy tales of corpses that were mistaken for Halloween displays. I’ll also share the bizarre tale of a failed outlaw who became a successful carnival oddity…after his death. Resources: “Was a Suicide Mistaken ...
10.18.2021 Episode 219: The Devil Made Me Do It: Arne Cheyenne Johnson In this episode, a family claims a family member has become possessed by a demon. When a young man challenges the demon in an attempt to save his friend, he may have gotten more than he bargained for. He would ...
10.11.2021 Episode 218: The Devil Made Me Do It: Sean Sellers A teenager takes the life of family members as well as a random stranger and then claims his involvement in “satanic rituals” lead him to murder. Was 16-year-old Sean Sellers demon possessed, mentally ill, or simply a cold-blooded killer? Resources: ...
10.04.2021 Bonus Episode: Once Upon a Crime + A Psych for Sore Minds LIVE in London In this bonus episode, you’ll hear the live show from CrimeCon UK in London. Esther discusses the motivations and psychology behind mass shooters with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Sohom Das, host of the YouTube channel A Psych for Sore Minds. Check ...
09.20.2021 Episode 217: Spree Killers: Robert Garrow - Part 2 In this conclusion to our 2-part episode on spree killer, Robert Garrow, I’ll detail Garrow’s killing spree in the summer of 1973, his time as a fugitive, and his arrest and convcition. Resources: The Garrow Manhunt: A Serial Killer in ...
09.13.2021 Episode 216: Spree Killers: Robert Garrow - Part 1 In 1973, a violent sexual predator went on a killing spree in the Adirondack Mountains. In Part 1 of this 2-part series, I detail Garrow’s abusive childhood, history of violence, and the escalation of his crimes from theft, to kidnapping ...
09.06.2021 Episode 215: Getting Away With Murder: Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick In 1969, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was the front runner to become the next Presidential candidate on the Democratic Party ticket. But, decisions he would make one fateful night on Chappaquiddick Island would result in the death of a young ...
08.23.2021 Episode 214: Getting Away With Murder: Doris Duke A billionaire heiress kills her friend in a “freak accident”. Was Eduardo Tirella’s death actually an accident or did Doris Duke commit murder? Resources: Doris Duke: Facts, Death and Mansion, Biography.com:https://www.biography.com/personality/doris-dukeHomicide at Rough Point by Peter Lance for Vanity Fair, ...
08.09.2021 Episode 213: Getting Away With Murder: Robert Durst The wealthy son of a New York real estate family leaves town to avoid investigation in the decades-old disappearance of his wife. A year later, he will be the number one suspect in the murder of an elderly man in ...
07.26.2021 Episode 212: Deathbed Confessions: Diane Crawford Smith In 1967, a double murder shocked a small town in Virginia. A suspect was quickly rounded up, but the case wasn’t truly resolved until decades later when a chance encounter led to a series of events that would ultimately bring ...
07.19.2021 Episode 211: Deathbed Confessions: James Washington In this series I share cases where people on their deathbeds finally confess to terrible crimes. In his episode you’ll hear about a brutal murder that went unsolved for over a dozen years when the perpetrator confessed before meeting his ...
07.12.2021 Episode 210: Deathbed Confessions: Geraldine Kelley In this series "Deathbed Confessions" I share cases that went cold and the perpetrator was only revealed when they made a deathbed confession. In this first episode, a dying woman reveals a long-held secret to her children, leading to a ...
06.28.2021 Episode 209: Buried Truth: Dorothea Puente In this final chapter of “Buried Truth” I share a story of one of the most rare categories of criminal - the female serial killer. Behind her grandmotherly exterior, Dorothea Puente was hiding some very dark secrets very close to ...
06.21.2021 Episode 208: Buried Truth: Christopher Denoyer A teenage boy goes missing in 1984. Authorities would quickly decide that he was a runaway, but his family didn’t agree. Fourteen years later his fate would be learned in a shocking and unusual way. Resources: The New Detectives: Grave ...
06.14.2021 Episode 207: Buried Truth: Russell Tillis and "The House of Horrors" In this month’s series “Buried Truth” I share cases where a person goes missing never to be seen again. Just when it seemed their fate would remain a mystery, the truth would be uncovered. This time, a neighborhood menace harbors ...
06.07.2021 Bonus Episode - OUAC Celebrating 5 Years in True Crime Once Upon a Crime celebrates 5 years in true crime by summarizing the show by the numbers, sharing 5 Surprising True Crime Facts, and letting listeners in on a giveaway to win OUAC merchandise and prizes. Text OUAC to 408-676-1770 ...
05.24.2021 Episode 206: The Trailside Killer, Part 3 This is a double episode to conclude the month-long miniseries where I detail the case of serial killer David Carpenter, known as “The Trailside Killer”. Carpenter stalked and killed men and women on the hiking trails of Marin County, San ...
05.17.2021 Episode 205: The Trailside Killer, Part 2 In Part 2 of this 3-part mini-series, I’ll continue the story about a random series of attacks that took place on hiking trails in northern California beginning in 1979, soon after David Carpenter was released from prison for an earlier ...
05.10.2021 Episode 204: The Trailside Killer, Part 1 This month I’ll be sharing a 3-part miniseries. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Northern California was terrorized by a series of random murders that took place on hiking trails in state parks, national forests and coastal lands. The ...
04.26.2021 Episode 203: Artful Crimes, Volume 2: The Van Gogh Museum Heist In 2002, two paintings were stolen from The Van Gogh Museum worth $30 million dollars. The investigation into this crime would involve law enforcement in several countries. Special investigators in both art crimes and organized crime units would also be ...
04.21.2021 Bonus Episode: CrimeConVersations with Mens Rea This bonus episode is brought to you by Once Upon a Crime in partnership with CrimeCon UK. I have a CrimeConVersation with Sinead from Mens Rea Podcast about true crime, being a true crime podcaster, women and true crime and ...
04.19.2021 Episode 202: Artful Crimes, Volume 2: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Massacre Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright begins an affair with Martha “Mamah” Borthwick. When the scandal threatens his career and reputation, he builds a home near Spring Green, Wisconsin. Called “Taliesin”, it was supposed to be a place of peace and ...
04.14.2021 Bonus Episode: Listener Q&A To celebrate reaching 200 episodes we created a bonus episode to answer listener questions. Thanks everyone for submitting them!Links: www.Patreon.com/onceuponacrimeTo listen to our "haunted" episode go to Episode #108 - Haunted Homicides: The LaLaurie Mansion. Some hear a "ghost" at ...
04.12.2021 Episode 201: Artful Crimes, Volume 2: The Murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer A contemporary artist is murdered in broad daylight in Washington D.C. Conspiracy theories about who was responsible begin to swirl after her close connection to John F. Kennedy is revealed. Resources: “The Last Painting of Mary Pinchot Meyer” by Maria ...
03.22.2021 Episode 200: Chopped: Anjette Donovan Lyles A young widow opens her own restaurant in Macon, Georgia in the 1950s. Suspicions arise when the people closest to her begin falling ill and dying. Was Anjette Lyles a serial killer? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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