What happens when competitive cheerleading, small-town status, and obsessive parenting collide? In this episode of Murder Murder on the Wall, Stacey and Kelly dive into the infamous true-crime case of Wanda Holloway, the Texas mother who tried to hire a hitman to kill another mom — all to secure her daughter’s spot on the middle school cheerleading squad.

Known nationwide as the “Pom Pom Mom,” Wanda Holloway’s shocking plot turned a local Texas story into a national media spectacle in the early 1990s. What began as intense cheerleading rivalry in Channelview, Texas spiraled into a bizarre murder-for-hire scheme involving wiretaps, undercover recordings, and one of the strangest parental scandals in American true-crime history. 

Before we get to the crime, we do our best to unpack the mom-group drama that unfolded in Ashley Tisdale’s viral essay about being excluded from a celebrity mom group.

Why does motherhood sometimes bring out such intense social competition - ie the worst in us? And how does that pressure spiral into behavior that feels straight out of middle school?

Buckle up, moms. This one’s for you. 

Beauty: 

Skinceuticals HA Intensifier 

Hanni The Fatty Moisture Stick

Cadence Travel Containers 

SAIE Make Up Setting Spray

NYX Make Up Setting Spray 

Fara Homidi Essential Lip Compact 

 Biolage Conditioner

Shark Flex

Texas Monthly — The Cheerleader Mom Plot

New York Times — Texas Woman Accused in Cheerleader Plot

People Magazine — The Pom Pom Mom Case

The Atlantic — coverage of the Channelview case

HBO Documentary — The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot

Good Morning America interview with Shanna Harper