An eighteen-year-old college freshman went for a jog with her German shepherd on a quiet Friday afternoon. Her dog returned hours later alone. Three days after Thanksgiving 1989, Mandy Stavik's nude body was found in the Nooksack River. She had been raped and drowned [citation:1][citation:2]. The killer would remain free for nearly three decades.

For years, the case sat cold. Then in 2017, a brave coworker named Kim Wagner decided to help. When her colleague Timothy Bass finished his lunch, she watched him throw away a plastic cup and a Coke can. She pulled them from the trash and handed them to police [citation:1][citation:7]. The DNA was a perfect match to evidence recovered from Mandy's body. The probability of a random match was one in eleven quadrillion [citation:2].

Bass had bragged to his wife years earlier that he watched cold case shows and said he wouldn't get caught because he was not that stupid [citation:2]. He was wrong. In May 2019, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder. He received nearly twenty-seven years in prison [citation:1][citation:8]. Mandy's mother Mary, who had lost another child to murder in 1975, finally saw justice for her daughter. Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because a Coke can and a brave woman brought a killer down.

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A law professor shot in his own garage. A family dynasty with unlimited money. And a conspiracy that took eleven years to fully unravel.

On July 18, 2014, Florida State University law professor Dan Markel dropped his two young sons at preschool, went to the gym, and returned home to find death waiting in his driveway [citation:3]. Two men from Miami, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, had followed him. Garcia walked up to the driver's side window and fired twice into Markel's head at point-blank range [citation:4].

The motive was not robbery or revenge. It was a bitter custody battle. Markel's ex-wife Wendi Adelson wanted to move their children from Tallahassee to South Florida. A judge said no. Wendi's family, the wealthy Adelsons of Fort Lauderdale, allegedly decided to remove the obstacle permanently [citation:1].

The conspiracy stretched from a Miami dental practice to a Latin Kings gang leader. Charlie Adelson, Wendi's brother, allegedly paid $100,000 through his girlfriend Katherine Magbanua to Garcia and Rivera [citation:3]. His mother Donna was convicted in 2025 as the orchestrator [citation:6]. Wendi has never been charged.

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the Adelsons thought they were untouchable. The jury disagreed.

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Brushes tapping against a mirrored vanity. The soft click of a setting spray. A bride looking at her reflection, wondering if she will cry before the vows or after.

In this episode, I walk through a wedding day get ready with me routine, focusing on the makeup that will last through tears, champagne, dancing, and at least a hundred photographs. From primer to powder, from foundation that photographs without flashback to waterproof mascara that will not run when the officiant speaks, this is a step by step guide for brides who want to look like themselves but better.

The episode includes product recommendations for oily and dry skin, tips for avoiding white cast in sunlight, and the one mistake brides make five minutes before walking down the aisle. There is also a section on touch ups: what to pack in a clutch, when to blot, and why the lipstick should be reapplied after the cake cutting. Whether you are doing your own makeup or hiring an artist, this episode is for anyone who wants to feel beautiful on the most photographed day of their life.

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the mirror does not lie, but makeup helps.

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A lonely teenager creates a fictional spy to order his own murder. A gullible friend believes every word and agrees to stab him to death in an alleyway.

In the early 2000s, two teenage boys from Greater Manchester, known only as Mark and John, met in a local internet chat room [citation:2]. John, a bright 14-year-old grammar school student who was confused about his sexuality and struggling with family problems, became infatuated with 16-year-old Mark [citation:6]. Over a nine-month period, John created an elaborate "matrix of deceit" involving at least six fictional characters, including a female MI6 spy named Janet Dobinson [citation:2].

The spy convinced Mark that he had been recruited as a secret agent and that John was suffering from a terminal brain tumor. She ordered Mark to perform a mercy killing, promising him money, a career in the Secret Service, and sexual favors as rewards [citation:6]. On June 29, 2003, Mark bought a six-inch kitchen knife. The boys walked to an alleyway in Altrincham, where Mark stabbed John twice in the abdomen, nearly killing him [citation:7].

Both boys initially claimed a stranger attacked them, but forensic analysts examining 58,000 lines of chat logs discovered the truth: a single linguistic clue—the misspelling of "maybe" as "mybye"—proved John was behind every fictional character [citation:4]. John admitted he orchestrated his own attempted murder as a suicide plot. The judge called the case "staggering," noting that skilled fiction writers would struggle to conjure such a plot [citation:6].

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because this is the true story of a boy who tried to trick someone into killing him.

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A young woman found dead on a Scottish beach. Police ruled suicide within hours. Her body told a different story.

On December 4, 2005, 30-year-old Annie Börjesson was discovered face down on Prestwick Beach, fully clothed, with her passport and packed bags nearby [citation:1][citation:3]. She had been planning to fly home to Sweden for Christmas. She had paid her rent, packed library books to return, and made a hair appointment [citation:3]. Then she vanished.

The official autopsy found no signs of trauma. But when Annie's body was repatriated to Sweden, mortician Gun Daneberg saw something shocking: clear finger marks around her neck [citation:6]. "You don't forget something like that," she said. Forensic experts also found freshwater algae in Annie's lungs, not saltwater — inconsistent with drowning at sea [citation:3][citation:6].

What brought Annie to Prestwick Airport that day? At the time, the airport was a known refueling stop for CIA rendition flights transporting terrorism suspects to black sites [citation:1][citation:6]. Annie shared her surname with Kristina Borjesson, an American journalist who had criticized the CIA [citation:4]. Was she a victim of mistaken identity?

The Swedish government has classified documents related to Annie's death as "secret," citing potential damage to international relations [citation:5][citation:9]. Her mother Guje has fought for answers for nearly two decades. "It sounds like a crime novel," she admits, "but the circumstances are so strange I'm ready to believe even that" [citation:8].

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the beach gave up its dead, but not its secrets.

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A mother vanishes. Her phone keeps texting for years. The woman pretending to be her is the one who put her in the ground.

On November 13, 2012, Cari Farver spent the night with her new boyfriend Dave Kroupa in Omaha, Nebraska. He kissed her goodbye and went to work. She was never seen again [citation:6]. What followed was a three-year nightmare: thousands of cruel texts, a house fire, a shooting, and a stalker who terrorized everyone. The stalker was not Cari. She was already dead.

Shanna Liz Golyar, the other woman in the love triangle, had murdered Cari hours after they met. Then Golyar did the unthinkable: she stole Cari's phone and spent years impersonating her, sending messages to Dave, to Cari's mother, and even to herself to play the victim. She burned down her own home with her pets inside and shot herself in the leg to frame another woman [citation:1]. Digital forensics finally caught her. On a tablet found in a storage unit, investigators discovered 11,000 deleted photos. One showed a decomposing foot. The tattoo matched Cari Farver [citation:3].

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the woman pretending to be Cari was the one who erased her from the world.

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A fibreglass pole. Three generations bludgeoned to death in their beds. Fires set to hide the evidence. And a conviction so controversial that twenty-five years later, Wales is still divided.

On June 27, 1999, firefighters in the quiet Swansea Valley village of Clydach made a gruesome discovery. Mandy Power, 34, her bedridden mother Doris Dawson, 80, and Mandy's daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, 8, had been beaten to death with a pole from the children's garden play set. The killer then set fires throughout the house to destroy evidence. It became the largest murder investigation in Welsh history [citation:1].

David Morris, a builder's labourer with a criminal record who had been having an affair with Mandy, was convicted twice and sentenced to life with a minimum of 32 years. He died in prison in 2021, still maintaining his innocence [citation:1].

But the case never closed for those who believe the wrong man is behind bars. No DNA or fingerprints ever linked Morris to the crime scene. Former police officers Stephen and Stuart Lewis, along with Stephen's wife Alison, were the prime suspects before police inexplicably pivoted to Morris. An eyewitness who saw two men matching the Lewis brothers' description near the house was never called to testify [citation:8].

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the Clydach murders remain a scar on Welsh justice.

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A killer who bragged about his murders. A father and son who hacked off ears and drove nails into eyes. A gang that microwaved a child. Scotland has seen depravity that defies belief.

In the 1950s, Peter Manuel murdered at least nine people, confessed in poetry, and conducted his own defense with arrogance[citation:7]. In 2023, Andrew Innes buried a mother and toddler under his kitchen floor after unspeakable acts[citation:8]. Dean MacLeod and his father Ian tortured two men to death, severing noses and lips before burning the letters YLT into the corpses[citation:5]. A Glasgow pedophile gang forced children to drink cocaine and told them they were witches who could summon demons before placing one girl in a microwave[citation:3]. Angus Sinclair, the World's End killer, may be responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s that detectives believe make him the worst serial killer in Scottish history[citation:2]. Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because evil has many faces, and Scotland has seen them all.

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A young man is found alive inside a home where his girlfriend lies dead. Police interrogate him for hours as the prime suspect. But Ryan Waller was not a killer. He was a victim with a bullet lodged in his brain.

On December 23, 2006, 18-year-old Ryan Waller and his 21-year-old girlfriend Heather Quan were at home in Phoenix, Arizona, when Larry Carver and his son Richie arrived seeking revenge for a presumed altercation[citation:1]. Richie, a former roommate of Ryan, shot Ryan in the head through the doorway before both men entered and killed Heather because she was a witness[citation:4]. The Carvers stole weapons and a computer and fled, leaving Ryan for dead[citation:1].

When police arrived two days later after Ryan's parents requested a welfare check, they found Heather's body and Ryan barely conscious[citation:2]. Instead of rushing him to a hospital, officers handcuffed him, left him in a patrol car for four hours, then interrogated him for another six. In the interrogation footage, Ryan's left eye is swollen shut, his face is bruised and bloody, and he repeatedly says he just wants to sleep[citation:1]. Detective Paul Dalton accused him of lying, even asking if his injury came from a BB gun[citation:1]. Ryan was finally taken to the hospital only after the detective noticed an entry and exit wound through his nose.

Ryan lost his left eye and a portion of his brain. He suffered seizures for the rest of his life and died from one in January 2016 at age 27[citation:4]. The Carvers were both convicted and sentenced to life in prison[citation:1]. Heather's Law was enacted in Arizona, compelling spouses to testify against each other in criminal cases[citation:1].

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because Ryan Waller was dying while police tried to solve a murder he did not commit.

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A house sitting job. A boyfriend who left too soon. Two classmates hiding in the basement with masks and knives. And a horror movie obsession that turned deadly real.

On September 22, 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart was house sitting for her aunt and uncle in Pocatello, Idaho [citation:1]. Her boyfriend Matt Beckham visited, and two classmates, Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, stopped by to watch Kill Bill. They left early, claiming they were going to a movie theater. But before leaving, Draper unlocked the basement door [citation:4]. Hours later, dressed in black and wearing white painted Scream masks, the teens re-entered the house through the basement. They tampered with the circuit breaker, turning lights off and on to lure Cassie downstairs. When Matt left at 10:30 PM, they waited. Then they crept upstairs and stabbed her approximately thirty times [citation:7]. The killers had recorded their plans on video, bragging about how they would outdo Ted Bundy and the Columbine shooters [citation:5]. They kept a death list of other classmates. Both received life in prison without parole. Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the scream was real.

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