In early 2020, the story of Lori Daybell and her new husband, Chad Daybell, hit national news. They’d seemingly fled to Hawaii while two of Lori’s children were missing, leaving a wake of mysterious deaths and attacks behind. The public and authorities pressed for answers, hoping Lori’s children would come home safely, while allegations of fringe, neo-fundamentalist Mormon beliefs became a key element of the story.

Lori is representing herself at trial this Spring in Arizona. With three convictions and a life sentence to her name already, she has pleaded not guilty in the conspiracy to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.

In today’s episode, we welcome author and former criminal defense attorney Lori Hellis, who spent years researching the case for her book Children of Darkness and Light – Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: A Story of Murderous Faith, out now.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Children-of-Darkness-and-Light/Lori-Hellis/9781639367108

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Struggling with gambling and spiraling into debt, William Palmer turned to murder. This week, we continue analyzing the deaths Palmer was accused of, and how the scheming doctor was finally caught.

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In 1855, Dr. William Palmer became one of the Victorian era’s most famous villains – a man who poisoned his own friends and family. But with limited evidence and only one conviction, was Palmer really a serial killer?

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In Texas, convicted murderer Ed Bell claimed he killed 11 girls between Houston and Galveston back in the 1970s. Reporter Lise Olsen and detective Fred Paige investigated those claims and uncovered eerie ties between Bell and several unresolved murders. In particular, they focused on three cases: all of them, double homicides of teenage best friends.

Did Ed Bell really kill Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, Sharon Shaw and Renee Johnson, and Brooks Bracewell and Georgia Geer? Why did investigators dismiss his confessions so quickly? And what about Ed’s claim of a massive brainwashing conspiracy called “The Program”?

You can watch Lise and Fred’s investigation unfold in the docuseries The Eleven. And check out Lise’s nonfiction book, The Scientist and the Serial Killer, debuting in April 2025: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720488/the-scientist-and-the-serial-killer-by-lise-olsen/

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Edward Harold Bell was serving a 70-year prison sentence for murdering a man when he sent a letter to Houston reporter Lise Olsen. He told her he’d also killed 11 girls in and around the Interstate-45 corridor between Houston and Galveston back in the 1970s. He named some of these victims and described others with initials, locations, and years. And he included a poem that he titled “The Eleven Who Went To Heaven.”

Lise joined the efforts of Detective Fred Paige to investigate Bell’s links to the unresolved cases he alluded to… and together, they uncovered a long list of eerie coincidences and compelling circumstantial evidence.

You can watch Lise and Fred’s investigation unfold in the docuseries The Eleven. And check out Lise’s nonfiction book, The Scientist and the Serial Killer, debuting in April 2025: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720488/the-scientist-and-the-serial-killer-by-lise-olsen/

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When a series of double-homicides struck Virginia in the late 1980s, authorities immediately suspected a serial killer. But it took 35 years – and random chance – to find the missing link.

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Five missing people in five years. And that’s far from the only fact that aroused suspicion of a serial killer operating along the Idaho-Washington border in the early 1980s. While some victims have been found, the hunt for the killer is still on.

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In the fall of 1994, a 13-year-old boy found a human skull in his backyard. Detectives later discovered thousands more bones scattered about his family's estate, a property known as Fox Hollow Farm. The remains belonged to the presumed victims of Herb Baumeister, an alleged serial killer active thought to be active in Indiana for more than a decade. The investigation closed in the late-‘90s without an arrest. 11 unique DNA samples were catalogued and 8 victims identified at the time, but officials suspect the remains belong to as many as 25 people.

In 2022, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison set out on a brand new investigation to put them to rest.

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In 1960, Sharon Kinne is a typical housewife raising two children in Kansas City. By 1964, she’s the subject of an investigation into the deaths of three people… and an international fugitive.

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For Valentine’s Day we’re going back into the archives to bring you some of the most infamous couples in true crime history.

All Wanda Barzee wanted in life was for someone to take care of her, and in return she promised complete devotion. So when her paramour, self-styled prophet Brian David Mitchell, demanded she help him find a child bride, Wanda aided and abetted the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.

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