By Nikki Young
Serial Napper is the true crime podcast for naps, hosted by Nikki Young. Each episode of Serial Napper features a different true crime story, told succinctly the way it happened. Just the facts, ma
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The podcast currently has 265 episodes available.
Have you ever seen the 2005 supernatural horror movie, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”? Tonight I’m talking about the true story that inspired the hit flick.
Anneliese Michel was a deeply religious young lady from Klingenberg, Bavaria, who had suffered from epilepsy and mental health issues for several years. Despite undergoing multiple medical treatments, her condition worsened, leading her family and two local priests to believe she was possessed. To rid her body and soul of the demonic entity, 70 exorcism rituals were conducted in secret at her home.
Though she was a physically sick young lady, her medical treatments were stopped, as her family and the priests focused on the exorcism rites. These sessions took place in her bedroom and were intended to rid her of demonic possession. However, Anneliese’s health severely deteriorated, and she ultimately succumbed to malnutrition and dehydration, weighing just 68 pounds at the time of her death.
The case of Anneliese Michel drew significant attention, especially in Bavaria, a predominantly Catholic region. The state prosecutor argued that her death could have been prevented if medical intervention had been sought, even if only in the final week of her life. Her parents and the priests were charged with negligent homicide for failing to call a doctor, despite her worsening condition during the exorcism rituals - but some still believe Anneliese died from possession - not neglect.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/04/21/cries-of-a-woman-possessed/94bf2fd3-8e64-482d-869d-1f929851ca8f/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090200559.html
https://cvltnation.com/horrific-case-anneliese-michels-possession-excorcism
https://www.mamamia.com.au/the-exorcism-of-emily-rose/
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AcJdAAAAIBAJ&pg=5443%2C5231320
https://web.archive.org/web/20210730123254/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/seized-by-the-spirit-temporal-lobe-epilepsy-and-the-exorcism-of-anneliese-michel/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4n9vK0_mdk&t=1s
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As if being a parent isn’t hard enough, many of us have had to leave our precious children in the care of a stranger at one point or another. It takes a great deal of trust and pure hope that everything will be okay - because how much can you really know about a person, and what they’re like when watchful adults are not around? The crimes committed by Christine Falling, known as the babysitter from hell, are a reminder that parents need to be diligent when selecting a caregiver for their children, who are some of the most vulnerable in our society.
In her early years, she began torturing small animals, like cats - then as a teenager, she moved on to hurting neighbour children. From 1980 to 1982, it’s believed that she attempted to murder three infants, and killed as many as five babies and an elderly man. She didn’t even try to hide her crimes, later telling investigators that she heard voices that told her to kill them, and she should have been caught long before she was arrested. However, somehow, the back-to-the-back deaths of all of these children in her care seemingly went under police radar - or were lost amidst a pile of paperwork, allowing her to continue to kill.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/04/us/florida-baby-sitter-pleads-guilty-to-murdering-three-in-her-care.html
https://www.nydailynews.com/2012/11/17/the-casual-horror-behind-christine-falling-the-florida-baby-sitter-from-hell/
https://murderpedia.org/female.F/f/falling-christine.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGgnAi5_mNs
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In March 2022, married couple Eric and Kouri Richins were celebrating at their Utah home. Kouri, a real estate agent, had closed on a house that she had planned to flip for her business. They put their three young boys to bed and had a few drinks, including a Moscow mule that Kouri made for Eric to enjoy in bed. The couple then fell asleep, with Eric sleeping in the master bedroom and Kouri sleeping in one of the boy’s rooms because he often had night terrors. Around 3 am, the child woke up from a nightmare. According to Kouri, she soothed him back to sleep and then she returned to her bedroom, where she found Eric unresponsive at the foot of their bed. In a panic, she called 911, however, it was too late and he was pronounced deceased on the scene.
It was a shocking situation, Eric had not yet even turned 40 years old. An autopsy revealed he had died from a fentanyl overdose and his wife believed he may have consumed a fentanyl-laced gummy. The family was devastated, particularly their children, who were only between five and nine years old when their father passed.
About a year after his death, Kouri published a children’s book called “Are You With Me”, which she had written in collaboration with their three sons. It was said to be a book written to "create peace and comfort for children who have lost a loved one”. Kouri promoted the book on her local news station, speaking about the grief her children had experienced and how she hoped this book would help other children process their grief.
Which is why you can imagine the shock felt amongst their family and community when Kouri Richins was arrested and charged with her husband Eric’s murder in in May 2023.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/timeline-utah-mom-kouri-richins-husband-death-fentanyl-rcna85787
https://www.walker-mortuary.com/obituaries/Eric-Richins
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65885789
https://ksltv.com/647638/kamas-woman-charged-with-murdering-husband-is-found-guilty-of-assaulting-sister-in-law/ https://www.kpcw.org/summit-county/2024-05-08/court-to-decide-if-kouri-richins-goes-to-trial-a-year-after-her-arrest
https://www.nytimes.com/article/kouri-richins-husband-murder-trial.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1TNfHAm8e4
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On September 8th, 2014, Troy Turner walked into a police station in Maryland to report that his girlfriend, Catherine Hoggle, and their two youngest children were missing. He claimed that he had awoken in their apartment that morning to find them gone - only their eldest son remained at their home. It was alarming, but Troy was relieved when a few hours later Catherine returned to explain that she had dropped three-year-old Sara and two-year-old Jacob off at a new daycare centre. Panic once again set in when it was time to head out in their minivan to pick up the children and Catherine seemed to be giving him the wrong directions. Catherine, who had a history of mental illness, directed Troy to several different locations but the children were not there. Finally, she asked if they could stop at a Chik-fil-A for a drink, which they did - but when Catherine walked inside the restaurant she slipped out the back door and disappeared for four days.
During that time, Troy had no idea where his two smallest children and girlfriend could be - however, Catherine was picked up by the police after those four days and arrested on charges of neglect and hindering an investigation. She was not cooperative in providing any details of Sarah and Jacob’s whereabouts. She would later have her charges upgraded to murder, though those charges would be dropped when she was committed to a state psychiatric hospital.
It has been 10 years since Sarah and Jacob Hoggle went missing and the key to their whereabouts lies with their mother, Catherine, who continues to refuse to provide any information that could lead to finding them.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/30/hoggle-children-disappearance-competency-trial/
https://people.com/crime/troy-turner-speaks-missing-kids-sarah-jacob-hoggle/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/30/hoggle-children-disappearance-competency-trial/
https://medium.com/missing-sarah-jacob-hoggle/september-7-2014-6dabd9669224
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/hearing-scheduled-today-for-catherine-hoggle-mother-of-missing-toddlers/2014/11/06/b4b60b1a-65ba-11e4-bb14-4cfea1e742d5_story.html
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A few months before 74-year-old Leigh Ann Sabine died after battling brain cancer, she told her hairdresser that people were going to talk about her after she passed away because of “the body in the bag”. An alarming statement but one that mostly went ignored as a wild, silly made-up story, one of many that Leigh Ann was known for telling. But the true meaning of her words would be revealed about a month after her death when two of her best friends made a gruesome discovery.
It was well known that Leigh Ann had kept a fake medical skeleton - one that you might find on display at the doctor’s office - that she sometimes liked to place in her garden, move around her house or keep in her shed. She said it was a keepsake from her nursing days. Her friends thought it might be funny to use the medical skeleton as a prank, place it on one of their neighbour's doorstep and ring the doorbell to frighten them. They’d all laugh about it. Instead - they would be the ones frightened when they began to unwrap the medical skeleton and discover a perfectly mummified body. Now it was Leigh Ann who had the last laugh, as she had seemingly gotten away with murder.
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Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/19/woman-killed-husband-hid-body-never-caught-leigh-ann-sabine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/20/for-years-a-woman-in-wales-said-she-murdered-husband-with-a-stone-garden-frog-no-one-believed-her-until-the-body-turned-up-in-the-garden/
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/aug/11/the-body-next-door-review-a-jaw-droppingly-addictive-true-crime-tale
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628ez6zx0mo
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-perfect-murder-leigh-ann-sabines-daughter-speaks-out-about-her-lost-childhood/GSFYUVG7TCAOHRSLU3W35Q6SDA/
We often think of DNA as one of the most solid, fool-proof pieces of evidence in a crime investigation, but our story tonight shows how that isn’t at all true. A female German serial killer, dubbed “the Phantom of Heilbronn” - or the woman without a face, was believed to be responsible for a slew of crimes across the country, including six murders. The hunt to find this evil monster made international headlines as police tried to identify the killer before they struck again. The Phantom of Heilbronn was said to have committed various offences, including theft, which puzzled the police. It’s not often a single criminal would have such a wide range of offences - so it was difficult to build a profile around who their suspect might be. Still, the DNA showed that these crimes were all linked by DNA evidence connected to one individual. Or so they thought. You can only imagine the shock and horror when it was learned that the woman this DNA belonged to - didn’t even exist.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/09/germany-serial-killer
https://time.com/archive/6946145/germanys-phantom-serial-killer-a-dna-blunder/
https://www.nature.com/articles/543589b
https://www.iso.org/news/2016/07/Ref2094.html
https://www.smh.com.au/world/woman-without-a-face-leaves-german-police-in-the-dark-20081117-68dq.html
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Serial Napper will be taking a hiatus over the summer. Thank you for your support.
Before dawn break, on New Year's Day, 1998, 21-year-old Ben Smart and 17-year-old Olivia Hope were looking for a place to crash after spending the evening celebrating with other partygoers in the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand. They were last seen getting out of a water taxi and boarding a yacht after a strange man offered them a place to sleep off the champagne on board his boat. Not the greatest of decisions, but they needed a place to sleep because other partygoers had taken the place they had originally booked. They would never be seen again - and their bodies and belongings have never been found.
What followed was a five-month-long investigation into Scott Watson, who the police believed was the strange man who had offered up his yacht. However, the investigation was rife with accusations of prejudice and police incompetence, while Scott Watson maintained his innocence. This was a case based solely on circumstantial evidence and statements given by jailhouse informants - highly controversial particularly in a high-profile double-murder case like this one.
Yet it was enough to convict Scott and sentence him to life behind bars, which he has spent the last 26 years fighting.
So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Scott Watson, who believes the case against him was a mistrial of justice and just finished his last bid for freedom, full of shocking accusations against the people who are supposed to protect us.
Sources:
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ben-and-olivia-search-for-truth-2002
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519697/decision-on-scott-watson-appeal-could-take-months-judge
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/419995/ben-smart-olivia-hope-and-scott-watson-a-timeline
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/485010/hope-smart-murders-sounds-witness-guy-wallace-s-death-was-self-inflicted-coroner-rules
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/paul-henry-on-the-ben-smart-olivia-hope-murder-case-scott-watson-and-my-fears-for-justice-our-collective-shame/MNXARCQ6ZJCCRGXMD6EVCJYRUM/
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/claim-mystery-ketch-identified
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It was the early evening hours of Sunday, April 19, 2015. Vincent Viafore and his fiancee Angelika Graswald were trying to enjoy a kayaking adventure in the Hudson River, but the water was cold and choppy, and they were not adequately prepared for the conditions. For one - Vincent wasn’t wearing a life vest and his kayak was missing a drain plug. Disaster struck as they tried to cross the river, leaving from Bannermans Island and heading towards Plum Point Park. Vincent’s kayak started to take in water, eventually capsizing, leaving him to drown in the choppy water. Angelika called 911 on her cell phone from her kayak, but by the time emergency services arrived, it was far too late to save her fiancee. His body wouldn’t be recovered from the water until a month later.
When Angelika was questioned about how things had taken such a tragic turn, she made several statements that raised the alarm and had detectives wondering whether this was truly an accident or if she had planned his murder. Then there was the detail about the missing drain plug, which she admitted to removing from his kayak herself, and witnesses who claimed they saw her pull Vincent’s paddle away from him intentionally keeping him in the water. Her motive? A $550,000 life insurance policy, according to investigators.
So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Angelika Graswald, dubbed the “kayak killer” by the media - who some believe was treated unfairly because she was a woman. In contrast, others think she got away with the perfect murder.
Sources:
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/york-kayak-murder-case-timeline-events-mysterious-death-34973210
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL5kTAnwFk8
https://www.elle.com/life-love/a26453558/angelika-graswald-kayak-killer-profile/
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2018/02/28/vincent-viafore-angelika-graswald/354728002/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kayak-murder-case-angelika-graswald-interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-boyfriends-death/
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The date was March 6th, 1984, the night before Mardi Gras. Hailing from New Orleans, The Brown family, which included parents Johnnie Mae and Aubrey Brown and their 10 children, spent the evening getting ready to celebrate. Excitement was in the air in anticipation of the music, food and floats that they were going to be able to enjoy. The kids were put down to bed early that night so that they would be well-rested for the festivities the next day. And then, around 3 am when the house was quiet and still, tragedy struck. Flames ripped through the single-level family home, as Johnnie Mae attempted to get all of her babies out safely while her husband Aubrey Brown tried to throw buckets of water on the growing fire.
As the family stood on the front lawn, watching firefighters attempt to put out the blaze, they noted that three of the children were unaccounted for. Tragically, once the flames were extinguished, the bodies of two-year-old Kevin and four-year-old Aubrey Junior would be recovered, but where was three-year-old sister Ramona? Firefighters would search the burned remains of the house looking for any signs of the toddler, but there were none. It was puzzling - but even more so when Ramona’s six-year-old sister told her parents a story almost too shocking to be true. Older sister, Simona, claimed that that Ramona had made it out of the house and she saw her get into a car with a couple who had stopped in the street to offer help. After sharing this story, Simona stopped talking for years.
It wasn’t until 2018 when Simona reported what she had seen to the police and an active missing persons investigation began.
Sources:
https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2024/after-the-fire-ramona-brown-mystery
https://charleyproject.org/case/ramona-lynn-brown
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/investigations/katie-moore/the-search-for-ramona-brown-the-fire/289-437896478
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iga01FJPZTQ
https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national/new-orleans-probes-year-old-disappearance-toddler-after-fatal-house-fire/h313VPPWjqLmkCdFw4Mk0K/
https://www.scribd.com/document/347742211/Supplemental-Police-Report-for-Ramona-Brown-investigation
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The podcast currently has 265 episodes available.
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