Serial Napper | True Crime for the Chronically Tired

In May of 1977, 20-year-old Colleen Stan was hitchhiking through California when a young couple stopped to offer her a ride. With a woman and a baby inside the vehicle, Colleen believed she had found a safe way to finish her journey. She was wrong.

For the next seven years, Colleen would live under the control of Cameron Hooker, hidden from the world even as life carried on around her. But perhaps the most difficult part of her story to understand came when the physical barriers began to disappear. Colleen was eventually allowed outside. She worked. She interacted with other people. She even returned home to visit her family. And still, she went back.

For this episode of Serial Nightmare, we're exploring the dark side of Beauty and the Beast through the story of Colleen Stan, and how fear, coercion and years of psychological control can create a prison without walls. Because unlike the fairy tale, Colleen didn't return to the Beast because she'd fallen in love with him.

She returned because she'd been taught to believe that leaving could be even more dangerous than staying.

Content warning: This episode discusses kidnapping, captivity, sexual assault, physical and psychological abuse, coercive control and torture.

Sources:

https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-the-girl-n-the-box/cat-mcauliffe

https://allthatsinteresting.com/colleen-stan-the-girl-in-the-box

https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/crime-news/girl-in-the-box-where-is-colleen-stan-now 

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1771222.html

https://abc7news.com/post/trial-considers-fate-girl-box-kidnapper-cameron-hooker-jurors-weigh-sexually-violent-predator-status/19183056/

https://www.aol.com/articles/jury-blocks-release-infamous-girl-160009000.html

https://www.dsh.ca.gov/Treatment/Sex_Offender_Commitments.htm

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1771222.html

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This October, Serial Napper is opening the storybook for another season of Serial Nightmare. This year, we're taking familiar fairy tales and looking at the very real cases that echo their darkest themes.

We begin with Goldilocks.

In 1986, the Bowen family began noticing strange things inside their Massachusetts home. Food disappeared. Objects moved. Tina and Karen heard unexplained noises and became convinced that something was inside the house. Their father wasn't so sure.

Then one evening, Frank Bowen opened a closet and found a teenage boy standing inside. His name was Daniel LaPlante. What followed would turn an already terrifying home invasion into one of the strangest true crime cases I've ever covered. Because when police searched the house, Daniel seemed to disappear, nd the truth about where he had been hiding was only the beginning.

In this episode of Serial Nightmare, we'll follow the Daniel LaPlante case from the Bowen family's disturbing discovery through the events that followed: the investigation, trial, appeals, and the legal decisions that would eventually change the sentence he received.

Because Goldilocks is a very different story when someone enters your home without permission...and doesn't leave.

Sources:

https://www.grunge.com/369653/the-truth-about-murderer-daniel-laplantes-childhood/ 

https://www.talkmurderwithme.com/blog/2021/2/3/daniel-laplante

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/daniel-laplante-priscilla-gustafson-murder-1987-townsend/

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/03/A-teenager-accused-of-holding-a-man-and-his/7669565506000/

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/daniel-laplante-murder-priscilla-gustafson-family

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/22/killer-three-townsend-seeks-sentence-reduction/g05AdJcWXPBZiAS9rvHYDI/story.html

https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/482/482mass399.html

https://www.joeturnerbooks.com/post/daniel-laplante

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On March 12, 2004, two women arrived at a converted commercial building in Fresno, California, with one goal: they wanted their children back. Inside was their extended family, led by 57-year-old Marcus Wesson.

What began as a tense family dispute soon turned into something much darker. Because Ruby Ortiz and Sofina Solorio knew things about Marcus that the police standing outside did not. They knew about the strange world he had created around his family. They knew what happened when someone challenged his authority. And they knew about a plan that was never supposed to be put into action.

By the end of the day, Marcus Wesson would become the centre of one of the most disturbing cases in Fresno history, eventually earning the bizarre nickname “The Vampire King of Fresno.”

But the vampires aren't the most frightening part of this story.

Sources:

https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/LUH/LUH20050401-V97-04.pdf

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-04-me-wesson4-story.html

https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/8-2580-s136171-app-supp-brief-081426.pdf

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article237506244.html

https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/case-information/briefs-argued-cases/september-9-2026-oral-argument-cases

https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/case-information/oral-arguments/webcast-library

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-pact-in-fresno-deaths/

https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1867849&doc_no=S136171&request_token=NiIwLSEnPkw3WyApSCI9TENJUFA0UDxfICM%2BQz1TICAgCg%3D%3D&

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Fourteen-year-old Michael Politte woke to smoke filling his bedroom. His friend Josh was asleep on the floor nearby, and an orange glow was coming from underneath his mother's bedroom door.

When Michael opened that door, he found his mother, 40-year-old Rita Politte, lying on the floor with her upper body on fire. Rita hadn't died in an accidental house fire. She had been brutally attacked.

Within days, investigators turned their attention to Michael.

What followed was a case built around fire, gasoline, a teenage witness whose story seemed to change, and a boy who insisted from the beginning that he did not kill his mother.

Michael would spend more than two decades behind bars. But years later, some of the evidence that helped put him there would come under serious scrutiny, raising new questions about the investigation, the conviction, and what really happened inside Rita Politte's home on December 5, 1998.

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-politte-rita-politte-missouri-sleepover-murder-investigation/ 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-politte-rita-politte-murder-missouri-48-hours/

https://www.the-sun.com/news/8554794/michael-polittee-found-mom-rita-murder/

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-09-29/michael-politte-has-served-22-years-for-murdering-his-mother-experts-say-hes-innocent

https://www.kwch.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=180456

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=184233

https://themip.org/clients/

https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/supreme-court/2023/sc99813.html

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-moed-4_22-cv-01169/pdf/USCOURTS-moed-4_22-cv-01169-0.pdf

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca8/26-1476

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Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak had only recently started his first semester at the University of Southampton. He was studying accounting and finance, playing football, making new friends and building a life away from home for the first time.

On the night of December 3rd, 2025, Henry went out with friends before beginning the walk back to his student accommodation. Along the way, he crossed paths with a stranger.

Less than an hour later, police arrived on Belmont Road following reports of an assault. They had been told who the victim was and who they believed had carried out the attack. But as officers tried to make sense of the scene, Henry was on the ground telling them something was seriously wrong.

He said he'd been stabbed. He said he couldn't breathe. And then he was placed in handcuffs.

What followed would become a murder investigation involving phone recordings, bodycam footage, a missing weapon and a secretly recorded conversation inside a police van. But after the criminal case was over and the public saw footage of Henry's final conscious minutes, his death became the centre of a much larger and increasingly political debate about policing, race and religion in Britain.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvpv2xylgeo

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/01/henry-nowak-two-officers-under-gross-misconduct-investigation

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-statement-on-henry-nowak

https://www.cps.gov.uk/wessex/news/henry-nowak-killers-mother-jailed-after-removing-murder-weapon

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/britain-murder-henry-nowak-debate-race-9.7222123

https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/hampshire/news/news/2026/may/man-convicted-of-murdering-student-in-southampton/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/world/europe/henry-nowak-murder-uk-stabbing.html 

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Digwa-Final-Sentencing-Remarks.pdf

https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/henry-nowak-police-transcript-video-b3002166.html

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-05-20/sikh-man-tells-court-he-stabbed-student-in-self-defence-after-he-was-abused

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-05-22/sikh-man-on-trial-for-killing-student-pleads-not-guilty-to-manslaughter

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/solicitor-general-refers-vickrum-digwa-to-court-of-appeal

https://www.aol.com/articles/digwa-dad-brother-plead-not-162315000.html

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/iopc-investigating-conduct-two-officers-henry-nowak-case

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ2rcv_zGw0

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On October 17th, 1992, 16-year-old Yoshihiro “Yoshi” Hattori was getting ready for his first real American Halloween party.

Yoshi had recently arrived in Louisiana from Japan as an exchange student. He was outgoing, adventurous and determined to experience everything his year abroad had to offer. That night, dressed in a white tuxedo inspired by John Travolta, Yoshi headed to a party with his 17-year-old host brother and friend, Webb Haymaker. But they got lost.

When the boys approached a house they believed might be hosting the party, they rang the doorbell. Nobody answered, so they started walking back toward their car. Then a door opened.

What happened next would devastate two families, spark outrage across Japan and force uncomfortable conversations about fear, self-defence, gun culture and the assumptions people make in a matter of seconds.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50063364

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/gun-control-japanese-mother-march-for-our-lives-campaign-parkland-students

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260312/p2a/00m/0na/024000chttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/20/yoshihiro-hattori-mistaken-address-shooting-japan/

https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/95-0144-app-1-888785175

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-16-mn-39293-story.html

https://yoshi-c.com/Alyssa-and-Yoshi-message_jp.html

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/20/Lawyer-claims-exchange-student-shot-in-defense-of-home/5929737870400/

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On Christmas night in 2006, Ryan Waller’s parents became worried when their 18-year-old son didn’t show up for dinner and stopped answering his phone. They drove to the Phoenix home he shared with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Heather Quan, but no one came to the door.

When police entered the house, they found Heather dead from a gunshot wound and Ryan alive, badly injured and deeply confused.

Ryan was taken to the police station, where detectives tried to figure out what had happened. He struggled to answer even the simplest questions. He couldn’t remember basic details about Heather. His story wandered into strange territory involving two men, “bow and arrows,” and a former roommate named Richie.

To investigators, very little of it seemed to make sense. Until suddenly, it did.

What followed was an investigation that would lead to two murder trials, a controversial interrogation, a years-long fight over Ryan’s medical treatment, and a change to Arizona law carrying Heather Quan’s name.

Sources:

https://unquestionablycriminal.medium.com/police-interrogate-a-dying-man-with-two-bullets-in-his-brain-accusing-him-of-murder-28644de1a899

https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/court-of-appeals-division-one-unpublished/2013/1-ca-cr-08-0781.html

https://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=185

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-azd-2_19-cv-03755/pdf/USCOURTS-azd-2_19-cv-03755-0.pdf 

https://celebsuburb.com/what-happened-to-ryan-waller-the-untold-truth-about-his-death/#A_Few_Details_On_Ryan_Waller_Early_Life

https://www.okaybliss.com/ryan-waller-story/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI8G0KOOtqk

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In October of 1996, 35-year-old Sharon Lopatka told her husband she was leaving their Maryland home for a short trip to visit friends in Georgia. But Sharon wasn't going to Georgia.

She left her car near a Baltimore train station, boarded a train heading south, and left behind a disturbing goodbye letter for her husband. In it, Sharon seemed to acknowledge the possibility that she might never come home.

When police began searching for her, the trail led somewhere that was still relatively unfamiliar territory for investigators in 1996: Sharon's computer.

Behind the quiet life she shared with her husband was an extensive online world filled with different identities, private fantasies and increasingly disturbing conversations with strangers. One of those strangers called himself “Slowhand.” His real name was Robert Glass.

For weeks, Sharon and Robert had exchanged messages about violence, torture and death. Then Sharon decided to leave the safety of the computer screen behind and meet him in person.

What happened after she arrived in North Carolina would become the subject of a deeply unusual homicide case, one that raised questions about fantasy, consent, intent and whether someone can ever legally give another person permission to kill them.

Sources:

https://alchetron.com/Sharon-Lopatka-homicide 

https://www.dailydot.com/society/internet-assisted-suicide-sharon-lopatka/ 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/10/30/slain-womans-e-mail-reveals-violent-intentions/d941faa0-4d6a-4aa5-9add-bfd1813e2f9b/ 

https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-sharon-lopatka/cat-mcauliffe 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/03/12/hearing-in-sex-death/623b87a2-8d9c-4280-9fb4-1d301f2a6be2/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/01/28/murder-charge-dropped-in-96-internet-sex-case/0829f8da-802a-42be-a0e0-40c9c9b1b7c5

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/11/03/to-pinpoint-a-suspect-md-police-put-together-pieces-of-an-electronic-puzzle/250e90b7-3610-42de-bb43-f1b2e62903bb/

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On June 7th, 2011, a maintenance worker was repairing a broken window inside a 25th-floor apartment in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he heard a couple arguing in the next room. Then came another crash.

Within moments, 23-year-old Josh Hilberling was lying on the roof of a parking garage seventeen stories below. His heavily pregnant wife, 19-year-old Amber Hilberling, admitted almost immediately that she had pushed him. But she insisted she never meant for him to go through the window.

What followed was a case involving allegations of domestic violence on both sides, a marriage that appeared to be coming to an end, Amber's changing account of the moments before Josh fell, and a startling discovery about the glass separating their apartment from a 25-story drop.

Was Josh's death the result of an intentional act of violence? Self-defence with an unimaginable consequence? Or could more than one thing be true at the same time?

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGW6Yw-ylMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj7VpYZLtlE

https://ninde.com/tribute/details/2111/Amber-Hilberling/obituary.html

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/how-pregnant-killer-who-pushed-22157523

https://www.killerqueenspodcast.com/amber-hilberling/

https://okcfox.com/medical-examiner-releases-autopsy-report-for-amber-hilberling#:~:text=TULSA%2C%20Okla.,according%20to%20her%20autopsy%20report. 

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2013-03-09/tulsa-woman-rejects-plea-deal-in-husbands-high-rise-death

https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/southcentral/2012/09/21/214026.htm

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/amber-hilberlings-estate-drops-lawsuit-against-oklahoma-department-of-corrections

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amber-hilberling-okla-woman-who-pushed-husband-out-of-high-rise-window-in-2011-found-guilty-of-second-degree-murder/

https://ninde.com/tribute/details/2111/Amber-Hilberling/obituary.html

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On the evening of October 20th, 2015, 42-year-old father and lorry driver Darren Kelly travelled to Pitsea, Essex, believing he was meeting a woman he'd been talking to online. But when Darren arrived, he wasn't met by one person. A group was already waiting nearby, some of them hiding out of sight. They believed Darren was guilty of something terrible, and they had decided to confront him themselves.

Within minutes, Darren was running for his life. He was chased through the streets, beaten and stabbed six times before managing to reach a nearby block of flats and desperately buzz strangers for help. Darren died later that night.

But when police began investigating the accusation that had made Darren a target, they discovered something deeply disturbing: the evidence didn't support it.

What followed was a murder investigation involving an online vigilante campaign, a teenage girl determined to catch suspected predators, four defendants and a trial that left Darren's family questioning how only one person could ultimately be convicted.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/12/teenage-vigilantes-killed-darren-kelly-mistaken-paedophile-court

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3595928/Family-man-stabbed-death-vigilantes-wrongly-thought-paedophile-blast-cruel-needless-murder.html

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/teenage-vigilantes-murdered-man-they-wrongly-thought-was-a-paedophile-a3223726.html 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-36321082

https://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/news/south_essex_news/14500196.murderer-chris-carroll-20-is-handed-life-prison-sentence-and-will-serve-a-minimum-of-21-years-for-killing-darren-kelly-in-pitsea/

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/14435379.eye-witness-describes-moment-darren-kelly-was-chased-down-and-stabbed-to-death-in-pitsea-street/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/daughter-innocent-dad-killed-paedophile-8281536 

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