The Bad Taste Crime Podcast

From insurance payouts to fatal "accidents," these deadly women proved that the most dangerous weapon in the room is a sweet smile and a sinister plan. Tune in as we dissect the twisted motives behind crime’s most calculating matriarchs.

Research links below!:

United States District Court: Middle District of Florida - "The Black Widow"
Florida Sheriffs Associations - "Judias Buenoano: Florida's Black Widow"
Crime Museum - "Judy Buenoano"
CBS News - "Florida Executes 'Black Widow'"
Justia - "Buenoano v. State (Fla. 1988)"

Oxygen - "Why Was There A Murder-Suicide Attempt At The 'Peanuts' Office? 'Snapped Dives Into The Shocking Case"
The Press Democrat - "Shirley Anne Nelson dies at 78"
SFGate - "Mistrial called in 'Peanuts' manager's shooting death"
CT Insider - "Wife Arrested in Cartoon Studio Shooting"
Stanford Law School - "People v. Nelson"
Mental Floss - "The Attempted Murder at Peanuts Headquarters"

What happens when the justice system decides you did it, and your only defense is the truth? This week, we're diving into the chaotic world of wrongful convictions—where junk science rules, alibis vanish, and "case closed" usually means "we got the wrong guy."

Research links below!


FHSU Scholars Repository - "Murder on the Plains: The Murdock Farmhouse Slayings"
abc News - "Was Nebraska Couple's Murder Revenge or Random?"
Justia - "State v. Fester (Neb. 2008)"
Los Angeles Times - "Young couple get life in Nebraska killings"
Lincoln Journal Star - "Epilogue: Shattered trust"

Innocence Project - "Michael Morton"
Texas Monthly - "The Innocent Man, Part One"
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law - "Michael Morton"
Science Direct - "Prosecuting the prosecutor: The makings of the Michael Morton Act"
abc News - "Michael Morton Set Free After Spending Nearly 25 Years in Prison, Exonerated by DNA Evidence for His Wife's Murder"
Chron. - "Truth finally sets Texas inmate free"
Huffpost - "Ken Anderson Court of Inquiry Shows Prosecutorial Misconduct at its Worst"
Austin American-Statesman - "Texas Senate's attempts to limit wrongful convictions commendable"
Gaston Gazette - "Colleague: Ex-DA worked to keep notes from defense"
Death Penalty Information Center - "Texas Enacts 'Michael Morton Act' Intended to Reduce Wrongful Convictions"

They say honesty is the best policy, but where's the fun in that? This week, we’re diving headfirst into the wildly unhinged world of white-collar wizardry, fake credentials, and people who decided that "fake it 'til you make it" is a lifelong career path. Grab your spreadsheets and your most skeptical side-eye—things are about to get legally questionable.

Research links below!

Britannica - "The Craziest Cam? Gregor MacGregor Creates His Own Country"
Historic UK - "Gregor MacGregor, Prince of Poyais"
Radical Tea Towel - "Gregor MacGregor: The most absurd radical of the 19th century"
BBC - "The conman who pulled off history's most audacious scam"
History Today - "Gregor MacGregor, the Prince of Poyais"
Bruce Wilson Author - "Gregor MacGregor and the Poyais Scam"

Vanity Fair - "How Sarma Melngailis, Queen of Vegan Cuisine, Became a Runaway Fugitive"
Eater - "Raw Food Star Fugitive Sarma Melngailis Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Theft"
Oxygen - "Why Was A Dominos Pizza So Important In Tracking Down Sharma Melngailis From 'BadVegan'?"
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office - "Owner of Vegan Food Business and her Husband Indicted for Allegedly Stealing from Employees, Defrauding Investors, not Paying Taxes"
Parade - "How Bad Vegan Sarma Melngailis' Affair With Her Lawyer May Have Landed Her In Jail"

Behind every blurry profile picture and broken webcam is a masterclass in romance fraud, maxed-out credit cards, and federal wire charges. We are unpacking the dark side of digital dating where your soulmate turns out to be a syndicate. Tune in, reverse-image search your heartthrob, and remember: if they can't FaceTime, they're probably facing a grand jury.

Research links below!:

Crime + Investigation - "A deadly love triangle: What happened to Cari Farver?"
TIME - "The Deadly Love Triangle Behind Netflix True Crime Documentary Lover, Stalker, Killer"
A&E - "The Mysterious Murder of Cari Farver and How Digital Evidence Helped Crack the Case"
People - "Real-Life Fatal Attraction: Nebraska Love Triangle Turns Deadly"
Yahoo! - "'Lover, Stalker, Killer': What happened to Dave Kroupa?"

Teara - "Biography: Bock, Amy Maud"
RNZ - "Con-Artist: the story of Amy Bock"
Wanganui Herald - "Amy Bock"
Evening Post - "Sentence on Amy Bock"
Otago Witness - "An Artful Schemer."
New Zealand Geographic - "The Case of the Female Bridegroom"

Accidents happen, natural causes take their toll, and history marches on. Unless, of course, you are dealing with the internet's favorite pastime: refusing to believe anyone ever actually dies normally.

This week, we are diving headfirst into the chaotic rabbit hole of death conspiracies. Forget the rich and famous—we are looking at the everyday mysterious exits, institutional cover-ups, and the sheer human need to believe that a botched life insurance scam or a rogue shadow government is behind every tombstone.

Grab your tinfoil hat and your favorite skeptical side-eye. It is time to ask: was it a tragedy, or are they currently running a cash-only laundromat in scenic Idaho under the name "Bob"

Research links below!:

Variety - "A Dandy, a Charmer, a Bar Room Singer, a Murderer and a Cocaine Cook for Augusto Pinochet: Mad, Bad and Sad Eugenio Berrios Is Profiled in Sandic Industria Title 'Black Cocaine'"
The Guardian - "Pinochet accused over murder of ex-president"
Panacea - "La identificación de los restos del Dr. Eugenio Berríos"
The Guardian - "Pinochet 'sold cocaine to Europe and US'"
The Guardian - "Chile court overturns convictions for 1982 murder of former president Frei"
Memoria Viva - "Eugenio Antonio Berríos Sagredo"
In Focus - "From Perpetrator to Victim: The Case of Eugenio Berrios Sagredo"

San Diego County - "Coronado Death Investigation"
Fox5 San Diego - "14 years later, Rebecca Zahau's death at a Coronado mansion still a mystery"
Greer & Associates - "Zahau Case"
Mainorwirth - "Key Facts About Rebecca Zahau's Mysterious Death"
People - "A Boy and His Dad's Girlfriend Were Found Dead at Calif. Mansion Days Apart. Was Her Death a Suicide or Murder?"

Some people take "until death do us part" as a challenge rather than a vow. Join us this week as we dive into the dark, twisted world of spouses who decided divorce was simply too much paperwork. Grab a drink, lock your doors, and listen in on the ultimate cautionary tale about picking your life partner very, very carefully.

Research links below!:

POMC - "Robert Curley 'Bobby' 32 Years Old"
Yahoo! News - "Taking a look back at how a wife poisoned and killed husband"
Standard Speaker - "Bobby Curley remembered 30 years after his murder"
Criminal - "Joann Curley's Tortuous Murder Plot"
The Citizens' Voice - "Timeline of the Curley case"
Times Leader - "Convicted killer Joann Curley finishes 20-year sentence, apparently returned to NEPA"

Britannica - "Hawley Harvey Crippen"
The History Press - "The notorious case of Dr. Crippen"
PBS - "Executed in Error"
Gettyimages - "Hawley Harvey Crippen"
Crime + Investigation - "Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen"
National Library of Medicine - "Solanaceae III: henbane, hags and Hawley Harvey Crippen"

Pack your bags and leave your worries behind—or better yet, leave them for the local authorities to find. This week, the ladies are trading paradise for peril. From "lost in the woods" to "never seen again," join us as we explore the darker side of wanderlust and the vacation getaways that turned into permanent departures. Don’t forget your sunscreen, because these stories are about to get uncomfortably hot.

Research links below!


All That's Interesting - "What Happened To Lars Mittank, The German Tourist Who Vanished Near A Bulgarian Airport?"
People - "Lars Mittank Was Last Seen Sprinting Toward a Forest 11 Years Ago. Revisit the 'Most Famous Missing Person on YouTube' Case"
Mirror - "Chilling mystery of the 'most famous missing person on YouTube' who vanished into forest never to be seen again"
BKA - "Search for missing MITTANK, Lars Joachim"
Mel Magazine - "The Mystery of the Most Famous Missing Person on YouTube"
new.com.au - "People who mysteriously vanished from airports"
Spiegel Panorama - "Looking for Lars Mittank"

Al Jazeera - "Timeline: Case of Charles Sobhraj - 'Bikini Killer', 'Serpent'"
Britannica - "Charles Sobhraj"
CNN - "From diplomat to detective, this man helped bring Asia's notorious 'Serpent' killer to justice"
Oxygen - "Why Was Serial Killer Charles Sobhraj Nicknamed the Bikini Killer and The Serpent?"

They say there’s honor among thieves, but these heists prove that’s mostly just a myth. From botched getaways and amateur slip-ups to the chilling, unintended consequences of a "simple" job, we’re cracking open the files on crimes that went sideways.

Research links below!

Argon - "The Goiânia Incident: Lessons from a Radiological Disaster"
History - "The True Story Behind Brazil's Radioactive Emergency"
Britannica - "Goiânia accident"
PubMed - "The Goiânia incident, the semiotics of danger, and the next 10,000 years"
IAEA - "Goiânia's Legacy Two Decades On"
Hibakusha Worldwide - "Goiânia, Brazil"

All That's Interesting - "Inside David Ghantt's Infamous Loomis Fargo Heist In October 1997"
Levine Museum of the New South - "Loomis Fargo and Company"
WCNC Charlotte - "25 years later: The Loomis Fargo heist"
CNN - "Suspect in $22 million armored-car heist arrested"

They say "if it bleeds, it leads," but what happens when the blood is eclipsed by the spectacle? In this episode, we’re peeling back the curtain on the cases that stopped being about justice and started being about the ratings. From cable news talking heads to the digital mob, we examine how media frenzies distort the truth, turn victims into props, and transform crime scenes into pop culture events. Grab your popcorn—the court of public opinion is now in session.

Research links below!

EBSCO - "Halls-Mills murder case"
A Little History - "New revelations in the Hall-Mills murder mystery"
TIME - "Under The Crabapple Tree"
The New York Times - "J.E. STRICKER DIES AFTER AND OPERATION; Former Middlesex Prosecutor Began Investigation of Hall-Mills Mystery. SIXTH DEATH DURING INQUIRY Rumor of Suicide Unfounded -- Death In Hospital Due to Peritonitis"
Evening Courier - "All Charges Dropped in Hall-Mills Case"
Press of Atlantic City - "Henry Carpender Dies; Was In Hall-Mills Case"
The New York Times - "'Not Guilty' is Verdict in Hall Case: Plan to Free Prisoners on Bail Today and Probably Quash All Other Charges"

Library of Congress - "Trials of the Century: 1900 to 1950"
PBS - "Murder of the Century"
Famous Trials - "The Trials of Harry Thaw for the Murder of Stanford White"
Historical Society of the New York Courts - "Harry Kendall Thaw Had A Problem"
EBSCO - "Harry Kendall Thaw"
Murderpedia - "Harry Kendall Thaw"

Think Hawaii is all pristine beaches and postcard-perfect sunsets? Think again. This week, we’re swapping our beach towels for crime scene tape as we dive headfirst into the dark underbelly of the Aloha State. From high-stakes island syndicates to mysteries buried deep beneath the volcanic soil, we’re proving that even paradise has a body count. Pack your sunscreen—and your skepticism—because it’s about to get shady in the sun.

Research links below!

SFGate - "The FBI warned Hawaii serial killers were coming. Then one struck."
Serial Killer Calendar - "Murders in Paradise"
PBS Hawai'i - "The Honolulu Strangler with Robbie Dingeman"
Medium - "The Honolulu Strangler"
Ke Alaka'i - "The tragic deaths of five women and an escaped murderer known as the 'Honolulu Strangler'"

Hawaii News Now - "20 years ago, a killer shattered the morning calm and changed Hawaii forever"
khon2 - "Xerox Murders"
Star Bulletin - "Carlisle: Uyesugi was in control"
Star Bulletin - "Grand jury indicts Uyesugi for first-degree murder"
Star Bulletin - "7 dead in Nimitz Hwy. Xerox shooting"
Star Bulletin - "Uyesugi's father, brother tell of torment in his head"
State of Hawaii vs. Byrab Uyesugi