This week, we delve into the shadowy corners of the unknown, exploring unsolved mysteries that leave us scratching our heads. Prepare for goosebumps and unanswered questions as we explore the cases that continue to baffle investigators and haunt our imaginations. A special thank you to this week's guest host, Rachel Bauman!

You can check out the Not Fade Away podcast here!

Research links below!

Tales of History and Imagination - "Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?"
Curious Archive - "'Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?': Espionage, Witchcraft, and Other Theories"

The Crime Wire - "The Strange Case of the Phantom Barber of Pascagoula"
Morbidology - "The Phantom Barber"
Sun Herald - "The Phantom Barber of Pascagoula is one of the creepiest stories to come out of Mississippi"
Mental Floss - "Mississippi's Phantom Barber of Pascagoula"
Gulflive.com - "Pascagoula's 'Phantom Barber' represents Mississippi on Huffington Post's list of weird things"
History Daily - "The Phantom Barber: The Strange Crime Spree That Will Have You Scratching Your Head"
Oddly Historical - "The Phantom Barber of Pascagoula"
Jason Roberts - "The Phantom Barber of Pascagoula"

Justice served...cold? Dive into the chilling (and infuriating) world of wrongful convictions. This episode exposes cracks in the system, amplifies unheard voices, and asks: how often is "guilty" actually a lie? A special thank you to this week's guest host, Rachel Bauman!

You can check out Murder Road Trip here!

Research links below!

The National Registry of Exonerations - "Marvin Haynes"
People - "Man Who Spent 19 Years in Prison on Wrongful Murder Conviction Is Freed: 'We Inflicted Harm,' Says Prosecutor"
FOX9 KMSP - "Marvin Haynes is rebuilding his life after serving 19 years behind bars for wrongful conviction"
CNN - "After 20 years in prison, a wrongfully convicted man is freed. Here's what he plans to do next"
Great North Innocence Project - "Marvin Haynes"
Hennepin County Attorney's Office - "Hennepin County wrongful conviction vacated, Marvin Haynes to be released from prison"
Unicorn Riot - "The Case of Marvin Haynes - A Unicorn Riot Investigative Series"
Innocence Project - "Innocence Project's Uplifting Moments from 2023"
Georgia Fort - "Chance of Freedom: Man Fights to Overturn Life Sentence"

Innocence Project - "Rickey Dale Wyatt"
Dallas Observer - "After 31 Years Locked Up, Ricky Dale Wyatt is Free But Not Quite Exonerated"
The National Registry of Exonerations - "Rickey Dale Wyatt"

As we travel further into the new year, it provides new opportunities for the world's scammers. In this episode of the BTC, we look at two strange cases of scams going awry. A special thank you to this week's guest host, Eileen Walters!

You can check out 600 Second Saga here!

Research links below!

Ring the Damn Bell - "A Wrestling With Sin Mystery: The Carny Con Man Jerry Balisok"
Casetext - "State v. Balisok"
Mental Floss - "How Conman Jerry Balisok Pulled the Ultimate Disappearing Act"
68 Wn. App. 277, 843 P.2d 1086, STATE v. BALISOK
StevenWarran - "March 10, 1990, Seattle Post Intelligencer, 'Jonestown Victim' Turns Up Alive In the King County Jail, by Jack Hopkins"
Find A Grave - "Jerry Bibb Balisok"
Justia - "State v. Balisok"
The Seattle Times - "Murder Conviction Overturned By Court -- Court Of Appeals Rules Jury Action Prejuduced Trial"
The Seattle Times - "Man Feared Dead In Jonestown Ran Hoax, Police Say"

AARP Podcast - The Perfect Scam - Colorado Funeral Home Body Brokering Scheme Part 1 & 2 - Episodes 153-154 - May 11 & 18, 2023.
KKCO11 News - "Montrose funeral home mastermind and co-conspirator sentenced"
United States Attorney's Office: District of Colorado - "Sunset Mesa Funeral Home Operators Sentenced to Federal Prison For Illegal Body Part Scheme"
Courthouse News Service - "Colorado funeral home director to pay restitution for selling body parts"
The Daily Sentinel - "Body of complaints piled up: State knew of funeral home concerns long before FBI raid"

Love bites. Medicine lies. Tune in for a double dose of deceit – where hearts break and bank accounts bleed. This week, BTC talks romance scams and medical fraud. A special thank you to this week's guest host, Eileen Walters!

You can check out the Book vs. Movie Podcast here!

Research links below!

For Better Science - "Macchiarini's trachea transplant patients: the full list"
The Guardian - "Sweden: surgeon convicted of bodily harm over synthetic trachea transplant"
The Guardian - "Dr Con Man: the rise and fall of a celebrity scientist who fooled almost everyone"
Vanity Fair - "The Celebrity Surgeon Who Used Love, Money, and the Pope to Scam an NBC News Producer"
AARP Podcast - The Perfect Scam - Star Studded Wedding Becomes Bride’s Worst Nightmare - Episodes 131-132 - August 25 / September 1, 2022
Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife - Netflix Series - November 2023

New York Post - "America's most prolific romance scammer sentenced to 5-year slap on the wrist"
CNN - "A fake Romeo charmed more than 100 women with promises of romance, then scammed them. Now he's going to prison"
The New York Times - "Dating Scammer Who Swindled Women Sentenced to Five Years in Prison"
Love Fraud - "Patrick Giblin trolls phone dating lines, taking money from 132 women"
U.S. Department of Justice - "Atlantic City Man Sentenced to 66 Months in Prison for Escape and Wire Fraud"
Daily Beast - "Inside the Heartbreaking Cons of America's Most Prolific Romance Scammer"
The U.S. Sun - "Stole her Heart: Inside heartless crimes of 'fake Romeo' Patrick Giblin likened to Tinder Swindler who scammed hundreds out of thousands"
U.S. Department of Justice - "Atlantic City Man Admits Escape and Wire Fraud"
The Philadelphia Inquirer - "New Jersey con man charged with using dating services to scam"
Federal Trade Commission - "Romance scammers' favorite lies exposed"

Unwrap a special true crime podcast episode that'll leave you saying "Bah humbug!" to holiday cheer. We're diving into some dark Christmas murders, where jolly carols become chilling screams. A special thank you to this week's guest host, Tiff Follmann!

You can check out We're All Just Pretending here!

Research links below!

NAACP - "Harry T. and Harriette Moore"
Zinn Education Project - "Dec. 25, 1951: Murder of Harriette and Marry Moore in Florida"
Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex, Inc. - "The Story of the Moores"
NPR - "Remembering the man who 'laid the groundwork for the modern civil rights movement'"
PBS - "The Legacy of Harry T. Moore"
PBS - "Harriette V. Moore"
BuzzFeed - "The Murder Of Harry And Harriette Moore Was Investigated For Decades, But These KKK Members Were Never Truly Punished For Their Crimes"
Smithsonian Magazine - "The Unsolved Murder of Civil Rights Activist Harry Moore"
"Sweet Honey In The Rock: Ballad Of Harry T. Moore (Democracy Now)" (Youtube)
U.S. Department of Justice - "Harry T. Moore, Harriette V. Moore - Notice to Close File"

Ancestry - "Za'zell Dominique Preston"
The Orange County Register - "Woman, dead at Christmas, studied abuse"
The Orange County Register - "Anaheim man propped dead wife on couch for kids opening Christmas presents, prosecutor says"
The Orange County Register - "Anaheim man who propped dead wife on couch for kids on Christmas convicted of murder"
The Orange County Register - "Anaheim man gets 15-to-life for killing wife whose body he propped on couch for kids at Christmas"

Is there ever a good reason to kill? In this week's episode, Vicky and Tiff crack open the vault of history's assassinations, examining the tangled webs of power, politics, and vengeance that led to the ultimate silencing. BTC sends a special thank you to Tiff Follmann for guest hosting on this week's episode!

You can check out the Vocal Fries Podcast here!

Research links below!

The New York Times - "University Head Killed In Beirut; Gunmen Escape"
Wikipedia - "Malcolm H. Kerr"
Middle East Studies Association - "Biographical Sketch of Malcolm H. Kerr (1931-1984)"
Wikipedia - "Lebanese Civil War"

National Library of Medicine - "The Assassination of Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago: A Review of His Postinjury Medical Care"
Northern Public Radio - "This Week in Illinois History: Chicago Mayor killed by assassin (March 6, 1933)"
Chicago Tribune - "90 years ago, the father of Chicago's political machine died after being struck by an assassin's bullet intended for FDR"
Chicagology - "1933 - The Assassination of Mayor Cermak"
UPI - "Roosevelt unhurt, but Chicago mayor's condition critical"
Wisconsin Legislature - "Journal of Proceedings of the Sixty-First Session"

Dogs are being kidnapped, and we're on the case! In this episode, we dive into the dark world of dognapping to uncover the truth behind this growing crime. Join Janelle and Vicky as they explore the motivations of dognappers, the methods they use, and the impact their actions have on victims and their beloved pets.

You can check out the High Expectations podcast here!

Research links below!:

ABC News - "Dognapping on the Rise: How to keep Your Pets Safe"
Wikipedia - "Handsome Dan"
Rolling Stone - "Lady Gaga Dognapping Shooting Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison, Confronted by Victim in Court"
CBS News - "Woman involved in Lady Gaga dognapping case now suing pop star for reward money"
Pride - "Gaga has gone through a lot for her fur babies!"
The Montreal Gazette - "Gangs steal pedigree dogs and hold them for ransom"
NPR - "5 Facing Charges Over Shooting Od Lady Gaga's Dog Walker And theft Of French Bulldogs"
The Guardian - "Five arrested in Lady Gaga dognapping case - including the woman who returned them"
KTLA5 - "U.S. Marshals offers reward for info on suspected Lady Gaga dognapper mistakenly released from custody in L.A."

"Crime and Punishment in Victorian London" by Ross Gilfillan
Crime Reads - "On the Dignapping Gangs That Terrorized Victorian London, and the Poet Who Fought Back"
History Today - "Who's Afraid of the Dog-Banditti?"
Truly Adventurous - "The Dognapping of the Century"

Murder for hire: it's the perfect crime, right? No witnesses, no messy cleanup, and you get away with it. But what if it's not so perfect after all? This week, join Vicky and Janelle as they explore the twisted world of murder for hire, and the people who get caught up in it.

You can check out Murder and Such here!

Research links below!:

Casetext - State v. Logue
The Newport Plain Talk - "From a dead calf to the South Carolina electric chair"
The State - "Edgefield Sheriff Returning with To Wanted Men"
The Greenville News - "Edgefield Man Shot To Death In Own Store"
The Greenville News - "Logue in State Penitentiary"
The Gaffney Ledger - "Woman, Two Men Pay for Killing"

The Real Deal - "LA developer charged in murder-for-hire case accused in arson plot"
Los Angeles Times - "A landlord who was arrested in a murder-for-hire plot is now accused of trying to set fire to his building"
Casetext - United States v. Aslanian
The Planning Report - "Insider Planning: NoHo Nightmare Reveals Pitfalls of LA's Housing Policies & Obsession with Density ay Any Cost"
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California -"La Cañada Flintridge Man Found Guilty of Murder-for-Hire Plots Against His Former Lawyer and a Litigant Who Defeated Him in Court"
CBS News - "La Cañada businessman charged with trying to hire hitman to kill 2 people he owed money"

Can psychic mediums help solve true crime's coldest cases? Or are they just a bunch of hocus pocus? In this episode, we are joined by Jacob Mayfield to explore the world of psychic mediums and their role in solving crime. This episode is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering if there's more to the world than meets the eye.

A special thank you to Jacob Mayfield! You can find him here or at https://www.mayfieldmagic.com/ Use code BADTASTE for 15% off of your reading!

You can check out the Not Fade Away Podcast here!

Life insurance is supposed to protect your loved ones in case of your death, but some people see it as an opportunity to make a quick buck. This episode explores the twisted world of life insurance murder, where people kill their loved ones for money.

You can check out Murder Roadtrip here!

Research links below!:

Murderpedia - "Lin Yuru"
TNL Mediagene - "A Taiwan Witch Burning"
Unknown Gender History - "Lin Yuru, Taiwanese Female Serial Killer - 2009"
Apple Daily - "The witch who killed his mother, his wife and his husband was sentenced to death"
Taipei Times - "Does Lin Yu-ju deserve to die?"
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty - "Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP)"
Apple Daily - "'Correction is the most important' The with killed three people and escaped death by feigning bail."

The Guardian - "Death, fraud and canoes: how a mind-blowing insurance scam became an ITV drama"
Vice - "The Dark Side of 'Canoe Man', the Tabloid Sensation Who Faked His Death"
BBC News - "'Missing' man charged by police"
The Guardian - "Detectives to question long-lost canoeist"
The Guardian - "Timeline: Anne and John Darwin, the canoe couple"