John and Ann Bender had hundreds of millions of dollars and one dream: to build a glittering glass mansion deep in the Costa Rican jungle. But paradise soon gave way to paranoia — with abduction plots, armed guards and a bedroom blazing with hundreds of Tiffany lamps. And then one night, it all ended in blood.

Hosted by award-winning journalist Becky Milligan, Hell in Heaven is an eight-part limited series from Blanchard House, Exactly Right Media and iHeart Podcasts.

Premieres Thursday, October 9. Follow Hell in Heaven wherever you get your podcasts — and see rare photos from the story at @exactlyright on Instagram.

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Host Becky Milligan hears about the king’s last supper and wonders if revenge really is a dish best served cold. She learns what happened to the royal children when they returned from exile and realizes nothing is ever quite what it seems. It’s time to reveal the whole truth. Can she finally lay King Boris III’s mystery to rest?

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When host Becky Milligan receives a surprise call from a crucial witness, she realizes she must revisit King Boris III’s autopsy. Shocking new evidence about his death comes tantalizingly close to solving the mystery, but time is not on anyone’s side. When an old friend turns up with a killer suggestion, it leaves a bad taste in Becky’s mouth.

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Accusations fly like bullets as host Becky Milligan discovers that King Boris III has been a hunted man for most of his life and has dodged more assassination attempts than James Bond. Did he ignore the one crucial message that could have saved his life? Becky feels the net closing in on the identity of the Butterfly King’s killer.

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It’s 1946, three years after King Boris III’s death and a heavy Iron Curtain has fallen over Bulgaria. What dark secrets does it conceal? Host Becky Milligan learns some disturbing facts about the Soviet secret services and why they couldn’t let sleeping kings lie. And we hear a haunting tale from the royal children as they meet their father again – three years after they buried him…

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We’re back at the Vrana Palace in Sofia, Bulgaria, where King Simeon II and Princess Maria Luisa tell host Becky Milligan about their narrow escape from targeted Allied bombings after their father’s death. As more secrets emerge from the pages of a British diplomat’s private diary, Becky is forced to consider an ugly possibility. But as she follows the trail of poison, a brand new suspect slithers into the frame.

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Can you trust anyone in wartime? Host Becky Milligan meets a man in Sofia, Bulgaria, who shows her a side of King Boris III that makes her question whether he’s really the hero of this story. As Becky picks her way through the viper’s nest of conflicted history, she must confront the royal children with some uncomfortable truths.

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Host Becky Milligan meets King Boris III’s children at Vrana Palace, a royal residence on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city. The children share the details of their father’s strange and painful death. Officially he dies of a heart attack, but the symptoms don’t add up. What—or who—is responsible? Becky speaks to witnesses who explain how Boris duped Hitler. But the discovery of a dusty document, thousands of miles from Bulgaria, makes Becky wonder if she’s way off course. 

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It’s 1943 during a crucial turning point in the Second World War. Caught in the crossfire, King Boris III of Bulgaria has a make-or-break meeting with a key ally. Boris is a reluctant politician and a family man, sucked into the bloodiest conflict in history. Someone resents his influence and wants him out of the way for good. Could Boris’s fate be linked to the company he keeps? 

The Butterfly King is a production of Blanchard House and Exactly Right Media.

From Blanchard House

Host: Becky Milligan

Writer and Producer: Emma Jane Kirby

Original Music: Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong

Sound Design and Engineering: Toby Matimong and Daniel Lloyd-Evans

Managing Producer: Amica Sciortino Nowlan

Creative Director: Rosie Pye

Executive Producer and Head of Content: Laurence Grissell

From Exactly Right

Consulting Producer: Kyle Ryan

Artwork: Vanessa Lilak

Executive Producers: Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer

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Introducing The Butterfly King, a World War II murder mystery from Blanchard House and Exactly Right Media, home of My Favorite Murder, premiering Thursday, March 21.

Award-winning journalist Becky Milligan follows a trail of dissidents, poisoners, soldiers and spies to unravel eighty years of lies and cover-ups around the mysterious death of King Boris III of Bulgaria. The Second World War is raging when the king suddenly dies amid mysterious circumstances. There’s no shortage of suspects. This tragic family saga of a doomed royal dynasty is a story of treachery, deceit and a quest for the truth. Who killed the Butterfly King?

Follow the show today and don’t miss the premiere of The Butterfly King on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

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