This Feels Criminal: A True Crime Podcast (Formerly Killer Queens)

On September 30, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike. She was given two doses of lethal injection drugs. But she didn't die.

What happened inside that execution chamber—and how did a state-sanctioned execution go so terribly wrong?

Pike was sentenced to death for the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Nearly three decades later, Colleen's family arrived expecting to witness the execution of the woman convicted of killing her. Instead, they watched an execution attempt that would raise serious questions about Tennessee's death penalty system.

In Part 1 of Cruel and Unusual, Tyrella and Nikita reconstruct the failed execution, the warnings that preceded it, the emergency response, and the aftermath. We examine the people responsible for carrying out the execution, the state's handling of the crisis, and the questions investigators and attorneys are now trying to answer.

This isn't a debate about Christa Pike's guilt. It's a question about what happens when the government fails at the one thing it has taken absolute responsibility for doing.

And if someone survives an execution, what happens next?

Part 2 explores whether Tennessee can legally attempt to execute Christa Pike again and is available NOW for patrons.

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Aubrey Trail confessed to killing Sydney Loofe. But almost everything else about his story kept changing.

First, he claimed her death was an accident during a consensual sexual encounter. Then he insisted Bailey Boswell had nothing to do with the killing.

But investigators uncovered evidence that told a very different story.

In Part 2 of our coverage of Hulu's Swipe Right on the Devil, Tyrella and Nikita examine the evidence against Aubrey Trail and Bailey Boswell, the disturbing testimony from women who survived their abuse, and the trials that exposed what happened before Sydney's final Tinder date.

Surveillance footage, purchases made hours before the murder, and secret messages exchanged in jail raised serious questions about Aubrey's confessions—and Bailey's role in Sydney's death.

Bailey maintained that she had been manipulated and controlled by Aubrey. But other women described her as an active participant in their recruitment and abuse.

Could Bailey have been both a victim of coercive control and a willing participant in murder?

And when Aubrey finally offered an explanation for why Sydney was chosen, how much of his story could anyone believe?

We break down the evidence, the competing accounts, and the verdicts before returning to the people whose determination helped bring Sydney's killers to justice.

Based on Hulu's three-part documentary Swipe Right on the Devil, with additional reporting and court records.

Content warning: Murder, sexual violence, coercive control, and discussions of abuse.

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Twenty-four-year-old Sydney Loofe was excited about a second date with a woman she'd met on Tinder. She sent her friends a Snapchat that read, "Ready for my date."

The next morning, she didn't show up for work. Her car was still at home. Her belongings were untouched. And the woman she'd been dating wasn't who she claimed to be.

In Part 1 of our coverage of Hulu's new docuseries Swipe Right on the Devil, Tyrella and Nikita follow the investigation into Sydney's disappearance—and the extraordinary efforts of the friends and family who refused to stop looking for her.

What began as a search for a missing 24-year-old led investigators to Bailey Boswell, an older man named Aubrey Trail, and a disturbing pattern of young women recruited through dating apps.

The women who escaped described fake identities, psychological manipulation, promises of money, and a supposed coven where killing someone was presented as a path to supernatural power.

But as investigators uncovered more about Bailey and Aubrey, one question became increasingly urgent: What happened to Sydney?

And how many other women had been in danger?

Part 2 releases Friday, but is Available NOW for patrons.

Based on Hulu's three-part documentary Swipe Right on the Devil, with additional reporting and details from the criminal investigation and court proceedings.

Content warning: Murder, sexual coercion, dismemberment, and discussions of abuse.

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Eleven felony charges. Up to 78 years in prison. Zero days behind bars.

Oklahoma teenager Jesse Mack Butler faced allegations of sexual violence that included attempted rape and strangulation. But his case ended with a very different outcome than the potential prison sentence he initially faced.

In Part 2, Tyrella and Nikita examine the case against Butler and ask a question that's much harder to answer than it sounds: When a young person commits a serious offense, how do we balance accountability with the possibility of rehabilitation?

The research on young people who commit sexual offenses may surprise you. But does it tell us anything about whether the outcome in Butler's case was appropriate?

We also examine who gets viewed as a promising young person deserving another chance, how race and perceptions of youth can shape those judgments, and whether longer prison sentences actually prevent future violence.

Because the future of someone accused or convicted of sexual violence matters. But so does the future of the person who was harmed.

And justice has to be able to consider both.

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Six months in jail. Three months actually served. That's what former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner received after being convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious Chanel Miller.

In another case, Candon Dahle received 180 days in jail following years of sexual abuse of a child.

Different cases. Different circumstances. But both raise a question we can't stop thinking about: Why does the future of the person who committed sexual violence so often become part of the conversation about what punishment is appropriate?

In Part 1, Tyrella and Nikita revisit the Brock Turner case, Chanel Miller's powerful victim-impact statement, and the case against Candon Dahle. They examine how we measure the harm of sexual violence, what research tells us about its long-term effects, and whether the justice system adequately accounts for consequences that may not leave visible injuries.

And just when the answer seems obvious, another case raises a much harder question.

Part 2 is available now for patrons and drops Thursday for everyone else.

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How do you prove who ordered a murder when the people behind it never directly speak to the killers?

The murder of Florida State law professor Dan Markel led investigators from two hired killers to Katherine Magbanua, Charlie Adelson, and eventually Donna Adelson. But connecting the evidence to the people accused of arranging the murder would take years, an elaborate FBI undercover operation, secretly recorded conversations, and multiple trials.

In Part 2, Tyrella and Nikita break down the FBI's infamous "bump" operation, the Dolce Vita restaurant recording, Katie Magbanua's changing testimony, and Charlie Adelson's extraordinary extortion defense. Then there's Donna Adelson's murder trial, the bizarre testimony about wet, moldy, stapled money, and the family member who ultimately testified against his own mother.

Following Hulu's Welcome to the Family: The Murder of Dan Markel, we're examining the trial evidence, the competing explanations, and the questions that remain surrounding Wendi Adelson and the family's involvement.

After more than a decade of investigations and trials, what did it finally take to secure convictions — and what has justice meant for Dan Markel's family?

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Dan Markel was a Florida State University law professor and father of two when he was shot in his own garage in Tallahassee, Florida, in July 2014. What initially looked like a mysterious murder would become one of the most shocking murder-for-hire cases in Florida history.

At the center of the investigation was the wealthy Adelson family: Dan's ex-wife Wendi Adelson, her brother Charlie Adelson, and their mother Donna Adelson. As investigators followed surveillance footage, phone records, financial transactions, and a trail of connections between Miami and Tallahassee, a disturbing question emerged: Who wanted Dan Markel dead badly enough to hire killers?

In Part 1, Tyrella and Nikita break down Dan and Wendi's bitter divorce and custody dispute, the murder investigation, the hitman joke Wendi told police, and the evidence that eventually connected the suspected killers to the Adelson family.

With renewed attention on the case following Hulu's four-part documentary Welcome to the Family: The Murder of Dan Markel, we're going beyond the documentary to examine the evidence, testimony, and family dynamics behind this extraordinary case.

Want Part 2 Early and Ad-Free? It's available now on Patreon, or Thursday on the main feed.

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The Caleb Flynn murder trial centered on one question: who killed Ashley Flynn? Caleb Flynn said an intruder broke into their Ohio home and shot his wife while he slept—but investigators said the physical and digital evidence told a different story.

We reconstruct Caleb's account of the Ashley Flynn murder against the damaged garage door, missing 9mm handgun, Apple Watch, AirPods, 911 call and police interviews; examine the real holes in the investigation and the questions surrounding Alleigha Botner; and break down the defense closing argument, the State's rebuttal and the jury's guilty verdict.

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Hours before Ashley Flynn was shot twice in the head in her Ohio home, her husband, Caleb Flynn, was secretly messaging his mistress, Alleigha Botner: "February 16th. Day I'll never forget." "You're about to be free." "I choose you."

We break down the Caleb Flynn affair, more than 100,000 messages between Caleb and Alleigha, their disturbing conversations about Ashley dying, and the escalating relationship that prosecutors said led to Ashley Flynn's murder.

Part 2 is available now Early and Ad-Free for Patrons!

🧵 New to This Feels Criminal? Start with The TFC Essentials—our curated collection of the episodes that best capture what this show is all about. Join our email community and get instant access: https://thisfeelscriminal.link/essentials

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© 2026 Killer Queens Podcast. All Rights Reserved Audio Production by Wayfare Recording Music provided by Steven Tobi Logo designed by ⁠Ingrid at Penguin Designing⁠

Plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski was accused of murdering attorney Steven Cozzi, whose body has never been found. Then Kosowski made an extraordinary decision: he would represent himself in his own first-degree murder trial.

There is no body. No autopsy. No eyewitness to Steven's killing. And no definitively identified murder weapon.

So how do you prove a murder happened at all?

In Part 2 of the Tomasz Kosowski case, we follow the forensic trail prosecutors say connects Steven's blood from the law-firm bathroom to Kosowski's truck, garage and car — and the digital evidence they used to reconstruct where Kosowski went after Steven disappeared.

Then the trial gets even stranger.

Kosowski cross-examines the state's experts, asks a prosecutor to get inside a trash bag, tries to stage a courtroom demonstration involving a roughly 190-pound person in a cart, presents no defense case — and ultimately argues his own innocence directly to the judge.

And then Judge Joseph Bulone delivers his verdict.

How do you prove a murder without a body — and what happens when the man accused of committing it decides to become his own lawyer?

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© 2026 Killer Queens Podcast. All Rights Reserved Audio Production by Wayfare Recording Music provided by Steven Tobi Logo designed by ⁠Ingrid at Penguin Designing⁠