Please enjoy this re-release of a premium episode from 2023!

Tina Faelz was not having a good freshman year in high school. She was not doing well academically and was being bullied by some “Mean Girls.” Her home life was no picnic either. Her parents were divorced when she was a toddler and her mother liked to party a bit too much. But Tina loved her little brother, who she cared for like a second mom. She was so young, and she had so much potential in life.

Join us at the quiet end for The Wrong Way Home. When Tina’s blood-covered body was found in a ditch near the path where she walked home from school, the community of Pleasanton, California, was shocked. The police had several suspects. But with no physical evidence, the case went cold.  It was nearly 30 years after her murder when DNA analysis identified one of Tina’s high school classmates as her killer. But no one was surprised.

Today we´re talking about the kind of crime that makes you stop and ask a simple question: what were they thinking?

In November 1992, Sidney Reso—a respected executive, a husband, and a father—stepped out of his home on what should have been an ordinary morning. Then within moments, he was gone.

What followed is a case that shocked a quiet New Jersey suburb and baffled investigators. A planned kidnapping. A million-dollar ransom demand. And a crime that, at first, seemed calculated… deliberate… even ruthless. But as the truth began to unravel, the story became something else entirely. Not a master plan—but a series of bad choices. Decisions layered with desperation, arrogance, and a remarkable failure to think through the consequences.

Tonight, we’re not just asking what happened to Sid Reso. We’re asking something deeper—and maybe more unsettling: How did the people behind this crime convince themselves it would work? Where did it all go so wrong? And at every critical moment…what were they thinking?

This is the story of the Sidney Reso kidnapping. Join us for From Routine to Ruin.

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Sources

Details Given on Suspects in Abduction, The New York Times, McQuiston, John T.  6/21/1992. Retrieved 4/5/2026.

Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey: The Tragic Kidnapping of Exxon’s Sidney Reso by John E. O’Rourke

Reso’s Last Days, Time, CNN, 3/10/2002. Retrieved 4/4/2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20070310152822/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975990,00.html

A tragedy of errors: Remembering the murder of Morris Township resident Sidney Reso, MorristownGreen.com, 10/21/2019. Retrieved 4/4/2026. https://morristowngreen.com/2019/10/21/a-tragedy-of-errors-remembering-the-murder-of-morris-township-resident-sidney-reso/

On the night of January 23rd 2006, Jennifer Kesse spoke to her boyfriend before going to bed. She set out her clothes for work. She went to sleep. And then she vanished. Jennifer was 24 years old. Independent. Smart. Safety conscious. She would never blow off work and she would never take off without an explanation. And yet, the next morning, Jennifer was just… gone.

Join us for Behind the Fence: The Vanishing of Jennifer Kesse. This isn’t just a mystery. This is Jennifer’s story. Her car would later be found abandoned about a mile from her home. Her phone would never ring again. And the only image investigators have of her suspected abductor is a blurred figure walking away from a parking lot— his face hidden behind fence posts. For over twenty years, Jennifer’s family has lived with unanswered questions. No arrests. No closure. No idea what happened to the woman they love. So, what went wrong?

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Sources

Disappearance of Tiffany Sessions – Wikipedia, Missing since Feb. 9, 1989, retrieved 4/29/2026.

Inside the Florida Condo Where Jennifer Kesse Was Last Seen

Jennifer Kesse Case Timeline – Solve the Case, Documented timeline including car discovery, surveillance footage, and 2016 legal death declaration, retrieved 4/29/2026. https://www.solvethecase.org/case/2006-2/timeline

Jennifer Kesse’s Condo – Odd Stops, Detailed location, parking layout, and vehicle evidence discussion

Jennifer Kesse Case No Longer Cold, Family Says, Click Orlando,  10/23/ 2025.

Missing: Jennifer Kesse – Uncovered, Case overview, investigative context, and source links, retrieved 4/29/2016.

What Happened to Jennifer Kesse? Surveillance & Updates, Michael Knox, 2/12/2026, retrieved 4/16/2026.

This story begins with a question that plagued investigators, doctors, and a jury: how did the life of an infant end, and how can we tell who was responsible when science and the law collide? In the hours, days, and years after Garrett Michael Wilson’s death, explanations moved from natural causes to something far more deliberate. As grief gave way to scrutiny and accusation, a case that had remained a family tragedy led to a criminal prosecution.

Join us for Crime or Tragedy? The Garrett Wilson Story. In this episode, we follow the evidence that moved the case from the realm of unexplained loss into a courtroom, the testimony that carried extraordinary weight, and the decisions that closed the case officially while leaving lasting questions behind. This is not a story about reopening a verdict, but about understanding how investigators and courts decided that a death was a crime.

Sources

American SIDS Institute publishes top research priorities in sudden unexpected infant death, ttps://sids.org/american-sids-institute-publishes-top-research-priorities-in-sudden-unexpected-infant-death/, retrieved 4/18/2026.

48 Hours: “Unmasking the Mastermind,” CBS News, 7/20/2001.

Criminal Minds & Methods, Garrett Wilson – Crime Library, retrieved 4/16/2026.

While Innocents Slept: A Story of Revenge, Murder, and SIDS by Adrian Havill, 2011.

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Please listen to this re-release of a 2021 members-only episode about sudden infant infant deaths which were determined to be homicide. We will be covering another SIDS v. Homicide case in May and I think listening to this episode is a good prequel!

In 1985, authorities in New York State arrested a father who they believed had murdered his three children. In the course of the investigation, they became aware of a mother who claimed to have lost five children to SIDS. Thinking this was highly unlikely, they opened an investigation into the family. First, the family needed to be identified. Once this was done, the investigation of Waneta Hoyt moved right along, culminating in her trial for murder in 1995.

Join us at the quiet end for Not Again! Waneta Hoyt’s Babies. This story of SIDS or infanticide or Munchausen by Proxy took many twists and turns before justice was done. At the heart of this story is the tragic and unnecessary end of five young lives and the question of how it took five suspicious deaths before Waneta Hoyt was stopped.

In May of 2005, a quiet part of rural Ohio woke up to something no one was prepared for. By the time most people finished their morning coffee, six people were dead, one teenage girl was barely alive, and a town that thought it understood itself was now living inside a nightmare. Answers came fast. Too fast. And once they did, people were told the story was over—it was solved, wrapped up, and explained. But that is not how it felt then. And for a lot of people, it still does not feel that way now.

Join us for One Night, Too Many Questions. This is not just a story about a violent night on a farm. It is about what happens after—when a community wants peace so badly it is willing to grab onto the first explanation that lets everyone breathe again. It is about the questions that never really went away, even when the official story said they should have. So we are slowing things down— taking a closer look at what happened, what was said, and the questions that still haven’t gone away.

Sources

Former detective sentenced for endangering teenage witness, The Columbus Dispatch, 5/29/2008.

Massacre’s survivor yet to receive inheritance, The Columbus Dispatch, 2/5/2009.

Saving Stacy by Rob St. Clair

Teen suspected in slayings of 5, NBCnews.com, 5/29/2005.

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It was during a snowstorm, on a snow day in Philadelphia, when a young teacher was found dead in her apartment under very bizarre circumstances. Her name was Ellen Greenberg. She was 27 years old. She was engaged and she lived with her fiancé. Ellen’s fiancé called 911, and almost right away, investigators said they knew what happened. But then the story changed. And then it changed again.

Join us today as we talk about what should have been a straightforward investigation that, over time. turned into something far more complicated. For years now, Ellen’s parents have been asking the same thing everyone else eventually starts asking when they look closely at this case: Does any of this make sense?  We’re starting with who Ellen was, who the people in her life were, what is known about the day she died, and what has never been adequately explained. Because, more than a decade later, the core question is still hanging in the air: What Really Happened to Ellen Greenberg?

Sources

Ellen Rae Greenberg, https://gavinfish.com/cases/ellen-greenberg/

Family of teacher who died from 20 stab wounds sues Philadelphia medical examiner to have suicide ruling changed, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Stephanie Farr, 10/16/2019. Retrieved 3/15/2026.

Medical Examiner’s Office Investigation Report, Ellen Greenberg Case Docs, 3/18/2022. Retrieved 2/20/2026.

Suicide or homicide? Parents’ anguished search for answers lasts years after daughter dies of 20 stab wounds, PennLive.com, Steve Marroni, 5/13/2019.

What Happened to Ellen? by Nancy Grace & Benee Knauer.

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Please enjoy this classic premium episode from 2017!

On a cold, sunny morning in January 1957, Leonard Prescott, a 39-year old construction worker, was driving into the town of Willow Springs, Illinois, when he noticed two strange-looking objects underneath a bridge railing. He stopped to get a better look and told himself they must be department store mannequins. He drove off, but his mind kept returning to the flesh-colored figures.

Were they naked, dead girls? He wasn’t entirely convinced, so he drove home and got his wife Marie. They returned to the bridge and got out of the car. The two bodies had a blue hue against the whiteness of the snow. One of the girls was on her side with her legs drawn up in a fetal position. The other girl was on her back, apparently tossed on top of her.

Joseph Grimes’ daughters Barbara,15, and Patricia, 13, had been missing for nearly a month. They were big Elvis Presley Fans and had gone together to see his film “Love Me Tender” on the night they disappeared, 3 days after Christmas.

Joseph was called to the station and escorted to the scene where he had the heartbreaking task of identifying his murdered daughters.The heartbreaking disappearance and unexplained deaths of Barbara and Patricia Grimes shattered the innocence of the Chicago area forever. Things like this just hadn’t happened before. The case launched one of the biggest investigations in history. Over the years, there have been numerous leads but the case remains unsolved.

Join us today for End to Innocence: The Abduction and Murders of the Grimes Sisters

In the fall of 2003, a life ended in a way no one saw coming—and for years, the truth stayed buried beneath rumor, silence, and unanswered questions. Florence “Flo” Unger was someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, someone who mattered. Yet when she was killed, the story of what really happened to her was fragmented, distorted, and, in many ways, forgotten.

Join us at the quiet end for Pushed: Florence Unger. In this episode, we take a closer look at Flo’s murder: the last known moments of her life, the people who crossed her path, and the investigation that followed. We’ll examine what was known, what was assumed, and what may have been deliberately ignored. This story teaches us about how fear, secrecy, and power can shape the narrative of a murder case long after the violence is over.

Sources

Afraid of the Dark by Tom Henderson

Florence Unger: The Last Resort, Forensic Files, https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/2021/09/30/drowning-sorrows/

Lady of the Lake, Dark Waters: Murder in the Deep, S2E6, 8/21/2019.

Lady in the Lake, NBCNews.com, 1/2/2007.

Michigan man who pushed wife off roof, dragged her into lake, loses bid for new trial, MLive, 7/18/2018, https://www.mlive.com/news/2018/07/michigan_man_who_pushed_wife_o.html

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In the early hours of a quiet morning, a kind man named Kevin Spann was killed. It was a tragic event, but along with his death came a story that overflowed with stupidity and lacked any semblance of critical thinking or empathy. What should have been a straightforward search for the truth unraveled a maze of misconceptions and missteps. Official accounts left gaps in simple logic and suspects seemed surprised by their own decisions. But somewhere between incompetence and intention, the truth was clear.

Join us for A Conspiracy of Dunces. This is not just a story about a murder. It’s about how people are manipulated and the truth is deliberately distorted. Today we’re examining the people, decisions, and failures that led to Kevin Spann’s death—asking not only who is responsible, but how confusion, greed, and error can collectively create evil.  In a case where everyone seemed sure and no one was right, we dig into the uncomfortable reality that humans are capable of doing horrendous things for the most ridiculous reasons.

Sources

Judge rejects plea to reduce woman’s life sentence, The Augusta Chronicle, 2/17/1998.

Kelly v. State, Supreme Court of Georgia, 10/2/2000.

The Mother’s Day Murder: The Startling True Story of a Seductive, Murdering Wife and Her Three Teenage Pawns by Wensley Clarkson.

Murder-for-hire motive often insurance, The Augusta Chronicle, 5/18/1997.

Spann gets life sentence, The Augusta Chronicle, 11/22/1997.

Three others say wife tried to hire them to kill Fort Gordon soldier, The Augusta Chronicle, 5/24/1997.