It was a cold one out there the day she walked into his life—gray, like the color of her eyes. She showed up like a shiny silver dollar in the path of a starving man—exactly what he needed, at exactly the right time. Blonde. Young. Full of big ideas. She was a small-town dame in the big city, ready to take the place by storm. She was a perfect pearl. And he knew she’d believe whatever he told her. He was about to teach the girl a hard lesson: That in the big city, you can’t trust anyone. Sometimes, not even yourself.

Join us for a true story that could have come straight out of the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel, a fascinating vintage story about a young woman who inadvertently became a tool in the hands of a clever kidnapper-killer. We bet you've never heard of this one!

Sources:
St. Clair McKelway, The New Yorker, 1953: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1953/08/08/the-perils-of-pearl-and-olga
https://uselessinformation.org/pearl-lusk-x-ray-camera/

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In the story of Pinocchio, a wooden puppet dreams of becoming a real boy—a real son to his maker, Geppetto. He’s a bit of a mess—always getting into mischief, lying and hanging around with the wrong crowd. But when he learns how to really care about people, the good fairy finally grants his wish, making him fully human. It’s a pretty powerful lesson: That what makes us whole, a lot of the time, is learning how to care for other people. Protect the people we love. Sacrifice our own comfort for theirs. It’s a noble impulse. But in the hands of a manipulator with ulterior motives, it can get twisted in all kinds of terrible ways. And the puppet can end up not a full-fledged human being, but a tangled mess of wood and string. Join us for the disturbing story of Dr. Pamela Buchbinder, a prominent New York psychiatrist who manipulated her troubled young cousin, Jake Nolan, into the attempted murder of her ex.

Sources:
Various articles, NY Post: https://nypost.com/tag/pamela-buchbinder/
CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dr-pamela-buchbinder-jacob-nolan-did-psychiatrist-brainwash-cousin-to-kill-ex-lover/
https://demo.socastcms.com/2021/05/08/new-development-in-case-of-a-man-who-claims-psychiatrist-convinced-him-to-kill/
CBS's "48 Hours Mystery," Episode "The Psychiatrist and the Selfie"
Court documents: https://casetext.com/case/buchbinder-v-hochul-2
Court documents: https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2018/30222-17-30207-17-3160-17-101651-17-101532-17.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/jacob-nolan-michael-weiss-crime-scene-photos-nyc-sledgehammer-attack/11/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/nyregion/jurors-reject-brainwashing-defense-in-attempted-murder-trial.html

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Elle Newmark wrote, “Unrequited love does not die; it’s only beaten down to a secret place where it hides, curled and wounded.” Most of us have felt that special kind of pain that comes from pining after somebody who’s not pining after you. Most of us manage to take the hit and move on. But a few take…another path. This is the story of Jonna Henningsson, a bright, outgoing young woman who loved animals and caring for others. Jonna seemed to have everything going for her. Most people knew nothing about the darkness coiled up inside her, a darkness that lay sleeping most of the time. But when she fell obsessively in love with a man who couldn’t seem to choose between her and his other girlfriend, that darkness opened its eyes and stretched.

Sources:
A BIG thank you to our patron, who chooses to remain anonymous, for translating these Swedish-language sources for us!
Swedish podcast "Rättegångspodden," episode "Styckmordet i Askersund:" https://aca.st/a8d2fb
A stack of Swedish-language court documents
YouTube channel "The Fear Files," Episode "The Case of Jonna Henningsson:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUm3eYL5nQ

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John Adams once wrote that genius is sorrow’s child. A couple years ago, The Economist published an article called “The Curse of Genius” about the tumultuous lives of child prodigies. And how many times has Mensa come up on this show by now? About half a dozen, at least? Genius, it seems, is a double-edged sword. Some people are able to harness it to make spectacular leaps forward in art or science or technology. But for some, the expectations that come with that scary-high IQ can be like an anvil around their necks. Insecurity starts to fight with arrogance in those sharp-as-diamond minds, and resentment starts to brew. Combine a brilliant mind with a grudge against the world and you start to open some really dangerous doors. Join us for the story of Dinh Bowman, a guy with the potential to do anything he set his mind to, but chose to study murder instead.

Sources:
CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-yancy-noll-death-dinh-bowman-student-of-murder/
48 Hours Mystery: Episode "Student of Murder"
The Sun: https://www.the-sun.com/news/4555033/who-yancy-noll-what-happened-to-him/
Court papers: https://casetext.com/case/in-re-pers-restraint-of-bowman-1
"Bunny and Snuggles" phone calls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSLZMMK4Nd0
ABC News, Bryan Robinson: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96770&page=1

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In the Bible, First Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” It’s actually a pretty good definition of love—the kind most of us hope to have in our lives someday. And it's a definition you’d expect a man of God to live by. A pastor is called to be an example to his congregation. Not to be perfect, but at least transparent—sincere—and a soft place to fall for anyone who’s struggling. But for one congregation in Florida, their leader’s charm and charisma was nothing more than a trap. Join us for the story of Pastor James Flanders, the dynamic head of the Calvary Emerald Coast church in Fort Walton Beach--and Marie Carlson, the lovely young mother he lured into a web of lust, lies and murder.

Sources:
https://thecinemaholic.com/marie-carlson-murder-where-is-james-flanders-now/
https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/entertainment/local/2018/03/03/dateline-nbc-to-feature-local-murder-mystery-photos/13769313007/
NBC's "Dateline," Episode “Secrets on the Emerald Coast”
https://www.sheriff-okaloosa.org/former-fwb-pastor-arrested-in-connection-with-disappearance-and-murder-of-marie-carlson/
https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/2015/12/02/pastor-charged-with-murder-granted/32912916007/
https://2paragraphs.com/2018/03/dateline-marie-carlsons-daughter-6-in-custody-of-james-flanders-wife/
https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/willcox/mom-murdered-by-dad-custody-granted-to-murderers-cochise-county-family/article_440eb8a0-d936-5f04-b1b3-eca75ca6cccf.html
https://www.destinchamber.com/news/details/eccac-board-welcomes-lt-nesli-suhi-moore
TV show "Cold Justice," Episode “Devoted”

*Thanks to patron and friend Megan for her help with this episode

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There’s an old saying that just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get ya. For one brilliant yet troubled mind, living in fear was pretty much the norm for most of his adult life. His friends had come to take his worries with a grain of salt. Some of them seemed like the kind of bizarre fantasies you’d find in an episode of the X-Files. Nobody really took them seriously. That is, until their paranoid friend went missing. Join us for one of the strangest cases we’ve ever covered—a twisting, turning story of greed and secrets: both government and personal.

Sources:
Cincinnati Magazine: https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/features/death-and-the-maid/
https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/blanc-willa.htm
Investigation Discovery's "Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen," episode "Death of a Genius"

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So, this might seem like a weird question, but hear me out. Does authenticity matter? Let me be more specific. Does art need to be authentic? What if you found out, for example, that your favorite writer—somebody whose traumatic life story you related to, somebody whose identity was a living, breathing part of the power of the stories they told—was a fake? Not the person they presented themselves to be at all? Would you be fine with it, or would you feel kind of…betrayed? And how would you feel about the stories? Would they hit a little different if you knew the person who wrote them was a big, stinky fraud? Join us for the story of an audacious literary con, a scam that made its mastermind a pile of money and a whole entourage of celebrity fans—and rocked the early 2000s literary scene to its core.

Sources:
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/20/jt-leroy-story-modern-literary-hoax-
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/23/my-life-as-jt-leroy-savannah-knoop-on-playing-the-great-literary-hoaxer
New York Magazine: https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/14718/
Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/jt-leroy-documentary-interview
Documentary "The Cult of J.T. LeRoy"
Investigation Discovery's "Impostors," episode "The Heart Is Deceitful"


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The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed—only transferred from one form to another. For example, dynamite explodes when chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy. It’s an interesting metaphor for a kind of killer we see a lot on True Crime Campfire: the smart, dynamic charmer with everything going for them, who throws it all away by putting their energy into all the wrong stuff: Revenge, or greed, or a lust for power. And like a stick of dynamite, when these people go off, they tend to take innocent people with them. Monserrate Shirley was a bright, attractive ICU nurse with a loving daughter and a beautiful home. She had the potential to do anything she wanted to do. What she did instead was hook up with a guy named Mark Leonard, a con artist with a faux tan and a whole lot of bad ideas about how to get rich quick. Join us for the bizarre true story of a plan gone horribly wrong.

Sources:
CNBC's "American Greed," episode "Neighborhood Inferno"
Oxygen's "Killer Couples," episode "Monserrate Shirley and Mark Leonard"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Hill_explosion
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/monserrate-shirley-sentencing-starts-monday/531-c1efed7f-5eff-4f1f-b989-d88067ee5a51
https://www.wrtv.com/longform/but-for-monserrate-shirley-she-was-a-neighbor-a-friend-a-nurse-she-betrayed-it-all
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiYqL-BnKD2AhU0JEQIHVx5AcQQFnoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2016%2F12%2F20%2Frichmond-hill-suspect-monserrate-shirley-gets-50-years%2F95657520%2F&usg=AOvVaw3jMrZL-YLV1R88znU7pUaj
https://fox59.com/news/richmond-hill-explosion-culprit-mark-leonard-dies-at-indy-hospital/
https://fox59.com/news/cause-of-death-of-richmond-hill-conspirator-mark-leonard-determined/
https://www.in.gov/apps/indcorrection/ofs/ofs?lname=Shirley&fname=Monserrate&search1.x=40&search1.y=12

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Becky Sears and Kay Parsons were not only next door neighbors, but best friends, too. Their sons were in Little League together, and their husbands liked to join them both for dinner, drinks, and games of mixed doubles tennis. But secrets and lies would soon rip their friendship apart, and the consequences would reverberate throughout their small Georgia community for years to come. Join us for one of the twisty-turniest murder cases we've ever covered, a story of sex, lies, and stunning personal betrayal of the very deadliest kind.

Sources:
NBC's "Dateline," episode "Murder on Hot Springs Drive"
ABC's "20/20"
Investigation Discovery's "Evil Kin," episode "For Sale by Owner"
https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/becky-sears-had-her-son-christopher-bowers-beat-neighbor-kay-parsons-to-death-with-a-hammer/
https://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/sears-rebecca.htm

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Lying is an essential human activity—everybody does it sometimes. And there are a few different reasons people do it. Sometimes it’s an innocent attempt to spare somebody’s feelings: Y’know, “It’s not you, it’s me,” or “Oh no, Gramma, I loved that sweater you made me! It’s just um…it was stolen. Yeah, stolen!” Sometimes it’s to avoid accountability. “I didn’t kill that guy,” or “That vase was shattered when I got here.” Sometimes it’s to cause somebody else pain. “I never loved you.” And sometimes, it’s about creating a fantasy version of ourselves, because we don’t like who we see in the mirror. For a small percentage of these people, the big lie they build around themselves becomes their greatest treasure—something to guard with everything they have. And anyone who threatens it might not make it out alive. Join us for the story of "perfect son" Brian Blackwell, who built an elaborate web of lies to impress his girlfriend--that he was an up and coming professional tennis player, that he'd just closed on a 450,000 pound flat in the same complex as a famous footballer, that he could afford to give her anything and everything she wanted. When his parents threatened to put a stop to his fraud, he committed one of the most shocking crimes in British history.

Sources:
The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1493035/Psychological-time-bomb-that-turned-teenage-son-into-frenzied-killer.html
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/30/ukcrime.helencarter
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/4634401.stm
BBC's "Real Crime," episode "A Perfect Son"
BBC's "Killing Mum and Dad," episode "Brian Blackwell"

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