Veteran journalist Joe Nocera’s neighbor in the Hamptons was a therapist named Ike. Ike counted celebrities and Manhattan elites as his patients. He’d host star-studded parties at his eccentric vacation house. But one summer, Joe discovered that Ike was gone and everything he’d thought he’d known about his neighbor — and the house next door […]

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated in the United States, seventeen women have been executed. The two women discussed in today’s episode have the distinction of being the oldest women executed in the country. The women had far different motives for murder, and both women enlisted family members to assist them with their […]

During the 1-900 number craze of the Nineties, one company provided the vastmajority of phone sex. American Telnet was an empire founded by the man whocalled himself “The Telephone Pimp.” He ran the company “like General Motors”and got filthy rich doing it. But for the (mostly) women who answered the callsand delivered fantasies 24-7, it […]

In June 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. The “war” increased the size, as well as the presence of federal drug control agencies. Nixon was also responsible for mandatory sentencing for drug offenses, and no-knock warrants. One of President Nixon’s top aides later said that the planning for the war on drugs […]

Halloween is steeped in lore, legend, and history. From its beginnings in Samhain (Saa-wn), to the subsequent adoption by the Catholic Church of November 1st as All Saints’ Day, Halloween has long been considered the day when the veil between the living and the dead was lifted. In Colonial America, the Puritans did not celebrate […]

In 2014, Pope Francis and the Vatican formally recognized the International Association of Exorcists, which had 250 exorcists in 250 countries (3). Of course, Protestants also carry out exorcisms, but according to Dr. Andrew Chestnut of Virginia Commonwealth University, the Catholic rites are more formal, whereas Protestant exorcisms are often more theatrical. Protestant exorcists will […]

Murder by vehicle occurs in small numbers every year. These are often tracked as a vehicle accidents, so good numbers are not available for how many people are killed this way each year. Many of the cases are the end result of a domestic argument or dispute, or as the result of inebriation (1,2). It […]

A small-town cop known as “GI Joe” is gunned down in a swamp in the summer of 2015 and quickly becomes a martyr in the national media. But when a dogged investigator and his team set out to get justice, they uncover unsettling secrets about Joe, the local police department, and the village of Fox […]

In the 10.5.21 True Crime Convos on Spotify Greenroom, I discuss BTK. To most who met Dennis Rader, they thought he was an unassuming father and husband. They had no idea that hiding beneath the surface was a sadistic killer who terrorized Witchita, Kansas for over two decades. Then, he went dormant…but, why? Find out more […]

Breaking news in the True Crime world is that the Zodiac killer has been unmasked? What do you think? Have we finally solved the identity of the person who terrorized the bay area? Tune in to True Crime Convos every Tuesday at 6 pm CST to talk true crime with Lanie Hobbs. Sponsors: Posh Peanut […]