Uncorked Crime

When Andrei Chikatilo was 42 years old, he was no longer able to contain his dark urges. He assaulted and murdered his first victim, 9 year old Yelena Zakotniva. Unfortunately, another man was wrongly convicted and executed for the crime. Over the next 12 years, Andrei would murder over 50 victims. He was arrested at the age of 54 and after days of interrogation, he finally confessed. Was Andrei Chikatilo insane, or would the court find him guilty and finally serve justice for all of his victims?

Andrei Chikatilo was born in the Ukraine in 1936, in the midst of a famine. His father was sent off to war and his mother was tough on him as a child. He was shy, socially awkward, and to his embarrassment, impotent. He would go on to marry a woman and have two children, but there were always dark urges within himself that he was trying and failing to contain.

Amelia and Adam Wright’s marriage is failing. As they near another anniversary, they win a trip for two in an old chapel in Scotland. But this win wasn’t random, it was planned. Amelia and Adam are hiding secrets from each other, and neither is the person the other thinks they are. Who sent them on this getaway? Will they make it out together, let alone alive?

On December 7,2001, 31-year-old Janine Vaughn went out for drinks and dancing with a couple of her friends. When they left the club around 3am, her friends were arguing and Janine was upset that she had lost her handbag. She walked ahead of her friends and CCTV footage shows her getting into a red car. Janine was never seen again. Who was driving that car, and what did they do with Janine?

On August 5, 1982, in New Mexico, Father Reynaldo Rivera received a phone call from a man asking the priest to come give his dying grandfather his last rites. Father Rivera’s body was found three days later. He had been shot and strangled, possibly with a wire hanger. On July 20, 1984, Father John Kerrigan left a bakery in Montana. Nine days later, his clothes were found along with a wire coat hanger. Both were covered in blood. Were the two murders related, were there other priests murdered by the same assailant, and would any of them ever be solved?

Today’s episode is a special one because it’s our 100TH EPISODE! We couldn’t have made it here without all of our listeners and supporters, so to show our thanks we’re giving you two stories today. First, Kelli shares the story of one the worst child killers in America’s history, Albert Fish. Albert claims to have tortured and murdered hundreds of children, and while only three of those murders were proven, they were three of the most gruesome crimes against children. Then, Amelia tells us the history of one of America’s most haunted hotels, the Crescent Hotel. Norman Baker bought the run down hotel in 1937 and turned it into a hospital. After being sent to prison for mail fraud, the hospital was left abandoned for years. It’s now a fully functioning hotel and spa, but you may run into a ghost or two during your stay.

In July 2012, 16 year old Skylar Neese disappeared from the apartment she lived in with her family. Six months later, one of Skylar’s best friends, Rachel Shoaf, could no longer stand the guilt and confessed to murdering Skylar with the help of her other best friend, Shelia Eddy. Rachel then led police to Skylar’s body, confirming what they had done. What drove the two teenage girls to plot and murder what everyone thought was their best friend?

In November of 1949, 24 year old Timothy Evans informed the UK police that his wife, Beryl, had died and he had disposed of her body in a sewer drain. Then he told them his neighbor, John Christie, had actually murdered his wife. The bodies of Beryl and her 13 month old were found on the property, and Timothy was executed for the murder of their daughter. Four years later, several other bodies were found on the property and it was discovered that John Christie had murdered several women over the years. Was Timothy wrongfully executed for murder, and would justice ever truly be served for all of the victims?

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1996, 26 year old Darlie Routier called 911 claiming a man broke into her family’s home, stabbed two of her sons and tried to slit her throat before running out of the home. Her husband was asleep in the other room with their 7 month old son. However, Darlie’s claims of the attack and the evidence at the crime scene didn’t seem to add up. Darlie would soon be found guilty of the murder of one of her sons, but was she really the murderer? And if she wasn’t, who was?

In March of 1905, Jeanna Weber’s sister in law left her two children in Jeanna’s care for a few hours.  When she returned, only one of her children was alive. A week later, her second child died while in the care of Jeanna. By January of 1906, Jeanna was on trial for murdering eight children, including her own son, but she was acquitted on all charges. Within 2 years, she would be back on trial for murdering another two children. Would Jeanna finally be found guilty and put behind bars before she could murder again?