The Deck

In September 1980, a Holiday Inn hotel in rural Iowa became the scene of a shocking double murder: a couple was found dead in their hotel bed, covered in lacerations. And the scene around them is one of the strangest and most puzzling I’ve ever come across in all my work. It’s one of the reasons this case has gained notoriety over time: I mean, to this day, the hotel where the couple lost their lives is still visited by true crime fanatics.Despite multiple suspects – and three agencies contributing to the investigation – no one has ever bee...

Our card this week is Tangie Sims, the 9 of Diamonds from Colorado.When a young woman was found brutally murdered in an Aurora, Colorado alleyway in October 1996, one eagle-eyed detective zeroed in on forensic evidence he hoped would lead him to her killer. But one by one, that evidence ruled out every person they thought may have killed 25-year-old Tangie Sims and eventually her case went cold. And it stayed cold until new detectives revisited old evidence with new technology, took a look at one particular family tree and finally found who they’d been looking for. I...

Our card this week is Thomas Mather, the Seven of Diamonds from Iowa. Nothing causes the true crime community to stir more than a case with the open-ended question of did he? Or didn’t he? Well, except that is, when the question is did SHE?For longer than 32-year-old Thomas Mather was alive, a rural town in Iowa has been haunted by their only unsolved homicide. The former Sheriff told us it’s the only who dun it they have left.Does no foreign DNA evidence and strange behavior mean that Dawn Mathe...

Our card this week is Shad Gandy Kaydea, the 2 of Spades from Rhode Island.A late-night fire in a Rhode Island cemetery led to the discovery of the body of Shad Gandy Kaydea, a young father and aspiring rapper who was strangled, then set on fire. As detectives peeled back the layers of Shad’s life, they uncovered volatile family tensions, a suspicious life insurance policy, and a man whose story kept changing. More than a decade later, his killer still walks free… but someone out there knows the truth.If you have any information about the...

Our card this week is Theresa Dusevitch, the Queen of Diamonds from Florida. For 50 years, Theresa Dusevitch’s case was intrinsically tied to Debra Espey’s murder. Both women were 19 years old when they were killed back in 1973, just eight months apart. There were other similarities, too: Both women were found nude from the waist down, their shirts pulled up, hands over their heads, with head wounds as their cause of death. The wooded area where each young woman was found was just three miles apart in and near a town, ironically enough, named Niceville, Florida. But at th...

Our card this week is Debra Espey, the 6 of Clubs from Florida. Debra Espey was the 6 of Clubs from Florida. We first reported on her case in 2024, and left you all on the precipice of hope that new DNA testing would finally shed light on what happened to a young girl in Niceville over 50 years ago. Well, the results are in! And Debra’s case is SOLVED. It turns out her killer was hiding in plain sight, the entire time. In our original reporting, police told us they thought the man responsible for Debra’s murder...

Our card this week is Donna Ingersoll, the 10 of Clubs from Minnesota. On a snowy December night 35 years ago, 25-year-old Donna Ingersoll stormed outside and disappeared into the darkness after a heated argument with her boyfriend, leaving behind several important belongings and a twisted web of mysteries investigators have spent decades trying to untangle. Since 1990, Donna’s disappearance has weighed on the small town of Wabasha, Minnesota, as the passage of time has produced more questions than answers. But some recent developments have present-day investigators questioning everything they thought they knew about the case — and believing they’re clos...

Our card this week is Paris Matthews, the 6 of Hearts from Florida. In the spring of 2013, Paris Matthews was enjoying an evening at home when he heard a knock at the door. Someone on the other side called out their name – but Paris knew that was impossible. Seconds later, before he could piece together why someone was lying … Paris was shot, and the years-long search for his killer began. Investigators have had to weed through rumors, finger-pointing, strange text messages, and a CODIS hit that wasn’t what it seemed, but it might take someone out there to come...

In 1971, 21-year-old Karen tried hitching a ride to go and meet her husband after work. She never made it and a week later her body was found floating in a canal nowhere near where she’d left or her destination.Was Karen a victim of a predator passing through? Or was a former Sheriff with a dark side responsible… and maybe that’s why this case has never been solved?If you or anyone you know has any information on the murder of Karen Streed, you can call Chief Deputy Todd Sauerbrei at the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office a...

Our card this week is Tyra Garcia, the Queen of Diamonds from California.It was Memorial Day, 1985, when fifteen-year-old Tyra Garcia slipped out the front door to a neighbors house, saying she’d be gone for only a few minutes. No one expected those minutes to stretch into hours… and then days. And no one could have imagined that 40 years later, the case would still be unsolved. Especially when the answers seem to be right in front of us. Because there are two very compelling suspects that were barely investigated by law enforcement back then. Despi...

Charles' bold suits and charismatic personality made him stand out. He was also a man who liked money — earning it, flashing it, and spending it. And trying to untangle Charles' different threads of income – and what may or may not be connected to his death – has kept investigators busy for decades. Especially when some of that income was almost definitely under the table.  If you know anything about the murder of Charles McGraw, investigators want to hear from you. Please call Beech Grove Crime Tips to leave an anonymous tip at 317-782-4950 or you can submit a tip by...

When 73-year-old Margaret Reimann was murdered in her garage while getting ready to leave for church in 1986, everyone immediately started pointing fingers at one particular relative. And in the investigation that followed, detectives uncovered a decades-long family feud, grudges that had been festering for years, and questions about just how far someone might go when there’s money on the line.But almost four decades later, new DNA testing pointed them in a completely different direction. And now, the case is hotter than it’s ever been.If you have any information about the m...

Today we are bringing you stories from a slightly different side of true crime: stories about people who live by deception. Individuals who don't just tell lies but become someone else entirely. From Audiochuck and Campside Media, this is Chameleon. Each week, host and journalist Josh Dean unravels a new case that pushes the limits of human deception. Stories of imposters, shapeshifters, and master con artists who have turned illusion into a way of life.The first episode dives into the unbelievable story of Rafaello Follieri, the charming con artist who fooled everyone from Hollywood t...

In 1975, 27-year-old Norris Evans was found brutally murdered in her Rochester home while her children were upstairs. The crime was shocking, but the decades of silence that followed may be even more haunting. Now, her children are breaking that silence in search of the truth.If you know anything about the murder of Norris Evans, please call Rochester Police Department’s major crimes unit at 585-428-7157 or email them at MajorCrimes@CityOfRochester.gov. You can also call Crime Stoppers to leave an anonymous tip at 585-423-9300 or submit a tip online. View source mat...

Our card this week is Shelby Wright, the 2 of Clubs from Washington. In the Summer of 2004, Shelby Wright, along with his computer, disappeared, never to be seen again. Over two decades later, Shelby’s grandparents and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office are still looking for answers. If you have any information about the disappearance of Shelby Wright in Snohomish County, Washington, please call (425) 388-3845 or submit an anonymous tip by visiting this link. View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/shelby-wrightLet us deal you in… follow Th...

Our card this week is Susie Timmons, the 9 of Diamonds from New York.In the summer of 1982, Susie Timmons was discovered stabbed and beaten in a vacant lot north of downtown Rochester, NY. Investigators have spent nearly four decades trying to solve her murder.If you have information about the murder of Susie Timmons on July 29th, 1982, in Rochester, NY, please call the Rochester Police Department’s major crimes unit at 585-428-7157 or email them at MajorCrimes@CityOfRochester.gov. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 585-423-9300 or submit a tip online.View so...

Our card this week is Darnell Smith, the 5 of Diamonds from California.Darnell Smith’s family never expected him – a pastor’s son and an ambitious student – to get killed in a hail of gunfire. For a young man without even a whisper of a criminal record, no one would have expected his life to end in such a violent way at the age of twenty. But Darnell Smith’s death became entangled in a world his family was never a part of — and left investigators scrambling to unravel what would soon become a neighborhood nightmare. For more than a...

Our card this week is Robert Mitchell Jr., the 8 of Clubs from New York. When the body of Robert Mitchell Jr., a “gentle giant” and towering presence in Rochester’s bar scene, is discovered burning in a public park, detectives don’t know what to think. As rumors swirl and leads dry up, the case grows cold… until a witness comes forward with details so specific, only someone close to the crime could know them. Now, nearly a decade later, investigators believe they know who killed Robert… But proving it in court is another story. If you know anyth...

Our card this week is Jerene Matta, the Queen of Spades from Washington. During the Yakima Police Department’s annual Christmas party, the news of 62-year-old Jerene’s murder shocked every officer and their plus ones. Jerene’s house was known for its security cameras – there were so many that you basically couldn’t enter the property without being filmed. Why was Jerene targeted? And who was she watching on her cameras?Or maybe the better question is, was someone watching Jerene?If you have information regarding the murder of Jerene Matta, you can call...

Our card this week is Ron Harnish, the 7 of Clubs from California.Twenty-two-year-old Ron Harnish was murdered on the streets of San Diego in December 2006. Almost 19 years later, the police and Ron’s own mother believe they know who’s responsible. But proving it has been a challenge, and the people they are after are as violent as it gets. If you have information about the murder of Ron Harnish on December 27th, 2006, in the Golden Hill neighborhood of San Diego, California, please contact Detective Barr directly at 619-531-2239. Or, if you’d like to remain...