Wine, Whiskey, and Murder

It turns out that December 13, 1989 is more than the day the world was blessed with the birth of a legend...It was also the day that one of the world's most infamous female serial killers would be convicted for the murder of multiple men effectively ending her reign of terror. Aileen Wuornos is someone most of the true crime community has heard of and was made even more famous by actress Charlize Theron with her Oscar winning performance of Wuornos in the 2003 film, "Monster." This week Misti takes a deep dive into the life and crimes of this truly...

In 1959, a group of 10 young hikers in Russia set out of a pretty typical expedition in the Ural Mountains. All of those taking part in the trek were well versed in the type of activity that they set out on, and from all known accounts it was shaping up to be a fun time for the group of mostly local university students. But when it came time for their friends and family to hear from them, expecting their normal check ins, radio silence. The days stretched into weeks and eventually search parties formed in an effort to find the...

This week Joel wraps up his very first case in this 3rd part of Dr. Death.

This week Joel brings us part 2 of his deep dive into the infamous Dr. Death.

Joel took on a heavy hitter with the first case he is presenting on the show by covering the infamous Christopher Duntsch or how he has becoming even more widely known, as Dr. Death (or if you grew up in the 90s and were an avid fan of Dawson's Creek, Dr. Pacey). A suggested drinking game to go along with this one is to drink whenever Joel says, "fake it til you make it!"

The crew went a little more light-hearted with this week's episode as Mel brings us the most popular Urban Legend from every state! How many of these have you heard of?

While a well to do family vacationed at their lake house in Louisiana during the summer of 1912, a parent's worst nightmare soon unfolded when the Dunbar's 4 year old son Bobby went missing. The lake and surrounding area were tirelessly searched, but there was no sign of the young boy found by anyone. The news spread sensationally across the southeast into 1913 until sightings began coming in of a traveling handyman in Mississippi who had been seen frequently with a child that fit young Bobby's description. It wouldn't be until more than 100 years after Bobby first disappeared that DNA would finally...

For more than 2 decades, Dee Dee Blanchard successfully passed off her completely healthy daughter Gypsy as something she was not to her neighbors, community, doctors, and even Gypsy herself. Gypsy grew up not knowing her age for the majority of her first 23 years, only being able to go off of what her mother was telling her which turned out to be several years younger than her actual age. This story is infamous now, and most people who spend any time in researching true crime know that Gypsy would eventually go to prison after convincing her boyfriend to kill her...

In our very last episode about the murder of Laci Peterson we all present our final perspectives and alternative theories about what might have happened to Laci and her unborn son.

We wanted to include here the link for something we talk about in today's episode and that is the defense team performing tests with a replica of Scott's boat in the San Francisco Bay so that you can easily find it if you would like to view and weigh in on your thoughts about it: Defense Reenactment (youtube.com)

We are picking up this week with part 2 in the Laci Peterson case. As a refresher, last week we ended with Amber Frye coming forward in the press to reveal her relationship with Scott Peterson.

Ever since we started this podcast this past summer, this is a case that has come up between the 4 of us on multiple occasions and split straight down the middle on whether or not Scott Peterson was rightfully convicted for the murder of his wife Laci. The Petersons looked to be the perfect all-American young couple doing very well for themselves in Modesto, California in 2002. On Christmas Eve, though, everything would turn upside down when Laci, nearly 8 months pregnant with the couple's first child, was reported missing. The case would immediately grip not just the community, but the world...

Because today is December 13th, which for those of you who don't know is Taylor Swift's birthday, I obviously had to do a Taylor-centric episode. And even though I normally can't keep secrets about myself or my plans to save my life, I was able to not reveal this episode topic to my co-hosts for the last few months until it came time to actually record! So in keeping with that spirit, the only thing I'm reviewing to our wonderful listeners today is the title of the episode (which is more than I gave Misti, Mel, and Jim before...

Jim wanted to get a little away from the usual "murdery" conversations we have on the show, so for this week's episode he brought us a very interesting case that has very much shaped many modern labor laws and movements in the United States. It's pretty well known that radium is an element that was discovered by scientist Madame Curie and her husband. It's also pretty well known that Curie was eventually killed by the poisonous effects of this discovery. But she was not the only one. Turns out, in the 1920s radium was all the rage! It was...

This week Mel finishes the second part of the Ted Bundy case. And she's got some extra for our Patreons on this one!

Ted Bundy is one of those people that is so infamous that he needs no introduction. I would be willing to bet that anyone familiar at all with modern day popular culture could quote at least one factoid about one of the world's most recognizable names in the world of true crime. People are still continually fascinated by this monster, though. This podcast included...obviously. This week Mel takes us with her into part 1 of her deep dive into the life and crimes of one of history's most notorious serial killers.

For those of us who grew up in a stable home with solid parents, we probably wouldn't think twice to carry out requests or tasks those parents gave us. If your parents are telling you to do something, most of us might not even question it. Children should be able to rely on their parents as protectors who teach and guide them safely. But in the world of true crime especially, we know that is too often just not the case. In this week's case, Misti brings us a story from West Virginia where one young girl unfortunately grew...

For this week’s episode, Jim tells us about a particularly gross and scary individual named Gary Michael Heidnik. Like a lot of “successful” murderers, this guy was very smart. And not just kind of smart, but he actually had a genius level IQ and was a member of MENSA which is basically a club for geniuses. Because of his above average intelligence, Gary was able to carry on with his crimes far longer than a lot of killers because he was always learning as he continued committing his crimes through the years, continually cultivating his skills.

The Great Depression overlapped several years with Prohibition in the United States, and though the time in general was hard for most, it was especially difficult for speakeasy owners. There were some that were willing to do just about anything to keep their heads above water, and that is where we begin with today's case. After already committing murder to collect on a bogus life insurance policy in the early 1930s, one speakeasy owner targeted his next victim that was sure to go down just as easily as his first. But Michael Malloy would show the man and everyone...

Shortly after moving to a small town to live with her father and his new family in Pennsylvania, somewhat troubled 14-year-old Tanya Kach disappeared in 1996. Her dad and stepmom were not initially concerned and waited several days to even report their daughter missing as Tanya had a history of running away for a few days only to later return no worse for the wear. Only this time, she did not return. Over the years there would be clues that might have led investigators to the missing girl...if they had followed up. As it were, it would be more...