Crime Writers On...True Crime Review artwork

Crime Writers On...True Crime Review

511 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★ - 3.1K ratings

The original true crime review podcast that looks at other podcasts, TV, and pop culture. True crime authors and real-life couple Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn hold a pop-culture round table with noir novelist Toby Ball and journalist-turned-investigator Lara Bricker. The panel chats about other podcasts (including 'Serial') as well as journalism, storytelling, TV shows and films, and the special segment, 'Crime of the Week.'Show website: crimewriterson.com. Follow the show on Twitter @crimewriterson. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/crimewritersonpodcast. Email the show at [email protected] by Benjamin Frisch

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Episodes

Boston Globe's Murder in Boston Podcast

January 08, 2024 09:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MB

It was a crime story that shook Boston. The survivor of a fatal carjacking said his pregnant wife was murdered by an unknown Black man - triggering an unprecedented police crackdown in Black neighborhoods still dealing with the racial legacy of bussing. The city’s spotty track record on civil rights fueled police, politicians, and the media too eager to believe a fiction wrapped in racism. But even after it was revealed to be a hoax - and that Charles Stuart staged the death of his wife - th...

HBO's Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning

January 04, 2024 09:00 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MB

In 1989, Boston was stunned by a dramatic carjacking. Charles Stuart said his wife Carol was shot in the head and he was gravely wounded by a Black man who robbed them. While the media fought each other for the latest details, police launched an aggressive and prolonged manhunt in the adjacent Black neighborhoods. Within the Black community, the harassment and heavy handed arrests opened fresh wounds in a city with a checkered past on race relations. But police were so willing to believe Stu...

The Bakersfield Three

January 01, 2024 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

In 2018, Micah Holsonbake’s family said the 34-year-old banker went missing from Bakersfield, California. Two weeks later, a friend of Micah’s reported his 20-year-old girlfriend Baylee Despot also vanished. Just weeks after that, another friend, 38-year-old entrepreneur James Kulstad, was gunned down in a quiet neighborhood. Their families believed the fates of the three were more than a coincidence. The three were loosely connected in a world filled with drug addiction, sex trafficking, a...

Best TV of 2023

December 28, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 58.5 MB

There was something for everyone on the TV in 2023. We saw documentaries that dug deep into issues of crime and punishment. There were several true stories told in real time by the people in the middle of them. But there were also shows that made us laugh…and sometimes sing. But which TV shows and documentaries truly stood out? The crime writers will reveal their lists for the Best TV of 2023.   Lara's Top Ten Great Photo, Lovely Life Navajo Police: Class 57 Victim/ suspect Reality O...

Best Podcasts of 2023

December 25, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 59 MB

This year brought us podcasts that examined interesting characters - from the super famous to the terribly infamous. There were the meticulously investigated stories of people caught in a system stacked against them. And it provided us with many series told by hosts with very personal connections to the crimes they covered.  But which titles truly stood out? All four crime writers present their top 10 podcasts for 2023. In Crime of the Week: A lot of nerve swerve.   Lara's Top Ten Earwi...

Great Photo, Lovely Life

December 21, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MB

International photojournalist Amanda Mustard returns home to pursue an open family secret. As her grandfather Bill Flickinger nears the end of his life, Amanda investigates the decades of sexual abuse he inflicted on his young chiropractic patients. Mustard looks at how Flickinger avoided accountability for decades and reaches out to her grandfather’s many victims. They include her mother and sister, but the effort to find forgiveness between them threatens to tear the family apart. In the ...

Gooned

December 18, 2023 09:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MB

The Troubled Teen Industry comprises the wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and group programs desperate parents turn to when their kids are struggling with mental health, substance misuse, and behavioral issues - whether real or perceived. Often, kids are escorted to these programs by so-called Goons - transport agencies hired to take kids away from home, often against their will in the dark hours before dawn. But are these Goons a last-resort tactic for families at the end ...

"Gay Girl Gone"

December 14, 2023 16:34 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MB

Amina Arraf grew a following for her blog recounting her life as an openly gay woman in Syria, a nation where homosexuality is illegal. She was revered by the queer community internationally, started an online romance, and drew attention from journalists covering the Arab Spring. Her legions of fans were shocked when Amina was arrested by the government and disappeared. But Amina’s descriptions of life under the Syrian regime didn't ring true to those in the small gay community of Damascus. ...

Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God

December 11, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MB

In 2021, police in Oregon discovered the mummified corpse of Amy Carlson. Her body had been transported and adorned by the members of her small cult “Love Has Won.” The woman they called Mother God had been emaciated and her skin had turned blue. Her followers believed Carlson was the reincarnation of Joan of Arc and Marilyn Monroe, and communed with a group of Galactics led by dead celebrities like Robin Williams and John Lennon. The cult sustained itself through online donations and sellin...

Ghost Story

December 07, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MB

Journalist Tristan Redman had no idea his wife's great-grandmother Naomi Dancy had been shot in the eyes by her brother in a 1937 murder-suicide that happened in the house next door. He wondered if it was connected to the spooky incidents in his bedroom or claims from the new owners that it was haunted by a ghost with no face.  Naomi’s husband had narrowly escaped a bullet during the crime, but modern researchers questioned whether it was he who might have killed his wife and brother-in-law...

Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen

December 04, 2023 09:00 - 44 minutes - 41 MB

Mommy-influencer Katie Sorensen went viral with a story of a couple who attempted to kidnap her kids in a craft store. When Sadie and Eddie Martinez saw their photos in the news, they knew they’d been racially profiled and falsely accused in the latest so-called “Karen” incident. As it became clear Katie had exaggerated the event, police charged her with filing false reports. The criminal case turned into a litmus test on the online phenomenon of white women accusing people of color of crim...

Witnessed: Fade to Black

November 27, 2023 14:51 - 50 minutes - 46 MB

Screenwriter Gary DeVore vanished in 1997 driving through the Mojave Desert. He’d been writing an action film with input from CIA agent Chase Brandon. His wife Wendy wondered whether Gary's disappearance and his missing script were linked to the CIA and whether authorities were trying to scuttle the case. And even when his body and SUV were discovered a year later in the California Aqueduct, she still was convinced things didn’t add up. The newest season of “Witnessed: Fade to Black” looks ...

The Kids of Rutherford County

November 20, 2023 09:00 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MB

A fight among children caught on video led to the arrest of eleven Black students, charged for not stopping the fight. Kids as young as 8 were cuffed and booked into jail, even though Tennessee law says juveniles can’t be detained for minor infractions. Two attorneys were shocked to learn that over a decade officials in Rutherford County arrested hundreds of children for small violations and left them in jail cells for days. The police, the prosecutors, and the detention center all ignored t...

Unrestorable

November 16, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

In 2014, Catherine Hoggle returned home without her three- and two-year old children. Though their bodies have never been recovered, Hoggle was placed in a psychiatric facility to treat her mental illness and restore her competency for trial. But Maryland law states if a defendant is still deemed incompetent after five years, their charges will be dropped. With the deadline approaching, both prosecutors and the children’s father accuse Hoggle of faking it, trying to run out the clock and avo...

Earwitness

November 13, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MB

In 1995, Deputy Sheriff William Hardy was shot while moonlighting at a Birmingham hotel. An informant told police the shooter was Toforest Johnson. Even though ten people saw him in a nightclub at the time of the crime, detectives believed they had their man. But after Yolanda Chambers’s statements were discredited, prosecutors turned to Violet Ellison who said she overheard Johnson confess on a three-way phone call. Years later, even the prosecutor has doubts about the so-called “earwitness...

Murder in Apartment 12

November 09, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MB

In 2005, Kevin Jones discovered his girlfriend bludgeoned to death in her Russellville, Arkansas apartment. Police zeroed in on Jones, thinking the murder of former beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer was an open-and-shut case. Despite a strong alibi and critical evidence pointing to an unknown assailant, prosecutors would not alter their theory of the case. And years after a jury would decide Jones’s fate - and DNA from the scene was linked to Nona’s violent neighbor - many would not change their ...

Navajo Police: Class 57

November 06, 2023 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MB

The Navajo Nation is the only tribe that runs its own police academy, training officers for an understaffed force patrolling the largest reservation in the US. The latest class of about two dozen Navajo recruits must go through a rigorous 28 week boot camp to prepare them for the rigors of the job. But Class 57 begins to dwindle, with recruits dropping out or being dismissed for misconduct. Yet those who graduate find themselves unprepared for the emotional reality of patrolling a reservati...

CWO Classic: Happy Face

November 02, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MB

A serial killer father! Truckers! Bunk beds! Prison letters! BEARS! This podcast seemed to have everything, except maybe a point. In this CWO Classic, we'll revisit our October 22, 2018 review of "Happy Face." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Big Vape

October 30, 2023 08:00 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MB

Grad students James Monsees and Adam Bowen envisioned a new technology, one that would give smokers like them the hit of nicotine they craved without the carcinogens of a combustible cigarette. After a decade of refining vape products, they finally achieved commercial success with Juul. But instead of reaching smokers wanting to quit, Juul’s biggest customer base were young people attracted by their fruity flavors and extra pack of nicotine. Instead of being an alternative to Big Tobacco, th...

CWO Classic: MANslaughter

October 26, 2023 08:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MB

The 1970 shooting of a Wisconsin man should have been an open-and-shut case - but it led the victim’s niece on a decade’s long search for the truth. On this CWO Classic we’ll revisit our epic April 12, 2021 review of MANslaughter. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Magnificent Jerk

October 23, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MB

When Maya Lin Sugarman was cleaning out her grandmother’s home, she discovered some screenplays written by her late uncle. Galen Yuen was in a Chinese street gang before becoming a small-time actor. Maya had no idea the script about his life story was made into the 1997 movie “Crazy Six.” By the time Hollywood was finished with the semi-biographical thriller about an Asian crack addict looking to rip off some Oakland drug dealers, it featured Rob Lowe trying to steal plutonium from Eastern E...

The Shell Lake Massacre

October 19, 2023 08:00 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MB

While his wife and eight of his children lay sleeping, James Peterson awoke to a stranger at his farmhouse door. Within a matter of minutes, all but one family member would be shot to death in Canada’s worst random murder spree. The scope of the 1967 crime shook Saskatchewan, leaving locals in fear for their lives. Mounties would later interrogate a neighbor who’d been recently released from a hospital and had been hallucinating about the devil. Rawlco Radio presents the six-part podcast “T...

Savior Complex

October 16, 2023 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MB

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Renee Bach said the Lord called her to go to Uganda and establish a charity to feed the hungry. But the Serving His Children clinic morphed into an intensive care unit for gravely malnourished babies and toddlers. Her work attracted Christian donors and filled her social media feed. But Bach became the target of Ugandan activists opposed to white missionaries using African children as props for their own agendas. And observers noted why starving babies continued to...

The Dream season 3

October 12, 2023 08:00 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MB

People are spending thousands of dollars to get the guidance of life coaches, so-called experts who promise to motivate clients, provide clarity to their problems, and set them on the path to financial reward. But often these gurus recruit new coaches, ensnaring them and their downstream clients in a multi-level marketing cycle. But who gets to say they’re an expert in giving life advice or promising prosperity to clients for the right fee? And why do people think these self-styled gurus can...

Who Killed Jill Dando?

October 09, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MB

In 1999, Great Britain was shaken when popular BBC news presenter Jill Dando was gunned down at her front door. In their search for the shooter, police examined loved ones, fans, assassins, political extremists, and connections to her popular TV show “Crimewatch.” After months of false leads, a neighbor caught the attention of authorities. Would a single particle of gunpowder be enough to convict a suspect of killing the nation’s most beloved television star…or put the wrong man in jail? Th...

Only Murders in The Building s3

October 04, 2023 08:05 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MB

When last we saw our heroes, temperamental actor Ben Gilroy had died on stage at the premier of Oliver’s new Broadway show. But a very-much alive Ben returns from the hospital, only to plummet to his death  in the Arconia’s elevator shaft. Who among the cast and crew would want Ben dead? Oliver fears the show will tank if it’s a cast member - like the alluring Loretta Durkin whom he’s crushing on. Charles is struggling with both his love life and the musical’s patter song. Meanwhile Mabel is...

Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia University

October 02, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MB

After a patient reported Dr Robert Hadden assaulted her in the exam room, many women came forward with similar accusations. But aggressive tactics by lawyers for the OB-GYN stymied the prosecution, ultimately resulting in a slap on the wrist. Survivors learned behind the hardball maneuvers was Hadden’s employer. For years, Columbia University ignored the complaints against the doctor, choosing to protect its brand instead of its patients. In the Wondery podcast “Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbi...

Scouts Honor

September 28, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MB

Though thought of as a leading youth group for skills and character building, the Boy Scouts often attracted adults who preyed on children. For decades, the national headquarters cataloged these incidents in confidential files, but publicly they denied there was a problem. It wasn’t until a former scout sued that the files were disclosed, revealing leaders knew about, but never acted on, hundreds and hundreds of cases of abuse. And even today, after a multi-billion dollar settlement with vic...

Over My Dead Body: Gone Hunting

September 25, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MB

In December 2000, Florida’s Mike Williams disappeared in alligator-infested waters while duck hunting. His loss seemed to crush his wife Denise and his best friend Brian Winchester. While authorities ruled his presumed-death an accident, his mother Cheryl believed it was foul play. For years, she begged police and reporters to look into Denise’s involvement. It wasn’t until years later, when Denise got an insurance payout and married Brian, did investigators reopen Mike’s case. From Wondery...

Dear Alana,

September 21, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MB

In 2019, Boulder, Colorado residents were shocked by the death by suicide of 24-year-old Alana Chen. The woman who once dreamed of being a nun had struggled with her sexual identity and was left scarred by conversion therapy. The reports intrigued Simon Kent Fung, who interviewed her mother and friends to learn more about Alana’s story. Exploring her inner life through the journals she left behind, Alana’s journey made Simon reflect on the parallels of his own struggles to reconcile his fait...

BS High

September 18, 2023 08:00 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MB

America was introduced to Ohio’s Bishop Sycamore High School during a nationally televised football game. When they lost 58-0, people first questioned how a team so clearly bad made it on to ESPN. But there was a bigger twist: the high school they played for didn’t exist! Coach Ray Johnson had dreamed up Bishop Sycamore just so he could put together a football team. Along the way, he flouted safety rules and sporting codes, while taking financial advantage of the players, creditors, and the ...

The Girlfriends

September 14, 2023 08:00 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MB

In the 1990s, Carole Fisher started dating Doctor Bob Bierenbaum, but she broke it off with the charming physician after seeing his dark side. Carole created a kind of support group among Bob’s ex-girlfriends and talk soon turned to a strange part of his past: the doctor’s first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Gail Katz vanished from New York City in 1985, around the time she told friends she was going to leave Bob. The case stayed cold for years, until detectives turned to ...

Telemarketers

September 11, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MB

Teenager Sam Lipman-Stern started videotaping his eccentric co-workers at a chaotic New Jersey call center which raised money for police organizations. When his friend Pat Pespas discovered Civil Development Group was keeping most of the donations, the pair hoped to expose the fraud. Though the feds took down CDG, Sam and Pat wondered why the police organizations were never held accountable for their role in the scheme. A decade later, the pair resumed their investigation, only to meet resis...

CWO Classic: Wild Wild Country

September 07, 2023 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MB

A cult takes over an Oregon town, then resorts to violence to keep their community…built on love. We'll return to our March 28, 2018 review of Netflix's "Wild Wild Country."  For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Fiasco: Vigilante

September 04, 2023 08:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MB

In 1984, a man shot four Black teens who approached him in a subway car, then vanished into the station. Reflecting New Yorkers’ growing anxiety about crime, the shooter was hailed by residents and the media as “The Subway Vigilante.” The unknown suspect was Bernie Goetz, who told investigators his unrelenting fear of city life fueled his actions. But as a more accurate portrait of the events emerged, a heated debate began whether his use of force was appropriate. And the case became a Rorsc...

CWO Classic: Abducted in Plain Sight

August 31, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.2 MB

How did a man get away with kidnapping his neighbors’ daughter not once - but twice? We'll revisit our January 28, 2019 review of the unforgettable true crime documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Demons & Saviors

August 28, 2023 08:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MB

Teenager Tina Resch made news in the 1980s with stories of supernatural disturbances in her Ohio home. The so-called “Poltergeist Girl” was the focus of academics who wanted to research her powers and skeptics who believed the whole thing was an act. As an adult now going by Christina Boyer, the young mother returned from work to find her three year old Amber fatally injured while in the care of her boyfriend. Though she maintained her innocence, Boyer accepted a life plea to avoid the death...

CWO Classic: Accused season 2

August 24, 2023 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

On this CWO Classic, we revisit our October 20, 2017 split-decision review of Accused season 2.  For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Stephenville

August 21, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MB

After Susan Woods’s killer died from cancer, his diary about the 1987 case was discovered. The 30 year old woman was murdered in her Stephenville, Texas home. Family and friends were convinced the killer was her estranged husband, Michael. Had Stephenville police taken the story of a teenage rape victim more seriously, they might have spotted a big clue to the killer’s identity. But it would take decades and advances in technology to finally solve the cold case.  “Stephenville” from Texas M...

CWO Classic: Catch and Kill

August 17, 2023 08:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MB

On this CWO Classic, we revisit the panel's December 16, 2019 review of Ronan Farrow's "Catch and Kill." For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Last Call

August 14, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MB

In 1992, authorities were slow to make connections between separate murders. A pair of affluent, but closeted men disappeared after leaving New York City gay bars, their dismembered bodies later discovered in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As more men were killed, gay activists tried to sound the alarm that someone was stalking club-goers. But New York police were indifferent to the crimes and hostile to the queer community. The culprit known as The Last Call Killer escaped detection for a dec...

CWO Classic: Missing Richard Simmons

August 10, 2023 08:00 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MB

On this CWO Classic, we revisit our February 24, 2017 review of "Missing Richard Simmons," the first of six episodes dedicated to the groundbreaking podcast series. The panel heralded the arrival of Dan Taberski as a fresh, new voice  in the industry. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Where is Baby Gabriel?

August 07, 2023 08:00 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MB

No one has seen Gabriel Johnson since 2009, when his mother took the eight month old from her home in Arizona to Texas. In the middle of a custody dispute with her ex, Elizabeth Johnson told him she smothered the baby and threw his body in the garbage. When she returned home, Elizabeth had a different story. She said she gave Gabriel up in a black market adoption in San Antonio - a transaction facilitated by a couple who’d been trying to adopt the child themselves. The Peacock series “Wher...

CWO Classic: Beware the Slenderman

August 03, 2023 08:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MB

On this CWO Classic, we revisit of February 3, 2017 review of the scary, provocative HBO documentary, "Beware the Slenderman." It looks at the case of two young girls who stabbed their friend to appease a modern-day internet boogeyman. The panel is split but agrees on one thing: don't watch this one in the dark. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

The Retrievals

July 31, 2023 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Patients at a Yale fertility clinic complained of severe pain during common egg retrieval procedures. Despite nurses’ insistence they’ve received the maximum dosage of fentanyl, the women continued to suffer, unaware they were actually receiving a simple saline solution. After a tampered vial was discovered, authorities arrested an addicted nurse who’d been swapping out the opioid. But the many patients had more questions. Why were their complaints ignored? Could the clinic have done more? A...

CWO Classic: Crimetown

July 27, 2023 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MB

On this CWO Classic, we look back at our December 9, 2016 review of "Crimetown." Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier take us to Providence, Rhode Island, a city where organized crime corrupted every aspect of public life. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Suspect: Five Shots in the Dark

July 24, 2023 08:00 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MB

Leon Benson says he’s innocent of the 1998 murder of Kasey Schoen, who was shot in his truck in Indianapolis. Despite his alibi, no motive, and a lack of physical evidence, Leon was convicted based on a cross-racial identification from 150 feet at night. Attorney Lara Bazelon looks for clues to winning Leon’s exoneration. Was evidence about alternative suspects withheld? And should Bazelon’s team approach the man they believe actually pulled the trigger? “Suspect: Five Shots in the Dark” is...

CWO Classic: Lost Girls

July 20, 2023 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MB

Fresh off the news of an arrest in the Long Island serial killer case, we go back to March 23, 2020 for the panel's review of Netflix's film adaptation of "Lost Girls" staring Amy Ryan. Does this two-hour dramatization of Bob Kolker's excellent book live up to the expansive source material? For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Dark Valley

July 17, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MB

In 1988, twenty-two year old Jane Boroski was attacked at a soda vending machine. The seven-month-pregnant New Hampshire woman was stabbed 27 times and left for dead. Boroski is believed to be the last victim and only survivor of the Connecticut River Valley Killer, a suspect who murdered at least seven women between 1978 and ‘88. Decades later, the question remains why did he kill and where did he go? In the podcast “Dark Valley'' from Crawlspace Media and Glassbox Media, Jennifer Amell lo...

Shiny Happy People

July 10, 2023 08:00 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MB

America was fascinated with the lives of the Duggars, a devout Christian family with 19 children and their own reality TV show. While they projected an image of wholesomeness on screen, off screen the Duggars tried to cover up allegations their son Josh had molested his sisters. The Duggars’ views on marriage, education, and childrearing were formed by the Institute of Basic Life Principles, a radical religious organization that espoused obedient children and subservient wives. Its practice...