True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History

Dan Zupansky
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Dec 4, 2018 • 1h 19min

WARNINGS UNHEEDED-Andy Brown

The true story of Air Force men and women who struggle to prevent a mass murder and an aviation disaster, and their heroic response to both tragedies when their warnings go unheeded.Have you ever heard someone say that a tragedy struck without warning? On 20 June 1994, a former airman sought vengeance with a rifle at the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital. Four days later a rogue pilot crashed a B-52 outside of Fairchild's Nuclear Weapon Storage Area. Both tragedies had been predicted and repeatedly warned about. Warnings Unheeded is a rare look inside the troubled mind of a would-be active shooter. It is an exclusive look at a talented pilot whose dangerous flying prompted aircrews to refuse to fly with him. It is a look at the leadership culture that allowed both men to travel unchecked on the pathway toward destruction.This unique true-crime book reads like a suspense novel, densely packed with details garnered from medical records, police reports and first-hand accounts obtained from journal entries, letters, witness statements and personal interviews. These empowering stories detail the heroic response to the tragedies, the events that lead up to them, the precursors of violence and disaster and the traumatic aftermath.Written by Andy Brown, the man who ended the hospital killing spree. Brown's narrative focuses mainly on others, including the heroic life-saving actions of hospital patrons and staff, but he also describes the preparations he made which enabled him to win a pistol-versus-rifle gunfight as well as his own experience with the effects of trauma. WARNINGS UNHEEDED: Twin Tragedies at Fairchild Air Force Base-Andy Brown Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 29, 2018 • 1h 2min

SAVING ANNIE-Book Two-The Investigator-Steve Jackson

In March 2009, pretty, vivacious Rhonda Casto plunged to her death from a 300-foot cliff in the Oregon woods. The only witness, Stephen Nichols, the father of her nine-month-old baby, Annie, told police investigators she slipped and fell. Yet, Nichols’ story didn’t quite mesh with the facts. And some of his other actions raised suspicions as well, including just days after her death trying to collect on a million-dollar life insurance policy he’d taken out on his unemployed, 23-year-old girlfriend four months earlier. What had begun with a 911 call to report an accident, quickly turned into a homicide investigation. However, in part due to lackluster police work, the case grew cold. Then in 2011, Dardie Robinson, a tenacious investigator with a Portland law firm began digging into the circumstances surrounding Rhonda's death. The law firm represented Rhonda’s mother, who believed that Nichols, 34 at the time, had murdered her daughter. She wanted to prevent him from gaining custody of Annie and the life insurance money. What Robinson discovered, including an attempt by Nichols to throw his first wife off a high-rise balcony in China, as well as sexual abuse allegations with Rhonda's underaged sister, convinced her that Rhonda’s death was no accident. So began her six-year battle to ‘save Annie’ from her own father and find justice for Rhonda. In the meantime, a parallel investigation into the case by co-authors Steve Jackson, an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author, and private investigator Tom McCallum, posed the same questions. What really happened to Rhonda Casto on that cold, rainy afternoon on the Eagle Creek trail? And what would become of her child? SAVING ANNIE-Book Two-The Investigator-Steve jackson Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 27, 2018 • 1h 19min

WRECKING CREW-Demolishing the Case Against Steven Avery-John Ferak

In 2016-17, while working for the USA TODAY NETWORK's Wisconsin Investigative Team, author John Ferak wrote dozens of articles examining the murder case again Steven Avery, who had already beat one wrongful conviction only to be charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. The case became the wildly successful Netflix "Making A Murderer" documentary. In WRECKING CREW: Demolishing The Case Against Steven Avery, Ferak lays out in exacting detail the post-conviction strategy of Kathleen Zellner, the high-profile, high-octane lawyer, to free Avery. To write this book, Zellner, perhaps America's most successful wrongful conviction attorney, gave Ferak unique access to the exhaustive pro bono efforts she and her small suburban Chicago law firm dedicated for a man she believes to be a victim of an unscrupulous justice system in Manitowoc County. WRECKING CREW: Demolishing The Case Against Steven Avery-John Ferak Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 20, 2018 • 1h 33min

IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU-Rebecca Morris

A DEVOTED MOTHER GOES MISSINGEvery once in a great while a genuine murder mystery unfolds before the public's eyes…Such is the tragic case of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden. When the pretty Utah mother went missing in December of 2009, the media was swept up in the story?with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to Susan?and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm. It was hard to know what, or who, to believe.AND A CYCLE OF DEVASTATION BEGINS…Over the next three years, bombshell by bombshell, a world of secrets about the Powell family came to light. Josh's father, Steve, who was sexually obsessed with Susan, would ultimately be convicted of unspeakable perversion. Josh's brother, Michael, would commit suicide. And in the most stunning event of them all, Josh Powell would murder his two little boys before killing himself. Why did he do it? What really happened to Susan? This is the shocking true story of the Powell family that no reader will soon forget. IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children-Rebecca Morris Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 15, 2018 • 1h 18min

THE LAST MAN STANDING-Alan R. Warren

It was a shattering death bed confession by a heartbroken mother. But would it solve the oldest cold case murder case in American jurisprudence?In January 1994, Eileen Tessier told Jack McCullough’s half-sister Janet Tessier that he, her son, kidnapped 7-year-old Maria Ridulph from their neighborhood in Sycamore, Illinois and killed her in December 1957. It was a case that tore the child’s family apart, as well as dividing and terrifying the town as the days, then the months, and finally the years passed with no arrest.In 2008 the Illinois State police reopened the case against Jack after receiving an email from Janet Tessier about their mother’s deathbed confession. After the Illinois State police interviewed Janet and learned that Jack had also been accused of raping their other sister, Jeanne Tessier, they reopened the case. But would reopening the case solve the question of who killed Maria Ridulph? And was McCullough the killer?In THE LAST MAN STANDING, true crime author Alan Warren writes in exacting detail about the kidnapping, murder and subsequent investigations—both in 1957 and 2008—that eventually led to the murder conviction of Jack McCullough. But the story doesn’t stop there as it delves into the years McCullough spent in prison and the efforts to have his conviction overturned.Was McCullough the brutal killer of a little girl? Or was he the last man standing when the justice system decided he needed to pay for the crime? You decide. THE LAST MAN STANDING Is Jack Daniel McCullough: A True Story-Alan R. Warren Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 13, 2018 • 1h 17min

TOXIC RAGE-A.J. Flick

Brian Stidham fell in love with Tucson, Ariz., the minute he came to town. A young and talented eye surgeon, he accepted a job with an established eye surgeon to take over his pediatric patients.“It’s a beautiful place,” Stidham told a friend. “I can live right there by the mountains and go hiking. It’s a great deal for me there. The partner I’ll be working with is ultracool. He’s giving me the keys to the kingdom.”Brad Schwartz, the doctor who hired Brian, was ambitious and possessed surgical skills few others had. But he was a troubled man.Within a year of Stidham’s arrival in Tucson, the medical relationship would be severed by Schwartz’s personal troubles. Stidham broke away to start his own practice. Rumors abounded within the medical community that Schwartz was incensed and considered the departure a betrayal. His rage grew, even driving a wedge between him and his fiancée, Lourdes Lopez, a former prosecutor.Three years after Stidham moved to Tucson, his life ended in an empty, darkened parking lot. But who would murder such a nice man in such a violent manner? Lourdes, who had witnessed Schwartz’s toxic rage toward his former partner, feared she knew. But would her suspicions be enough to catch the killer? TOXIC RAGE: A Tale Of Murder In Tucson-A.J. Flick Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 9, 2018 • 1h 22min

THE CREEP AMONG US-Anne Penn

The Creep Among Us, the true story of the next chapter. Investigations and research which entails some of what we know a little more than five months into solving who The East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker, Golden State Killer is. The story continues after the ARREST of Joseph James DeAngelo on April 24, 2018 in Sacramento, California. The trial estimated to begin in about four years will be unprecedented as several jurisdictions will try DeAngelo in Sacramento at the same time. There have been multitudes of articles and information that have come out in the five months since the arrest. DeAngelo was found from DNA left at the scenes of his many rapes and then murders over a ten year time span 1976-1986. A profile downloaded to GEDmatch as well as experts who traced his profile to his family tree were instrumental in the final arrest of a man whose DNA matched the suspect with a 100% match. Anne Penn is just one of hundreds of people involved in the story who needed to investigate the details. He truly was the creep hiding among us. The creepiest thing of all is he was living among his victims in his favorite attack areas in the East Sacramento area of Citrus Heights for most of the last 42 years. We shall see how the investigators connect all of the dots. Ms. Penn was compelled to follow this story through to justice. Her investigations into the details of who this perpetrator is and how we missed him in 1979 are something she had to ask questions about. Larry Crompton has written his thoughts after the arrest and they are included. Mark Smith discusses the ballistics involved in some of the murders. Many ran the idea that the criminal was in Law Enforcement throughout the many years. Mr. Smith discusses how we could have and should have determined that this man was a cop. THE CREEP AMONG US: Golden State Killer After The Arrest-Anne Penn Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 7, 2018 • 1h 27min

MY SON, THE KILLER-The Untold Story of Luka Magnotta-Brian Whitney

BEFORE NETFLIX'S DON'T F**CK WITH CATS: Hunting an Internet Killer-Brian Whitney had an exclusive interview with Luka Magnotta for his book, My Son The Killer. In 2012, the Canadian Press ignited a firestorm of criticism by naming killer Luka Magnotta as its “Newsmaker Of The Year.” But while the recognition was questionable for its sensitivity, there’s no doubt that few people had captured the public’s attention like the young murderer and internet sensation.A male escort and sometimes model, Magnotta had earned his notoriety by videotaping himself stabbing Chinese student Lin Jun to death with an ice pick and dismembering the body, before posting the video online. After mailing Jun’s hands and feet to elementary schools, he then led Interpol on a manhunt that ended when he was arrested at an Internet café in Berlin where he was reading news stories about himself. An international celebrity in a macabre sort of way, with a legion of fans, Magnotta was brought back to Canada, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to prison. During this time, Anna Yourkin, his estranged mother, troubled by Magnotta’s abused childhood and her role in that, reconnected with her killer son. Despite his internet fame, Magnotta never agreed to any in-depth interviews. Now Magnotta has given award-winning journalist and author, Brian Whitney (RAW DEAL, THE SHAWCROSS LETTERS) an exclusive look inside the mind of this “social media” killer. Joining Whitney to tell this unique true crime story is Anna Yourkin. The book also contains exclusive photos provided by Yourkin. MY SON, THE KILLER: The Untold Story of Luka Magnotta and "1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick"-Brian Whitney. Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Nov 1, 2018 • 1h 5min

INCONVENIENCE GONE-Diane Marger Moore

Where is Brandon Sims? The four-year-old had not been seen since July 3, 1992, when he attended a birthday party with his twenty-year-old mother, Michelle Jones. Jones was employed, confident, talented, smart, assertive and involved in many community activities in Indianapolis, Indiana. In contrast, when he was last seen, Brandon Sims, an only child, was a serious, quiet, thin boy who rarely maintained eye contact with his mother. After that night, he was never seen again. His body has never been found. For years Jones lied to her friends about Brandon, telling some that he was living with his father and others that he was staying with his grandmother in another state. When Brandon’s father, who had been in jail, came looking for Brandon, Michelle’s shocked friends confronted her. She confessed that Brandon was dead. She repeated her story of how Brandon died to a detective, after she admitted herself to the local psych unit. Days later she checked out of the unit and refused to reveal where he had hidden Brandon’s body. She was sure she had gotten away with murder.And she would have except the detective didn’t believe her story. He enlisted the help of a novice prosecutor because no experienced prosecutor would take the case. In Indiana, no one had ever been convicted of murder without a body. That prosecutor has written a book that reads like a mystery novel instead of the real murder prosecution. Truth is stranger than fiction where Santeria curses, the law and politics are only a few of obstacles to justice. INCONVENIENCE GONE: The Short Tragic Life of Brandon Sims-Diane Marger Moore Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com
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Oct 30, 2018 • 1h 4min

WRITTEN IN BLOOD-Diane Fanning

Michael Peterson was driven to succeed.An army brat-turned-marine, he saw combat in Vietnam, and returned a decorated soldier. An avid reader, his dreams of being an acclaimed novelist came true. His desire to find love was fulfilled when he married brilliant executive Kathleen Atwater, the first female student accepted at Duke University’s School of Engineering. The Petersons seemed the ideal academic couple— well-respected, prosperous, and happy.All that came crashing down in December of 2001, when Kathleen apparently fell to her death in their secluded home in an exclusive area of Durham, North Carolina. But blood-spattered evidence and a missing fireplace poker suggested calculated, cold-blooded murder. Her trusted husband stood accused.Then the most damaging evidence of all surfaced: Sixteen years earlier, Peterson was the last person to see his neighbor alive–before she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her home in Germany. A dramatic trial followed in the explosive final chapter of a life that no novelist could ever have conceived. WRITTEN IN BLOOD: A True Story of Murder and a 16-year-old Secret that Tore a Family Apart-Diane Fanning Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

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