Criminal

An illustration of a beautifully bound book with a knife stabbed through it, dripping with ink.

The Gatekeeper

Episode #75

2017-09-22 23:18:36

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"I keep saying, 'Where's the body? Kill someone'," Marilyn Stasio told us. She reads at least 200 crime novels a year to determine which are worthy of her prestigious "Crime Column" in the New York Times Book Review. We talk with her about crime as entertainment — and why people are...
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Catastrophe

Episode #74

2017-09-08 23:13:58

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In 1993, more than 1,000 levees broke along the Mississippi River, flooding thousands of acres. Most of these cases were accidents due to the river rising well above its usual levels. But in West Quincy, Missouri, where there was another culprit, James Scott. His crime? Knowingly causing a catastrophe by...
An illustration of Carry Nation, with a hatchet in one arm and an open book in the other.

Carry A. Nation

Episode #73

2017-08-18 23:09:11

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At the turn of the century, Carry Nation was “America’s foremost lady hellraiser” and "the apostle of reform violence.” A radical member of the temperance movement, Carrie Nation was known for attacking saloons, bars, and pubs with a hatchet engraved with name. In her own words, she was "a bulldog...
An illustration of mounds of earth with bears in a line between them.

Bears, Birds, and Bones

Episode #72

2017-08-04 22:40:30

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As long as 2,500 years ago, Native Americans placed the bones of their dead in giant mounds of earth in the shape of animals. The Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa was created to protect one set of these — and the bones inside. But in 2011, a new superintendent,...
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A Bump in the Night

Episode #71

2017-07-21 02:31:30

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Amber Dawn was 20 when she moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Enumclaw, Washington. On her very first night, she began to notice strange sounds. And they didn't stop.
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The Procedure

Episode #70

2017-07-07 23:10:04

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In 1967, a very unlikely group of individuals gathered to help women quietly break the law and obtain an abortion. The first step was to call a phone number. A recording of a woman's voice would tell you what do to next.
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Becoming Chief Brown

Episode #69

2017-06-16 02:25:37

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Shortly after David Brown was sworn in as the Dallas Chief of Police, his son shot and killed a police officer. Just before he retired as chief, five Dallas officers were shot and killed in what was said to be the deadliest attack for police officers since September 11th, 2001....
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All the Time in the World

Episode #68

2017-06-02 02:49:17

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The “body farm” at Texas State University is a place almost no one is allowed to see, because it’s one of very few places in the world that deliberately puts out human bodies to decompose in nature. Forensic Anthropologists observe decomposition in order to help police officers discern when and...
An illustration of a milk carton with a Missing Child notice on it.

Milk Carton Kids

Episode #67

2017-05-19 01:45:25

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On a Sunday morning in 1982, in Des Moines, Iowa, Johnny Gosch left his house to begin his usual paper route. A short time later, his parents were awakened by a phone call — it was a neighbor — their paper hadn't come. His would be the first face of...
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Bully

Episode #66

2017-05-05 02:40:51

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Skidmore, Missouri, is a very small town. In the ’70s, there was only one bar, one grocery store, and one bully. Ken McElroy was so ruthless and intimidating that even police officers looked the other way. He terrorized the town for decades, until they finally fought back. We spoke with...
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The Kingfish

Episode #65

2017-04-21 02:21:22

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In 1928, Huey P. Long became the youngest Governor in Louisiana’s history. He bragged that he bought lawmakers like “sacks of potatoes, shuffled ‘em like a deck of cards.” By the time he was 39 years old, he’d made his way to the U.S. Senate. And just a couple of...
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420

Episode #64

2017-04-07 02:04:02

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The Colorado Department of Transportation says the 420 mile markers on the state's highways were stolen so often, they had to replace them with 419.99 mile markers. Many people know that "420" represents marijuana — hence the popularity of the mile markers — but very few know why. It's not...
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Rochester, 1991

Episode #63

2017-03-17 01:14:10

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Kim Dadou says she wishes she had a nickel for every person who has asked why she didn't leave her abusive boyfriend Darnell Sanders. The two dated for four years and Darnell Sanders was routinely violent. But in the middle of the night on December 17th, 1991, Kim Dadou’s entire...
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Wildin

Episode #62

2017-03-03 04:03:32

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In 2014, 16-year-old Wildin Acosta left Olancho, Honduras and traveled toward the U.S. border. When he arrived, he turned himself in to border patrol agents. He was one of 68,541 unaccompanied minors who crossed the border into the U.S. that year. We spoke to Wildin Acosta shortly after Donald Trump’s...
A two-frame illustration of a man in a shallow grave, and a canoe in water near a cityscape.

Vanish

Episode #61

2017-02-17 01:09:43

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People have faked death to escape criminal convictions, debts, and their spouses. In 2007, a man named Amir Vehabovic faked his death just to see who showed up at the funeral (answer: only his mom). John Darwin faked his own death in a canoeing accident in the UK. And the...
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Finding Sarah and Philip

Episode #60

2017-02-03 03:39:41

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In 2005, Teri Knight drove 650 miles on midwestern roads through Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois, pleading with the public to help her do what the police and the FBI had not been able to: find the remains of her children Sarah and Philip Gehring. An Ohio woman named Stephanie...