True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

#1 New Release in Forensic Psychology ─ Small Town Charm With Deadly ConsequencesA collection of non-fiction accounts by international writers and experts on small town true crime shows readers that the real monsters aren’t hiding in the woods, they’re inside our towns.Small towns aren’t always what they seem. We’ve been told nothing bad happens in small towns. You can leave your doors unlocked, and your windows wide open. We picture peaceful hamlets with a strong sense of community, and everyone knows each other. But what if this wholesome idyllic image doesn’t always square with reality? Small towns might look and feel safe, but statistics show this isn’t really true.Tiny town, big crime. Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story―they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe. Discover how unsolved murders, kidnapping, shooting sprees, violent robbery, and other bad things can and do happen in small towns all over the world. THE BEST NEW TRUE CRIME STORIES: Small Towns-New and Original Stories, Never Before Told, Criminology, Forensic Psychology, fans of Unspeakable Acts-Mitzi Szereto

There are two parts to every crime story: how they did it and why they got caught.This book is about the second part, and how it changes the way we catch serial killers. No two stories about the capture of a serial killer are the same. Sometimes, the killers make crucial mistakes; other times, investigators get lucky. And the process of profiling, hunting, and apprehending these predators has changed radically over time, particularly in the field of criminal forensics, which has exploded in the last ten to 15 years. Laser ablation, video spectral analysis, cyber-sleuthing, and even DNA-based genetic genealogy are now crucial tools in solving murders, including the recent capture of the so-called Golden State Killer. This book in the new Profiles in Crime series tells the history of forensics through the “capture stories” of some of the most notorious serial killers, going back almost a century.The killers include:Rodney Alcala, a serial rapist and murderer sometimes called “Dating Game killer” for his appearance on that TV show. No one knows the exact number of his victims.Takahiro Shiraishi, the suicide killer from Zama, Japan, who dismembered nine victims and stored their bodies in his refrigerator.Aileen Wuornos, one of the rare female serial killers. She shot seven men in Florida and was turned in by an accomplice.Jeffrey Dahmer, the “Milwaukee Cannibal,” and Bobby Joe Long, both identified by survivorsTed Bundy and David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”), who both made mistakesLudwig Tessnow, who killed several children in Germany, and was caught through new methods in forensic investigation that could distinguish human from animal blood. HOW TO CATCH A KILLER: Hunting and Capturing the World's Most Notorious Serial Killers -Katherine Ramsland

Gabriel Wortman was a 51-year-old Denturist with a successful practice where he worked with his common-law partner. They were staying in the tiny seaside community of Portapique, Nova Scotia, Canada.The Coronavirus pandemic had been declared by the World Health Organization and with the resulting personal restrictions Wortman was not allowed to work. He felt it necessary to stockpile food, firearms and $800 dollars in gasoline. He also decided to transfer money from his bank account to a Brink's facility. On March 30th, 2020 he took out 475,000 in cash.Gabriel Wortman in his graduating high school yearbook wrote, "That his future may include being a RCMP officer." One of his hobbies was restoring RCMP police cars he had bought at auctions. He had purchased 4 former police cars and bought roof lights and siren for one of the cars through an on-line auction and he and his friends installed it. He had an official looking RCMP police decal created by his neighbour and drinking buddy Peter Alan Griffon, who in 2017 was convicted of cocaine trafficking and weapons charges, linking him with the La Familia drug cartel in Mexico. Wortman even managed to acquire an official RCMP uniform. Wortman told friends that the restored RCMP car project was to be a type of tribute to fallen officers...WANNA BE COP KILLER: Mass Murder and the RCMP-Dan Zupansky

When we face challenges in life, we seek answers from people we believe can help us. When tragedy strikes an exclusive retreat with a self-help superstar, many people are left to wonder: how far is too far? James Arthur Ray was an Oprah-endorsed self-help teacher who achieved fame, fortune, and influence. But friends and family members of his followers questioned his unorthodox methods, and tried to stop him. From Wondery, the makers of “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” and “The Shrink Next Door,” comes a story about the dark side of enlightenment. Hosted by journalist Matt Stroud. Wondery presents GURU: The Dark Side of Enlightenment.Listen today at: wondery.fm/truemurder_guru

Two hundred FBI agents and Nassau County police officers combined forces to form a dragnet, hunt for his kidnappers, and rescue him.Teich lay handcuffed and chained to the walls of a closet in the Bronx with a medical bandage wrapped around his head to cover his eyes. His captors demanded that his wife, Janet, drop a bag with $750,000 (the equivalent of four million dollars in today’s currency) in a locker at Penn Station, making the Jack Teich ransom one of the highest in U.S. history at the time.FBI and Nassau County police detectives spent over a year before finally uncovering the meticulously planned kidnapping ploy hatched by radical mastermind Richard Warren Williams. The FBI internally dubbed the Jack Teich kidnapping operation “Jacknap.”The real-life crime drama that followed proved stranger than fiction, involving a tense across-the-country manhunt, a trailer in California stuffed with tens of thousands of ransom dollars hidden inside, a contentious jury trial that dominated NYC headlines for months; a guilty verdict that was overturned twenty-one years later on a controversial technicality; a retrial stymied by a mysterious fire that incinerated court records; and a civil verdict ruling that the kidnapper pay Jack Teich back the ransom money, plus interest.Operation Jacknap tells the incredible true crime story that continues even now. Indeed, as of this writing, no one knows where the majority of the ransom money is located.Inside, Teich also details his offer of a reward to anyone helping track down the still missing money and kidnappers. OPERATION JACKNAP: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom, and Rescue-Jack Teich

It's one of the most shocking unsolved missing-child cases in the world. Where is Kyron Horman? Why hasn't the woman who police suspect is responsible for his 2010 disappearance-Kyron's stepmother-been charged? That the seven-year-old disappeared from his grade school got the attention of parents around the world. The twists of the case -adultery, sexting, murder-for-hire-keep the story in the media spotlight. New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Morris tells the minute-by-minute, day-by-day story of the long investigation, the search for Kyron, and his family's heartache. Based on years of research and interviews with Kyron's family, "Boy Missing" also examines what recourse families have as they wait for a loved one to be found and challenges a common assumption in no-body cases: that prosecutors must wait until there is a confession or remains are found. No-body cases can be prosecuted successfully. BOY MISSING: The Search for Kyron Horman-Rebecca MorrisMURDER#fabfitfunpartner

It's February 2nd 1922, and all of Hollywood is about to wake up and learn that William Desmond Taylor, the most famous film director in town, was murdered in his home last night. The investigation will shine a light on some of Hollywood's most scandalous affairs, backroom deals, and underground drug dens. This real life Murder Mystery is one of the most iconic "whodunnit" cases of the 20th century that will leave you guessing and second guessing who killed William Desmond Taylor for weeks to come.Listen today at wondery.fm/truemurderMiH

Did Mike accidentally drown in a Florida lake?Or was his disappearance the result of a sinister plot to kill him?The crisp, predawn hours of December 16, 2000, began much as they had many Saturdays for avid duck hunter Mike Williams—on Lake Seminole, where he’d go to relax after a stressful workweek. The Florida State grad was juggling fatherhood with a thriving real estate appraisal career. And that very evening, he and his high school sweetheart, Denise, planned to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary.But Mike Williams never returned home.When an intense search of the lake’s marshy waters turned up only his hunting boat and a camouflage hat, investigators reached the morbid conclusion he’d fallen overboard and drowned, his body eaten by alligators. Nearly two decades passed before the dark secrets hidden at Lake Seminole—and elsewhere—were finally revealed.EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE is a diabolical tale of betrayal, greed, and deception—and of a courageous mother who devoted her life and savings to uncovering the truth of what really happened to her son. EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE: The Shocking True Story Surrounding the Disappearance of Mike Williams-Steven B. Epstein

What is the price of passion? What is the power of love?Meet Martha Beck, a young nurse dedicated to healing others, until her own hurting heart lured her down a darker path. Loneliness led her to Raymond Fernandez, but love led her all the way to the electric chair.This is the tragic story of the Lonely Hearts Killers. TORTURED WITH LOVE: The True Crime Romance of the Lonely Hearts Killers-J.T. Hunter

A compilation of six fascinating historical true crime stories, all geographically attached or close to the author’s childhood home. There’s Killer of the Cloth, The Baby in the Convent, Mosquito Point Road, Death of a First Baseman, The Blue Gardenia, and Pure/Evil. Three of the killers are female. MOSQUITO POINT ROAD: Monroe County Murder & Mayhem-Michael Benson

For the first time, Boston reporters Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge draw on exclusive interviews and exhaustive investigative reportage to tell the complete story of Whitey Bulger, one of the most notorious crime bosses in American history—alongside Al “Scarface” Capone and Vito Genovese—and a longtime FBI informant. The leader of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang and #1 on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, Bulger was indicted for nineteen counts of murder, racketeering, narcotics distribution, and extortion. But it was his sixteen-year flight from justice on the eve of his arrest that made him a legend and exposed deep corruption within the FBI.While other accounts have examined Bulger’s crimes, this remarkable chronicle tells the story of his life on the run, his capture, and his eventual murder inside one of America’s most dangerous prisons—”Misery Mountain”—in 2018. Interweaving the perspectives of Bulger, his family and cohorts, and law enforcement, Hunting Whitey explains how this dangerous criminal evaded capture for nearly two decades and shines a spotlight on the dedicated detectives, federal agents, and prosecutors involved in bringing him to justice. It is also a fascinating, detailed portrait of both Bulger’s trial and his time in prison—including shocking new details about his death at Misery Mountain less than twenty-four hours after his arrival.Granted access to exclusive prison letters and interviews with dozens of people connected to the case on both sides, Sherman and Wedge offer a trove of fascinating new stories and create an incomparable portrait of one of the most infamous criminals in American history. HUNTING WHITEY: The Inside Story of the Capture & Killing of America's Most Wanted Crime Boss-Dave WedgeMurder#fabfitfunpartner

In June 2016, American Joshua Holt traveled to Venezuela to get married. As part of a crackdown on crime under the government of Nicolás Maduro, he and his wife were suddenly rounded up and taken to El Helicoide, a now-infamous prison in the heart of Caracas, known for torture, physical violence and overcrowding. They would spend the next two years there. With the help of journalist Becky Bruce, Josh tells the story of how they managed to find Hope in Darkness. Subscribe today: wondery.fm/truemurderHiD

In the late 1980s, Caitlin Rother wrote for the Berkshire Eagle and the Springfield Union-News in Massachusetts. She returned to California and went to work as a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News after working a year as a freelancer for the Los Angeles Times. Beginning in 1993, she worked as a metro news and investigative reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Caitlin left the paper to write non-fiction books in 2006. Caitlin Rother became a Pulitzer-nominated investigative journalist, and New York Times bestselling author. Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 13 true crime books, and several kindle eBooks. Her book Death on Ocean Boulevard is slated for release in 2021. Caitlin's true crime body of work includes Poisoned Love, Body Parts, Lost Girls, Where Hope Begins/Deadly Devotion, Dead Reckoning, Secrets, Lies and Shoelaces, I'll Take Care of You, Then No One Can Have Her, Naked Addiction, Hunting Charles Manson, Love Gone Wrong, Twisted Triangle, A Complicated Woman, Dead on Delivery and Kill Him Some More. Caitlin will discuss how she got started in true crime writing, the cases that have most effected her career, and the background behind some of the most shocking stories in true crime history. CAITLIN ROTHER TRUE CRIME RETROSPECTIVE-Caitlin Rother

“He promised to kill me when he got out. I believed him. If I wanted justice, I had to fight both him and the courts...maybe kill him first. If I didn’t do something, I was going to die.”This is not a manufactured dialogue from a thriller but the words of attorney Sharon Muse. They came after she survived an attempted kidnapping, rape, and murder at the hands of Hank Morrison, a former client. On April 7, 2006, Muse miraculously escaped from the sociopathic Morrison, only to find that the threat to her life was just beginning. Ineptitude in the justice system threatened to release Morrison and allow him the opportunity to finish the job, which he adamantly pledged to do. Muse would have to fight at every step to ensure her safety.Muse would act as her own advocate, investigator, legal counsel, and bodyguard in the years following the event. Kidnapped by a Client covers the brutal kidnapping, two trials, two appeals, procedural errors galore, one Supreme Court reversal, and even Muse’s intricate plan to murder Morrison before he could get to her. Muse would not ultimately execute that plan, and she would emerge victorious in the legal battle thanks to her faith and her own determination and legal acumen. But her safety is not ensured: Morrison is up for parole in 2026. Muse regularly monitors his status.Muse recounts her stranger-than-fiction story in Kidnapped by a Client. Muse analyzes the failures of the legal system, the mistakes she made, the steps she took to protect herself, and how she has coped with trauma. Listeners will find not only a compelling narrative, but also insight into how to protect oneself and ensure one’s own safety and well-being. KIDNAPPED BY A CLIENT: The Incredible True Story of an Attorney's Fight For Justice-Sharon Muse

THE DOCTOR, THE HITMAN, AND THE MOTORCYCLE GANG: The True Story of One of New Jersey’s Most Notorious Murder for Hire Plots is the true story of the murder of April Kauffman, a beloved and vivacious local radio personality and veterans’ advocate who was found shot to death in the bedroom of her home in Linwood, the affluent town just outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, in May of 2012. In the months leading up to her death, she had uncovered a tangled web of deceit surrounding her husband. She feared he was trying to kill her and that he may harm her family.Her daughter, Kim Pack, never doubted her stepfather Dr. James Kauffman was responsible somehow. Reporter Annie McCormick met Kim Pack on the first anniversary of Kim’s mother’s murder. Over the next five years, McCormick tracked the case even as few clues emerged. She continued to gather information, sorting through gossip, rumors and facts to uncover the doctor’s web of lies. Dr. Kauffman shunned the media and his stepdaughter, moving on with his life in the very same town. Meanwhile, investigators uncovered how the doctor worked with the outlaw motorcycle gang, the Pagans, to run a prescription pill mill out of his New Jersey Office. More illegal deeds would catch the attention of The FBI and DEA. The twists and turns of Dr. Kauffman’s lies and schemes would leave Kim Pack, her tight-knit New Jersey community, and even investigators shocked.The murder case, which has received national attention, was the subject of a 20/20 episode on ABC in the spring of 2018. In THE DOCTOR, THE HITMAN, AND THE MOTORCYCLE GANG, McCormick details the twists and turns in the investigation that dragged on for years until investigators caught an unexpected break that sparked a string of arrests including the arrest of the doctor and several former members of The Pagans. Nearly six years later, authorities charged her husband, Dr. James Kauffman, with her murder. In 2018, a jury convicted a former leader of the Pagans Motorcycle Club with helping to carry out the murder. McCormick includes never before seen or heard details from the investigation through her years of covering the case and she documents the relentless search for justice by April’s family, friends, and her daughter. THE DOCTOR, THE HITMAN, AND THE MOTORCYCLE GANG: The True Story of One of New Jersey's Most Notorious Murder For Hire Plots-Annie McCormick