Top True Crime Podcasts

SEASON 1: On Nov. 8, 1992, Angela "Mischelle" Lawless was murdered on the exit ramp of the interstate near her home in rural Missouri. Less than two years later, an 18-year-old man named Josh Kezer was convicted of the crime. Kezer was exonerated in 2009. This podcast examines the investigation of the murder, and whether law enforcement intentionally convicted an innocent man while protecting the state's star witness from suspicion. This podcast is hosted by a veteran journalist and is based on original reporting, interviews and thousands of pages of records.

SEASON 2: The focus of this season is primarily the focus of mothers and how they're fighting for justice in the deaths of their sons and daughters. Episodes focus on suspicious deaths law enforcement seem to have given up on. We also examine stories of law enforcement officers involved in abuse of power circumstances.

One autumn night in 1997, 18-year-old Anastasia WitbolsFeugen is found brutally murdered, her body discovered in a place meant for eternal rest. But nothing about this case would prove peaceful or simple. Investigative journalist Leah Rothman peels back the layers of a haunting case that defies everything you thought you knew about murder investigations. Does it all come down to one recorded phone call or an eyewitness who may not have seen a thing? Who killed this promising young woman and why? Who is telling the truth and who has a motive to lie? This season's hit podcast promises a heart-stopping journey through a teen tragedy so complex, so twisted, that each episode will leave you questioning: who is The Real Killer?

SEASON 3: Nation of Saints

In 1980, one man held together a fragile peace in the tiny nation of El Salvador: Archbishop Oscar Romero. When he is brutally and publicly assassinated on the pulpit, his murder starts a war that would leave 75,000 dead, and a million more displaced around the globe. Sacred Scandal season 3, Nation of Saints, follows host Jasmine Romero as she uncovers the holy war that followed the Archbishop's death, and led to an unsolved murder in her own family.

SEASON 2: La Luz del Mundo

Sacred Scandal, named one of Podtrac’s Best New Podcasts of 2022, embarks on its second season, focusing on Mexico-based megachurch La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World). It tells the story of Naasón Joaquín García, a self-proclaimed apostle, who is currently behind bars after pleading guilty in June 2022 of sexually abusing girls from his congregation. Naasón is currently serving a nearly 17-year sentence, but maintains his innocence.

Host and investigative journalist Roberta Garza explores Naasón's control over a multitude of devotees, some of whom now describe their experiences in the church as "pure evil." In this true-crime series, survivors share stories about this powerful religious leader and the alleged sexual abuse that followed, many relating to minors.

SEASON 1:

Two decades ago on a calm, dark Miami night, a nun was stabbed nearly 100 times on the grounds of a prestigious private academy and monastery, by student Mykhaylo Kofel. As investigators started asking questions around this Byzantine Catholic School and the gruesome murder, they found more than just her killer. In a search for answers that stretches into some of the most remote villages of Eastern Europe, they uncovered allegations of sexual abuse, secret letters to the Vatican and other mysteries of faith. Sacred Scandal unravels the fuller picture that came to light in the wake of this crime. Led by a former student, told by those who lived through the aftermath, and Kofel himself, the show pieces together a complicated narrative that, twenty years later, still has those closest to it questioning what they truly believe… including a man who’s spent half his life in prison for the crime: “It’s so unbelievable. It definitely wasn’t me. I’m not a killer. No way. That’s not me.” — Mykhaylo Kofel, 2021

In the era of some of the most heinous serial killers of all time, one murderous family went curiously unnoticed: The McCrarys. Led by a psychopathic patriarch and his cunning son-in-law, this Texas clan roamed the country robbing, kidnapping, and killing up to 20 people, most of them taken from donut shops. “Families Who Kill: The Donut Shop Murders” recounts the wild and deeply disturbing story of an unhinged American family and the terrible brutality they unleashed. The podcast features the taped confessions of one of the killers, given when he was serving a life term in Colorado.

All episodes of Families Who Kill are available now. You can binge the series ad-free on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.