Top True Crime Podcasts

Host Tristan Redman is a seasoned journalist who doesn’t believe in ghosts. But weird things happened in the bedroom he lived in as a teenager. When he discovers years later that subsequent occupants of the same house have been visited by the ghost of a faceless woman, he’s curious. Because it just so happens that Tristan’s childhood home is right next door to the house where his wife’s great grandmother, Naomi Dancy, was murdered in 1937 – killed by two gunshots to the face. Could there be a connection between the ghost and the murder? Tristan decides to investigate and soon finds himself going where no son-in-law should go, deep into his wife’s family history, asking questions no one wants answered.

Follow Ghost Story on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Ghost Story ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.

If you have a really great ghost story or a wild family drama, reach out to us at GhostStory@wondery.com or call us at 1-347-460-9473 to share more details. Please include your best contact info, so we can follow-up if we're interested in learning more. Who knows? Your story could be the basis for Ghost Story season 2.

Disclaimer: Please note, by submitting your idea, you acknowledge Wondery may already have similar ideas, Wondery is not obligated to you in any manner if Wondery obtained such ideas from sources other than yourself and that you are representing that you are the sole author of the material and this material doesn't violate any third party rights. You also acknowledge other terms and conditions may apply.

The tight knit fabric of a small town can be torn apart when a violent crime happens.

Join host and advocate Hilarie Burton Morgan in the companion podcast to SundanceTV's powerful true crime documentary series, "It Couldn’t Happen Here." Along with key crew from the TV series as her co-hosts, Burton Morgan will dive deeper into the cases covered on the show featuring never before heard archive and a behind the scenes lens of how the team tackles these head-scratching and heart-breaking stories. "It Couldn’t Happen Here" encourages everyone to get curious, get involved, and ask how can I help when it appears the system has failed?

After listening to this podcast, you'll find yourself thinking twice about our series title: "It Couldn't Happen Here". It can, and it does, more than you would think.

For more information on the cases we cover or if you have a case you’d like us to tackle, please follow our advocacy work on @ICHHstories on Instagram and Twitter

In September 2014, 3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob were last seen in the care of their mother, Catherine Hoggle, in Maryland. Sarah and Jacob have never been found. After disappearing for several days, Catherine was arrested and ultimately charged with the children’s murder. Catherine was declared not competent to stand trial shortly after and has been committed to a psychiatric facility until her competency can be restored.

But plenty of people - including some of Catherine’s own family members - have suggested she’s faking incompetence, convinced it’s her path out of prison.

Sarah and Jacob’s dad, Troy, and his wife, Stephanie, continue to search for the kids, desperate for both answers and justice. And now, the clock is ticking. Maryland law requires dismissal of murder charges against a defendant found incompetent to stand trial after the expiration of five years. This means that Catherine could be on the verge of release. Troy, Stephanie and their lawyer, Matt—along with police and prosecutors—are racing to stop that from happening.

In addition to a compelling and tragic personal narrative, this case raises broader issues about mental health and the justice system and the unintended consequences of well-intentioned laws. Journalists Sarah Treleaven and Beth Karas examine a father’s quest for justice and one key question that overshadows this case: Can you really fake being incompetent and get away with murder?

The stories they don’t want told. The truths they want to keep hidden. Delve into a World of Secrets – the home of major BBC global investigations and gripping storytelling. Holding the powerful to account and exposing scandals around the globe.

*FREE Episodes Released every Monday during active seasons. Paid Brevity+ Subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free Listening and Bonus Episodes (Follow link below)**

In this hit investigative podcast, Ryan Wolf investigates some of Australasia's most enduring unsolved criminal cases.

Season Four - Coming Soon

On the night of 9th November 1996, Alana Cecil, who had only recently turned 16, was excited to attend the Djerriwah Bonfire Festival in the small city of Melton, just out of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. When she left home that night it would be the last time her family would ever see her alive. Sometime in the early hours of November 10th 1996, someone or some people took a syringe and injected Alana Cecil twice, once in each arm, with a lethal dose of Heroin. They then dumped her body in the back driveway of a vacant home. Eight years later a DNA breakthrough identified the semen of two men on and in Alana's body. One being a 49 year old man known to Police, who when questioned by Police simply answered 'No Comment'.

Neither these men, nor anyone else has ever been held accountable or responsible for Alana's death. And neither men have been able to offer a valid reason their DNA was present.

For 28 years Alana's family have fought for answers, and justice for Alana. Now through this podcast we're hoping that with your help those responsible for her death will finally get what they deserve.

In Season Four of GUILT - The Night of the Bonfire, Ryan heads Down Under, to Melbourne Australia to search for the truth. What happened to Alana Cecil?

New episode will be coming soon. Subscribers will get early access, bonus episodes and ad free listening. You can subscribe for the price of a coffee every month and support this and all our investigations via Apple through your app, or by following the Acast+ link below.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION RELATING TO THE DEATH OF ALANA CECIL PLEASE CONTACT US AT BREVITYSTUDIOSNZ@GMAIL.COM.

Season Three

In 1989 two Swedish backpackers, Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Urban Hoglin arrived in New Zealand for the trip of a lifetime. And never went home. They were last seen alive together in Thames on April 7th 1989. One year after their mysterious disappearance Urban Hoglin's body would be found and confirmed a brutal murder. But to this day Heidi's body has never been found. Season 3 of GUILT will see Ryan attempt to finally bring an end to this mystery and send Heidi home to her family where she belongs. Ryan will uncover never before heard witnesses, fresh evidence in a Season of the podcast that really has to be heard to be believed.

Season Two

21st June 2004, Jim Donnelly goes to work as usual at the Glenbrook Steel Mill, places his lunch on the bench, gets changed into his work clothes - and is never seen again. In Season Two of Guilt Ryan travels to Waiuku New Zealand in an attempt to finally solve this 18 year mystery, and discovers a baffling and mysterious story with twists at every turn.

Instagram: ryanwolfnz

TikTok: ryanwolfnz

THIS SHOW WAS WRITTEN AND EDITED WITHOUT THE USE OF AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE).

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/guilt.

Expand your listening experience and support the creation of this podcast by becoming an Acast+ Subscriber. Benefits include, Early Release, Ad Free Listening and Bonus Content. https://plus.acast.com/s/guilt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wisconsin is no stranger to high-profile cases and horrific murderers, from the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer to the perplexing Ed Gein. But on a cold night in February 2022, a new name was added to the list of Wisconsin’s worst: Taylor Schabusiness. From the outset, the details of the case shocked even the most hardened detectives and traumatized young rookies. Using Law&Crime Network’s gavel-to-gavel coverage, Severed Affair provides an in-depth narrative of the disturbing case. The Law&Crime original podcast uses exclusive audio and court footage to piece together the gruesome story.

From Ballen Studios, welcome to Bedtime Stories. From the paranormal to the supernatural, unsolved mysteries, strange deaths, cryptids, and the most disturbing of true crime, we’ll bring you stories from around the world, all told in a unique and bone-chilling way. New episodes every Wednesday.

To submit story ideas, email: bedtime.stories@outlook.com

Once upon a time, there were two titans of the crypto industry: Sam Bankman-Fried, the child of Stanford professors and founder of FTX, and Changpeng Zhao, the nomadic founder of Binance. The pair were the faces of crypto, generating billion-dollar fortunes comparable to the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates. That is, until their rivalry threatened to burn the entire industry to the ground.

For years, the pair had waged a cold war as Sam fought to unseat Zhao, or CZ, and dominate the industry. Then, last year, CZ fired a warning shot: one that would send FTX into a downward spiral, and reveal what prosecutors describe as a staggering $8bn fraud at the heart of Sam’s empire. Now, as Sam potentially faces decades in prison, journalist Tom Wright has been investigating the hidden origins of his feud with CZ – starting with a key witness: CZ himself.

Are you ready to venture into the shadows? Dirty Deeds unravels the hidden stories of the fraud and deceit behind some of the biggest international scandals in recent years, told by the investigative journalists who uncovered them.

We’ll bring you reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a worldwide network of journalists who cross borders and bad guys to shine a bright light on some of the world’s most dangerous criminal networks. We’ll travel the globe from the oil fields of Venezuela to the rosewood forests of Namibia to the steppes of Central Asia. And don’t forget the posh London real estate where much of the dirty cash ends up. These are the inside stories of how the powerful, unscrupulous, and well-connected can acquire unimaginable wealth — and of what it takes to expose them.

Dirty Deeds is a Little Gem production for OCCRP. The host is Nick Wallis. The producer is Lindsay Riley at Rethink Audio, with research from Phoebe Adler-Ryan and Riham Moussa.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot behind the Crown Sterling Suites hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. At the same time as the murder, at least ten people saw Toforest Johnson four miles away, at a popular nightclub called Tee's Place. But detectives zeroed in on him as a main suspect in Deputy Hardy’s murder anyway, ultimately resulting in Toforest being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. For over a quarter century, Toforest has been confined to a 5’ by 8’ cell on Alabama’s death row.

In 2019, investigative journalist Beth Shelburne began covering the case, going down a disturbing rabbit hole revealing many unsettling facts that cast grave doubts about Toforest’s guilt. The facts she found tear at the very foundation of the American criminal justice system: No eyewitnesses or physical evidence tied Toforest to the murder; the state tried to convict a different man for the same crime; and perhaps most disturbing of all, Toforest’s conviction relied on an ‘earwitness’ – a woman who claimed to have eavesdropped on an incriminating phone call, a woman whom prosecutors paid for her testimony, in secret. That payment was not disclosed to the jury, Toforest, or his lawyers until after he had been on death row for 17 years.

From the team behind the award-winning hit podcast Bone Valley, Lava for Good’s Earwitness is an 8-episode docuseries that asks the question, “How did an innocent man end up on death row — and why is the state still trying to execute him over the objection of the prosecutor who put him there?” Shelburne’s unprecedented access to key players—the lead detective, lead prosecutor, witnesses, jurors, and the earwitness herself— illuminate a story filled with disturbing twists, frustrating ambiguities, and shocking admissions. The story of Toforest Johnson and the state's enthusiasm for the death penalty in the face of such troubling evidentiary flaws brings to light the failings of a criminal justice system run amok.

Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

**WINNER of Australian Podcast Awards: "Best New Podcast 2023"**

**WINNER of Shorty Impact Award: "By Content (Human Rights) 2023"**

**GOLD HONOR (2nd place) in Shorty Impact Awards: "Best Podcast"**

**FINALIST of Australian Podcast Awards: "Best True Crime Podcast" & "Best Documentary",**

**FINALIST in Anthem Awards: Humanitarian Action & Services**


----

"Finding Ruby", the first season of The Fight of My Life is a 6-part immersive true-crime tale. Join Ruby on her remarkable true story; a journey from the protection of the mountains to the nightmare of an online sex-trafficking den, from the heat of the courtroom to the cool of the aftercare shelter, from fear to freedom, from captivity to restoration. From being lost to being truly found. Through in depth interviews with International Justice Mission (IJM) personnel, police, experts in the law, and experts on the ground, listeners are given an backstage pass to see just what is involved in a rescue operation of this sort, what it takes to fight for justice, and how we can all play a part in stopping this crime hidden in plain sight. Finding Ruby tackles the hard issues and questions head on: just who are these perpetrators of OSEC, and why do they do what they do? Is OSEC a crime of poverty? What is the role of technology in all this? Is there a solution, in our time? Make no mistake, this isn’t a story of a victim, but one of a fierce survivor. Today, Ruby is a leader, an advocate, and a woman with a story and a mission. Ruby has words to say to us all. And we need to listen. One thing is for sure, by the end of Finding Ruby you won’t think the same way about the world we live in… or those who fight to make it better. *The online sexual exploitation of children 

He was a trusted OB-GYN working inside one of the most prestigious universities in the world, an Ivy League school that is home to Nobel Prize winners and medical all-stars. Yet behind closed doors, Dr. Robert Hadden assaulted hundreds — perhaps thousands — of unsuspecting patients. When it looked like no one would be held accountable, the survivors engaged in a decade-long fight for justice.

From the team behind the hit series Dr. Death, host and medical journalist Laura Beil unfurls the story of Dr. Hadden’s horrific behavior and the ensuing cover-up. It’s a story of power: who has it, how they use it, and what it takes to get it back.

Listen to exclusive bonus episodes of Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia University with Wondery+.

How much do you know about the person you love? Sweet Bobby is the #1 chart-topping, award-winning investigative series in search of the world's most sophisticated catfisher.

Listen to the full six-part series, and bonus episodes today. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access to all our investigative series and daily and weekly shows, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.