It was just another quiet neighborhood in small town America. At least, that’s how it looked. But the immaculately groomed yards, trimmed hedges, and brightly colored flower gardens hid an insidious secret.
More than a hundred residents were members of a cult called The Zion Society. Hiding in plain sight, they hoarded guns and ammunition. They created, sold, and modeled sexy lingerie. They took children away from parents and groomed them for sexual abuse.
Their beliefs were centered around satisfying the perverted desires of one man – their leader: an unassuming, soft-spoken landscaper. Neighbors knew something was amiss, but it wasn’t until a brave young woman broke away from the secretive group and confessed to authorities that everything began to unravel for this dangerous cult. This is the story of that unraveling told by the people who lived it.
Launched in the UK in 2022, The Trial is an award-winning, chart-topping podcast that goes behind the headlines of some of the biggest trials in the world. We take you into the courtroom, bringing you the detail as the evidence unfolds, examining key moments and carrying out exclusive interviews with detectives, victims, and experts.
The Trial series occasionally uses actors and some voices generated by AI. Their words are taken as verbatim from the official court transcript.
For ad-free listening to all of our shows, exclusive bonus episodes of The Trial every week, and complete access to our show archives, subscribe to The Crime Desk now.
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Whether it’s a true crime case or one of history’s most unsettling stories, we understand that the devil is in the details. In each episode, we comb through the facts, scrutinize the suspects, and deliver the disturbing stories that keep you on the edge of your seat. If you enjoy evidence-driven storytelling with a dash of gallows humor to make the disturbing (somewhat) tolerable, we suspect this is the pod for you. But this is A Trial by Podcast, so we’ll let you be the judge.
Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling love true crime – in fact, they’re a little bit obsessed. And now they want to share that obsession with you.
Join Laura and Iain as they dive deep into some of the world’s most jaw-dropping crime stories. Expect murder, mayhem, blackmail, betrayal, and more.
Each week, the pair choose a new crime and divulge all the details you’re dying to know. They unpick the crucial moments and get to the heart of the whodunnit – all while making each other laugh along the way.
Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode!
If you would like to send us a message, email lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk and join the conversation using the hashtag #MTWPod
Serial Killers & Murderous Minds takes you deep into the psychology of history’s most chilling murderers, from infamous serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy to ruthless cult leaders, deadly exes, and spree killers. Every Monday and Thursday, hosts Vanessa Richardson and Dr. Tristin Engels, a clinical and forensic psychologist, blend gripping true crime storytelling with expert analysis to uncover what drives people to kill. What fuels their darkness? How do their minds work? And most hauntingly, could they have been stopped?Serial Killers & Murderous Minds is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Follow us on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to @crimehousestudios on YouTube and follow us @crimehouse on Instagram.
Two brothers are on trial for the August 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. The brothers were arrested in March 1990 after Erik confessed during a session with his psychologist. During the highly publicized trial, the prosecution claimed the motive was greed, as the brothers stood to inherit $14 million. The defense claimed that it was an act of self–defense in a desperate attempt to escape years of childhood family violence and sexual abuse.
Every day, hundreds of people go about their lives with no idea that someone has paid to have them killed. In the depths of the dark net, tech journalist Carl Miller makes a disturbing discovery: a secret “kill list” targeting hundreds of innocent people on a murder-for-hire website. When the police are slow to investigate, Carl is thrown into a race against time to warn those in danger and uncover the truth before it’s too late. From Wondery and Novel comes a shocking true story about obsession, control and the price of life and death.
Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Kill List ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
When 18-year-old Niamh Maye went missing in 2002, her family did everything they could to help the police find her. But, like so many missing persons cases, there comes a time when the leads dry up and there’s nowhere left to look. Researching what was to be a single episode, the Casefile host found so many intriguing elements, he took four years to make this incredible series.
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On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 to report that someone was trying to enter her Chicago housing project apartment through the bathroom medicine cabinet. Police thought she was imagining things, but when authorities finally checked on McCoy two days later, they found her dead with four gunshot wounds. Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder, revisits the real-life account of McCoy’s strange death – one of the inspirations for the Candyman horror film. Hosted by journalist and Chicago native Dometi Pongo, this 6-episode limited series – produced by 48 Hours and CBS News – explores why McCoy’s desperate calls for help were ignored, the surprising outcome of her murder trial, and the broader systemic issues of racial injustice, housing inequality, and the stigma of mental illness that surround this tragic event.
Former reality TV executive and Washington Parish native Tucker Simmons returns to his South Louisiana hometown to dig into long-standing rumors of corruption, intimidation, and drug trafficking. Not only are politicians and religious leaders implicated—his own family is rumored to be involved. But when a tip uncovers the truth about the 2017 death of Donna Smith Arceneaux, everything changes. Freeze Frame is a documentary-style series exposing a tangled web of betrayal, blackmail, and murder buried for years in a small town where nothing is as it seems.
The saga begins 10.1.24. Follow to be notified.
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