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Carol Costello Presents: The God Hook — True Crime
Carol Costello Presents: The God Hook

In Season Two of her true crime series, The God Hook, journalist Carol Costello investigates the complex case of the Ohio Craigslist Killings—and in doing so, unearths the untold story of the crimes that preceded the murders—and the victims who’ve never received justice. Richard Beasley was convicted of murdering three men and attempting to kill a fourth in the fall of 2011, but before that heinous spree, authorities were building a human trafficking case against him. Now, working with the case’s prosecutor, a county sheriff, and many closely involved sources, Carol examines previously unknown details of Beasley’s alleged crimes, and how he used the God Hook to lure his victims and bend them to his will.
In Season One of this podcast, Blind Rage, journalist Carol Costello revisits the first big assignment she covered as a 22-year-old, novice reporter: Phyllis Cottles’ brutal attack. Psychologists call them “Triumphant Survivors,” but Phyllis Cottle was more than a survivor, she used this crime to better herself and the world around her.
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Copyright: © All Rights Reserved 2022-23

Latest Episodes:

S1 E9 | What is There to Live For? Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

Phyllis receives a grave medical update, and begins to question her very existence. As she searches for a way out of the darkness, the media looks for her. And at the urging of her boss, Phyllis decides to take the narrative into her own hands.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E8 | Blue House, Black Eagle Mar 28, 2023

Show notes

Police continue their search throughout Akron for a blue house with a black eagle, which they hope will lead them to the scene of the crimes. But will Phyllis’ descriptions prove accurate? And detectives dig deep to learn more about their suspect’s past — but how will they link him to the crime scene?

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E 7 | A Suspect Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

Detectives zero in on their suspect, Samuel Herring, whose rap sheet stretches back to childhood. But how will they confirm he’s their guy when Phyllis cannot see?

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E 6 | Manhunt Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

Calls flood the hotlines as Akron PD conducts a citywide manhunt to find Phyllis’ attacker. Phyllis’ description of the house fuels the search, though police cannot ask her — blinded and still recovering — to point out the location. And a particular tip leads Detective Chris Contos to a group of witnesses and his first compelling suspect.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

BONUS: Extended Interviews Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

This week, we present a pair of extended interviews with two of the voices in our series: former prosecutor Emily Pelphry, and criminologist Dr. Casey Jordan.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

Guest: Emily Pelphry

(https://denison.edu/people/emily-pelphrey)

Guest: Dr. Casey Jordan

(https://www.drcaseyjordan.com)

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E5 | Who Would Do This? Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

Recovering in her hospital room, Phyllis mines her memory for any details that might help apprehend her attacker. Detective Chris Contos develops theories about what kind of perpetrator the Akron Police Department is dealing with. Carol talks to criminologist Dr. Casey Jordan about the mindset of such a criminal, and discusses the question that’s on everyone’s mind: who would do this?

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E4 | The Living Homicide Victim Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

Police, firefighters, and reporters descend on the smoldering crime scene. In an emergency room at Akron City Hospital, medical staff tend to Phyllis while detectives attempt to interview her. The biggest question of all isn't whether she'll lose her vision, but whether her memory superpowers will be enough to catch the bastard who did this to her.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E3 | Blind Rage Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

Ninety minutes after her abduction, Phyllis, bound and lying down on the back seat of her car, is brutalized and left for dead. Good samaritans rush to her rescue. And host Carol Costello recounts how, as a 22-year-old reporter at WAKR/TV23, word of something strange in East Akron began to spread through the newsroom.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E2 | Terror Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

Phyllis’ nightmare has only just begun. Crumpled onto the floorboard of her Buick, she begins to mentally catalog every detail she can about her knife-wielding attacker as he drives toward an unknown destination where she endures horrible consequences. But a request from the assailant and an eye-catching object provide her with the ammo she needs to not only survive, but to “fry the bastard.”

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Chris Aiola

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Contributor - Nijah Golliday

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

S1 E1 | That Day Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

March 20, 1984 started out as a promising spring day for a single mom from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. It wouldn’t end that way. Phyllis Cottle is assaulted in broad daylight as she leaves work, forced into her car at knifepoint, and left wondering why no one came to her aid.

We recommend you first listen to the Prologue.

*2024 Update: Based on listener feedback, we've revised a portion of this episode.

EPISODE CREDITS

Host - Carol Costello

Producer - Nijah Golliday

Audio Engineer - Sean Rule-Hoffman

Production Director - Brigid Coyne

Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando

Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder

The History of Mass Incarceration (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/history-mass-incarceration)

For additional information about Phyllis Cottle’s case, please visit our newly-launched website (www.carolcostellopresents.com), Carol’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/CarolLMU) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/carolcostello).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://carolcostellopresents.supportingcast.fm/

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