True Crime

Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

The Official Podcast of Ray William Johnson, storyteller and comedian. Tune in for the best stories of True Crime and Pop Culture.

Latest Episodes:

She's Iran's Worst Killer - The Kolsum Akbari Story Feb 28, 2026

Show notes

Kulthum Akbari is an Iranian serial killer arrested in 2023 who confessed to murdering her 82-year-old husband and 13 men over a twenty-year span, though investigations suggest she may have killed over 20 men through a scheme involving multiple fraudulent marriages. Operating in Sari, Iran, between 2001 and 2023, Akbari targeted elderly husbands, marrying them before killing them.

He's Going To Kill The President - The John Hinckley Jr. Story Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

John Hinckley Jr. became infamous in 1981 when he attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, shooting Reagan and three others, including Press Secretary James Brady, who was left permanently disabled. Hinckley later said he carried out the attack in a delusional effort to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had become obsessed after watching the film Taxi Driver.

The Downfall of Lance Armstrong Feb 26, 2026

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Lance Armstrong was a professional cyclist who won the Tour de France seven times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering from testicular cancer. For years, he denied allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. In 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency concluded that Armstrong had participated in a long-running doping program involving substances such as EPO, testosterone, and blood transfusions, and that members of his team were also involved. As a result, he was stripped of all seven Tour de France titles and banned from professional cycling for life.

He Killed Them All - The Martin Bryant Story Feb 25, 2026

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This is the story of Martin Bryant and the Port Arthur Massacre.

He's a Real Life Saul Goodman // The Eric Conn Story Feb 24, 2026

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Eric Conn, once self-proclaimed as the "Mr. Social Security" of eastern Kentucky, orchestrated the largest Social Security fraud in United States history, totaling over $550 million in redirected government funds. Between 2004 and 2011, Conn utilized a network of bribed officials- including an Administrative Law Judge and complicit doctors- to systematically approve thousands of fraudulent disability claims based on falsified medical evidence.

This Scream Killer Got Revenge - The Heather Stephenson-Snell Story Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Heather Stephenson-Snell was a professional psychotherapist and leader of an all-female biker gang who became obsessed with revenge after her former partner, Adrian Sinclair, ended their relationship to be with another woman, Diane Lomax. Following an 18-month campaign of harassment, she drove from York to Radcliffe on Halloween night in 2003 disguised in a "Scream" mask and ghostly white sheet, carrying a sawn-off shotgun with the intent to kill her rival. When her knocking at Lomax's door disturbed the neighborhood, a 43-year-old neighbor named Robert Wilkie confronted her and attempted to remove her mask; Stephenson-Snell shot him at point-blank range, killing him almost instantly.

She Wanted a New Life. So Her Husband Had to Die. - The Melinda Raisch Story Feb 21, 2026

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In 1981 in Kansas, Melinda Raisch became the center of a deadly love triangle that ended in brutal betrayal. Unhappy in her marriage to David Harmon, Raisch began an affair with Mark Mangelsdorf, and together the two conspired to eliminate Harmon rather than pursue divorce.

He Killed Them All - The William Boyette Story Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

In early 2017, William "Billy" Boyette and accomplice Mary Rice led law enforcement on a violent, week-long manhunt across the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama. The spree began on January 31 with the double homicide of Boyette's ex-girlfriend and her friend in Milton, Florida, followed by two more fatal shootings during carjackings and home invasions in Alabama and Beulah, Florida.

Danny Trejo Tried To Warn Them - The Story of American Me Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

In 1992, the movie American Me directed by Edward James Olmos portrayed a fictionalized rise of a Mexican Mafia leader inside California’s prison system, aiming to expose the brutality and cyclical violence of gang culture. But its stark realism angered members of the real Mexican Mafia, who reportedly saw it as a humiliating portrayal. After the film’s release, several people connected to the production, including consultant Ana Lizarraga, were murdered in what many believed were acts of retaliation. Danny Trejo, who appeared in the film and had real-life prison experience, later revealed that he warned Olmos during production that certain scenes could provoke serious backlash from gang leadership, and he has spoken publicly about the tension and fear surrounding the fallout.

The Fake Secret Agent - The Robert Hendy-Freegard Story Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Robert Hendy-Freegard is a British con artist who, in the 1990s and early 2000s, posed as an undercover MI5 agent to manipulate, isolate, and financially exploit multiple victims across the UK. Presenting himself as a secret operative hunting the IRA, he convinced young professionals and students that they were in danger and needed to go into hiding under his direction, extracting hundreds of thousands of pounds from them while controlling their movements, relationships, and even identities.

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