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:

Don't Date Him - The Daylon Pierce Story Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

Daylon Pierce became known for running a widespread online dating scam in which he used social media and dating apps to target women, often presenting himself as charming, emotionally invested, and sometimes falsely claiming stable careers or military ties to build trust quickly. After forming intense romantic relationships, Pierce would manufacture financial emergencies and persuade victims to send him money, gifts, or access to funds, only to disappear or cycle them into ongoing manipulation. The scheme unraveled as multiple victims compared stories and reported similar patterns of deception, leading to a criminal investigation that revealed a consistent playbook of emotional exploitation and fraud.

This Unpopular Teen Got Revenge - The Christina Paolilla Story Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

Christina Paolilla is from Clear Lake, Texas, and was involved in a brutal double murder in 2003. Along with her boyfriend, Steven Spence, Paolilla carried out a home invasion that resulted in the execution-style killings of her childhood friends, Clara Harris’s relatives Josh and Alicia Moffatt, whom Paolilla had grown up with and once considered family.

She Killed Her Famous Husband - The Lorenzen Wright Story Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

Lorenzen Wright, a former NBA center who played 13 seasons in the league, was found murdered in July 2010 after disappearing from Memphis, Tennessee, his body discovered in a wooded area riddled with multiple gunshot wounds. The case drew national attention due to Wright’s prominence and the disturbing revelation of a 911 call in which he appeared to be fleeing for his life. After years of stalled investigation and public pressure, prosecutors alleged that Wright’s wife, Sherra Wright-Robinson, conspired with her lover, Billy Turner, to have him killed over financial disputes tied to Wright’s multimillion-dollar assets.

She Killed Her Ex - The Ezra McCandless Story Jan 10, 2026

Show notes

Ezra McCandless, also known as Ezra McCandless Mitchell, was convicted for the 2018 murder of her former boyfriend, Alex Woodworth, in rural Wisconsin, a case that initially appeared to be a tragic act of self-defense but unraveled into a carefully staged homicide.

This Religious Con Man is Leaving America To Start His Own Country - The Gerald Payne Story Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

Gerald Payne was the pastor and director of Greater Ministries International, a Tampa-based religious organization that operated in the 1990s as a massive Ponzi-style fraud cloaked in faith-healing rhetoric, promising believers that if they “gifted” money to the ministry they would receive double their money back in about 17 months through supposed divinely blessed investments in foreign currency, mines, and other ventures. The scheme pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars from tens of thousands of devout investors across the United States.

He Terrorized an Entire City - The Mooninites Boston Panic Story Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

In January 2007, a guerrilla marketing campaign for the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force triggered a widespread public panic in and around Boston when LED light boards depicting the show’s Mooninite characters were mistaken for explosive devices.

This TikToker Has a Dark Past - The Sandra Beltran Story Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

Sandra Beltrán, known as La Reina del Pacífico, was a prominent Colombian drug trafficker who rose to power in the 1990s and early 2000s as a key intermediary between Colombian cartel and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

The Cannibal Cop - The Gilberto Valle Story Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

Gilberto Valle, a New York City police officer nicknamed the “Cannibal Cop” by the media, was arrested in 2012 after investigators discovered his online chats and writings.

This Killer Got Rich - The Mary Ellen Samuels Story Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

Mary Ellen Samuels was a California woman who orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot in 1988 to kill her estranged husband, Bob Samuels.

He Killed His Own Mother - The Edmund Kemper Story Jan 03, 2026

Show notes

Edmund Kemper was a highly intelligent but profoundly disturbed killer whose violence grew out of years of psychological abuse and deep resentment toward his mother. After murdering his grandparents at fifteen and spending five years in a state psychiatric hospital, he was released as a “rehabilitated” young man and returned to Santa Cruz, where he began targeting female college students in 1972. Over the next year, he abducted and murdered six young women, carefully manipulating police and projecting the image of a polite, trustworthy giant

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