Lyda Southard: The Serial Widow Who Cooked with Arsenic Lyda Southard wanted a quiet life. She wanted a husband, a child, maybe a porch to sit on and watch things grow. What she left behind instead was a string of dead husbands, a trail of insurance payouts, and enough arsenic to make even the most optimistic pharmacist raise an eyebrow. In this ep…

The Incel Ideology: Roots and Radicalization This one’s not your usual 10 Minute Murder. It started as a blog I wrote for the site, and a lot of people asked to hear it out loud. So here we are. This is a more thoughtfully written piece than what I usually record... something I originally meant for reading, not necessarily narrating. But the topic …

Ruby Ridge Revisited: Fear, Firearms, and Family on the Edge The Weaver family retreated to Idaho hoping to protect their kids from a world they saw as collapsing. But their attempt to live off the grid pulled them into a web of suspicion tied to white supremacist groups, federal agents, and a neighbor’s feud. What began as a land dispute escalated…

Inside the Mind of Eugene Butler: Paranoia and Murder on the Farm Eugene Butler was a man who built a fortune on 480 acres of North Dakota farmland. On the surface, he was a hardworking, thrifty farmer who kept to himself. But beneath that quiet exterior, something darker was unfolding. As paranoia took hold, Eugene’s life spiraled into isolation a…

The True Story of The Bluebeard Killer Harry Powers lied to lonely women during one of the hardest times in American history and turned it into a full-blown system. While people were standing in breadlines and trying to keep their families fed, he was writing letters. Not looking for love—looking for leverage. He promised wealth, mansions, and stab…

Muscles, Marriage, and Murder: The Sally McNeil Story Sally McNeil was trained for war, but her real battles happened at home. A former Marine, mother of two, and competitive bodybuilder, Sally spent years trapped in a violent marriage with a man who had the muscles of a champion and the temper of a ticking time bomb. The abuse started early and go…

Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate: Nebraska’s Deadly Crime Duo Charles Starkweather wasn’t your average small-town kid, and his crime spree wasn’t your average headline. Dragging along Caril Ann Fugate, barely a teenager herself, this pair tore through 1950s Nebraska in a brutal blur nobody saw coming. Was Caril just a scared kid caught in …

Inside the Toy Box: The David Parker Ray Story In a small New Mexico town with a name that sounds like a game show, a nightmare was unfolding behind closed doors. David Parker Ray wasn’t your average maintenance man—he built a torture chamber he called the “Toy Box,” where vulnerable women were trapped, tormented, and left to disappear. This episod…

Convict Leasing, Lynch Mobs, and the Killing of Mary Turner In May of 1918, a white plantation owner in Georgia was killed by a Black laborer he had beaten and abused. What followed wasn’t a trial or investigation… it was a mob. A violent, racist mob that left 13 people dead, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child. This episode walks throu…

When Trust Becomes a Weapon: The Lisa Knoefel Case Lisa Knoefel was asleep in her own bed when everything unraveled. Her foster daughter, Sabrina Zunich, was standing over her with a knife… and it wasn’t random, or sudden, or some spur-of-the-moment break. This had been planned. Encouraged. Groomed. And the person behind it wasn’t just a bystander.…

Viral to Violent: The Nasim Aghdam Story In 2018, Nasim Najafi Aghdam walked into YouTube headquarters with a loaded gun and a personal vendetta. But this story doesn’t start with violence—it starts with viral vegan videos, fitness content, and a YouTube channel that once brought her internet fame. Nasim believed the platform was silencing her. Cen…

Who Was the Skid Row Stabber? In 1978, someone started targeting the most vulnerable people in Los Angeles—men living on the streets of Skid Row. Over the course of a year, eleven of them were stabbed to death. The press called the killer the “Skid Row Stabber,” but despite witness accounts, a creepy bathroom confession, and a guy named Luther who …

The Making of Ted Bundy: Secrets, Shame, and Silence Before the headlines. Before the manhunt. Before the courtroom smirks and the fan mail from strangers—Ted Bundy was just a kid with a fake name and a made-up family. In this episode, we’re not talking about what he did. We’re talking about who he was before anyone knew what he was capable of.From…

Delivering Death: The Leaflet Lane Murders A man dressed like a FedEx driver knocked on the door of a quiet Texas home. But he wasn’t delivering a package. He was there to deliver payback. Ronald Lee Haskell had a long and ugly history of violence, and on this day, it all came to a head. What followed was a targeted, calculated attack on an entire …

Suitcase in the Pond: The Sandra Cantu Case Eight-year-old Sandra Cantu left her house on a Friday afternoon to play with friends. She never made it home. What followed was a frantic search, a community gripped by fear, and a discovery that would shake even the most seasoned investigators. But what makes this case especially disturbing isn’t just w…

Susan Monica: The Pig Farmer Killer of Oregon Susan Monica built a life most people wouldn’t sign up for. Alone on 20 acres in rural Oregon, she raised pigs, ran a construction business, and kept mostly to herself. But when a handyman disappeared—and a severed leg turned up in her pond—investigators uncovered a story that kept getting stranger. In …

Kelly Tinyes and the Basement Horror the Courts Almost Missed On the night before her fourteenth birthday, Kelly Tinyes got a phone call that pulled her out of her house—and straight into danger. Hours later, her body was found in a neighbor’s basement, hidden under piles of trash. What followed was a conviction built on brand-new DNA technology, a…

The Untold Story of Julia Bulette: Survival, Scandal, and Silver Rush Secrets Julia Bulette didn’t come to Virginia City to become a legend. She came for the same reason everyone else did — to survive. But where most people blended into the dust and desperation, Julia stood out. She fought fires. She nursed the sick. She built a life in a town that…

Jealousy, Journals, and Justice: The Horwitz Family Murder Lanny Horwitz built a life most people would envy—real estate success, international travel, the dream house in Boca Raton. But what he couldn’t seem to quit was his high school sweetheart. After two marriages, two divorces, and one seriously tangled family dynamic, Lanny and Donna found th…

The Incel Killer: Elliot Rodger and the Isla Vista Attack Elliot Rodger wasn’t just angry. He was deeply entitled, profoundly isolated, and convinced that the world owed him something—specifically, attention, sex, and validation. Raised around wealth, fame, and red carpets, he still couldn’t figure out how to talk to people, especially women. And i…

Andrea Yates: The Case That Shook the Country Andrea Yates was a nurse, a valedictorian, and a mother of five. She was also in and out of psychiatric hospitals, diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and severe depression. Her doctors warned against more pregnancies. Her husband ignored it. And in 2001, after years of spiraling mental health and barel…

Fame, Black Magic, and Murder: The Mona Fandey Story Before she was tied to one of Malaysia’s most disturbing murder cases, Mona Fandey was just trying to be a star. She had the stage name, the album, the wardrobe, and a husband willing to bet everything on her big break. But when her pop career stalled out, Mona pivoted—from wannabe celebrity to s…

Duty To Warn: The Case Every Therapist Learns About Therapy is supposed to be a safe space. You talk, they listen, and everything stays in the room. But what happens when someone crosses the line from intrusive thoughts to actual plans to hurt someone? In this episode of 10 Minute Murder, we’re digging into the 1969 case that forced the legal syste…

How Arthur Gary Bishop Fooled a Community Arthur Gary Bishop looked like someone you could trust. He was a straight-A student, an Eagle Scout, a missionary, and a respected member of his church community. But under all that was someone no one saw coming, and far too many people never questioned. This episode tracks how Bishop used different names, …

Myrtle Beach Mystery: The Search for Brittanee Drexel Seventeen-year-old Brittanee Drexel wanted what so many teenagers crave… freedom, a little independence, and a chance to feel grown. What started as a secret Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach in 2009 quickly spiraled into a mystery that haunted her family and baffled investigators for over a dec…

Jesse James Hollywood: The Killer Who Inspired Alpha Dog Jesse James Hollywood had a name straight out of a movie, and eventually, it became one. The crime at the center of this story inspired the 2006 film Alpha Dog, but the real-life version is even more disturbing. In this episode, we break down how a well-off kid from the San Fernando Valley we…

When TikTok Beef Turns Deadly: The Durhams vs. The Lathams Zachary Latham wasn’t famous—but he wanted to be. So he picked a fight with his neighbors, filmed it, and posted it to TikTok. Over and over. Until one of them ended up dead. In this episode, we break down the chain of events that turned a teenage grudge into a fatal stabbing. A neighborhoo…

Stand Your Ground or Hunt Your Target? The Trayvon Martin Case In 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin left home to grab a snack from 7-Eleven. He never made it back. A two-minute encounter with George Zimmerman—a neighborhood watch volunteer with a history of bad decisions—ended with Trayvon dead, Zimmerman claiming self-defense, and the country split…

Six Murders, No Answers: What Happened at Hinterkaifeck? In 1922, the Gruber family’s remote Bavarian farm became the scene of one of the most unsettling murder cases in history. Six people—including two children—were brutally killed, but the real horror? Their murderer didn’t leave. For days, they lived in the house, ate the food, and even tended …

The True Story of Kelly Bates: A Case That Can’t Be Forgotten James Smith looked ordinary. Clean-cut, middle-aged, a non-drinker, non-smoker—just another man in 1980s Manchester who seemed put together. But behind closed doors, he was anything but. What started as domestic abuse escalated into something far worse, as he preyed on younger and younge…

Book Deals, Blood Feuds, and a Bullet That Changed Everything Tucker Reed was on track to be a household name, but not for the reason anyone expected. Born into a family of New York Times best-selling authors, she landed a six-figure book deal before she was old enough to drink and even starred in an independent horror film that would take on a who…

Altamont 1969: When a Free Concert Became a Murder Scene The 1969 Altamont Free Concert was supposed to be Woodstock’s cool, rebellious cousin—a free festival featuring the Rolling Stones and the so-called spirit of the times. Instead, it became a case study in bad decisions and brutal consequences. The moment the Hells Angels were hired as securit…

Hunting ‘Rat Man’: The Unbelievable Crimes of Tsutomu Miyazaki Tsutomu Miyazaki wasn’t just another name on Japan’s long list of violent criminals—he was an outlier. A man who managed to blend into society while carrying out some of the most horrific crimes the country had ever seen. Born into privilege but emotionally detached from the world aroun…

John Crutchley: The Vampire Rapist Who Walked Free A government contractor with top-level security clearance. A resume that included ties to the FBI, CIA, and NASA. A man who, on paper, looked like the kind of person you’d trust with national secrets. But John Crutchley had another side—one that involved restraints, syringes, and a disturbing obses…

Right-Wing Death Squads & Radicalization: What Led to the Allen Massacre? A man dressed in black steps out of his car at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, and within seconds, chaos erupts. But this wasn’t a random act of violence—it was planned. Down to the entrance he used, the time of day he chose, and the arsenal he brought with him. Mauricio Garc…

The Internet’s First Real-Life Horror Story: The Sharon Lopatka Case The internet in the ‘90s was the Wild West—chat rooms, shady deals, and absolutely zero regulations. But while most people were using their dial-up connection to argue about Seinfeld or play Minesweeper, Sharon Lopatka was using hers to search for something much darker. She had a …

Gabriel Fernandez: How a Child Asked for Help 60 Times and Was Ignored In May 2013, eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez was rushed to the hospital in Palmdale, California. His mother claimed he had an accident while playing with his brother. But when doctors saw the extent of his injuries—burns, broken bones, BB gun wounds, and signs of prolonged tort…

Buried at Fox Hollow: The Disturbing Crimes of Herbert Baumeister For years, men were vanishing from Indianapolis, their disappearances ignored by law enforcement and dismissed as coincidence. But when a man named Tony Harris risked everything to expose the truth, the case cracked wide open. What started as a missing persons investigation led to th…

Stalking and Murder in Hollywood: The Tragic Death of Sex Therapist Amie Harwick In February 2020, Amie Harwick, a respected therapist and author, was found murdered in Hollywood, her life violently ended after years of harassment and abuse by her former boyfriend, Gareth Pursehouse. This episode delves into Amie’s incredible journey—from an adopte…

How a Mob Got Away with Murder in Truckee’s Chinatown In the late 1800s, Truckee, California, had one of the largest Chinatowns in America. Built by the Chinese laborers who helped construct the Central Pacific Railroad, it was a thriving community—until the white landowners and business owners decided they wanted it gone. What followed was a campa…

The Disappearance of Kenia Monge: How a White Van Unraveled a Killer’s Trail When Kenia Monge vanished after a night out in Denver, her family was left with more questions than answers. What began as a frantic search for a missing 19-year-old soon unraveled into a twisted tale involving a “white creepy van,” a suspect with a penchant for bleach, an…

The Murderer Who Wanted a Race War: Dylann Roof’s Delusions Exposed A troubled childhood, a violent ideology, and a crime that left a nation in shock. In this episode, we break down the life and crimes of Dylann Roof—the warning signs everyone missed, the radicalization that fueled his actions, and the system failures that let it happen. From his c…

Behind the Smile: Inside the Mind of the Happy Face Killer Keith Jesperson, known as “The Happy Face Killer,” left a trail of devastation that began with a childhood shaped by violence and escalated into a five-year spree of murder across the United States. This episode unpacks how Jesperson’s early exposure to cruelty shaped his path to becoming a…

The Axe, the Alibi, and the Yellow Jeep: The Porco Family Tragedy When Peter Porco didn’t show up for work on November 15, 2004, his colleagues knew something was wrong. What they didn’t expect was the grim discovery waiting at his Delmar, New York, home. Peter’s morning routine had played out like clockwork—but with one horrifying difference: he h…

The Real Story Behind Boyz n the Hood’s Most Memorable Villain Lloyd Avery II had the kind of Hollywood debut most aspiring actors only dream of: a breakout role in Boyz n the Hood that made him unforgettable in just two minutes of screen time. But while the cameras told the story of a rising star, his off-screen life painted a starkly different pi…

The Man Who Lived in the Attic: The Denver Spider Man Story In the shadowy corners of Denver’s history lies a story that defies belief—a tale of desperation, hidden lives, and a man who turned an attic into his fortress of survival. This episode dives into the life of Theodore Coneys, a man nicknamed the “Denver Spider Man,” whose health struggles …

Surviving Gitchie Manitou: The Sandra Cheskey Story What began as a carefree evening under the stars turned into a nightmare that would haunt Iowa forever. In 1973, five teenagers ventured into Gitchie Manitou State Preserve for a night of campfire fun, but only one survived to tell the story. This episode delves into the horrifying events of that …

The Mysterious Death of Cindy James: A Case That Defies Explanation Cindy James lived nearly a decade in fear—harassed, stalked, and assaulted by a mysterious figure who seemed determined to ruin her life. But when Cindy was found dead in 1989, tied up and strangled with a nylon stocking, the story took an even darker turn. The RCMP didn’t just inv…

Check out my new podcast, 10 Minute Mystery! If you love the brief and bingeable vibe of 10 Minute Murder, you’re going to love diving into history’s most puzzling mysteries. Search for 10 Minute Mystery wherever you're listening to this, and subscribe! Thanks! joe 10 Minute Mystery: The Dark Side of the Lindbergh Baby Case The Crime of the Century…

A Family Torn Apart: The Dark Secrets of Charles Brandt In 2004, Hurricane Ivan forced Teri Helfrich and her husband, Charles Brandt, to seek shelter at a family member’s home in Orlando. But the storm outside paled in comparison to the darkness that emerged within those walls. What seemed like an ordinary family gathering turned into a harrowing d…