The Napa Halloween Murders: Evil in Wine Country
Napa Valley, famous for its wine, rolling hills, and peaceful small-town charm, wasn’t the kind of place where doors stayed locked or nightmares felt real. But on Halloween night, 2004, that illusion shattered when two young women were brutally murdered in their own home. In this episode of Serial Napper, we’re diving into the chilling case of Adriane Insogna and Leslie Ann Mazzara, two roommates whose lives were cut short by someone hiding in plain sight. What began as a quiet evening handing out candy turned into one of California’s most shocking double homicides. For nearly a year, police chased rumours, false leads, and hundreds of DNA samples. The community whispered about jealous lovers, shady exes, even strangers in the vineyards, but the truth was far more disturbing. The killer wasn’t a drifter or a mystery man. He was someone the victims knew, someone who’d sat at their table, someone they trusted. This is the story of how Napa learned that even paradise can have monsters, and how betrayal can wear the most familiar face. Sources: https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/LegalCenter/story?id=1187524&page=1 https://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0730/2007296752-s.html https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2024/10/20/the-napa-valley-halloween-murders/#google_vignette https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nightmare-in-napa-19-04-2007/ Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 Okt 37min
The Youngest Woman On Death Row: Christa Pike's Execution Date
This week on Serial Napper, we’re revisiting one of the most disturbing cases I’ve ever covered, the story of Christa Pike, the youngest woman ever sentenced to death in the United States. When I first released this episode a few years back, Christa was still sitting on death row with no date in sight. But now… that’s changed. In September 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court officially scheduled her execution for September 30, 2026, marking what could be the first execution of a woman in the state in over 200 years. In this re-recorded episode, I take you deeper into the life, crime, and legacy of Christa Pike, from her horrific childhood and obsession-fueled murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, to the decades of legal battles that followed. Sources: https://www.knoxnews.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2021/06/12/christa-gail-pike-through-years/7635082002/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/corpsewood-manor-murders https://deadlywomen.fandom.com/wiki/Christa_Pike https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/victims-mom-christa-pike-execution/51-3665cad8-4d07-4f4a-bad5-d7de4fe05e9a https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/tennessees-execution-of-christa-pike-would-make-her-the-first-woman-to-be-executed-in-the-state-in-over-200-years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
14 Okt 33min
Don’t Look Behind the Mirror: Ruthie Mae McCoy’s Warning
In April 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 from her Chicago apartment, panicked and out of breath. She told the dispatcher that someone was trying to break in...through her bathroom mirror. Police didn’t believe her. Two days later, she was found dead. This episode unpacks the real-life horror that inspired the Candyman legend, a murder born not of superstition, but of neglect, poverty, and systemic failure. Ruthie’s killers crawled through the hollow wall behind her medicine cabinet, shot her four times, and disappeared back into the building’s decaying infrastructure. The same walls that were supposed to protect her instead became a tunnel for her killers. We’ll explore Ruthie’s life before the headlines: her struggles with mental illness, her attempts to rebuild her life, and the cruel irony that she was finally on the verge of escaping public housing when her own apartment became a death trap. We’ll also go inside the Grace Abbott Homes, one of Chicago’s most dangerous housing projects, where gangs ruled, drugs flowed faster than repairs, and dozens of units sat vacant, turning the building into a concrete maze of fear. Sources: https://chicagoreader.com/news/they-came-in-through-the-bathroom-mirror/ https://justnlife.com/candymans-legacy-a-haunting-tale-of-chicagos-south-side/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/history-uncovered/candyman https://chicagoreader.com/news/cause-of-death/ Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10 Okt 37min
Till Death Made Her Laugh: Giggling Grannie Nannie Doss
If you think your grandma’s weird, wait until you meet Nannie Doss. Known by a handful of delightfully horrifying nicknames...The Giggling Granny, The Lonely Hearts Killer, The Jolly Black Widow, Lady Blue Beard...Nannie Doss looked like the kind of grandmother who’d bake you cookies and tell you to eat seconds. Instead, she was slipping arsenic into sweet potato pie and serving it with a smile. Between 1920 and 1954, Nannie poisoned, smothered, and schemed her way through eleven victims, including four husbands, her own sister and grandson, all in the name of love. She spent her life searching for romance and the “perfect man,” leaving a trail of bodies and broken hearts in her wake. In this episode, we’re diving deep into her dark fairytale: a childhood of abuse and isolation, a head injury that might’ve rewired her empathy, and a deadly addiction to love stories that promised happy endings. We’ll look at how the 1950s ideal of the sweet homemaker gave her the perfect cover, and how a society blinded by gender stereotypes allowed one smiling widow to keep killing for decades. It’s a story about love, lies, and lethal pie. This episode is a refreshing/re-recording of one of the first stories I ever covered on Serial Napper. Sources: https://allthatsinteresting.com/nannie-doss-giggling-granny https://people.com/nannie-doss-giggling-granny-serial-killer-8761190 https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/nannie-doss/ https://murderpedia.org/female.D/d/doss-nannie.htm Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
6 Okt 29min
The Spirits Said Kill: The Ouija Board Murder of Clotilde Marchand
In 1930s Buffalo, New York, a grieving widow sat hunched over a Ouija board, desperate to hear from her dead husband. The planchette moved, spelling out a chilling message: “They killed me.” The spirit named a culprit, Clotilde Marchand, a petite Frenchwoman, mother of four, and the wife of a well-known sculptor. Days later, Clotilde opened her front door to an accusation of witchcraft…and never lived to close it again. Dubbed the “Ouija Board Murder,” this case shocked Buffalo’s art world, fueled public hysteria about séances and spirit boards, and left behind a trail of questions that linger to this day. Was Nancy Bowen a vulnerable woman manipulated into killing? Was Lila Jimerson a believer or a schemer? And who really wrote the mysterious letters that pointed to Clotilde as a witch? This is the story of obsession, betrayal, and the deadly power of belief in the beyond. Sources: https://www.buffalospree.com/app/buffalospreemagazine/archives/2008_12/1208fearandloathing.html https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/03/21/the-ouija-board-murder-tricking-tribal-healer-nancy-bowen-to-kill/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ouija-board-cant-connect-us-to-paranormal-forces-but-it-can-tell-us-a-lot-about-psychology-grief-and-uncertainty-5860627/ https://journalnews.com.ph/a-ouija-board-and-a-bizarre-murder/ Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 Okt 34min
Dead Men Tell No Tales: Chelsea Perkins Fatal Revenge
In tonight’s episode of Serial Napper, we’re diving into the twisted case of Chelsea Perkins—better known online as OnlyFans model Sabrina Savage. Chelsea claimed she was tired of being a victim, and in 2021, she tracked down the man she said raped her, 31-year-old musician and father of two, Matthew Dunmire. She lured him out under the guise of reconnecting, drove him into Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and shot him in the back of the head. But Chelsea wasn’t the only one fueled by revenge. As investigators built their airtight case against her, Matthew’s grieving parents launched a deadly plan of their own, one that ended in even more tragedy. This is a story about obsession, about the fallout when justice feels out of reach, and about how revenge rarely ends where you think it will. Sources: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/woman-who-committed-murder-ohio-national-park-spend-more-22-years-prison https://lawandcrime.com/crime/coast-guard-vet-lured-her-accused-rapist-to-woods-executed-him-and-then-went-to-get-a-tattoo/ https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/09/09/adult-performer-sentenced-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-murder/ https://www.scribd.com/document/868311827/Criminal-Complaint-against-Chelsea-Perkins https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21335211-perkins-transcript/ https://people.com/coast-guard-onlyfans-murder-chelsea-perkins-matthew-dunmire-11743545 Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
26 Sep 39min
His Sister’s Secret: The Story of Charlie Brandt
On the surface, Charlie Brandt looked like a quiet, ordinary man who loved fishing, drinking, and his wife, Teri. But in 2004, when he murdered Teri and brutally killed his niece Michelle Jones before hanging himself, investigators uncovered a nightmare decades in the making. This episode dives into Charlie’s violent past, beginning at age 13 when he killed his mother—the secrets his family buried, and the trail of victims he likely left behind. From the confirmed murder of Sherry Perisho to cold cases eerily matching his signature brutality, we’ll piece together how one man hid his darkness in plain sight. What makes a serial killer? Was Charlie a product of trauma, a family that refused to face the truth, or something much darker? And how many victims will never be known? Sources: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-obsession/ https://www.10minutemurder.com/blog/a-family-torn-apart-the-dark-secrets-of-charles-brandt/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/charlie-brandt https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/brandt-carl.htm Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 Sep 37min
The Devil in Bellaire: Nathan Brooks and the Murder of His Parents
In 1995, 17-year-old Nathan Brooks promised his classmates he’d be “famous by Saturday.” What no one realized was just how horrifyingly true that would become. On September 30th, in Bellaire, Ohio, Nathan murdered his parents in what he believed was a satanic ritual — shooting and decapitating his father, stabbing and bludgeoning his mother, and leaving behind a chilling hit list of names that included his own brother. The brutality of the crime shook the entire town, cancelling Halloween and sparking decades of fear and questions about how no one stopped him sooner. Almost thirty years later, Nathan Brooks is serving a life sentence but is now eligible for parole. Has he changed, or are some crimes too horrific for second chances? Join me as we unpack the warning signs, the murders, the trial, and the ongoing debate over whether the so-called “Devil in Bellaire” should ever walk free again. Sources: https://fox8.com/news/id-like-to-kill-you-ohio-man-who-murdered-parents-set-to-go-before-parole-board-local-sheriff-recounts-case/ https://weelunk.com/the-night-nathan-brooks-canceled-halloween/ https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2025/08/bellaire-man-who-killed-parents-in-1995-up-for-parole/ https://appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search/Details/A337726? Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 Sep 31min
