The Smiley Face Murder Theory

Born in 1935, Florencio Fernández grew up in a region of Argentina nicknamed the “fortress of folklore.” As a teenager, destitute and alone, he watched a film at a local theater that would change his life — and inspire his crimes. That film’s name? Dracula. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Apr 202141min

Salvator Perrone’s early life in the 1950s is a murky mystery, but by the time he was in his 60s, the failed fashion entrepreneur had a grudge against the world — and he was ready to exact his revenge.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12 Apr 202142min

By the 1980s, Ted Kaczynski had set off several bombs, causing only minor injuries — but for him, it wasn’t enough. What had started as a plot for revenge grew into an unrelenting need to change the world. To do that, he needed to kill. The reign of the Unabomber had begun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Apr 202146min

Spotting his genius at a young age, Ted Kaczynski’s parents pushed their son to academic excellence — but Ted never found a true home in the hallowed halls of academia. Instead, by 1969, he was a former math professor with a festering hatred for the modern world.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Apr 202144min

By Thanksgiving 1986, Gary Heidnik had captured a woman and locked her in his basement, where he intended on making her carry his children. But Gary wanted an entire “birthing harem.” Over the next four months, he lured five more women to his Philadelphia home… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1 Apr 202142min

Estranged from his family, Gary Heidnik’s behavior grew more and more troubling as he grew older. By 1976, no one was around to notice when he started digging a pit in his basement — one big enough to hold a person... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

29 Mars 202140min

When a six-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Chicago in 1945, the public and the press demanded answers. Luckily, police found the killer by chance when they arrested a teenage burglar named William Heirens. Or did they? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Mars 202145min

Growing up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money, William Heirens turned to burglary to ease his economic anxiety. It became a compulsion he couldn’t control, and got him into trouble with the law in the early 1940s. Then, one day, it changed his life forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22 Mars 202142min