Wondery Presents Suspect Season 2: Vanished In The Snow

The 2011 Casey Anthony trial became the most sensational news story of the year. Time magazine called it the social media trial of the century. The 22-year-old single mom was charged with three felonies including first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and manslaughter. When pictures surfaced on the internet showing her at a nightclub shortly after her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, went missing, the media and public went ballistic. Thirty-one days passed after Caylee disappeared before police were notified and then it was not mother Casey, but her family that called police and they were pointing fingers at her.  The trial resembled in many ways the Roman Colosseum, where crowds thirsted to see lions devour the captured prisoner. Internet blogs exploded, just as the Roman crowds must have, with demands for execution. The trial's streaming videos and interactive blogs left the public demanding to see an embodiment of Caesar give his final “thumbs down” against their prize. The trial jury was another matter. Jurors cried as the evidence against her was so thin they had no choice but to find her "not guilty."  Almost unnoticed, a few leading journalists protested the media carnival that became the Casey Anthony trial. They objected to the one-sided narrative informing the court of public opinion forgetting there is a difference between someone appearing guilty and the requirement that prosecutors need to prove in court. The media‘s coverage is something we should discuss beginning with: Did police arrest the wrong person? Was the jury right deciding Casey Anthony was "not guilty"?  Was Casey's mother involved in a coverup of a crime aganst Caylee? Who was Cindy protecting, Casey or her husband, George? THE MEDIA'S COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION-CASEY ANTHONY-Keith Long Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

30 Maj 20131h 22min

This multifaceted probe of murder offenses, offenders, victims, and characteristics of homicide in American society breaks new ground by examining issues generally ignored or neglected among researchers. Topics include murders occurring in the workplace and in schools, those perpetrated by gangs and terrorists, those incited by bias, and intimate and intrafamilial murders. The book discusses sexual killers, serial and mass murderers, and suicide. It also examines psychological and sociological theories on murder and violence, as well as the increasing role the Internet plays in these crimes. Case studies of actual murderers are included. THE DYNAMICS OF MURDER-KILL OR BE KILLED-R. Barri Flowers Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

23 Maj 20131h 19min

Dead just one week into her Australian honeymoon, Tina Watson's body lay a hundred feet below the ocean's surface at the foot of the Great Barrier Reef. Across the globe, three days into a secret Aruban getaway with an older gentleman she met online, Robyn Gardner vanished from the same Aruban town as Natalee Holloway just five years earlier.Why did Robyn Gardner's travel companion purchase a $1.5 million insurance policy and make himself the beneficiary? Did Tina Watson's husband really insist she increase her life insurance coverage to $1 million before the wedding? When both suspects' stories are deemed suspicious, what does the evidence ultimately reveal?Motive and opportunity gave the media full opportunity to cast these suspects as murderers. But what actually happened? And what is it about this pair of bizarre cases that remains brutally chilling to this day? FATAL SUNSE6T: VANISHED BEAUTY-Mark Yoshimoto Nemkoff Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

16 Maj 20131h 8min

Weaver and fiber artist Edith “Pen” Meyer knew her friend Sandy Merritt’s relationship with a married man was wrong. She had even urged Sandy to take out a restraining order against Kenneth Carpenter. Which was why her call to Sandy on February 23, 2005, seemed to come from out of the blue. During it, she told Sandy to drop the restraining order and get back together with Ken. Pen was never seen again. One man stood to gain from Pen’s disappearance: Ken Carpenter. But evidence was bleak: no blood, no DNA, no body. Until detectives found notes hidden beneath a leather chair that turned out to be a playbook for murder…NOTES ON A KILLING-Kevin Flynn Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

9 Maj 20131h 3min

John Sohus, a twenty-something resident of San Marino, California, was allegedly murdered in 1985 by con man Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who has become infamous under his most-known alias, Clark Rockefeller. Rockefeller, the prime suspect in Sohus murder, may have been the last person to see him alive. Nine years after his death, Sohus bones were dug up in the backyard of the home he once shared with his wife Linda, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Rockefeller s 2008 arrest for abducting his daughter put him squarely in the cross-hairs of the decades-old Sohus homicide case. Upon Rockefeller s arrest, Girardot began piecing together the convoluted tale in a series of articles for the Pasadena Star-News. His research resulted in Name Dropper, which reveals inside information about the case Girardot says is the most fantastic he's seen in his 25 years as an investigative reporter. NAME DROPPER-INVESTIGATING THE CLARK ROCKEFELLER MYSTERY-Frank C. Girardot Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

25 Apr 20131h 6min

In Tampa in 1948, known gangster Jimmy Velasco was gunned down by a hit man. In the ensuing weeks, when neither the Tampa Police Department nor Hillsborough made an arrest, Jimmy’s brothers took the investigation to the governor, who ordered a grand jury investigation. In February 1949, the findings were revealed. Among the discoveries was a “pay off” list written by Velasco prior to his death detailing the public officials he paid off to remain immune to law enforcement. The public was captivated by the news and rumors swirled over who was named. The grand jury never released the names on the list and it has been locked away ever since. TAMPA BAY ORGANIZED CRIME-Paul GuzzoThis list detailed a who is who of Tampa's leadership, from judges to city councilman to the mayor and sheriff. Some of these names are old hat, exposed years later by the Kefauver Commission. Others are new and previously thought up-standing leaders. Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

18 Apr 20131h 4min

A beautiful, young American woman was kidnapped and confined against her will in the putrid depths of Tijuana, Mexico. Drugged and tortured, she lived in constant fear for her life. Kidnapped by the Cartel opens the doors into the secret covens of Mexican Organized Crime, a terrifying place where many are lost forever. The slimy backstreets of Tijuana are graphically revealed as the disgusting, gruesome, and violent places they are known to be.The U.S. State Department has warned against non-essential travel along the United States/Mexico border, especially in the violent cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. This novel gives a taste of what goes on behind the fence. KIDNAPPED BY THE CARTEL-A NOVEL INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY-Karen Scioscia Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

11 Apr 20131h 8min

Where was Sandra? Across the country, parents watched with growing panic as the surveillance video was replayed on the evening news: a young girl in black leggings and a Hello Kitty t-shirt, skipping alone through the mobile home park where she lived. Her bouncing steps carried her quickly across the screen and beyond the camera's view-just two weeks after she celebrated her eighth birthday, Sandra Cantu disappeared. Within days, panic gave way to horror when investigators reported that Sandra's neighbor, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, had been arrested and charged with the rape and murder of the young girl. Sandra's death at the hands of a trusted adult female sent a powerful message to parents everywhere: The days of warning against "Stranger Danger" are long gone, having been replaced by an even darker era where stereotypes no longer exist and families can never be sure who to trust. SEARCHING FOR SANDRA-THE STORY BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SANDRA CANTU-Stacy Dittrich Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

4 Apr 20131h 12min