Going West: True Crime

In December of 1975, a 21-year-old college student headed out for a pub drink with a friend before the Christmas holiday. That night, a year and a half after she was attacked inside her sorority by a man wearing a nylon stocking over his face, she was attacked again. But this time she didn’t survive. Before and after her murder, this monster would seemingly attack other students from the same school, leading investigators to wonder if there was a violent man stalking the female students. This is the murder of Carol Rofstad. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In December of 2019, a young woman stepped out for a walk on Christmas Day after feeling anxious at a family gathering, and she never returned. Eerily, after she vanished, her recent email to an attorney about being blackmailed surfaced, alongside the suspicion that she had gotten too close to finding the person responsible for her brother’s recent death… Years earlier, another family’s Christmas celebration ended in a chilling discovery: a 26-year-old wife and mother found dead inside her own home, staged like a mannequin on her couch on Christmas morning. These two cases, though separated by time and circumstance, reveal how the holiday meant for comfort and togetherness can instead become the backdrop for secrets, deception, and unanswered truths for some families. These are the stories of Parris Hopson and Za’zell Preston. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 2021, deputies in Greer, South Carolina, responded to a chilling scene in a suburban home: a 41-year-old woman found lifeless in her living room, surrounded by rose petals, and enveloped in a chemical odor, had been stabbed dozens of times. And what made the case especially unsettling was how unsuspecting her attacker ended up being. This is the murder of Christina Parcell. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2005, a 21-year-old dancer was found brutally slain in her New York City apartment. She was ambitious, talented, and chasing her dream of dancing on Broadway, but few knew the obsession, jealousy, and betrayal she faced offstage. And soon, police would find, there was more than one person with a motive to kill her. This is the murder of Catherine Woods. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2025, a 22-year-old pregnant Michigan woman went missing under suspicious circumstances mere days before she was set to give birth. This week, two affidavits including a slew of disturbing updates have been released, painting a truly disturbing story of what happened to her. This is the continued story of Rebecca Park. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In February of 1981, the small town of Brookfield, Connecticut became the stage for one of the strangest murder cases in American history. It began with a haunting, a possession, and a family desperate for help. When violence erupted, it wasn’t just a man who was on trial, it was a man who claimed that he was possessed by the devil himself. This is the murder of Alan Bono, and the alleged possession of his killer, Arne Cheyenne Johnson. The case is also called The Devil Made Me Do It. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2025, a 22-year-old pregnant Michigan woman went missing under suspicious circumstances while approaching labor. Within weeks of her disappearance, her body was found in the woods, leaving horrific questions behind regarding how she died and where her baby was. Within days, four people close to her would be arrested, two of them with charges concretely related to her murder. But what happened to her? And why? This is the murder of Rebecca Park. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1984, the normally safe Long Island village of Lynbrook was gripped in fear when a 16-year-old girl vanished after leaving her job at a local roller rink. What began as a missing persons case would soon reveal a web of lies and false confessions that would haunt the community for decades - with three convictions becoming overturned, and geological DNA bringing real answer. This is the murder of Theresa Fusco. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2020, police in Mount Morris, Illinois responded to a report of a house fire, where firefighters would make a grim discovery: the body of a 27-year-old pregnant woman. But as investigators learned that the fire had been an arson, and that neighbors saw a man enter the home shortly before the blaze, a disturbing a shocking suspect came into the picture. This is the murder of Melissa Lamesch. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2025, an 18-year-old girl died suspiciously while on a cruise with her family; her body found wrapped in a sheet under her stateroom's bed the morning after she fell ill at dinner. Unfolding now is an intense investigation by the FBI into her murder, her own stepbrother potentially at the top of the suspect list. This is the murder of Anna Kepner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 2016, a 16-year-old was found dead in her bed in a quiet neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee, after her parents thought she had simply overslept. Her community reeled from the news as speculation circulated around the case of her sudden and suspicious death. But soon, the investigation would reveal eerie details about her final few days, which included telling several friends that there was a man dressed in black watching her home. This is the murder of Emma Walker. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1995, a furniture heiress vanished without a trace from her elegant Mississippi home just weeks after moving in. Through an unlocked door, there were signs of a violent struggle, but no indication as to where she had gone. What began as a missing person’s case became a Southern gothic mystery that’s as puzzling today as it was 30 years ago. This is the disappearance of Jacqueline "Jackie" Levitz. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Thanksgiving Day, 2012, the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota was quiet and calm, with most people home enjoying the holiday and staying out of the snowstorm that was descending upon them. But inside one modest home on Elm Street, something unimaginable was about to unfold when a break-in turned into one of the most puzzling double murders in state history. What investigators later uncovered would blur the lines between self-defense and vengeance, and leave an entire community asking how far is too far to go for retribution. These are the murders of Haile Kifer and Nick Brady. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In late 1998, a 21-year-old mother vanished from Atlanta after a phone call home on Thanksgiving Day. Months later, her remains were found scattered between multiple garbage bags near her home, but it wasn’t until years later that the remains were linked to a local missing woman. When her cold case was reopened as a homicide investigation, police were shocked to discover that her father was a serial killer, and even more perplexed when it appeared that someone else had murdered her. This is the murder of Melissa Wolfenbarger. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 2009, a family of three set out for the Oklahoma mountains in search of a fresh start. Days later, their pickup truck was found abandoned on a remote dirt road, containing their wallets, IDs, cell phones, and even their dog...but the family was nowhere to be found. Theories swirled of cult ties, paranormal activity, and marital troubles, all bolstered by unsettling recordings from the family’s own home security cameras. And a shocking discovery four years later raised more questions than it answered. This is the story of the Jamison family. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1981, a 25-year-old graduate student at Harvard vanished after arriving at Boston’s Logan Airport after being with family for Thanksgiving. For years, investigators chased down connections to an alleged serial killer, and yet no answers emerged. When her remains were discovered nearly a decade later in a secluded Massachusetts wood, the mystery only deepened, with two completely different disturbing ideas as to what happened to her. This is the murder of Joan Webster. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 1982, a rising young actress from a prominent Hollywood family was preparing for her next big role, fresh off a breakout performance in one of the year’s biggest horror films. But just months after the movie’s release, her promising future was cut short in a shocking act of violence outside her West Hollywood home. Strangely, it was the first event linked to a string of tragedies connected to the very blockbuster she appeared in that year… This is the murder of Dominique Dunne. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 2011, a 44-year-old mother of four vanished after returning home from a Halloween party in Tennessee. Her abandoned vehicle was discovered near her house with a flat tire, but Karen herself was nowhere to be found. But only weeks later, her body was recovered near a cemetery, hidden beneath invasive vines, confirming the darkest fears of her family and community… This is the murder of Karen Swift. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September of 1977, a 30-year-old woman vanished after a break-up with her eccentric, famous boyfriend. Over a year passed before her decomposing body was found stuffed inside a trunk. So; what drove this once-celebrated socialite to her violent end, and how did her killer manage to hide her in plain sight? This is the murder of Holly Maddux. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1996, two parents were brutally murdered inside their home - but the killers weren’t total strangers, and more intriguingly, they were a group of teenagers from Kentucky who called themselves vampires, heading for New Orleans. This cult traveled across state lines, leaving behind a scene of ritualistic violence that shocked the nation. These are the murders of Naoma and Richard Wendorf, also known as The Teen Vampire Murders. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The day before Halloween, 1966, an 18-year-old college student spent the afternoon at her campus library in Riverside, California, but she never made it home. The next morning, her body was discovered in a nearby alley, brutally stabbed and beaten, with her car found disabled just steps away. Who killed Cheri Jo Bates that night, and could her murder be the first known strike of the Zodiac Killer? Or, was it unrelated like Riverside police think - instead the doing of another student? This is the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September of 2019, a phone was stolen from an Anchorage, Alaska man, and found to contain videos and images of the brutal murder of an Indigenous woman in a hotel room. As police zeroed in on their suspect, one question remained: did he have more victims? This is the case of Homicide at Midtown Marriott, also known as The Memory Card Murders... The murders of Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a quiet September morning in 1922, two bodies; one, a respected minister, the other, a singer in his choir, were found beneath a crabapple tree in New Jersey. Both had been thoughtfully posed under that tree, surrounded by carefully placed items, igniting rumors of romance, betrayal, and scandal throughout the town, and begging questions that still remain today. These are the murders of Eleanor Mills and Edward Hall, otherwise known as the Hall-Mills murders. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Halloween, 2010, the quiet English village of Ascot was shaken when a bloody scene was found in the charming home of a local, 46-year-old bed and breakfast owner. At first, the brutal scene raised questions of a home invasion gone wrong. But upon finding her body in a garden box, and receiving a strange call into emergency services, a far darker scheme unraveled… This is the murder of Joanna Simpson. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 1986, a 15-year-old girl attended a friend’s house party in the coastal town of Kingston, Massachusetts after babysitting. After dark, she left the party on foot, heading to pick up cigarettes from the store. But the following day, she was nowhere to be found… For weeks, her disappearance gripped the tight-knit community, until her body was discovered in the woods nearby. With another missing girl, a depraved, suspicious local bible school teacher, and a recent confession, the case would unravel into one of Massachusetts most puzzling mysteries. This is the murder of Tracy Gilpin. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.