America's Crime Lab

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TRUE CRIME
SERIES

Welcome to Othram aka "America's Crime Lab." Each week, we meet weary detectives and family members working an unsolved case that has wrecked a community and seemingly hit a dead end… until, in a last-ditch effort, the evidence is mailed to Othram.

EPISODE 1

The Case of Carla Walker: How DNA Evidence Revived a 46-Year-Old Murder Investigation

Carla Walker’s brazen abduction after her high school Valentine’s dance shocked Fort Worth. The case went cold for decades. In Part 1, host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa walk through the early investigation, and why suspicion turned toward Carla’s boyfriend. This cold case is where our story begins. Using forensic genealogy and DNA evidence, detectives and scientists from Othram begin to reexamine what was left behind. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 min
EPISODE 2

Carla Walker, Part 2: A Cold Case Reopened by DNA Evidence

Nearly 50 years after Carla Walker’s murder, Fort Worth detectives decide to reopen the case. In Part 2, host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa trace how a persistent cold case investigator begins to reexamine the original evidence, and why a single swab becomes central to the new forensic effort. With help from Paul Holes and the scientists at Othram, the DNA evidence starts to speak for itself. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

36 min
EPISODE 3

Carla Walker, Part 3: DNA Evidence Identifies a Suspect

In Part 3 of our Carla Walker investigation, a decades-old DNA sample is reexamined at Othram’s lab, leading to a breakthrough. Host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa walk us through the science behind the profile, the chain of custody, and the unexpected match that emerges from the database. After 46 years, this cold case finally has a viable lead. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 min
EPISODE 4

Carla Walker, Part 4: A Confession and the Power of DNA Evidence

In the final chapter of Carla Walker’s story, detectives sit down with their prime suspect. What follows is a slow, tense interrogation, and a long-delayed confession. Host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa bring together the science, the interrogation, and the moment this cold case finally turns. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

36 min
EPISODE 5

What Remains: DNA Identifies the Victim in a Boat Fire Cold Case

Emergency crews responding to a boat fire discovered human remains, but the case quickly went cold. For decades, investigators had no answers. Using advanced forensic DNA, Othram scientists were able to identify the victim and reveal the truth behind the fire, finally giving a family long-delayed closure. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 min
EPISODE 6

Candy Rogers, Part 1: Spokane’s Missing Persons Cold Case

In 1959, nine-year-old Candy Rogers went missing while selling mints in Spokane, Washington. The city mounted one of the largest missing persons searches in state history, yet the case remained unsolved for more than 60 years. This episode traces the start of a mystery investigators called the “Mount Everest” of cold cases, one that DNA would eventually help crack. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

36 min
EPISODE 7

Candy Rogers, Part 2: DNA Solves Spokane’s 62-Year Mystery

The search for nine-year-old Candy Rogers haunted Spokane for generations. Could the killer’s family hold the final clue to solving the case? And just how far would detectives need to dig for the truth? After decades with no answers, forensic DNA revealed her killer and solved one of America’s most enduring missing persons cases. In part two, we follow how modern science cracked a 62-year unsolved case, delivering justice and closure to one of the nation’s most haunting cold cases. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 min
EPISODE 8

The Disappeared Part 1

Young gay men begin disappearing from downtown Indianapolis. One by one, missing persons fliers go up, and rumors spread about a serial killer. Families are frustrated by a lackluster investigation. And then a killing field is discovered in a shocking location. America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

33 min

See All Season 1 (21)

TRAILER

Introducing America's Crime Lab

Introducing the new podcast America’s Crime Lab. Each week, we meet weary detectives and family members as we run through an unsolved case that wrecked a community and seemingly hit a dead end… until, in a last-ditch effort, the evidence is mailed to Othram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S1

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4 min

In every ballet studio, there is a wall of mirrors. It reflects the people within. They’re part of a closed, elite group that asks for sacrifice and devotion from its members. This insular community produces iconic artists. It’s founded on a strict power structure, often with one man at the top. By tracing the origins of this unusual lifestyle, starting with the legacy of choreographer George Balanchine and the intimate stories of young dancers, we expose the beauty of an artform and the complexity of ballet culture.

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DOCUMENTARY
Truck-stop brothels run by a web of ex-cons… a commonwealth attorney wasted on whiskey and power… protection exchanged for cash and flesh… a brash local reporter exposing it all… This is HOOKERGATE: Criminals and Libertines in the South. I am your host, Dr. Lindsay Byron, author, historian, and lifelong wayward woman—and this forgotten scandal happened in my hometown. Join me as I use crumbling news clippings, interviews, and dramatic re-enactments to bring to life for the first time in nearly 50 years this wild ride of hedonistic corruption.

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TRUE CRIME
On a January night in 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and two other teenagers lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They taunted, beat, and slashed Colleen, carving a pentagram into her chest, before Christa picked up a piece of concrete and smashed Colleen’s skull, killing her. Those salacious details stood out during a national Satanic Panic over ritual abuse and suburban cults. The Knoxville News Sentinel later accused Christa of killing “for love and Satan.” She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution—one of the youngest women ever to be sentenced to death in the United States. Thirty years later, Christa is still alive, incarcerated at a Nashville prison and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She has spent much of her adult life in solitary confinement. In the decades since the murder, evolving understanding about brain science and trauma have cast Christa’s wildly violent act—and death sentence—in a new light. We now know that the brain of an 18-year-old remains underdeveloped and impulsive. Christa has a horrific history of abuse, violence, and family neglect; the first time she attempted suicide, she was 9 years old. That kind of trauma can arrest healthy development, leading some young adults down a disastrous path. As Christa approaches her final appeals, a team of state and federal defenders are urgently trying to save Christa’s life. Her date of execution could be set any time. If executed, she will be the first woman killed by Tennessee in almost 200 years. Should a woman who committed a violent crime as a damaged teenager be granted a chance at rehabilitation? And is justice best served through retribution or mercy?

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TRUE CRIME
Hidden deep in online forums, a growing subculture thrives on anger, isolation, and blame: incels, or “involuntary celibates.” Incels see themselves as rejected by women and overshadowed by so-called “Chads”—the confident, attractive men they believe they can never be. Their frustration often mutates into open hostility, harassment, and, in the most extreme cases, acts of violence. Incels takes listeners inside this unsettling world—not to sensationalize it, but to understand it. Through expert analysis, first-hand accounts, and the voices of former incels, we break down how these communities operate, why they’re growing, and the psychological traps that keep men locked in cycles of resentment. With chilling stories and deep insight, Incels reveals the human cost of a culture built on hate—and the path forward for those ready to leave it behind.

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TRUE CRIME
A shocking public shooting at New York City Hall leaves the ambitious, charismatic City Councilman James E. Davis dead, before his assailant is gunned down by a New York City cop. It turns out that Davis had been murdered by his political rival, Niel Askew. And yet all that summer, the two men had been seen around Brooklyn together, been together in James’ office, sat side by side at a barbershop. Despite the shock waves this murder sent through New York City in the summer of 2003, the story is now forgotten, along with the mystery of what really happened between these men. RORSCHACH: MURDER AT CITY HALL recounts their final fateful day through eye-witness accounts, and then traces the path that led James Davis and his killer Niel Askew to their deaths.

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TRUE CRIME
What happens when you immerse yourself in true crime, night after night, digging deeper into the lives of serial killers? What are the consequences to a person's psyche? From iHeartRadio and TenderfootTV comes a new podcast about twisted serial killers and one man's journey through their stories.

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TRUE CRIME

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Oz Woloshyn

Host
Ana Arana

Host
Mónica Ortiz Uribe

Host
Elin L Lantz

Host

Welcome to Othram aka "America's Crime Lab." Each week, we meet weary detectives and family members working an unsolved case that has wrecked a community and seemingly hit a dead end… until, in a last-ditch effort, the evidence is mailed to Othram.

Channel

iHeart True Crime
Creator

iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope
Episodes

34
Seasons

1
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

2026 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
Show Website

America's Crime Lab
Provider

iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc