True Crime with a Twist

Akena Holliman

Welcome to True Crime with a Twist—the podcast where Arkansas speaks for itself. Known as “The Natural State,” Arkansas may seem quiet, but when something happens… it really happens—and nobody ever sees it coming. There’s a long, disturbing history of crimes and murders here that rarely get media attention, often buried and forgotten. That’s where I come in. I’m here to dig up the stories that deserve to be told. The overlooked, the underreported, the cases that were swept aside. Each episode gives a voice to the voiceless men and women of Arkansas—because their stories matter.

Episodes

  1. 09/30/2024

    Death row/Execution timeline

    This is a shorter episode about the timeline of executions and death row in Arkansas began in Arkansas in 1820 and is still active to this day in 2024 although no executions have been carried out since 2017. Trigger warning: The following episode talks about the timeline of the death penalty in Arkansas, execution drugs, and brief mention of execution. Listeners discretion is advised.  Sources: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/outcomes-of-death-warrants-in-2024 http://arkansasabolish.org/ https://adc.arkansas.gov/ https://portal.arkansas.gov/agency/office-of-the-prosecutor-coordinator/ https://www.acic.org/victims-information   Social media: Facebook- true crime with a twist make it arkansas Insta- tcwtarkansaspod tik tok- tcwtark1 twitter- tcwtpodcast gmail- tcwtarkansas@gmail.com

  2. 01/20/2024

    Episode 8: Lavinia Veny Sharp

    Trigger Warning: The following episode mentions murder and hanging. Listeners discretion is advised. This episode involves a mother, a husband, and a son, who were all hanged in Arkansas within months of each other. Lavinia Sharp (died November 8, 1845) was the first woman to be executed in the state of Arkansas. Burnett, her husband Crawford, and their son John, were arrested, tried, and convicted of the murder of Jonathan Selby, who lived near Fayetteville, Arkansas, and who allegedly kept large sums of money at his residence. One of Lavinia and Crawford's daughters informed authorities of the murder, and robbery. Lavinia and Crawford Burnett were tried in October 1845 and sentenced to be hanged on November 8, 1845. The hanging was reportedly well attended. John Burnett was arrested in Missouri and was found guilty on December 4, 1845. He was hanged on December 26, 1845. Sources: murderpedia.org http://www.executedtoday.com/2009/11/08/1845-lavinia-burnett-crawford-burnett-fayetteville/ http://www.executedtoday.com/2018/12/26/john-burnett-failson/ https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/658013?page=1#sr-121802054 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106907710/lavinia-veny-burnett https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/239539398/john-burnett https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/239539266/crawford-burnett arkansasgenalogy.com Washington County, Arkansas Newspaper about 1950 Social Media: Facebook- true crime with a twist make it arkansas Insta- tcwtarkansaspod tik tok- tcwtark1 twitter- tcwtpodcast gmail- tcwtarkansas@gmail.com

  3. 07/16/2023

    Episode 7: Stacey Johnson

    I started recording this episode on Easter Sunday, and I have recorded clips that hopefully make sense to everyone listening. xoxo Warning. The following consists of triggering events and narrations of actual crime scene evidence. Caution is strongly advised especially for listeners under the age of 13. The show features descriptions of Murder, Sexual Assault, and Violence. Listener discretion is advised.  A young woman, with two small children were home and the older child witnessed the most horrendous thing that can happen in this life time. For photos pertaining to this case, check out the Stacey Johnson post on the instagram https://instagram.com/tcwtarkansaspod?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw== Hang with me: Like the Facebook page Case sources: Murderpedia Fox News The People History

  4. 12/04/2022 ·  Bonus

    Episode 6:Catching up since I went missing

    I've been MIA since August and I feel like the best way to come back to my podcast is by catching my faithful listeners up to speed. Life is difficult most of the time but for the past few months I could not handle any of it, I have been doing the best I can with what I have which isn't much. I'm doing better now, and I see the sun shining and I get happy about the little things again. I created a Patreon, but don't feel obligated to donate I did that to hold myself accountable so I don't disappear for so long again. I have so many cases that I am going to record and talk through, so hopefully if you have stuck around this long you will continue to stick around and work through these cases with me. I plan to approach things from a different perspective going forward.  Much love, your podcasting princess Kena Support this podcast at patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 6:Catching up since I went missing

  5. 12/04/2022

    Episode 5: The West Memphis 3 Part 4

    This is going to be a hard one to hear. Today, I will wrap up the The West Memphis Three case. Part 4 will cover the release on August 19, 2011; Their lives after release and updates on their case as of 2022. Again this case of the tragic demise of 8 year olds: Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch in May of 1993 still has not received true justice. In this final part I will do my best to chronicle things with the best timeline I could find through my research. I appreciate you all for listening and sticking around.  Case Sources: https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/arkansas-history-timeline/1900-2000s  https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1993.html  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three  https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baldwin-jason.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/misskelley-jessie.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.E/e/echols-damien.htm Support this podcast at — patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 5: The West Memphis 3 Part 4

  6. 12/04/2022

    Episode 4: The West Memphis 3 Part 3

    To piggy back off of the last episode we are diving deeper into the West Memphis 3 case and today we are talking about the investigation and sentencing of the 3 defendants.  Case Sources: https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/arkansas-history-timeline/1900-2000s  https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1993.html  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three  https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baldwin-jason.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/misskelley-jessie.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.E/e/echols-damien.htm Support this podcast at — patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 4: The West Memphis 3 Part 3

  7. 03/16/2022

    Episode 3: The West Memphis 3 Part 2

    This is going to be a hard one to hear. Today, we will continue the dive deeper into the West Memphis Three case. Part 2 will cover the investigation and sentencing of the defendants in the case of the tragic demise of 8 year olds: Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch in May of 1993. In this part we will do our  best to cover everything from the start of the investigations, through evidence and interviews, and the trials of the defendants. We also wanted to take this time to introduce you all to the defendants and their trials and subsequent sentences.   Case Sources:   https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/arkansas-history-timeline/1900-2000s  https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1993.html  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three  https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baldwin-jason.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/misskelley-jessie.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.E/e/echols-damien.htm Support this podcast at — patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 3: The West Memphis 3 Part 2

  8. 02/22/2022

    Episode 2: The West Memphis 3 Part 1

    This is going to be a hard one to hear. Today, we will start the deep dive into the West Memphis Three case. Part 1 will cover the tragic demise of 8 year olds: Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch in May of 1993. In this part I will do my best to cover everything from the start of the initial report of the children going missing until the trial of Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley and subsequent sentencing that followed the historical three convictions.  Case Sources:  https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/arkansas-history-timeline/1900-2000s  https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1993.html  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three  https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baldwin-jason.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/misskelley-jessie.htm  https://murderpedia.org/male.E/e/echols-damien.htm Support this podcast at — patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 2: The West Memphis 3 Part 1

  9. 02/11/2022

    Episode 1: The disappearance of Mrs. Maud Crawford of Camden AR

    The unsolved disappearance of Mrs. Maud Crawford of Camden AR went missing from her home in 1957, and has never been seen again.  Case Sources:  https://www.fox16.com/news/special-reports/small-towns-biggest-secret-author-says-arkansas-womans-1957-disappearance-is-full-of-corruption/  http://www.luminousfilms.net/disappearance/  https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/2021-05-04/encyclopedia-of-arkansas-minute-maud-crawford  https://www.kark.com/news/web-extras/web-extra-inside-maud-crawfords-camden-home/  https://www.aymag.com/murder-mystery-the-disappearance-of-maud-crawford/ Support this podcast at — patreon.com/user?u=83750397

    Episode 1: The disappearance of Mrs. Maud Crawford of Camden AR

  10. Trailer

    True Crime with a Twist (Trailer)

    True Crime with a Twist

  • 1 Trailer
    9 Episodes

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

3.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Welcome to True Crime with a Twist—the podcast where Arkansas speaks for itself. Known as “The Natural State,” Arkansas may seem quiet, but when something happens… it really happens—and nobody ever sees it coming. There’s a long, disturbing history of crimes and murders here that rarely get media attention, often buried and forgotten. That’s where I come in. I’m here to dig up the stories that deserve to be told. The overlooked, the underreported, the cases that were swept aside. Each episode gives a voice to the voiceless men and women of Arkansas—because their stories matter.

Information

  • Creator
    Akena Holliman
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Akena Holliman
  • Show Website
    True Crime with a Twist