How to Get on Death Row

Esper Creative

How to Get on Death Row is a true-crime podcast that breaks down real death row cases from crime to conviction. We explore the evidence, investigations, trials, and decisions that ultimately determine who faces the death penalty—and how they got there.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Death Row Iceberg: Haunted Gallows & Dead Men’s Hands

    Happy Halloween! I'm popping in for a spooky Halloween special 🎃👻 We’re going all the way down the Death Row Iceberg: the weird, the superstitious and the straight-up haunted side of execution history. A jailbreak disguised as a haunting. A cure that came from a dead man’s hand. People who showed up to executions with cups. And the hangman who couldn’t escape his own ghost story. 📚 SOURCES • Executing Magic in the Modern Era, Davies & Matteoni (2017, free online): https://link.springer.com/book/10.100... • “A Virtue Beyond All Medicine”: The Hanged Man’s Hand, Davies & Matteoni (2015): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... • Death Row Confinement and the Meaning of Last Words, Johnson, Kanewske & Barak (2014): https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/3/1/141Spectacle of Justice: The Public Execution Era, Santa Clara University: https://dh.scu.edu/exhibits/exhibits/... • Hanging in Chains (2018): https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.... • The Journey to Tyburn, Old Bailey Online: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/about... • The Battle Over Bodies, Lindsey Fitzharris: https://drlindseyfitzharris.com/the-b... • The Condemned Sermon at Newgate, Hilary Carey: https://bristolha.org/2023/11/12/the-... • Newgate Chapel, Thomas Rowlandson (Met Museum): https://metmuseum.org/art/collection/... • Socrates’ last words (Plato, Phaedo): https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/... • The Prince of Hangmen, National Park Service: https://home.nps.gov/fosm/learn/histo... • Hamida Djandoubi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamida_... 🎃 Happy Halloween. And whatever you do, don’t start anything new on a Friday.

  2. Oct 29

    The Real Buffalo Bill: Gary Heidnik, the Last Man Executed in Pennsylvania

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of kidnapping, sexual assault, torture, murder, dismemberment, and death.   Between November 1986 and March 1987, Gary Heidnik kidnapped six women and held them captive in the basement of his North Philadelphia home, while holding church services on the floor above. Two of them never made it out. The case would go on to help inspire Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, and Heidnik would become the last person executed in Pennsylvania.   In this episode of How to Get on Death Row, we follow Gary Heidnik from his childhood in Ohio, through his time in the Army, his career as a nurse, and the self-made church that gave him cover. We go inside the four months on Marshall Street through the accounts of the women who survived it, including Josefina Rivera, whose escape finally brought police to his door, and we look at the missed chances that could have ended it sooner.   From the Philadelphia courtroom, where his defense argued insanity, to his 1988 conviction and his execution on July 6, 1999, we break down how Gary Heidnik ended up on death row, and what it means for the women he left behind.   In memory of Sandra Lindsay and Deborah Dudley.   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION   For sources, court documents, photographs, and additional information about the Gary Heidnik case, check out our website!   https://howtogetondeathrow.com/   Further reading: Cellar Girl by Josefina Rivera Cellar of Horror by Ken Englade   Interrogation audio from Monster Preacher (Oxygen).   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ HOW TO GET ON DEATH ROW   Each episode breaks down real death row cases from start to finish— exploring the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the decisions that change everything.   We dive into the evidence and the legal, personal, and ethical factors that can tip the scales between life and death.   Every case tells a different story—but they all answer the same question: how do you get on death row?   Subscribe for new cases and follow along as we examine the people, crimes, and cases that ultimately led to death row.   How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production. Hosted by Olivia Costantino.   Don't miss out on any updates:   Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow YouTube: @howtogetondeathrow   #GaryHeidnik #TrueCrime #DeathRow #SilenceOfTheLambs #Philadelphia #PennsylvaniaDeathRow #CapitalPunishment #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HowToGetOnDeathRow

  3. Oct 15 ·  Video

    The Diamond Heist Worth $3.6M and a Death Sentence.

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence, attempted murder, and death. 💎 A note on the numbers: many news reports cite $3.5 million in stolen diamonds. Court records put the value of Janos Szucs’s diamond inventory at $3.6 million. I use the court figure in this episode. You can find the source documents on my website: ⁠https://howtogetondeathrow.com/⁠ __ In 1996, a Houston diamond dealer was shot to death at his desk, and more than $3.5 million in diamonds vanished. Nearly 30 years later, the diamonds have never been found, and the man convicted of the murder is scheduled to be executed on November 19, 2026.   In this episode of How to Get on Death Row, we follow the story of Reinaldo Dennes from his early life in Cuba and his career in the jewelry business, through the night of the robbery and the investigation that led police to him and his brother. We break down the evidence prosecutors used at trial, including the ballistics, the informant, and the relationship that helped the men get inside the building.   From the Harris County courtroom to Texas death row, we follow Reinaldo’s 1997 conviction, his appeals, and the execution date now set for November 19, 2026.   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION   For sources, court documents, photographs, and additional information about the Reinaldo Dennes case, check out our website!   https://howtogetondeathrow.com/   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ HOW TO GET ON DEATH ROW   Each episode breaks down real death row cases from start to finish— exploring the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the decisions that change everything.   We dive into the evidence and the legal, personal, and ethical factors that can tip the scales between life and death.   Every case tells a different story—but they all answer the same question: how do you get on death row?   Subscribe for new cases and follow along as we examine the people, crimes, and cases that ultimately led to death row.   How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production. Hosted by Olivia Costantino.   Don’t miss out on any updates:   Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow YouTube: @howtogetondeathrow   #ReinaldoDennes #TrueCrime #DeathRow #DiamondHeist #TexasDeathRow #CapitalPunishment #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HowToGetOnDeathRow

  4. Oct 7 ·  Video

    Horsch "House of Horrors": What We Know

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence, sexual violence, drug use, and death. Viewer discretion is advised. Okay, this one is a little different because it's not a death row case, but the circumstances are so crazy that I just had to cover it here. A routine stop in Philadelphia led investigators to a house in Olney, more than a million photos and videos, and a case that police now say could be linked to as many as seven missing women. In this mini-episode of How to Get on Death Row, we break down what we know so far: - The arrest that started it all - The search of the Olney home and what investigators have said they found - The 58 women identified in the footage and the families still searching for answers- Raymond Horsch's criminal history, including a 2009 child luring case that was later expunged - The ongoing forensic processing and excavation of the propertyBecause Raymond Horsch is deceased, he will never face trial, which is why this is a mini-episode and not a full death row case. This is a developing investigation, and everything here is based on public reporting as of October 7, 2026. My heart is with the families waiting for answers. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION All sources for this episode are compiled here:https://howtogetondeathrow.com/mini-episode/horsch-house-of-horrors-what-we-know/ For more cases, visit:https://howtogetondeathrow.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ HOW TO GET ON DEATH ROW Each episode breaks down real death row cases from start to finish, exploring the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the decisions that change everything.We dive into the evidence and the legal, personal, and ethical factors that can tip the scales between life and death.Every case tells a different story, but they all answer the same question: how do you get on death row?Subscribe for new cases, and follow along as we examine the people, crimes, and cases that ultimately led to death row. A full case drops next Thursday!---How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production.Hosted by Olivia Costantino.Don't miss out on any updates: Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow YouTube: @howtogetondeathrow   #RaymondHorsch #HorschHouseOfHorrors #OlneyHouseOfHorrors #PhiladelphiaTrueCrime #TrueCrime #SerialKiller #MissingWomen #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HowToGetOnDeathRow

  5. Oct 4 ·  Video

    Christa Pike's Failed Execution: What Happened & What Comes Next

    **UPDATE (October 3, 2026):** Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada has announced plans to resign, just days after Christa Pike was hospitalized following the state’s unsuccessful execution attempt. Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Strada’s upcoming departure. This video reflects reporting available through October 3. The case is still developing, and I’ll update this description and pin new information as it becomes available. ___ On September 30, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike. The execution did NOT go as planned. I In this special update, I break down everything we know about what happened: the reported events inside the execution chamber, the accounts of media witnesses, the emergency legal filings that followed, and the questions being raised about Tennessee's lethal injection protocol. We'll also look at the legal history behind the controversy, including Christa Pike's challenge to the state's execution procedures, the botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers earlier this year, and the legal precedents that could shape what happens next. What happened during Christa Pike's execution attempt? What do we know about the procedure itself? What are the constitutional and ethical questions being raised, and where does her case stand now? This episode examines the available reporting, court filings, legal documents, and official records to put the events into context. The case is still developing, and I'll continue to follow it as more information becomes available. **WATCH THE ORIGINAL DEEP DIVE INTO CHRISTA PIKE'S CASE:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M_o3f_sNkw SOURCES & FURTHER READING To see all sources (news reporting, court filings, and official records), go to: https://howtogetondeathrow.com/christa-pike-execution-update/   ABOUT THIS CHANNEL How to Get on Death Row examines real death penalty cases, from the crime and investigation to the trial, appeals, and the decisions that lead to a death sentence. Subscribe for more in-depth death row cases, execution updates, and discussions about the death penalty. DISCLAIMER: This episode is for educational and informational purposes. Legal claims, witness accounts, and reported events are discussed in the context of the available sources and may be disputed or subject to further developments. Allegations and legal arguments are not necessarily established findings of fact. #ChristaPike #DeathPenalty #DeathRow #Tennessee

  6. Oct 1 ·  Video

    Martin Gurule: The Man Who Escaped Death Row

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence, prison escape, and death. In 1998, Martin Gurule did something that seemed almost impossible: he escaped from Texas death row. But Gurule wasn't supposed to be able to get anywhere near the outside world. He was being held on Texas's death row after being convicted of capital murder for the 1992 killing of restaurant owner Minas “Mike” Piperis and Anthony Staton during a robbery at the U&I Restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas. So how did a man sentenced to death manage to escape one of the most heavily secured prison units in Texas? In this episode of How to Get on Death Row, we follow Martin Gurule's story from his early life and relationship with Malisa Smith, through the events leading up to the U&I Restaurant murders, the investigation, his arrest, trial, and death sentence. We examine the evidence that connected Martin to the crime, the prosecution's case, his decision to testify in his own defense, and the circumstances surrounding his conviction and placement on Texas's death row. Then, nearly six years after his conviction, everything changed. On November 25, 1998, Martin Gurule escaped from the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, launching one of the largest manhunts in Texas history. We follow the desperate search that unfolded after his disappearance, the investigation into how he managed to get out of the prison, the evidence that eventually led authorities to him, and the shocking events that brought the manhunt to an end. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION For sources, court documents, photographs, archival footage, and additional information about the Martin Gurule case, check out our website! https://howtogetondeathrow.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ HOW TO GET ON DEATH ROW Each episode breaks down real death row cases from start to finish— exploring the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the decisions that change everything. We dive into the evidence and the legal, personal, and ethical factors that can tip the scales between life and death. Every case tells a different story—but they all answer the same question: how do you get on death row? Subscribe for new cases and follow along as we examine the people, crimes, and cases that ultimately led to death row. --- How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production. Hosted by Olivia Costantino. Don’t miss out on any updates: Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow YouTube: @howtogetondeathrow

  7. Sep 17 ·  Video

    Judy Buenoano: Florida's Black Widow

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence, attempted murder, and death. Judy Buenoano was a convicted murderer who became the first woman executed in Florida in more than a decade—and investigators believed her victims may have been part of a much larger pattern of death, money, and deception. In 1985, Judy Buenoano was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, U.S. Air Force Sergeant James Goodyear, who died suddenly in 1971 after becoming seriously ill. Years later, investigators began to suspect that his death may not have been what it seemed. And James wasn't the only person around Judy to die under suspicious circumstances. In this episode of How to Get on Death Row, we follow the story of Judy Buenoano from her early life and relationships, through the mysterious deaths surrounding her, and the attempted murder of her fiancé John Gentry. We unravel the suspicious deaths, the insurance money tied to them, and the evidence prosecutors used to argue that none of these deaths were accidents. From the courtroom to Florida's death row, we follow Judy's convictions, appeals, claims of innocence, and ultimately her execution in Florida's electric chair on March 30, 1998. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION For sources, court documents, photographs, and additional information about the Judy Buenoano case, check out our website! https://howtogetondeathrow.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ HOW TO GET ON DEATH ROW Each episode breaks down real death row cases from start to finish— exploring the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the decisions that change everything. We dive into the evidence and the legal, personal, and ethical factors that can tip the scales between life and death. Every case tells a different story—but they all answer the same question: how do you get on death row? Subscribe for new cases and follow along as we examine the people, crimes, and cases that ultimately led to death row. --- How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production. Hosted by Olivia Costantino. Don’t miss out on any updates: Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow YouTube: @howtogetondeathrow

  8. Aug 31

    Christa Pike: Scheduled to Be Executed September 30, 2026

    ⚠️ This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence, child abuse, CSA, and death. Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed on September 30, 2026. If carried out, she would become the first woman executed by the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years. In 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The case became one of the most disturbing murder cases in the state's history, and Pike was sentenced to death. In this episode of How to Get on Death Row, we follow Christa Pike's story from her childhood and the events leading up to Colleen Slemmer's murder, through the investigation, trial, death sentence, decades on Tennessee's death row, and the legal challenges surrounding her scheduled execution. For sources and more information visit: www.howtogetondeathrow.com How to Get on Death Row is an Esper Creative Production. Hosted by Olivia Costantino.  Don't miss out on any updates: Instagram: @howtogetondeathrow TikTok: @howtogetondeathrow Youtube: @howtogetondeathrow

  • 8 Episodes

About

How to Get on Death Row is a true-crime podcast that breaks down real death row cases from crime to conviction. We explore the evidence, investigations, trials, and decisions that ultimately determine who faces the death penalty—and how they got there.

Information

  • Creator
    Esper Creative
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    How to Get on Death Row