Things I Want To Know

FMS Studios

Ever wonder what really happened — not the rumors, not the Netflix version, but the truth buried in forgotten police files? We did too.  We don’t chase conspiracy theories or ghost stories. We chase facts. Through FOIA requests, interviews, and case files scattered across America, we dig through what’s left behind to find what still doesn’t make sense. Along the way, you’ll hear the real conversations between us — the questions, the theories, and the quiet frustration that comes when justice fades. Each episode takes you inside a case that time tried to erase — the voices left behind, the investigators who never quit, and the clues that still echo decades later. We don’t claim to solve them. We just refuse to let them be forgotten. Join us as we search for the truth, one mystery at a time.

  1. Murder in the Bayou, The Jeff Davis Eight

    APR 12

    Murder in the Bayou, The Jeff Davis Eight

    Send us Fan Mail Eight women were found dead in Jennings, Louisiana. Nobody’s been held responsible. That’s the case. This all happens in Jefferson Davis Parish. Small town. Water everywhere. Canals, drainage ditches, roadside drops. If you’ve ever been down there, you already know—there are a lot of places where something can be left and not found right away. And when water gets involved, whatever was there doesn’t stay long. We walk through it from 2005 to 2009 and stick to what actually holds up. Where the bodies were found. How close they were to each other. What lines up, and what doesn’t. The problem is, there isn’t one clean pattern. Same general area, same kind of recovery locations—but the details don’t lock in. Then you get into who these women were. Same circles. Drugs. Unstable housing. Survival sex work. Whether it should matter or not, it does—because it affects how fast people react when someone disappears. And then it starts to break down. There are reports and allegations tied to local law enforcement. Some of it documented. Some of it coming from people in the community. We keep that line clear. But once that gets introduced, everything gets harder to trust. People stop talking, or they never talk in the first place. We also run it through Kade Mercer to see if this even fits a normal serial case. It doesn’t really. No clean escalation. No consistent method. The only thing that holds is access—access to the same group of people, and access to places where bodies can be dropped. At some point, you’re not looking at a clean theory anymore. You’re looking at a mess. And that’s where it still sits. Listen to the episode, then decide for yourself what you think actually happened in Jennings.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    1h 4m
  2. A Three-Year-Old Labeled Evil In The Arkansas Woods

    MAR 16

    A Three-Year-Old Labeled Evil In The Arkansas Woods

    Send us Fan Mail In April 1978, three-year-old Stephanie Alana Hall was killed in the Ozark woods of Newton County, Arkansas by members of a small religious cult. When investigators asked why anyone would murder a child, the answer they heard was almost impossible to process: the group believed the girl had been declared “anathema.” In their belief system, that meant she no longer belonged among the living. In this episode we walk through what actually happened in that remote campsite near the Buffalo River. We look at the cult’s structure, the role of a teenage “prophet,” the religious language used to justify the decision, and the moment when belief crossed the line into murder. We also follow the case through the courts, where testimony revealed how the group reached the decision to kill Stephanie and who ultimately carried it out. It’s one of the strangest and most disturbing crimes in Arkansas history—and a reminder of how dangerous a closed belief system can become when no one inside it is willing to question the revelation.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    54 min
  3. Boys On The Tracks: Mena Arkansas 1987

    MAR 8

    Boys On The Tracks: Mena Arkansas 1987

    Send us Fan Mail On August 23, 1987, two Arkansas teenagers were found dead on a railroad track outside Bryant. Authorities quickly ruled it an accident. The official story claimed Kevin Ives and Don Henry had smoked marijuana, laid down on the tracks, and fallen asleep before a freight train came through. Case closed. But when a second autopsy was performed, investigators discovered one of the boys had a crushed skull before the train ever reached him. Suddenly the accident story didn’t hold. What followed was one of the most controversial investigations Arkansas has ever seen. Allegations of evidence tampering. A medical examiner who would later go to prison. Rumors of drug smuggling flights through the small town of Mena, Arkansas during the late 1980s. Witnesses who died under mysterious circumstances. Nearly four decades later, the question remains: How did two teenagers end up dead on a railroad track… and why has the truth never been settled? In this episode of Things I Want to Know, we break down the timeline, the evidence, the corruption allegations, and the theories surrounding one of Arkansas’ most haunting cold cases. Because sometimes a train doesn’t just run over bodies. Sometimes it runs over the truth.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    1h 7m
  4. When the Coroner Says It’s Not Murder

    MAR 2

    When the Coroner Says It’s Not Murder

    Send us Fan Mail When the Coroner Says It’s Not Murder Two teenage boys are found dead on railroad tracks near Mena, Arkansas. The ruling? Accident. A man is found with four gunshot wounds to the chest. The ruling? Suicide. Now… I don’t know about you, but that should at least make you pause. Because once that word is written down — accident, suicide — everything shifts. Detectives slow down. Prosecutors adjust. The public moves on. And families are left staring at a piece of paper wondering how in the hell that conclusion was reached. This episode isn’t about internet rumors. It’s about documented rulings. It’s about the Arkansas medical examiner whose determinations between 1979 and 1991 didn’t just describe deaths — they shaped what happened next. The Boys on the Tracks case didn’t begin as a homicide investigation. It began as an accident. Only after family pressure and a grand jury did that story change. And that four-gunshot suicide? That became one of the most talked-about determinations of the era. Not because of conspiracy podcasts — because people read it and said, “Wait… what?” We also talk about the atmosphere at the time — alleged drug smuggling tied to Barry Seal, the later federal convictions of prosecutor Dan Harmon. There is no ruling tying those convictions to the deaths discussed here. But when narcotics investigations, local power structures, and fast accident rulings all overlap, people start asking questions. This isn’t an episode where we declare some secret master plan. It’s simpler than that. If the coroner says it’s not murder… who argues? And what happens when the person holding the pen is the most powerful voice in the room?  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    58 min
  5. Jack The Ripper vs HH Holms. Why the two killers are not the same

    FEB 22

    Jack The Ripper vs HH Holms. Why the two killers are not the same

    Send us Fan Mail Was H. H. Holmes really Jack the Ripper? It’s one of true crime’s most persistent myths. This week on Things I Want To Know, we break it apart using motive, method, timeline, and behavioral profiling. Andrea takes Whitechapel and builds the Ripper’s profile. Paul steps into Chicago and dissects Holmes. Same era. Completely different predators. Holmes built traps. Private rooms. Insurance scams. Control and profit at the center of every decision. The Ripper attacked in public. Fast escalation. From Polly Nichols to Mary Jane Kelly, the violence intensifies in a way that reads like compulsion, not commerce. We test the royal rumors, the traveling American theory, and the fantasy of one man committing both crime sprees across an ocean. By the end, the myth looks dramatic. The evidence does not. If you prefer psychology over headlines, follow the show. And if you disagree, send us your case.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    56 min
  6. Radium Town, USA. Come For The Glow, Stay For The Smell

    FEB 16

    Radium Town, USA. Come For The Glow, Stay For The Smell

    Send us Fan Mail What if your entire town was built on something that wasn’t real? Claremore, Oklahoma once rebranded itself as “Radium Town.” Hotels. Parades. Bathhouses. Souvenir jugs. Steam rooms packed with believers. One problem. The water didn’t contain radium. It smelled like sulfur. It burned your nose. And it sold like a miracle. This episode dives into the radium craze that swept America after the Curies made the element famous. We talk about the Radium Girls, radioactive tonics, glowing promises, and how one Oklahoma town rode that wave hard enough to turn prairie into profit. There were publicity stunts. Legal fights. City officials declaring the wells a nuisance. And yes — a promoter who was reportedly dead… until he wasn’t. Then medicine catches up. The glow fades. The wells get capped. But the town survives. We break down how Claremore pivoted when the miracle stopped working — and why the story still matters today, because radium wasn’t the last cure people bought without asking questions. It just glowed louder than most. If you like odd Americana, marketing gone wild, and history that smells like rotten eggs, this one’s for you.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    57 min
  7. Donna Sue Nelton: The Jane Doe Who Waited 32 Years For A Name

    FEB 9

    Donna Sue Nelton: The Jane Doe Who Waited 32 Years For A Name

    Send us Fan Mail Secrets don’t always hide in the dark. Sometimes they sit in a box on a shelf for decades, waiting on the day science finally catches up. After a quick start, we take a hard turn into Benton County, Arkansas, where skeletal remains were found in 1990 and the victim lived for 32 years in the system as a Jane Doe. We walk through why this case stalled for so long. A skull too damaged for reconstruction, early forensic limitations, and the brutal reality that without a name, even solid investigative work has nowhere to land. Then the tools evolve. NamUs enters the picture. Mitochondrial DNA work helps narrow the field. Finally, forensic genetic genealogy does what everything else could not. In 2022, investigators confirm her identity: Donna Sue Nelton, 28 years old. From there, we map what is known about the human terrain around her life, including George Alvin Bruton and the items tied to him that investigators discussed once her identity was restored. We also ask the uncomfortable questions this case forces. Why can an adult disappear without a clear missing report trail. How control dynamics can shrink a person’s choices until they do not feel like choices at all. And why victimology matters, because “Jane Doe” is not a person, but Donna Sue Nelton was. This is not a courtroom ending. It is a different kind of justice. A name returned. A case history restored. A woman pulled back out of the void. If you like true crime that stays grounded in facts and follows the science where it leads, follow the show so you do not miss what we dig into next.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    1h 1m
  8. Damascus, Arkansas: The Titan II Explosion

    FEB 1

    Damascus, Arkansas: The Titan II Explosion

    Send us Fan Mail A nine-pound socket slipped during routine maintenance inside a Titan II missile silo near Damascus, Arkansas. That’s not a metaphor. That’s the start of a real chain of events that turned a live Cold War ICBM into a disaster under rural farmland. In this episode, I walk Andrea through it the way I learned it. No assuming you’re a history nerd. No pretending everybody remembers the Cold War. We break down the basics in human language: why these weapons existed, why they were placed where they were placed, and how people can live near something terrifying and still worry more about dinner and the weather. Then we get into the night itself. The leak. The vapor. The pressure. The decisions made while everybody is trying to figure out what kind of nightmare they are standing next to. The silo ultimately explodes in a massive conventional blast. The nuclear warhead does not detonate, and the reentry vehicle is thrown clear and recovered afterward. That is the “good news.” The other part is realizing how thin the margin was, and how many outcomes still count as catastrophic even when the big one does not happen. And here’s the line that should bother everybody: luck is not a safety protocol. If you learned something, or if this one made you stare into the distance for a second, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with the moment that hit you the hardest.  “Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know. You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive. Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered. And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com. We make t Support the show Things I Want To Know If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

    55 min
See All (70)

4.9
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Ever wonder what really happened — not the rumors, not the Netflix version, but the truth buried in forgotten police files? We did too.  We don’t chase conspiracy theories or ghost stories. We chase facts. Through FOIA requests, interviews, and case files scattered across America, we dig through what’s left behind to find what still doesn’t make sense. Along the way, you’ll hear the real conversations between us — the questions, the theories, and the quiet frustration that comes when justice fades. Each episode takes you inside a case that time tried to erase — the voices left behind, the investigators who never quit, and the clues that still echo decades later. We don’t claim to solve them. We just refuse to let them be forgotten. Join us as we search for the truth, one mystery at a time.

Information

  • Channel
    FMS Studios
  • Creator
    Paul G Newton
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 FMS Studios / Paul G Newton
  • Show Website
    Things I Want To Know

More From FMS Studios

You Might Also Like