TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

BRATTERSTEIN

As someone who has been personally effected by homicide, I approach every True Crime case I cover with the goal of balancing facts with empathy—giving victims a voice while exploring the larger cultural and societal implications of the cases. I want you to leave my episodes not only knowing that the people who I talk about are real.. what happened to them is real but also acknowledging that they are much more than just their deaths. Each audio file from this podcast is taken from my videos on YouTube. If you want to see me in action, you can search "Bratterstein" there.

  1. 7-Year-Old Vanishes... Her Teenage Killer Hid Her in His Basement

    1d ago

    7-Year-Old Vanishes... Her Teenage Killer Hid Her in His Basement

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Ashley Ann Carlson with me today. The murder of Ashley Ann Carlson is one of the most disturbing child murder cases in Oregon true crime history. In February 1999, 7-year-old Ashley Carlson vanished from her neighborhood in Astoria, Oregon, sparking a massive search for the missing child. What investigators eventually uncovered shocked the community: Ashley had been abducted, assaulted, and murdered by her 16-year-old babysitter and neighbor, Patrick Harned. Even more chilling, Harned participated in the search efforts while hiding Ashley's body beneath the floorboards of his basement bedroom. Convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to life in prison, Harned's case later became the subject of debate over juvenile sentencing laws. The Ashley Carlson murder remains one of the most heartbreaking and infamous true crime cases involving a missing child, betrayal of trust, and a killer hiding in plain sight

    50 min
  2. He Survived 43 Hours with the Bonebreaker

    3d ago

    He Survived 43 Hours with the Bonebreaker

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Thadius Phillips and Chris Steiner with me today. In the summer of 1995, 13‑year‑old Thadius “Thad” Phillips was snatched from his bed in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and carried to the house of 17‑year‑old Joseph “Joe” Clark, who would become known as the “Bonebreaker” killer. Over the next roughly 43 hours, Clark sadistically snapped and twisted Thad’s leg bones, breaking his ankles and femur while refusing him medical help and blocking multiple escape attempts, until Thad, hours from death, smashed his way out of a closet, dragged his shattered legs down the stairs, and crawled to a phone to calmly call 911. His survival and testimony not only saved his own life but also helped expose Clark as the likely killer of another boy, Chris Steiner, leading to Clark’s conviction and a sentence of life plus 100 years in prison.

    48 min
  3. Killed by her Stalker : The Alice Ruggles Story

    6d ago

    Killed by her Stalker : The Alice Ruggles Story

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Alice Ruggles with me today. In October 2016, 24‑year‑old Alice Ruggles was murdered in her Gateshead flat by her ex‑boyfriend, army Lance Corporal Trimaan “Harry” Dhillon, after months of obsessive stalking that she had already begged police to help her escape. Alice had broken up with Dhillon after discovering he was contacting other women, but he refused to let go, driving hundreds of miles to her home uninvited, flooding her with messages, leaving flowers and gifts on her windowsill, and threatening her with intimate photos, behaviour her family later said they didn’t realise was so dangerous until it was too late. On the night of 12 October, Dhillon travelled down from his barracks, climbed in through an open window at Alice’s flat and attacked her inside, slashing her throat repeatedly with a kitchen knife in what a pathologist described as a “deep and forceful” cut from ear to ear, along with multiple defensive wounds as she tried to fight him off. He then left her to bleed to death on the floor, and it was Alice’s flatmate who later found her body and alerted police. At trial, Dhillon claimed he acted in self‑defence and that the fatal wound was an accident during a struggle, but the jury rejected that, convicting him of murder; the judge jailed him for life with a minimum term of 22 years and called the killing an act of “utter barbarism.” Since Alice’s death, her family have set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to campaign on stalking, using her story to show how quickly a controlling, “romantic” obsession can cross the line into lethal violence, and how vital it is that repeated reports to the police are treated as a genuine warning rather than just relationship drama.

    54 min
  4. 5-Year-Old Shawnlee Perry was Killed by a “Helpful Neighbor”

    Jun 24

    5-Year-Old Shawnlee Perry was Killed by a “Helpful Neighbor”

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Shawnlee Matilda Perry with me today. In May 1992, 5-year-old Shawnlee Perry disappeared from Earth, Texas, launching a massive missing child investigation that gripped the small community and became one of the state's most heartbreaking true crime cases. After weeks of searching, Shawnlee was found murdered, and investigators spent years working to solve the child abduction and murder. The case took a shocking turn when forensic evidence linked local resident Eddie Rowton to the crime, revealing that the man responsible had participated in search efforts while Shawnlee's family desperately looked for answers. Convicted of capital murder in 1999 and sentenced to death, Rowton's conviction brought long-awaited justice in a case that continues to be remembered as a tragic Texas murder case, child homicide investigation, and chilling example of a killer hiding in plain sight.

    43 min
  5. Watched her Friends Dig her Grave : The Rachel Burkheimer Case

    Jun 22

    Watched her Friends Dig her Grave : The Rachel Burkheimer Case

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Rachel Burkheimer with me today.

    49 min
  6. One Of The Darkest Things That I Can Ever Imagine : Mary Ann Murphy

    Jun 19

    One Of The Darkest Things That I Can Ever Imagine : Mary Ann Murphy

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Mary Ann Murphy with me today. In July 2012, 48‑year‑old Mary Ann Murphy was found stabbed to death in her bed in the family home in Humble, Texas, after her teenage daughter Keri ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911 claiming an intruder had kicked in the back door. When police arrived, they discovered a scene of extreme overkill: Mary Ann had been attacked as she slept and stabbed more than 70 times, with wounds covering her arms, hands, neck, and face, clearly far beyond what would be needed to kill. At first, detectives focused on 20‑year‑old Zein Ahmed, a male classmate of Keri’s, but as they dug into phone records and relationships, attention shifted to Keri herself and her older girlfriend, 20‑year‑old Rebecca Keller. Mary Ann had recently tried to stop Keri from seeing Rebecca after catching them alone together, and investigators came to believe the two young women had plotted Mary Ann’s murder so they could be together without interference. Recorded jail calls later captured Rebecca admitting that she was the one who crept into Mary Ann’s bedroom and stabbed her more than 70 times while Keri staged the break‑in story. Rather than go to trial, both Keri and Rebecca pleaded guilty in December 2012; Rebecca received a 60‑year sentence for carrying out the stabbing, while Keri was sentenced to 30 years for orchestrating the plot against her own mother. The case has since been highlighted in documentaries and true‑crime shows as a chilling example of a teenage romance turning homicidal when a parent tried to step in.

    48 min
  7. Virginia McCullough Murdered Her Parents… Then Lived With Their Bodies

    Jun 17

    Virginia McCullough Murdered Her Parents… Then Lived With Their Bodies

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering John McCullough and Lois McCullough with me today. The Virginia McCullough case is one of the most disturbing family murder cases in recent UK true crime history. In 2019, 36-year-old Virginia McCullough murdered her parents, John McCullough and Lois McCullough, inside their home in Essex, England. Investigators discovered that Virginia poisoned her father and then brutally killed her mother before concealing both bodies inside the house. For nearly four years, she continued living in the home while pretending her parents were still alive, sending messages to family members, making excuses for their absence, and spending money connected to their accounts. The shocking double murder was finally uncovered in 2023 when police conducted a welfare check and found the remains of John and Lois hidden inside the property. Virginia McCullough later admitted to the killings and was sentenced to life in prison, making this chilling case of deception, family murder, and concealed bodies one of the most talked-about true crime stories in the United Kingdom.

    45 min
  8. Shaylyn Moran and Jack Doherty : The Psychotic Pawtucket Couple

    Jun 15

    Shaylyn Moran and Jack Doherty : The Psychotic Pawtucket Couple

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Cheryl Smith with me today. On New Year’s Day 2020 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 18‑year‑old Shaylyn Moran and her new fiancé, 23‑year‑old Jack Doherty, turned a petty grudge into a murder plot when they targeted the mother of Moran’s ex‑boyfriend. Prosecutors said the couple got engaged on New Year’s Eve, then spent the night in a hotel planning revenge, deciding that Doherty would go to the Baxter Street home where Moran’s ex lived and shoot whoever answered the door with a handgun police believe was at least partly 3D‑printed. Around 8 p.m. on January 1, 54‑year‑old Cheryl Smith opened her front door and was shot multiple times in the chest; she later died at the hospital, while a man in dark clothing was seen running from the scene. Detectives quickly traced the plot back to Moran and Doherty, who were found hours later at a nearby Hampton Inn with the gun and arrested on murder and conspiracy charges. Moran ultimately pleaded guilty in 2021 to first‑degree murder, conspiracy, and firearms charges and was sentenced to life in prison plus additional years, while Doherty took his case to trial, claiming mental illness. A jury rejected his insanity defense in 2022 and found him guilty of murder, conspiracy, using a firearm in a violent crime, and carrying a pistol without a permit; in 2023 he was given two consecutive life sentences, ensuring that both he and Moran will likely die in prison for the New Year’s Day execution of Cheryl Smith.

    43 min
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4.8
out of 5
46 Ratings

About

As someone who has been personally effected by homicide, I approach every True Crime case I cover with the goal of balancing facts with empathy—giving victims a voice while exploring the larger cultural and societal implications of the cases. I want you to leave my episodes not only knowing that the people who I talk about are real.. what happened to them is real but also acknowledging that they are much more than just their deaths. Each audio file from this podcast is taken from my videos on YouTube. If you want to see me in action, you can search "Bratterstein" there.

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