True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Dan Zupansky -
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  • TRUE CRIME
True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Every week host Dan Zupansky will interview the true crime authors that have written about the most shocking killers of all time.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    THE MENENDEZ MURDERS-UPDATED EDITION-Robert Rand

    Listen to Robert Rand, the investigative journalist the definitive book on the Menendez case—and the disquieting true story behind Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.A successful entertainment executive making $2 million a year. His former beauty queen wife. Their two sons on the fast track to success. But it was all a façade.The Menendez saga has captivated the American public since 1989. The killing of José and Kitty Menendez on a quiet Sunday evening in Beverly Hills didn’t make the cover of People magazine until the arrest of their sons seven months later, when the case developed an intense cult following. By the time the first Menendez trial began in July 1993, the public was convinced that Lyle and Erik were a pair of greedy rich kids who had killed loving, devoted parents.The real story remained buried beneath years of dark secrets.A culmination of more than 30 years of journalist Robert Rand’s relentless reporting, this updated edition of The Menendez Murders shares these intimate, breakthrough findings, including a deeply disturbing history of child abuse and sexual molestation in the Menendez family going back generations, as well as exclusive new revelations linking the 1980s boy band Menudo and the Menendez family, a first-hand account of the emotional reunion between Erik and Lyle Menendez, and surprising insights into how the Menendez brothers remain resilient and live with purpose despite a life sentence without parole.Journalist and author Robert Rand has followed the Menendez murders from the beginning and is the only reporter who covered the original investigation as well as both trials. With a unique vantage and unparalleled access to the Menendez family and their history, including interviews with both brothers before and after their arrest, and to this day. In 2023, Rand uncovered extraordinary material evidence that would certainly have changed the fate of the brothers’ first-degree murder conviction in 1996. He and the Menendez family hoped his discoveries would give the brothers new hope for reopening the case.The Netflix film series MONSTERS was released September 19th-with over 20 million viewers, and much controversy-with Netflix also releasing their documentary The Menendez Brothers, featuring Robert Rand, to be released October 7. On October 3rd, Los Angeles D.A. George Gascon made an announcement that his office is reviewing the convictions of the Menendez brothers to determine whether they should be resentenced and potentially released. A hearing has been scheduled for November 26th. Robert Rand joins me to discuss The Menendez Murders Updated Edition, Netflix's Monster and The Menedez Brothers documentary—and his incredible role in the latest developments in the historic Menendez murder case. THE MENENDEZ MURDERS UPDATED EDITION-Robert Rand.

    1h 3m

  2. OCT 7

    EDEN UNDONE-Abbott Kahler

    At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. One was so devoted to a life of isolation that he’d had his teeth extracted and replaced with a set of steel dentures.As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos. The three sets of exiles—a Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War I veteran and his young family, and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramours—were riven by conflict. Petty slights led to angry confrontations. The baroness, wielding a riding crop and pearl-handled revolver, staged physical fights between her two lovers and unabashedly seduced American tourists. The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and two others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder.Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galápagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopia—and lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed. EDEN UNDONE: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of Word War ll-Abbott Kahler

    1h 18m

  3. SEP 30

    OBSESSED-Mark Hewitt

    In Obsessed: My Relentless Pursuit of the Zodiac Killer, Dr. Mark Hewitt invites readers into his gripping journey of unraveling one of America's most enduring mysteries. Dr. Hewitt, an expert on the Zodiac case, and author of the acclaimed Zodiac Serial Killer Trilogy, shares his transformation from a pastor to a dedicated true crime investigator.This memoir details Dr. Hewitt's meticulous research, personal encounters, and the profound impact of the Zodiac case on his life. Moving to California reignited his passion, leading him to explore crime scenes and connect with other enthusiasts. His relentless pursuit is not only about the Zodiac but also about understanding the complexities of human nature and the quest for truth.Obsessed: My Relentless Pursuit of the Zodiac Killer provides a unique blend of personal narrative and investigative insight, offering readers a compelling look at the determination and challenges faced by those who seek to solve cold cases. Join Dr. Hewitt as he navigates the twists and turns of this enigmatic case, shedding light on his life's work and his unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth. OBSESSED: My Relentless Pursuit of the Zodiac Killer-Mark Hewitt

    1h 12m

  4. SEP 23

    THE BOOK OF MURDER-Matt Murphy

    Examining murder from an insider’s perspective, Matt Murphy—a former senior deputy district attorney and current ABC News Legal Analyst—discusses cases from his career, how they strained his personal life, and how he found peace seeking justice for victims and their families. Part taxonomy of murder, part prosecutor’s handbook, and part personal memoir, The Book of Murder goes through a dozen cases and his recollections of his twenty-six years in the Orange County DA’s office (seventeen in the Homicide Unit). Refreshingly honest about the toll such work takes on one’s private life, Murphy weaves his personal narrative throughout his casework in a way that humanizes the people entrusted with the duty of seeking justice on behalf of the public. As he does so, he lays bare the decision-making a prosecutor goes through in building a case to ensure justice is met while telling captivating tale after captivating tale of the world’s worst crime.See how a prosecutor looks at—and lives with—the very worst crime. The insider’s perspective that Murphy gives on the notorious cases of Skylar Deleon, Rodney Alcala, “Dirty John” Meehan, and many others is a vital read for true-crime fans everywhere. THE BOOK OF MURDER-A Prosecutor's Journey Through Love and Death-Matt Murphy

    1h 6m

  5. SEP 16

    THE LEWISTON SHOOTINGS-Robert Conlin

    October 25, 2023 was just an ordinary night in Lewiston, a small, working class city of 37,000 in central Maine. Friends and families had gathered to do what they loved to do with the people they wanted to be with at a bowling alley called Just-in-Time Recreation Center and Schemengees, a popular sports bar and restaurant. They felt immune from the violent crime that seemed to wrack the rest of the country in a state that the FBI had just named the safest in America. Then Robert Card II, a deeply paranoid Army Reserve soldier, walked into both places with a high-powered rifle and opened fire, killing 18 people and wounding 13 more. He then fled to a third location, where according to the evidence and the testimony of his best friend, he likely planned to lay in wait and kill his ex-co-workers when they came to work the next morning. The tragedy is that the numerous red flags he had raised in the months before weren't enough to stop him before he carried out his terrible plan. A combination of watered-down gun control laws and law enforcement and military negligence made sure of that. In THE LEWISTON SHOOTINGS - An All-American Tragedy, author and award-winning journalist Robert Conlin traces the shootings that deeply scarred a community that thought it was the last place on earth where a mass shooting would take place. THE LEWISTON SHOOTINGS: An All American Tragedy-Robert Conlin.

    1 hr

  6. SEP 9

    THE ELECTROCUTION OF BABY LAWRENCE-James E. Overmyer

    In September 1943, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, prominent citizen and attorney John Noxon Jr. was arrested for the murder of his 6-month-old Down Syndrome baby Lawrence. Baby Lawrence, according to Noxon, was accidentally electrocuted. Authorities initially accepted Noxon's account but grew suspicious when they discovered he had burned evidence before police could examine it. District Attorney Charles Alberti and Police Chief Sullivan brought a small army of scientists and medical experts to court to prove the death was a premeditated murder—with the sentence for first-degree murder being death by electric chair. The case drew in newspaper readers from across America, and Lawrence’s death was often characterized as a “mercy killing,” at a time when euthanasia societies were publicly advocating for the selection out of mental defectives from American society. Despite the efforts of his talented defense team at the sensational trial, John Noxon Jr. was sentenced to death. Afterwards his dedicated attorneys continued fighting for a new trial, then a commutation of his sentence. The Electrocution of Baby Lawrence is also a story of how society once considered those afflicted with Down Syndrome, and how John Noxon Jr. managed to get off death row and gain his freedom. THE ELECTROCUTION OF BABY LAWRENCE: A Murder That Shook A New England Town-James E. Overmyer

    1h 10m

  7. SEP 2

    THAT BEAST WAS NOT ME-Jeffrey L. Smalldon

    In 1975, after Manson Family member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme’s attempt to kill President Gerald Ford, the FBI found a cache of letters in the would-be assassin’s Sacramento apartment. The return address belonged to future forensic psychologist Jeffrey Smalldon, then a young undergraduate. A decade later, after the shocking murders of two co-workers, Smalldon’s quest to understand the twisted minds and motivations of killers became personal in a way it never had been before. THAT BEAST WAS NOT ME documents five decades of conversations with murderers like John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, serial sniper Thomas Lee Dillon, and Donald Harvey—then thought to be the most prolific serial killer in American history. Through letters, prison visits, and interviews, Smalldon gives readers a terrifying look into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. THAT BEAST WAS NOT ME: One Forensic Psychologist, Five Decades of Conversations With Killers-Jeffrey L. Smalldon

    1h 17m

  8. AUG 26

    THE DEVIL AT HIS ELBOW-Valerie Bauerlein

    Power, privilege, and blood—this is the definitive and thrilling true story of Alex Murdaugh’s violent downfall, from a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who has become an authority on the case. Alex Murdaugh was a benevolent dictator—the president of the South Carolina trial lawyers’ association, a political boss, a part-time prosecutor, and a partner in his family’s law firm. He was always ready with a favor, a drink, and an invitation to Moselle, his family’s 1,700-acre hunting estate. The Murdaugh name ignited respect—and fear—for a hundred miles. When he murdered his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at Moselle on a dark summer night, the fragile façade of Alex’s world could no longer hold. His forefathers had covered up a midnight suicide at a remote railroad crossing, a bootlegging ring run from a courthouse, and the attempted murder of a pregnant lover. Alex, too, almost walked away from his unspeakable crimes with his reputation intact, but his downfall was secured by a twist of fate, some stray mistakes, and a fateful decision by an old friend who’d finally seen enough. Why would a man who had everything kill his wife and grown son? To unwind the roots of Alex’s ruin, award-winning journalist Valerie Bauerlein reported not just from the courthouse every day but also along the backroads and through the tidal marshes of South Carolina’s Lowcountry. When the jurors made their pilgrimage to the crime scene, trying to envision Maggie and Paul’s last moments, she walked right behind them, sensing the ghosts that haunt the Murdaughs’ now-shattered legacy. Through masterful research and cinematic writing, The Devil at His Elbow is a transporting journey through Alex’s life, the night of the murders, and the investigation that culminated in a trial that held tens of millions spellbound. With her stunning insights and fearless instinct for the truth, Bauerlein uncovers layers of the Murdaugh murder case that have not been told. THE DEVIL AT HIS ELBOW: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty-with my special guest, National Affairs reporter for the Wall St. Journal, and author Valerie Bauerlein

    1h 8m
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Every week host Dan Zupansky will interview the true crime authors that have written about the most shocking killers of all time.

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