Crossing the Line with M. William Phelps

M. William Phelps
Crossing the Line with M. William Phelps

Crossing the Line is a true crime podcast revealing cases of the missing and murdered, told start-to-finish each week. Using the campfire storytelling style that made Paper Ghosts a #1 hit on the charts, host M. William Phelps connects deeply with families touched by violent crime - he understands them, because he is one of them. Having gone through the murder of his own pregnant sister-in-law, Phelps brings not only his personal experience, but also 20-plus years of investigative journalism into the worlds of these stories. Follow and subscribe to Crossing the Line for a weekly dose of murder, mayhem and madness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 19 MIN AGO

    The Sociopath Behind the Badge: Kendy Howard

    A gunshot rings out in the middle of the night. State police veteran trooper Dan Howard is home and runs to see what has happened, only to find his wife of 26 years, 48-year-old Kendall “Kendy” Howard, dead upstairs, in the bathroom, inside the bathtub. Suicide or homicide, first responders wonder as the investigation unfolds.  When the coroner decides it’s a suicide, two determined detectives call that finding into question and begin digging deeper, only to find that what at first seems like an unspeakable, sad tragedy is an elaborate murder with only a few suspects.  Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.  And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS wherever you get your favorite shows. M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics. Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

    27 min
  2. 34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 4 – Details Matter

    5 DAYS AGO

    34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 4 – Details Matter

    Karen Read is desperate and in full-fledge blame-someone-else mode as police zero in on her Lexus, impound the vehicle, and begin to put together a strong case, proving she was drunk and, knowingly or not, with or without intent, struck John O’Keefe with her SUV and killed him. Meanwhile, Turtleboy, under Karen's manipulating direction, continues his campaign to paint lead investigator Michael Proctor and witness Jennifer McCabe as the two people behind some sort of elaborate conspiracy that is becoming harder each day for most to believe.   “34 Fairview Road” is the first limited series, narrative podcast exploring in depth the death of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe in January 2022, the arrest of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Karen Read, her high-profile murder trial, the impact blogger and free speech activist Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney has had on the case, along with Kearney’s exclusive story—from high school teacher to 60 days in jail, after exposing what he believes is corruption in the Read case—woven through the story behind the town of Canton, Massachusetts, in utter chaos, division, and at each other's throats. Hosted by veteran podcaster, writer and executive producer M. William Phelps—the #1 Apple hit PAPER GHOSTS, WHITE EAGLE, both from iHeartMedia, and his hit weekly show CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS—and New York Times bestselling author of close to 50 books, investigative journalist and tv personality. The series, based on over 100 hours of interviews Phelps has completed, features exclusive audio, documents and insights from Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, including never-before-heard, new information in the case, and Turtleboy's dealings and exclusive conversations with Karen Read. The series offers an original look at the shocking series of events that occurred before and after John O’Keefe lost his life as a blizzard descended upon New England in January, 2022.  The series is executive produced by M. William Phelps and Matthew Valentinas—written and produced by M. William Phelps. In late January 2022, 46-year-old veteran Boston Police officer John O’Keefe’s body is found on the front lawn of a fellow Boston Police officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts—34 Fairview Road—as a blizzard blankets the Northeast. Within hours, O’Keefe’s otherwise unassuming 44-year-old financial executive girlfriend, Karen Read, is accused of running down O’Keefe with her SUV—and charged with his murder. And yet, some believe Karen Read is a scapegoat, there to shield a conspiracy hiding deep, dark secrets—with corrupt cops and political Canton power brokers, running the town like an organized crime family, at the helm. Soon, the town of Canton is in chaos, residents at each other’s throats. And there in the midst of it all, a blogger and free speech advocate, Aidan Carney, who goes by the name Turtleboy, slowly pulls back the curtain on this bedroom community, uncovering what he believes is evidence of widespread corruption and collusion, fueling an already volatile situation, and ultimately leading to Turtleboy being arrested and jailed himself for his work reporting on the Karen Read case. “They tried to silence me by jailing me—this is the country we live in,” Kearney says. “Corrupt cops, judges and people at the highest level of local politics, all involved in the death of John O’Keefe, framing an innocent woman, come after me because I exposed them.” Phelps plays the middle road here, telling the story as it takes place, interviewing dozens of people, reviewing 1000s of pages of documents, collecting hours of exclusive audio, getting the exclusive story from Turtleboy himself, which he has not shared with anyone.

    55 min
  3. 6 NOV

    The Desert Murders: Jerry and Susan McFalls

    When the family of a Utah couple doesn’t hear from them after ten days, alarm bells ring. Jerry and Susan McFalls were packing, preparing to leave their winter home in Arizona and head back home to West Jordan, Utah, when they vanish. Years go by before investigators zero in on family members, while the real killer sits quietly by, watching it all unfold. Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.  And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS wherever you get your favorite shows. M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics. Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

    27 min
  4. 34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 3 – The Blame Game Begins

    31 OCT

    34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 3 – The Blame Game Begins

    Karen Read has been sent to the psychiatric ward inside the same hospital where her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, has been pronounced dead. As John’s family and friends come to grips with his murder, they begin piecing together the last moments of John’s life—and all of the evidence points to one person responsible: Karen Read, who herself is now scripting an alternative narrative, employing Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney as her mouthpiece and propaganda machine, and police dashcam video of her Lexus shows her broken taillight long before the Massachusetts State Police are involved.  “34 Fairview Road” is the first limited series, narrative podcast exploring in depth the death of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe in January 2022, the arrest of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Karen Read, her high-profile murder trial, the impact blogger and free speech activist Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney has had on the case, along with Kearney’s exclusive story—from high school teacher to 60 days in jail, after exposing what he believes is corruption in the Read case—woven through the story behind the town of Canton, Massachusetts, in utter chaos, division, and at each other's throats. Hosted by veteran podcaster, writer and executive producer M. William Phelps—the #1 Apple hit PAPER GHOSTS, WHITE EAGLE, both from iHeartMedia, and his hit weekly show CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS—and New York Times bestselling author of close to 50 books, investigative journalist and tv personality. The series, based on over 100 hours of interviews Phelps has completed, features exclusive audio, documents and insights from Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, including never-before-heard, new information in the case, and Turtleboy's dealings and exclusive conversations with Karen Read. The series offers an original look at the shocking series of events that occurred before and after John O’Keefe lost his life as a blizzard descended upon New England in January, 2022.  The series is executive produced by M. William Phelps and Matthew Valentinas—written and produced by M. William Phelps. In late January 2022, 46-year-old veteran Boston Police officer John O’Keefe’s body is found on the front lawn of a fellow Boston Police officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts—34 Fairview Road—as a blizzard blankets the Northeast. Within hours, O’Keefe’s otherwise unassuming 44-year-old financial executive girlfriend, Karen Read, is accused of running down O’Keefe with her SUV—and charged with his murder. And yet, some believe Karen Read is a scapegoat, there to shield a conspiracy hiding deep, dark secrets—with corrupt cops and political Canton power brokers, running the town like an organized crime family, at the helm. Soon, the town of Canton is in chaos, residents at each other’s throats. And there in the midst of it all, a blogger and free speech advocate, Aidan Carney, who goes by the name Turtleboy, slowly pulls back the curtain on this bedroom community, uncovering what he believes is evidence of widespread corruption and collusion, fueling an already volatile situation, and ultimately leading to Turtleboy being arrested and jailed himself for his work reporting on the Karen Read case. “They tried to silence me by jailing me—this is the country we live in,” Kearney says. “Corrupt cops, judges and people at the highest level of local politics, all involved in the death of John O’Keefe, framing an innocent woman, come after me because I exposed them.” Phelps plays the middle road here, telling the story as it takes place, interviewing dozens of people, reviewing 1000s of pages of documents, collecting hours of exclusive audio, getting the exclusive story from Turtleboy himself, which he has not shared with anyone.

    55 min
  5. 30 OCT

    Murder in Turners Falls: The Brandy Waryasz Case

    A young expecting mother-to-be is living her best life. She’s beaming with happiness, getting married soon to a man she’s loved since high school. Planning on buying a home. It’s the summer of 2004 in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. Seven-months-pregnant Brandy Waryasz is at work one early night when a man she knows pulls up and asks for her help. Several customers stop in and leave, and all of them report something seemingly different. What happened to Brandy and who is responsible? Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.  And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS wherever you get your favorite shows. M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics. Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

    29 min
  6. 34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 2 - The Morning After

    24 OCT

    34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 2 - The Morning After

    As a frantic search for Boston Police officer John O’Keefe is initiated by his girlfriend, Karen Read, during the early morning hours of January 29th, 2022, some believe a conspiracy to cover up a murder gets underway immediately. Meanwhile, a group of Canton residents seem to be catching on to what is happening in town—as they consider that cops and politicians could be working together to frame an innocent woman. This, as those around Karen Read that morning hear her say repeatedly, "I did it. I hit him. I hit him." And self-proclaimed "journalist" Turtleboy digs into the story under the tutelage of none other than Karen Read herself.  “34 Fairview Road” is the first limited series, narrative podcast exploring in depth the death of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe in January 2022, the arrest of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Karen Read, her high-profile murder trial, the impact blogger and free speech activist Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney has had on the case, along with Kearney’s exclusive story—from high school teacher to 60 days in jail, after exposing what he believes is corruption in the Read case—woven through the story behind the town of Canton, Massachusetts, in utter chaos, division, and at each other's throats. Hosted by veteran podcaster, writer and executive producer M. William Phelps—the #1 Apple hit PAPER GHOSTS, WHITE EAGLE, both from iHeartMedia, and his hit weekly show CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS—and New York Times bestselling author of close to 50 books, investigative journalist and tv personality. The series, based on over 100 hours of interviews Phelps has completed, features exclusive audio, documents and insights from Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, including never-before-heard, new information in the case, and Turtleboy's dealings and exclusive conversations with Karen Read. The series offers an original look at the shocking series of events that occurred before and after John O’Keefe lost his life as a blizzard descended upon New England in January, 2022.  The series is executive produced by M. William Phelps and Matthew Valentinas—written and produced by M. William Phelps. In late January 2022, 46-year-old veteran Boston Police officer John O’Keefe’s body is found on the front lawn of a fellow Boston Police officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts—34 Fairview Road—as a blizzard blankets the Northeast. Within hours, O’Keefe’s otherwise unassuming 44-year-old financial executive girlfriend, Karen Read, is accused of running down O’Keefe with her SUV—and charged with his murder. And yet, some believe Karen Read is a scapegoat, there to shield a conspiracy hiding deep, dark secrets—with corrupt cops and political Canton power brokers, running the town like an organized crime family, at the helm. Soon, the town of Canton is in chaos, residents at each other’s throats. And there in the midst of it all, a blogger and free speech advocate, Aidan Carney, who goes by the name Turtleboy, slowly pulls back the curtain on this bedroom community, uncovering what he believes is evidence of widespread corruption and collusion, fueling an already volatile situation, and ultimately leading to Turtleboy being arrested and jailed himself for his work reporting on the Karen Read case. “They tried to silence me by jailing me—this is the country we live in,” Kearney says. “Corrupt cops, judges and people at the highest level of local politics, all involved in the death of John O’Keefe, framing an innocent woman, come after me because I exposed them.” Phelps plays the middle road here, telling the story as it takes place, interviewing dozens of people, reviewing 1000s of pages of documents, collecting hours of exclusive audio, getting the exclusive story from Turtleboy himself, which he has not shared with anyone.

    1h 2m
  7. 23 OCT

    Jacqueline Terrulli and the Sociopath

    A fire rages in Ocean Township, New Jersey, one morning, as two people are presumed missing after fire personnel contain the blaze. Then a man is stopped 60 miles away driving a stolen vehicle and a connection is made back to fire and missing man and woman. Months go by and the missing woman, Jacqueline Terrulli, is still nowhere to be found—as her boyfriend, Ronald Teschner, refuses to talk. Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.  And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS wherever you get your favorite shows. M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics. Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

    29 min
  8. 34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 1 - The Night Of...

    17 OCT

    34 FAIRVIEW ROAD: Episode 1 - The Night Of...

    Residents in Canton, Massachusetts, speak out about the divide in town after the trial of Karen Read for the murder of her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, exposes a hostile community environment, as a blogger, Aidan Kearney, known as Turtleboy, begins to feed the flames of division by reporting that John O’Keefe’s murder is being covered up by a group of law enforcement and Canton elites, who have big secrets to hide. Investigative journalist M. William Phelps digs in and allows townsfolk to speak, supplementing the narrative with trial testimony and exclusive audio, telling the story from the people who lived it. “34 Fairview Road” is the first limited series, narrative podcast exploring in depth the death of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe in January 2022, the arrest of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Karen Read, her high-profile murder trial, the impact blogger and free speech activist Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney has had on the case, along with Kearney’s exclusive story—from high school teacher to 60 days in jail, after exposing what he believes is corruption in the Read case—woven through the story behind the town of Canton, Massachusetts, in utter chaos, division, and at each other's throats. Hosted by veteran podcaster, writer and executive producer M. William Phelps—the #1 Apple hit PAPER GHOSTS, WHITE EAGLE, both from iHeartMedia, and his hit weekly show CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS—and New York Times bestselling author of close to 50 books, investigative journalist and tv personality. The series, based on over 100 hours of interviews Phelps has completed, features exclusive audio, documents and insights from Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, including never-before-heard, new information in the case, and Turtleboy's dealings and exclusive conversations with Karen Read. The series offers an original look at the shocking series of events that occurred before and after John O’Keefe lost his life as a blizzard descended upon New England in January, 2022.  The series is executive produced by M. William Phelps and Matthew Valentinas—written and produced by M. William Phelps. In late January 2022, 46-year-old veteran Boston Police officer John O’Keefe’s body is found on the front lawn of a fellow Boston Police officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts—34 Fairview Road—as a blizzard blankets the Northeast. Within hours, O’Keefe’s otherwise unassuming 44-year-old financial executive girlfriend, Karen Read, is accused of running down O’Keefe with her SUV—and charged with his murder. And yet, some believe Karen Read is a scapegoat, there to shield a conspiracy hiding deep, dark secrets—with corrupt cops and political Canton power brokers, running the town like an organized crime family, at the helm. Soon, the town of Canton is in chaos, residents at each other’s throats. And there in the midst of it all, a blogger and free speech advocate, Aidan Carney, who goes by the name Turtleboy, slowly pulls back the curtain on this bedroom community, uncovering what he believes is evidence of widespread corruption and collusion, fueling an already volatile situation, and ultimately leading to Turtleboy being arrested and jailed himself for his work reporting on the Karen Read case. “They tried to silence me by jailing me—this is the country we live in,” Kearney says. “Corrupt cops, judges and people at the highest level of local politics, all involved in the death of John O’Keefe, framing an innocent woman, come after me because I exposed them.” Phelps plays the middle road here, telling the story as it takes place, interviewing dozens of people, reviewing 1000s of pages of documents, collecting hours of exclusive audio, getting the exclusive story from Turtleboy himself, which he has not shared with anyone.

    43 min

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About

Crossing the Line is a true crime podcast revealing cases of the missing and murdered, told start-to-finish each week. Using the campfire storytelling style that made Paper Ghosts a #1 hit on the charts, host M. William Phelps connects deeply with families touched by violent crime - he understands them, because he is one of them. Having gone through the murder of his own pregnant sister-in-law, Phelps brings not only his personal experience, but also 20-plus years of investigative journalism into the worlds of these stories. Follow and subscribe to Crossing the Line for a weekly dose of murder, mayhem and madness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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