On a January night in 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and two other teenagers lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They taunted, beat, and slashed Colleen, carving a pentagram into her chest, before Christa picked up a piece of concrete and smashed Colleen’s skull, killing her. Those salacious details stood out during a national Satanic Panic over ritual abuse and suburban cults. The Knoxville News Sentinel later accused Christa of killing “for love and Satan.” She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution—one of the youngest women ever to be sentenced to death in the United States. Thirty years later, Christa is still alive, incarcerated at a Nashville prison and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She has spent much of her adult life in solitary confinement. In the decades since the murder, evolving understanding about brain science and trauma have cast Christa’s wildly violent act—and death sentence—in a new light. We now know that the brain of an 18-year-old remains underdeveloped and impulsive. Christa has a horrific history of abuse, violence, and family neglect; the first time she attempted suicide, she was 9 years old. That kind of trauma can arrest healthy development, leading some young adults down a disastrous path. As Christa approaches her final appeals, a team of state and federal defenders are urgently trying to save Christa’s life. Her date of execution could be set any time. If executed, she will be the first woman killed by Tennessee in almost 200 years. Should a woman who committed a violent crime as a damaged teenager be granted a chance at rehabilitation? And is justice best served through retribution or mercy?
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TRUE CRIME
Between 1971 and 1972, six black girls went missing in the Washington D.C. area. Their bodies were discarded alongside DC freeways. And their killer was never found. The media dubbed him “The Freeway Phantom.” From iHeartPodcasts and Tenderfoot TV, a new podcast reinvestigates the 50 year old unsolved murders of these young girls. Journalist and Public Radio veteran Celeste Headlee (NPR, PBS, TEDx) examines old case files and interviews the investigators and family members who are still haunted by these killings. Headlee will ask the questions: Why didn’t these murders make the news headlines? Did law enforcement do enough to solve these crimes? And how do racial disparities impact these types of investigations, past and present? Plus, we’ll explore new evidence which may crack the cold case wide open again. If you have any information relating to these unsolved crimes, contact the Metropolitan Police Department at (202) 727-9099. If you have a tip and would like to reach out directly to Tenderfoot TV, email us at tips@tenderfoot.tv.
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TRUE CRIME
In the border city of Ciudad Juárez, hundreds of women have gone missing. The ones that are found have strange symbols carved on their bodies, some have their wrists bound with shoelaces. All are discarded like garbage. The story of Forgotten investigates theories about what or who is responsible—a serial killer, organ traffickers, a Satanic Cult—and pursues an investigation with law enforcement on both sides of the border, terrified witnesses and corrupt authorities
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SOCIETY & CULTURE
Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders takes you back to 1983, when two teenagers were found murdered, execution-style, on a quiet Texas hill. What followed was decades of rumors, false leads, and a case that law enforcement could never seem to close. Now, veteran investigative journalist M. William Phelps reopens the file — uncovering new witnesses, hidden evidence, and a shocking web of deaths that may all be connected. Over nine gripping episodes, Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders unravels a story 42 years in the making… and asks the question: who’s really been hiding the truth?
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TRUE CRIME
In Season 4, when Niko Quinn saw her favourite cousin murdered in broad daylight, her life turned upside down. She went looking for justice, but instead uncovered a dark scandal at the heart of her community: A police detective had spent decades targeting, threatening and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City Kansas. Detective Roger Golubski used the power of his badge to launch a reign of terror. He acted as if he was above the law, until Niko, and an incredible group of women, came together to take him down. The Girlfriends: Untouchable tells the story of a courageous sisterhood who exposed the dark underworld of a corrupt police officer, and brought their city’s horrifying truths to light. Because when the women of Kansas City Kansas realised the police weren’t coming to save them from their abuser, they stepped up to save themselves. US resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://rainn.org/ International resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://nomoredirectory.org/ US Suicide & Crisis Helpline: https://988lifeline.org/ International Suicide & Crisis Helplines: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ *** In Season 3, what does it mean to be a victim, or a villain? What happens when the line between the two starts to blur? On 7th July 2010, Kelly Harnett says her abusive boyfriend murdered a man right in front of her. So how did she end up in prison for it? Anna Sinfield - the journalist behind the global number 1 podcast, The Girlfriends, returns with her toughest story yet. This series isn’t a whodunnit. It’s not even really about what happened. It’s about how a woman who was a victim of domestic violence became a villain in the eyes of the law. Found guilty of murder and locked up for over a decade; Kelly Harnett taught herself the law. And as she battled to overturn her conviction, she became a beacon of hope, fighting for the freedom of the abused women locked up alongside her. If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show please reach out to NO MORE at https://www.nomore.org a domestic violence charity we’ve partnered with. *** In Season 2, The Girlfriends are back to investigate one part of the story that’s still a mystery. During the investigation into Gail’s case, a torso washed up on Staten Island and was misidentified as Gail. Nobody knows her name or what happened to her after she was ruled out from the case. The amateur ladies detective club have a new mission: to uncover the identity of this woman and finally find Our Lost Sister. *** In Season 1, it’s 1995 and Carole Fisher is a high-flying divorcee looking for love in Las Vegas. It’s slim pickings in the medical community she works in. But then Bob comes to town. Bob Bierenbaum is a plastic surgeon who flies planes and speaks several languages. Her mom loves that he’s Jewish - but there’s something off about him. He’s perfect on paper but he’s quick to anger and he never talks about his ex-wife. Who, it turns out, is missing and presumed dead. After Carole and Bob break up she tells her friend Mindy all about Bob’s wife and his bizarre behavior. You see, Mindy dated Bob too, in fact a lot of women in Vegas dated Bob and they all have their own strange stories to tell. Before too long they form a club dedicated to bitching about Bob, eating noodles and figuring out what happened to his wife, Gail. In this riveting nine part series, Carole Fisher uncovers the truth of Gail Katz’s death, the systems that failed her and all the girlfriends that brought her justice. The Girlfriends is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio
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TRUE CRIME
Hidden deep in online forums, a growing subculture thrives on anger, isolation, and blame: incels, or “involuntary celibates.” Incels see themselves as rejected by women and overshadowed by so-called “Chads”—the confident, attractive men they believe they can never be. Their frustration often mutates into open hostility, harassment, and, in the most extreme cases, acts of violence. Incels takes listeners inside this unsettling world—not to sensationalize it, but to understand it. Through expert analysis, first-hand accounts, and the voices of former incels, we break down how these communities operate, why they’re growing, and the psychological traps that keep men locked in cycles of resentment. With chilling stories and deep insight, Incels reveals the human cost of a culture built on hate—and the path forward for those ready to leave it behind.
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TRUE CRIME
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