Solved Murders: True Crime Mysteries

Elizabeth Short's gruesome murder is the LAPD's most infamous unsolved case. But there's one person who thinks he's cracked it — the alleged killer's own son. Today, we reopen the case against George Hodel, a certified genius and once-celebrated doctor who rubbed elbows with noted surrealists… and had a vile history of abuse and terror, even against his own family. This episode originally aired August 2022 - to hear more of Vanessa and Carter check out Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile. The investigation takes police into the hidden sides of the city — illicit romances and gang-related crimes. But when another mutilated body is found weeks later, the hunt is on for a possible serial killer. This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at the murder of Elizabeth Short and other unsolved cases surrounding it. This episode originally aired August 2022 - to hear more of Vanessa and Carter check out Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the death of Irene Garza in a small Texas town, a massive cover-up ensued, headed by one of the most powerful institutions in the world.This episode originally aired in March 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the evening of April 16, 1960, Irene Garza went to church in the peaceful town of McAllen, Texas but never came home. Less than a week later, her body was found in a canal. Residents were terrified. Had a predator come to town to prey on them, or was one of their own a murderer? This episode originally aired in March 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2011, 17-year-old Tyler Hadley threw a wild house party in Port St. Lucie, Florida. What his guests didn't know was that on the other side of a locked door, dead bodies lay hidden. A jarring confession ignited a race against time to end the revelry for good. This episode originally aired in August 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the massacre of the Clutter Family on November 15th, 1959, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation began an intensive probe into the crime. Their search for the killers would result in one of the greatest true crime stories of all time. This episode originally aired in June 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On November 15th, 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas experienced one of the most gruesome crimes imaginable. Four members of the Clutter Family had been gunned down in their own home—but nobody knew why. This episode originally aired in June 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like many serial killers, Maury Travis became over-confident. In the summer of 2002, after reading a story in the newspaper about one of his victims, he mailed a letter to the local newspaper offering them information on the location of another. He was careful not to leave any fingerprints or DNA evidence before mailing it, so how did they track him down? This episode originally aired on Serial Killers in July 2018.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was no evidence in Maury Travis' childhood of arson or animal abuse, often seen as early warning signs for serial killers. And he didn't appear to have been a victim of abuse from either of his parents. So what made this seemingly normal kid turn into a man who would rape, torture and murder as many as twenty women? This episode originally aired on Serial Killers in July 2018.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the 1980s, Ted Kaczynski had set off several bombs, causing only minor injuries — but for him, it wasn't enough. What had started as a plot for revenge grew into an unrelenting need to change the world. To do that, he needed to kill. The reign of the Unabomber had begun. This episode originally aired on Serial Killers in April 2021.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotting his genius at a young age, Ted Kaczynski's parents pushed their son to academic excellence — but Ted never found a true home in the hallowed halls of academia. Instead, by 1969, he was a former math professor with a festering hatred for the modern world. This episode originally aired on Serial Killers in April 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Solved Murders is coming to an end.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the mid 1980s a nightmarish story swept the nation. One man's disappearance in Sacramento, California, led officials to investigate a boarding house with a sinister past…and horrifying secrets buried beneath its garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When two young girls are found dead in Brighton, England, a local man does everything he can to avoid suspicion. Four years later, a young girl stumbles naked out of the woods north of Brighton, and police have to ask: Is history repeating itself? And if they can't secure a conviction, will their prime suspect walk free… again? This episode originally aired on Cold Cases in December 2022.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23-year-old Jack Graham unravels as the FBI uncovers his deadly vendetta against Daisie King, who was a passenger on Flight 629—and Jack's own mother.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the mid-1950s, a plane bound for Seattle from Denver exploded mid-flight. 44 people were killed. When investigators began analyzing the wreckage, they couldn't help noticing a distinctive smell: gunpowder.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Around Christmas 1989, a series of pipe bombs sent through the mail killed two of its intended targets: Judge Robert Vance and attorney Robbie Robinson. Federal investigators set out to capture a serial bomber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The last time Telisa Coggins sees her brother alive, he's walking out of a nightclub in Griffin, Georgia. Tim's body is later found under an oak tree, mutilated almost beyond recognition. But just as police begin uncovering solid leads, the investigation grounds to a halt. Decades later, a new investigator will start asking: Why? This episode originally aired on Cold Cases in November 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a December evening in 2016, a man called 911 when he spotted an abandoned car on a bridge. Police discovered that 19-year-old Sarah Stern of Neptune City, New Jersey, usually drove the vehicle. She was now missing, and police needed to determine if she had left the car voluntarily or was the victim of a crime. If you'd like to learn more about the cases covered in this episode, or learn more about Missing and Unidentified Persons Awareness Month, head to www.spotify.com/disappearances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In September 1999, 36-year-old Girly Chew Hossencofft was supposed to report to work at a local Bank of America branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Due to recent threats made by her husband, Girly's co-workers were worried. When a colleague went to her house to check on her, she was gone. And she was never seen again. If you'd like to learn more about the cases covered in this episode, or learn more about Missing and Unidentified Persons Awareness Month, head to www.spotify.com/disappearances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was May of 1996 when college freshman Kristin Smart went to a party and never returned to her dorm. More than 20 years later, a stranger started a podcast that ignited interest in the case and brought a killer to justice. If you'd like to learn more about the cases covered in this episode, or learn more about Missing and Unidentified Persons Awareness Month, head to www.spotify.com/disappearances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When his family realized that the Canton police would not conduct an honest investigation into the murder of journalist Don Mellett, they hired a PI named Ora Slater to look into the case. He quickly narrowed his suspect list down to three people. But finding eyewitnesses willing to cooperate proved to be an even bigger task. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He had recently led a crusade against the city's corrupt police force as the editor of the Canton Daily News. After exposing crooked officials and getting some officers fired, Don Mellett was shot dead outside his home by an unknown assailant. His family didn't trust that the Canton police department would try to solve the murder, so they looked elsewhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the mid-1980s Los Angeles is in the midst of a serial killer boom. But that's not all. A serial arsonist has been setting blazes across the area, leading to millions of dollars in damage and the deaths of four people. Most of the fires started in bins of pillows, cushion stuffing, or bedding — lending the “Pillow Pyro” moniker to the slippery culprit. This episode originally aired on Cold Cases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the evening of March 2nd, 2016, indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres was murdered in her home by armed intruders. Due to widespread corruption in Honduras, police weren't motivated to solve the case. Her family knew she was killed for trying to stop urban development on sacred land. They just needed to prove it. If you'd like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He dedicated most of his life to protecting rubber trees in the Amazonian town of Xapuri, where he lived. During that time, Chico Mendes received countless death threats. But on the night of December 22nd, 1988, somebody made good on their promise.  If you'd like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was 1991 when four teenage girls were brutally killed inside a yogurt store in Austin, Texas. With no witnesses to the crime, police had very little to go on. But soon, there was a confession. Then another. And another. It was up to investigators to sort through the evidence and discover the truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prosecutors Walter Hill and James P. Tuttle were faced with a difficult task. They had to convince a jury that Frederick Small could burn down a cottage from a hundred miles away. They would get their chance with the help of an electrician who was ready to testify.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Late one night in September 1916, a cottage in New Hampshire burst into flames. Florence Small's body was eventually found in the cellar — but it was clear she'd suffered more than just burns. Less than 24 hours later, police had a suspect. There was only one problem: he had an alibi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a firestorm of racial violence rages through the territory, Bass Reeves learns of his next arrest: his own son. Soon after, statehood and Jim Crow laws force Bass into retirement, while whitewashing covers up his accomplishments as Oklahoma's Lone Ranger. In search of justice, we consider his complex legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Accused of murdering his cook in cold blood, Bass stands up for his own innocence - breaking himself financially. Not long after he frees himself, the Marshals become embroiled in a bloody war with a legendary Cherokee leader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eager to protect his growing family, Bass becomes one of the first Black Deputy U.S. Marshals West of the Mississippi. The face of the law in a lawless land, Bass outwits and outshoots countless criminals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As an enslaved man, Bass Reeves fights hand-to-hand with his enslaver. Victorious, Bass escapes, becoming a fugitive in America's most dangerous, lawless territory just before the Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the next four weeks, Carter and Wenndy are handing over the reins to Darnell Ishmel, guest host of a four-part miniseries exploring the exploits of a legendary figure of the Wild West. The man widely believed to have inspired the Lone Ranger… Who was born into slavery and became one of America's most revered lawmen. His name was Bass Reeves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prosecuting attorney George Yeaton was certain who committed the gruesome murders on Smuttynose Island. To him, the evidence pointed to a robbery gone wrong. But what motivated the suspect to kill the only friends he had? A follow-up conversation with the lone survivor would give him the answer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1873, two women were brutally murdered on Smuttynose Island just off the coast of Maine. A woman who escaped the attack reported her story to the police. Though she didn't see him, she claimed to know who the killer was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Based on witness testimony, authorities believed that Scott Watson killed Olivia Hope and Ben Smart. The jury agreed and took less than 24 hours to convict him. But since his incarceration, several witnesses have recanted their testimony, saying they were pressured by police. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was New Year's Eve 1997 in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand when 17-year-old Olivia Hope and 21-year-old Ben Smart enjoyed a long night of partying. When friends couldn't locate the pair the following day, they assumed the two may have gone off on their own. But after days without contact, it became evident that something was very wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was May of 1919 in Barre, Vermont, when the body of Lucina Broadwell was found naked on her stomach, hands tied behind her back. To solve the crime, investigators must uncover a dark secret that the entire town is hiding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was the most extensive manhunt since John Dillinger. Authorities believed they'd found the identity of the man who'd kidnapped and murdered Ad Coors. But when they finally tracked him down in Canada, he refused to talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adolph “Ad” Coors was a father of four and an heir to the Coors brewing dynasty when he was kidnapped in 1960. Breakthroughs in the case put the FBI hot on the trail of Ad's kidnapper, until leads ran dry. Seven months after he disappeared, Ad's body was found off a hiking trail in Denver.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When reporter John McCormack went looking for missing celebrity pundit Madalyn Murray O'Hair, he thought it might be more than a simple case of tax evasion. Sure enough, he found a trail of stolen gold, disgruntled employees, and a disembodied torso... But it would still take years to uncover the truth about Madalyn's tragic last days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices