The FOX True Crime Podcast w/ Emily Compagno

More than three years after a Pennsylvania couple was found murdered in their suburban Philadelphia home, investigators have charged their daughter, Michelle Zajko, with orchestrating the killings. Authorities say the case is connected to the so-called "Zizians," a cult-like group linked to multiple violent crimes across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1927, a disgruntled farmer detonated explosives beneath a Michigan elementary school, killing dozens in the deadliest school massacre in U.S. history. Nearly a century later, why has the Bath School disaster been forgotten? True crime historian and author of 'Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer,'  Harold Schechter joins to unpack this dark, overlooked chapter of American history and the birth of the modern mass killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An emotional plea from NBC Today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie comes amid new developments in her mother's abduction.  A newly revealed second ransom note claims that 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie died shortly after she was abducted, stating she was "buried with nature." A shift from the initial note demanding cryptocurrency for her safe return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Netflix's The Crash has reignited national obsession with the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, the Ohio teenager convicted of murder after intentionally driving into a brick wall at 100 mph, killing her boyfriend and friend. But beyond the shocking headlines, what does this tragedy reveal about the dark intersection of toxic teenage relationships, social media performance, and modern parenting? Licensed therapist Denise Brady joins Chanley Painter to examine the case through a clinical lens, breaking down the ignored warning signs, volatile family dynamics, and the critical psychological lessons that still spark intense debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just one day after signaling a mental health defense, Luigi Mangione's legal team abruptly pulled the filing as he continues to fight state and federal charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A judge delivered a blistering condemnation of Rex Heuermann before sentencing the admitted Gilgo Beach serial killer to multiple life terms, bringing a dramatic end to a case that remained unsolved for decades before DNA evidence led to his arrest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2021, Gabby Petito's disappearance during a cross-country road trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie captured the nation's attention. From viral body-camera footage to a nationwide search and the discovery of Gabby's remains, the case unfolded in real time before millions. Veteran journalist Ted Rowlands joins Chanley Painter to discuss the investigation, the key moments in the case, and how a missing person's case became a national obsession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timothy Hudson, the teen accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his 18-year-old step-sister Anna Kepner aboard a Carnival cruise, surrendered to U.S. Marshals after a judge moved to revoke his pretrial release, ruling he poses a danger to himself and others. Hudson has pleaded not guilty and faces a possible life sentence if convicted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2019, two women were brutally murdered within hours of each other in Cape Coral, Florida. The man responsible, Wade Wilson, would later confess to the killings and ultimately be sentenced to death. But as the case gained national attention, Wilson became the subject of something few expected: a devoted online fanbase. Social media users dubbed him the "Deadpool Killer," creating fan pages, viral videos, and even sending love letters to a convicted murderer. Award-winning journalist Kaitlin Knapp joins Chanley to break down the murders, the warning signs that preceded them, and the disturbing online fascination that turned a killer into an internet celebrity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Hampshire's highest court overturned Adam Montgomery's murder conviction in the death of his five-year-old daughter Harmony, ruling he did not receive a fair trial, while leaving several related convictions intact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Minnesota deli owner accused of stealing more than $4.2 million from a federal child nutrition program has surrendered, becoming the first arrest tied to the FBI's new “Most Wanted Fraudsters” initiative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Part One, we examined the decades-long investigation into the murders of Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison. Today, Chanley sits down with renowned investigative genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, whose groundbreaking work helped solve the case more than 30 years later. Moore explains how forensic genetic genealogy identified a new suspect, brought answers to the victims' families, and helped clear four men who spent years under suspicion for a crime they say they did not commit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A South Carolina judge has been appointed to oversee the next phase of Alex Murdaugh's murder case after the state Supreme Court overturned his convictions and ordered further proceedings in the high-profile double murder trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On December 6, 1991, the city of Austin, Texas, was changed forever. Four teenage girls, Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, were brutally murdered inside a yogurt shop, which was then set on fire. It became one of the most infamous, heartbreaking mysteries in American history. Decades of traditional police work led to dead ends, wrongful convictions, and overturned verdicts, leaving the families with zero answers. But 30 years later, everything changed. Defense Attorney and host of the Courtroom Confidential Podcast, Joshua Ritter, joins to discuss the revolutionary new DNA technology that is blowing this cold case wide open. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Veteran actor James Handy, known for roles in Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick, has died after authorities say he was fatally stabbed outside a Los Angeles County home, with his girlfriend's son now under arrest in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The murder case against former OnlyFans creator Courtney Clenney continues to move forward, with her defense team telling a Florida judge they have examined key evidence and are preparing for additional depositions as she maintains she acted in self-defense in the 2022 stabbing death of her boyfriend, Christian Obumseli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a naked, dazed man was discovered behind a Georgia Burger King in 2004 with no memory of his past, the nation was captivated by the heartbreaking mystery of "Benjaman Kyle". He went on national television, gained public sympathy, and claimed a medical anomaly had erased his identity. But what happens when losing your memory is actually a carefully constructed lie to bury a dark history? Former FBI Special Agent Ken Maxwell joins to break down the alleged shocking charade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nearly a year after she vanished without a trace, the remains of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee Melissa Casias have been found in a remote New Mexico forest, adding to a growing list of scientists and researchers whose deaths or disappearances remain shrouded in mystery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2004, a man was found naked, beaten, and barely conscious behind a Georgia Burger King. He had no ID, no wallet, and absolutely no memory of who he was. For more than a decade, the man who came to be known as "Benjaman Kyle" lived as a living ghost...the only known amnesia case of its kind in the United States. Chanley Painter sits down with Shannon and Eric Evangelista, the investigative team and co-executive producers behind Hot Snakes Media. They dive into their groundbreaking new documentary, The Many Lives of Benjaman Kyle, to explore the mind-bending twists of a decade-long search for identity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A multi-agency manhunt through Hawaii's Big Island has ended in the jungle capture of 36-year-old Jacob Baker. Authorities believe Baker is responsible for a terrifying two-day killing spree that left three elderly men dead across remote lava fields and tropical landscapes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Newly released texts and jail calls tied to convicted Ohio driver Mackenzie Shirilla are fueling renewed interest in the 2022 high-speed crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After nearly 30 years on death row and surviving nine execution dates, Richard Glossip is finally walking free. Glossip was originally arrested in 1997 for allegedly hiring Justin Sneed to murder their boss, Barry Van Treese. Despite Sneed confessing to the beating death, Glossip has maintained his innocence through decades of legal battles, destroyed evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. Criminal defense attorney and host of the Crime and Justice podcast,  Donna Rotunno, joins the Fox True Crime Podcast to analyze the "win-at-all-costs" mentality of prosecutors and the rare move by the Oklahoma Attorney General to support Glossip's release. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The couple, who were reported missing by a maid at their safari camp, were found with multiple stab wounds and their hands bound behind their backs.  Their bodies were discovered by tourists in the crocodile-infested Limpopo River within Kruger National Park. Authorities believe the couple may have been targeted after accidentally interrupting a poaching operation in the "Valley of Elephants". A massive manhunt is currently underway as police search for the killers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the outside, the Shivers were the "perfect" Southern family: an Auburn football player, a pageant queen, and a multi-million dollar mansion. But behind closed doors, a contentious divorce and an international love triangle were simmering. Chanley Painter is joined by Vinnie Politan (host of Vinnie Politan Investigates) to examine the digital trail that changed everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 32-year-old Kentucky mystery reaches a turning point. Anthony Blaine Manning and his mother, Barbara Ann Manning, were arrested in connection with the 1992 disappearance and murder of Anna Lee Manning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Influencer Gabriela Gonzalez is accused of conspiring with her father and ex-boyfriend in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting singer Jack Avery. Prosecutors say a bitter custody battle over the couple's daughter escalated into a shocking criminal case, with authorities alleging the trio attempted to hire a hitman through the dark web, only for the supposed assassin to actually be an undercover FBI agent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A prominent law professor, a bitter custody battle, and a wealthy family who prosecutors say would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. In 2014, Florida State University criminal law professor Dan Markel was gunned down in his own garage. What followed was a decade-long investigation that peeled back the layers of a calculated murder-for-hire plot involving South Florida's prominent Adelson family. Today, legal analyst Lee Wallace joins us to break down how prosecutors secured a life sentence for the family matriarch, Donna Adelson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A judge ruled that some items police seized from Luigi Mangione's backpack after his arrest — including his cellphone, passport, and wallet — cannot be used in his upcoming state murder trial. However, prosecutors will still be allowed to introduce the alleged murder weapon and a notebook tied to the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a freezing night in Vermont, Gregory Davis was kidnapped from his home by a man posing as a U.S. Marshal. Twenty-four hours later, his body was found in a snowbank. What seemed like a random kidnapping was actually a meticulously planned execution ordered from across the country. Joining the podcast today is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Van de Graaff, the man who spent years working on this case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For three decades, he was a "ghost" who evaded authorities under multiple aliases after the 1993 murder of Cold As Life punk rock vocalist Rodney Barger. Now, after 33 years on the run, Richard Werstine is finally behind bars after U.S. Marshals tracked him down at a dog park in Panama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned Alex Murdaugh's murder conviction, ordering a brand-new trial. Criminal defense attorney and host of the Courtroom Confidential podcast, Joshua Ritter, depicts the groundbreaking allegations of jury tampering involving former court clerk Rebecca Hill. He explains whether a fair trial is even possible in a community captivated by the Murdaugh legacy and discusses whether the defense can successfully argue for a change of venue.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a veteran law enforcement leader becomes the mastermind of a cold-blooded assassination? In 2022, Michael Harding was lured to a Kentucky home under the guise of an emergency HVAC repair call. Waiting for him was not a customer, but an alleged hitman. Prosecutors reveal the plot was orchestrated by Michael's estranged wife, a California Highway Patrol Captain with 22 years on the force, following a dispute over money and property. Veteran true-crime journalist Ted Rowlands joins Chanley Painter to deconstruct the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Authorities in Phoenix arrested Christopher Michael Ebanks after investigators responding to a possible homicide call allegedly found a dismembered body. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

 A Houston cardiologist and a high-profile veterinarian seemed to have it all...until a web of bitter breakups led them to a deadly decision.  Emily Compagno is joined by Rania Mankarious, CEO of Houston Crime Stoppers, to deconstruct the murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Leon Jacob and Valerie McDaniel. From secret meetings at a local Olive Garden to the elaborate police sting involving fake "death photos," discover how law enforcement outsmarted two professionals who thought they were above the law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeffrey Clark spent 22 years in prison for a 1992 murder he didn't commit. After DNA evidence cleared his name, a jury awarded him $24 million for investigative misconduct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Texas jury sentenced Tanner Horner to death for the 2022 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand after jurors heard disturbing audio and watched video evidence detailing the child's final moments following her abduction by the FedEx driver delivering a package to her home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In July 2023, Miami mother Jasmine Paez logged onto rentahitman.com to solicit the murder of her three-year-old son. After providing photos and specific deadlines, she believed she was hiring a professional killer, but the site was actually a parody. Seasoned criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Amelia Ravelo joins to explain how, despite having an airtight case for solicitation of murder, Paez avoided jail time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Texas man accused of killing his pregnant wife is now in custody in Italy after authorities say he cut off his ankle monitor, fled through Canada, and sought asylum overseas while claiming he was being wrongfully prosecuted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2005, Bob Innes bought a domain as an IT joke; now, it's an FBI tool. Today, RentAHitman.com has become an accidental "early warning system" that has saved dozens of lives and led to numerous arrests. Bob shares the most chilling requests he's received and how he coordinates with law enforcement to stop real-world tragedies before the trigger is pulled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 24-year-old cold case out of Plano, Texas is back in the spotlight after investigators arrested the victim's wife, Lisa Honrud, saying new witness information and advances in technology helped unravel the 2002 shooting and alleged dumping of Frank Weiss's body near Lake Lewisville. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A decades-old Houston cold case takes a sudden turn after the suspect identified through DNA evidence dies by apparent suicide in custody, as investigators now weigh new allegations and possible links to other unsolved crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Six months of lies ended in a shallow grave. Why did Skylar Neese's best friends lure her into the woods to kill her? When Skylar Neese snuck out of her bedroom window, she thought she was meeting her two best friends for a night of fun. She never returned. For half a year, her killers played the role of grieving friends, leading search parties and comforting her parents while hiding a cold-blooded secret. Director Claire Titley discusses her new docu-series, Friends Like These. She reveals how thousands of social media records and never-before-seen footage finally unmasked the ultimate betrayal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nick Reiner, the son of acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner, has pleaded not guilty to the stabbing deaths of his parents and is set to appear in court as prosecutors prepare for a preliminary trial in a case that has stunned Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2012, 16-year-old Skylar Neese snuck out to meet her two best friends. She never made it home. For six months, her killers—Sheila Eddy and Rachel Shoaf—cried with Skylar's parents and led the search for her, all while hiding a dark secret in the Pennsylvania woods. Former FBI Special Agent Rob Ambrosini breaks down the psychology of this case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Maryland man, Dwight "DJ" Rust Jr. is now behind bars after authorities charged him with the 2002 murder of his wife, Michelle Rust—whose body was never found—marking a major break in a cold case that remained unsolved for more than two decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 62-year-old man has been arrested in Florida in connection with a 1993 execution-style double murder in the Bronx, after new fingerprint analysis revived the decades-old cold case tied to a failed drug robbery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do the world's most dangerous men often attract the most devoted admirers?  From the stacks of love letters delivered to Ted Bundy to the modern-day "fandoms" surrounding the Menendez brothers, the phenomenon of hybristophilia, the romantic attraction to criminals, remains one of society's most unsettling mysteries. Dr. Janie Lacy,  a renowned trauma psychotherapist, answers why some find their deepest connections behind a jail cell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a new documentary, Asa Ellerup says her husband, Rex Heuermann, admitted to killing most of his victims inside their Long Island home, including one murder he had not previously been charged with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does a "normal" husband and father commit an unimaginable crime without a single red flag? Emily Compagno sits down with licensed psychotherapist and author Lena Derhally to deconstruct the case of Chris Watts. In August 2018, Watts murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste. Lena, author of “My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer,” provides an expert deep dive into the psychological profile of a failed psychopath and a covert narcissist. They explore the "slow-build" snap, the role of his mistress, the disturbing details of his confessions, and the terrifying reality of the "discard phase" in narcissistic abuse. The Fox Nation special, 'The Watts Murders: Phases of Deterioration,' is now available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Los Angeles police have arrested 21-year-old singer David Anthony Burke, also known as D4vid, in connection with the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was discovered in the trunk of his impounded Tesla last year, as authorities continue investigating how the two may be linked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After nearly six years on the run, one of the FBI's most elusive fugitives, Kashawn Nicola Roper, is finally behind bars. Within hours of being added to the Top 10 Most Wanted list and with a $1 million reward on the table, tips from the public led officials straight to her in Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices