Everything you’ve come to love from Jen and Cam.
On the 12th Nightmare Before Christmas…
The Genesee River flows peacefully through Rochester today, but it still holds a dark memory from the late 1980s. Back then, it became the hunting ground of Arthur Shawcross. He had already served time for murder but was let out early, even though experts warned he was still dangerous.
Soon after he arrived, a terrifying pattern emerged: people disappeared near the waterfront, only to be found later along the riverbanks, each death showing the work of a disturbed mind.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Dark Waters: Arthur Shawcross.”
Well, folks, we've finally made it to the end of our 8th Annual 12 Nightmares Before Christmas and the end of 2025. We're exhausted and definitely need therapy, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Thank you for spending another year with us. We’ve talked about more murders than any “normal” human should, and you’re still here, clicking play like champions. We appreciate every one of you who listens week after week. You are what keeps us going.
We'll be back on January 14th, 2026, with more true crime cases. Until then, lock your doors, and keep passing those open windows!
Have a safe and spectacular New Year.
Love ya!
Cam & Jen
Listener Discretion by Edward October
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen
Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint
Sources are available on ourtruecrimepodcast.com
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On the 11th Nightmare Before Christmas...
On a sunny November morning in 1971, best friends Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, both just 15, set out for a day of surfing near Galveston, Texas. The two girls were inseparable—bonded by their shared love of the beach, the waves, and the promise of youth. Maria, a newcomer to Galveston, had already endured a turbulent childhood. After her parents split, she bounced between homes and schools before settling into Ball High School. Shy but friendly, she quickly found her place. She loved water skiing, dated a local ski jumper, and spent her weekends at the beach.
Debbie, by contrast, was a lifelong islander, what locals called a BOI (“born on the island”). With one brown eye and one blue-green eye, she stood out immediately. She was bold, competitive, and passionate about water sports, often making the local news for her water skiing competitions. Surfing was her favorite pastime, and her friends remembered her as fun, magnetic, and endlessly outgoing.
That Sunday, November 14, they planned a short trip to Houston, just over an hour’s drive away, to spend the day exploring. Since neither girl had a car, they decided to hitchhike, a common and almost carefree practice in the early 1970s. Witnesses later reported seeing them outside a Baskin-Robbins near Stewart Beach, laughing and chatting as they bought ice cream. A white van pulled up to the curb. The driver asked where they were headed. “Houston,” one of the girls said. It was his route, he told them. They climbed in.
They were never seen alive again.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled: The Eleven Who Went To Heaven: Edward Bell."
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS.
Executive Producer/Music by @theinkypawprint.
Sources:
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/tenth-court-of-appeals/1994/1036.html
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-news-journal-1979-tx-edward-ha/37438275/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37438275/1979-tx-edward-harold-bell-convicted-of/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125091/edward-bell/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5511750/the-waco-citizen/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82998028/ed-bell-69-exposure-to-13-year-old/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0737501/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125009/edward-bell/
https://archive.today/20211228093122/https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/10/18/243184/investigators-think-they-know-who-killed-eleven-girls-around-galveston-in-the-1970s-2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harold_Bell
https://archive.ph/20131014191511/http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Confessions-of-a-cold-blooded-killer-2187501.php#selection-4701.0-5149.1
https://archive.ph/20190823045333/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-killer-s-death-leaves-unanswered-13783107.php
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On the 10th Nightmare Before Christmas…
Palm Sunday is usually a day of hope and reflection, but in 1984, East New York faced a horror it would never forget. Families were at home, children played, and neighbors went about their day, but inside 1080 Liberty Avenue, everything changed. Ten lives were lost in a single, shocking act of violence.
The house was ordinary, the people inside were ordinary, yet by the end of the day, the community would never be the same.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Brookly Wept: The Palm Sunday Massacre.”
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener Discretion by Edward October
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen
Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyf59N6MXpQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPyQkGsb4W4
https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/palm-sunday-massacre
https://www.newspapers.com/image/488278617/?match=1&terms=Enrique%20Bermudez
https://www.newspapers.com/image/488453267/?match=1&terms=Palm%20Sunday%20massacre
https://www.newspapers.com/image/704164853/?match=1&terms=Palm%20Sunday%20massacre
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On the 9th Nightmare Before Christmas...
On the afternoon of March 12, 2004, a quiet Fresno street exploded with panic. Twenty-five-year-old Sofina Solorio stood outside the boarded-up home where she’d once lived, screaming for Marcus Wesson to release her children. Her cousin, Ruby Ortiz, shouted beside her. Both women had grown up under Wesson’s rule. Both had borne him children. Now they wanted them back. Relatives crowded the curb, furious and ready to force their way in. Inside, Wesson’s family gathered at the windows, shouting back with a strange, fevered devotion.
“Judas! Judas!” “Bow down to your master!”
When Fresno police arrived, the chaos only deepened. At the center stood Marcus Wesson, fifty-seven, nearly 300 pounds, his graying dreadlocks hanging to his knees. He was eerily calm, answering questions in a soft, measured voice. Officers believed they were dealing with a tense custody dispute.
Then Wesson asked for one thing: to say goodbye to the children.
He closed the door behind him.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "Innocence Destroyed: The Wesson Family Horror."
Thank you to our fantastic team:
Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS.
Executive Producer/Music @theinkypawprint.
Sources:
https://www.crimelibrary.org/noto rious_murders/family/marcus_wesson/13.html
https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-questions-in-fresno-slayings/
https://abc30.com/post/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182/
https://abc7.com/archive/7540458/
https://www.amazon.com/Marcus-Wesson-Horrific-Fresnos-Murderer/dp/1703797760
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jury-gives-death-to-killer-dad/
https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/justice-story-vampire-king-article-1.1621606
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dad-guilty-of-killing-his-9-kids/
https://abc30.com/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182
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On the 8th Nightmare Before Christmas…
Andrew Urdiales grew up in a troubled home, facing abuse that shaped a deep anger inside him. After serving in the Marines, he turned that rage outward, stalking and murdering women across California and the Midwest. For over a decade, he left a trail of victims that left police struggling to track him down.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “A Marine Without Mercy: Andrew Urdiales.”
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener Discretion by Edward October
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen
Executive Producers Nico & Jesse of The Inky Pawprint
Sources
https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2018/11/05/two-condemned-inmates-deaths-being-investigated-as-suicides/
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=1e8a0fba-d064-4e7e-954a-ae9607be1273
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Urdiales
https://murderpedia.org/male.U/u/urdiales-andrew.htm (the court transcript from his appeal is located on this page under "opinion."
https://www.newspapers.com/image/664943243/?match=1&terms=Andrew%20Urdiales
https://www.newspapers.com/image/503452488/?match=1&terms=Andrew%20Urdiales
https://www.aetv.com/shows/i-survived-a-serial-killer/season-1/episode-1
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On the 7th Nightmare Before Christmas...
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is the kind of place that sells serenity. Nestled in the lush green folds of the state’s northern panhandle, its glittering lakes and cozy resorts draw tourists each summer, while locals call it the Lake City. It’s a place where doors stay unlocked, where evenings hum with crickets, and where danger feels far away.
Eight miles east of town, near the Wolf Lodge campground, a small, weathered house sat back from the road—nearly hidden by the trees. In 2005, it was home to 37-year-old Mark McKenzie, his girlfriend, 40-year-old Brenda Groene, and Brenda’s three children: 13-year-old Slade, 9-year-old Dylan, and 8-year-old Shasta.
The family lived their days filled with school, work, and play. Their back door was almost always unlocked. But on the night of May 15, 2005, that small gesture of safety and comfort would be the very thing that destroyed them.
That night, a man named Joseph Edward Duncan, 42, slipped through the open back door. He was dressed in dark clothing, wearing black leather gloves, and carrying a shotgun. Along with the gun, he brought duct tape, zip ties, and a claw hammer.
The family was asleep. Duncan knew they would be. He had been watching them for days. He’d first noticed Dylan and Shasta playing outside in their swimsuits—laughing, carefree, the way children should be. Something in his twisted mind fixated on that moment.
In the quiet town of Coeur d’Alene, a single open door had invited a nightmare that would leave five lives shattered—and shadows that would never lift.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "Abducted in Idaho: Groene Family Massacre."
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS
Executive Producer/Music @theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110510093816/http://spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=258599
https://web.archive.org/web/20110510094245/http://spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=79500
https://www.foxnews.com/story/convicted-child-killer-joseph-duncan-gets-6-life-sentences
https://web.archive.org/web/20220219180530/https://casetext.com/case/us-v-duncan-3
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/07/11/08-99031.pdf
https://abc7.com/archive/8015571/
https://5nchronicles.blogspot.com/2020/07/day-to-day-on-federal-death-row-for-me.html
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/oct/24/shasta-groene-wants-sex-offenders-to-spend-life-be/
https://web.archive.org/web/20110510100116/http://spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=154916
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On the 6th Nightmare Before Christmas…
The Sunset Strip was famous for music, bright lights, and big stars, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it also became the hunting ground for Douglas Clark and Carol Bundy. They seemed like a normal couple, but behind closed doors, they were obsessed with control and murder.
Together, they lured young women and committed terrible crimes that shook the city. Carol’s love for Douglas and his dark urges made them a dangerous team. Their account shows how quickly obsession can turn deadly. They brought nightmares to a place where dreams are made.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Down at the Sunset Strip: Douglas Clark & Carol Bundy.”
Thank you to Mina for the request.
We have the most incredible team:
Listener Discretion by Edward October
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen
Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1296233?page=1#sr-111563846
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Clark_(serial_killer)
https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/4th/3/41.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwkIeADt-Ak (World's Most Evil Killers Season 5 Episode 15)
https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bundy-carol.htm (A ton of information on this site.)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/278664481/john-robert-murray
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106907056/carol_mary-bundy/photo
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/260609377/douglas-daniel-clark
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On the 5th Nightmare Before Christmas...
In the summer of 2005, a North Carolina couple slipped away to their Oak Island beach house for a quiet weekend—only to find a stranger renovating their living room. Power tools hummed, drywall dust floated in the air, and the man in work boots calmly insisted the property was his. He even produced a deed, complete with signatures and a tidy paper trail.
According to the stranger, he had bought the home from a North Carolina doctor, Dr. William Holbert, for the unbelievable price of $200,000, barely half its value. Holbert, he claimed, was liquidating his sick grandmother’s home in a hurry.
But the story cracked quickly. Holbert and his partner, Laura Reese, had already vanished, and the cash from the fraudulent sale had funded their next home in Louisa, Kentucky. By the time investigators arrived, the couple was gone without a trace. It was far from over because wherever Holbert went next, terror followed—and the bodies stacked quietly behind him.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "The Killer Wore Flip-Flops: Wild Bill Holbert: Day 5:12 Nightmares Before Christmas".
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener discretion is by Edward October @octoberpodVHS.
Executive Producer/ Music@theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100730225302/http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20100728195827437
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-10874340
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/08/15/serial-killer-wnc-native-wild-bill-sentenced-panama-5-murders/104613034/
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Live-King-Wild-Bill/dp/B09P2657C7
https://news.sky.com/story/american-serial-killer-william-wild-bill-holbert-and-ex-wife-jailed-in-panama-10989198
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/05/william-holbert-panama-mu_n_671658.html
http://lithub.com/catching-wild-bill-and-jane-the-end-of-a-killing-spree-in-panama/#
https://www.crimetraveller.org/2016/09/jolly-roger-social-club-william-holbert/
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On the 4th Nightmare Before Christmas…
On a quiet Florida night, a patrolman sees two cars pulled over. Inside one, a clean-cut man and a woman who whispers, "I'm okay." The officer drives away, unaware he's just left a victim alone with her future killer.
That moment was just the beginning. Oscar Ray Bolin left a trail of terror that stretched across Florida. He seemed ordinary, friendly, unassuming, someone you’d never suspect, but his dark side hid in plain sight.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “In the Shadows: Oscar Ray Bolin.”
We have the most incredible team:
Listener Discretion by Edward October
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen
Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kvw2k42XT0
https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bolin-oscar.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Ray_Bolin
https://allthatsinteresting.com/oscar-ray-bolin
https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/2004/sc02-37-1.html
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156825804/oscar_ray-bolin
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321261395/?match=1&clipping_id=182527083 Obit for Natalie Holley
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321261105/?match=1&clipping_id=182527381 discovery of Natalie's body
https://www.newspapers.com/image/337978474/?terms=%22Natalie%20Holley%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/337978488/?match=1&terms=%22Natalie%20Holley%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/323050173/?terms=%22Natalie%20Holley%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/323050378/?terms=%22Natalie%20Holley%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/337973028/?terms=%22Natalie%20Holley%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336703396/?match=1&terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336703435/?terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336717960/?match=1&terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321153755/?match=1&terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321153750/?terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336829954/?match=1&terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336830012/?terms=%22Stephanie%20Collins%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321151367/?terms=%22Teri%20Lynn%20Matthews%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/336704359/?terms=%22Teri%20Lynn%20Matthews%22
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156205949/natalie-blanche-holley
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34937887/stephanie_anne-collins
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156206232/teri-lynn-matthews
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1720993.html
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On the 3rd Nightmare Before Christmas...
On the sweltering evening of July 14, 1982, a call came into the Waco Police Department that would shatter the community’s sense of safety. Two teenage boys, fishing near the shores of Lake Waco at Speegleville Park, had stumbled across a scene no one could have imagined.
Beneath a tree lay a teenage boy. His hands were bound tightly behind his back, a gag shoved into his mouth, sunglasses still shielding his eyes. His chest had been punctured repeatedly. Moments later, officers discovered two more bodies scattered across the park. In that moment, Lake Waco would forever be etched in the memory of a town that had lost its innocence.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast, entitled "The Lake Waco Murders." Murders: Day 3:12 Nightmares Before Christmas".
Thank you to our incredible team:
Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS.
Executive Producer/Music by @theinkypawprint
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075726/http://www.lakewacomurders.com/html/Melendez%20Pleads%20Guilty.PDF
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lake_Waco_murders
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/25/opinion/the-wrong-man.html?src=pm
https://www.amazon.com/Careless-Whispers-Lake-Waco-Murders/dp/0671646060
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-murders-at-the-lake/
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/3-decades-after-brutal-killings-last-defendant-10858867.php
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081445/http://www.lakewacomurders.com/html/indictments%20near%20teenagers%20deaths.PDF
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On the 2nd Nightmare Before Christmas…
In November 1987, Korrina Malinoski disappears without a trace, leaving her family and a quiet South Carolina town full of questions. Almost a year later, her eleven-year-old daughter, Annette Sagers, vanishes from a bus stop in Monck’s Corner. She leaves behind a short, mysterious note, but no other clues.
No evidence. No witnesses. Only decades of unanswered questions.
Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Like Mother, Like Daughter: Korrina Malinoski & Annette Sagers.”
If you have any information about the disappearance of Korrina Korri Lynne Sagers Malinowski or her daughter, Annette Sagers, please contact the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office at 803-761-7190 or 803-737-9000.
We have the most incredible team:
Listener Discretion by Edward October .
Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen.
Executive Producers/Music by @https://theinkypawprint.com
Sources:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037365115/?match=1&terms=%22Korrina%20Malinoski%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/195218856/?match=1&terms=%22Korrina%20Malinoski%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/665856682/?match=1&terms=%22Korrina%20Malinoski%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/665856682/?match=1&clipping_id=176116906
https://www.newspapers.com/image/665856683/?clipping_id=176116947
https://charleyproject.org/case/korrina-lynne-sagers-malinoski
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-deanne-sagers
https://youtu.be/TsGgOY_4c1A?si=YrjpQlaqjDbvPPOE
https://youtu.be/7JgGm_sOG3o?si=BOd5LPVJLLPNR1vj
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Lowcountry
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