- 49 minutes 13 secondsChangeling: The Crimes of Frederic Bourdin
In Irish and other European folklore, a changeling is a fae child that is swapped with a human baby to be raised by humans. Sometimes it’s because the fae needed human milk to survive, in others, it’s because the fae needed a human to be a servant or sometimes, as revenge on the parents. The parents would raise the fae child unknowingly, but the infant would be… wrong. Maybe it would eat more than a human child could, or would be particularly mischievous, or would have extra fingers or toes, but in the stories, the parents eventually knew, somehow, that their child was no longer their own. In today’s story, we’re going to tell you about a real life changeling, but instead of being swapped by supernatural forces, the imposter took the place of the child himself.
Sources:
Grann, David. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes
The Imposter (2012), documentary film by Bart Layton
https://charleyproject.org/case/nicholas-patrick-barclay
https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/98/98-51227.0.wpd.pdf
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7 August 2026, 4:00 am - 59 minutes 34 secondsCruelest Cut: The Murder of Elaine O'Hara
In August of 2012, the family of an Irish woman named Elaine O’Hara reported her missing. Investigators located her car near the seashore, but found no sign of Elaine herself. She had been struggling with her mental health for most of her life; in fact, the day she disappeared was the day she got home from a five-week stay in a psychiatric hospital. So after a brief investigation, everyone concluded that Elaine must have taken her own life. But Elaine had been living a secret life for the past year and half before she went missing—playing a dangerous game with a man obsessed with sexual violence. Every time she tried to escape his hold on her, he would draw her back in. Elaine’s loved ones knew nothing about her double life. And if it hadn’t been for a series of strange coincidences about a year after her disappearance, it would have stayed that way forever. But truth has a way of coming to the light—especially a truth as dark as this one.
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Sources:
Almost the Perfect Murder, Paul Williams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Elaine_O%27Hara
ITV's "Secrets of a Psychopath"
The Journal: https://www.thejournal.ie/graham-dwyer-timeline-1995085-Mar2015/
https://sk.sagepub.com/dict/edvol/the-concise-dictionary-of-crime-and-justice/chpt/piquerism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment_in_Ireland
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31 July 2026, 4:00 am - 1 hour 3 minutesThe Heir: The Murder of Ben Novack Jr. Pt 2
In Part One of this story last week, we followed the rise to riches of hotel owner Ben Novack Sr. and his glamorous model wife Bernice, and the spoiled yet lonely life of their son Benji. When we left off, Ben and Bernice were divorced, and Benji’s own first marriage had just ended. He had just gotten together with an exotic dancer named Narcy, a choice that would eventually have disastrous consequences for everyone in Benji’s life. This week, things get nuts.
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Sources:
The Prince of Paradise, John Glatt
https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/December12/NovackVelizVerdictPR.php
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24 July 2026, 5:00 am - 49 minutes 9 secondsThe Heir: The Murder of Ben Novack, Pt 1
It has sometimes been said that great wealth is a curse—usually by people who have never had to go hungry, but there is something to it. The idea of the miserable millionaire goes back much further than Ebeneezer Scrooge. If you dedicate everything you have to the pursuit of wealth, then what’s left over for the rest of your life? In particular, the children of the very wealthy can have a tough time, sometimes both cosseted and ignored, sailing out into life without the lessons hammered into the rest of us by hard experience. It can leave them prone to making bad decisions. It can make them targets.
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Sources:
The Prince of Paradise, John Glatt
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17 July 2026, 4:00 am - 56 minutes 7 secondsThe Princess and the Poisoner: The Crimes of Arthur Waite
There are some crimes and schemes that must be just about as old as humanity itself. I’m sure handsome scammers have been wooing the daughters of wealthy families for about as long as the concepts of marriage and inheritance have existed. And I’m equally sure that every now and again, one of those handsome scammers got tired of waiting for nature to take its course, and decided to hurry along his in-laws’ journey to the grave. This week’s story is about a man who was entirely of his time, but chose to seek his fortune through these timeless means.
Sources:
Tobin T. Buhk, Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids
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10 July 2026, 7:00 am - 49 minutes 44 secondsFreefall: The Crimes of Emile Cilliers
In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tells the story of a handsome young man who makes a deal with the Devil—his soul, in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. But there is a portrait of Dorian in the attic of his house, and as he moves through the years with his handsome face not aging, the portrait ages—and it also begins to show the poison seeping through him as he lives his life in soulless, selfish pursuit of hedonistic pleasures. He drives a young woman to suicide and doesn’t feel bad about it. He becomes more and more of a toxic force in the lives of the people around him. And when his friend finally calls him out on it, Dorian murders him. He couldn’t bear the fact that his best friend could see him for what he really was—the true, monstrous face behind the handsome façade. It’s a hell of a metaphor, and it’s what we’ve said so many times on our show about narcissists: that they want to indulge themselves at the expense of everybody else, but would rather die than be exposed for it. Today’s story is about a real-life Dorian Gray, a man who used his charm and charisma to lure in a talented, intelligent woman, only to throw her life into chaos and leave broken wreckage behind.
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Sources:
I Survived: A True Story, Victoria Cilliers
ITV, "The Parachute Murder Plot with Fiona Bruce"
https://www.aetv.com/articles/victoria-cilliers-skydive-murder-plot
Winchester Crown Court, Judge's Sentencing Remarks: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/r-v-cilliers-mr-justice-sweeney-sentencing-remarks-winchester-crown-court-15-june-2018.pdf
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3 July 2026, 5:00 am - 48 minutes 30 secondsThe Secret Life: The Murder of Stefanie Rabinowitz
It’s almost impossible to know someone perfectly. Everyone has their private thoughts and hidden moments from their past, and this is usually no problem at all, it’s all just inconsequential things. Usually, but not always. Because some people don’t just have little harmless secrets, they have whole separate lives that the people close to them know nothing about. And the tension between those two lives can have deadly consequences.
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Sources:
Ken Englade, Everybody’s Best Friend
Forensic Files, S10E27, “Summer Obsession”
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26 June 2026, 4:00 am - 1 hour 6 minutesCreep: Serial Killer Wayne Nance Pt 2
When we left you at the end of part 1, Wayne Nance had begun his career as a serial killer with the murder of Donna Pounds. As much as he tried to blend into normal society—joining the Navy, working as a bouncer at a busy Western-themed bar—he could never completely hide the strangeness…and darkness brewing inside. Not everyone who saw it up close lived to tell about it, but as we’ll see in this episode, there were two who did. Join us for part 2 of this terrifying story.
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Sources:
John Coston, To Kill and Kill Again
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/05/1980s-montana-shooting-victim-identified-through-dna/
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19 June 2026, 4:00 am - 44 minutes 29 secondsCreep: Serial Killer Wayne Nance Pt 1
In the 1970s in Missoula, Montana, there was a brief epidemic of unsolved violent murders that shocked the small city down to its roots. A dark rumor spread quickly—the deaths must be the work of some sinister Satanic cult, secret rituals performed in the service of demonic powers. This was not the case. The murders were unconnected, the motives behind them having nothing to do with the big bad devil… except for one, in which the killer proudly declared his occult allegiance to anyone who asked. But that was just a cover for overpowering violent fantasies that this weak, strange man would never try too hard to resist. After this first murder, he’d kill again and again.
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Tickets are on sale now for CrimeWave 2.0! Visit crimewaveatsea.com/CAMPFIRE to get your discount code for $100 off your cabin and a private meet-and-greet with us! The cruise is Feb. 8-12, 2027.
Sources:
John Coston, To Kill and Kill Again
https://archive.is/Yxz4J#selection-4661.90-4661.114
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/homicides-and-sexual-assaults/richard-william-davis
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12 June 2026, 4:00 am - 55 minutes 43 secondsThe Gray Man: The Crimes of Russell Williams, Pt 2
Our homes are supposed to be where we’re the safest. It’s where we’re our most vulnerable. Last week, we told you about someone who would use that vulnerability to his advantage. This week, as the story continues, his monstrous intentions will focus on two women and destroy their families' senses of safety forever. Join us for part 2 (the final part) of the story of Russell Williams. Sources:
Appleby, Timothy. A New Kind of Monster: The Secret Life and Shocking True Crimes of an Officer . . . and a Murderer
The Fifth Estate, episode Above Suspicion
https://globalnews.ca/news/7411289/jessica-lloyd-russell-williams-sentenced-10-years/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11801857
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/williams-military-uniform-burned-1.924008
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/col-russell-williams-timeline-1.913312
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5 June 2026, 6:31 am - 52 minutes 47 secondsThe Gray Man: The Crimes of Russell Williams Pt 1
In the military, a “gray man” refers to a service member who neither outperforms or underperforms his or her comrades. Someone who seamlessly fits into the group and gets the job done and doesn’t get unwanted attention while doing it. In that line of work, that can be a talent. In today’s story, we’re talking about a man who made a career out of being unnoticed, whose entire personality could be described as “gray,” and yet, had a violent and hateful nature resting just under the surface. When all was said and done, two women would be dead and countless others would never feel safe in their homes again.
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Sources:
Appleby, Timothy. A New Kind of Monster: The Secret Life and Shocking True Crimes of an Officer . . . and a Murderer (Function). Kindle Edition.
The Fifth Estate, Above Suspicion
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39556963
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