Secrets can ruin everything. Not little ones, we’re talking big, looming secrets that might change your life forever if they were ever brought out into the light of day. Some people just can’t help themselves, stacking lie upon lie, hiding the secret truth behind an ever-growing wall of falsehood. And if that wall comes crashing down…well, some people will go to any lengths to keep their secrets safe.

Go to quince.com/CAMPFIRE for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too!

Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit ⁠badmagicproductions.com⁠ for more info and to buy tickets.

 

Tickets are on sale now for CrimeWave 2.0, Feb. 8-12 from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau, Bahamas! Visit crimewaveatsea.com/CAMPFIRE to get your discount code for $100 off your cabin and a private meet-and-greet with us!

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anger can be useful. If you need to defend yourself or those you love, or if you need to stand up against some outrage in your community, anger can give you the necessary fire to get things done. It can also be poisonous, eating away at a soul until there’s not much left but dense fury that constantly leaks out like oil from a ruptured tanker. This week’s story is about a man who let his anger consume not only himself, but the lives of three innocent people.

Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit ⁠badmagicproductions.com⁠ for more info and to buy tickets.

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:

The Parable of the Knocker by Bryan Porter

ID's See No Evil, S9E6, “Shaken and Disturbed”

https://web.archive.org/web/20160215131616/http://mentaldisorder.com/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/mother-of-severances-son-testifies-of-frightening-threatening-letters/2015/10/14/270a887c-729d-11e5-8d93-0af317ed58c9_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/at-severances-trial-nancy-dunnings-son-describes-finding-her-dead/2015/10/15/5375017c-7364-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/alleged-alexandria-serial-killer-scheduled-to-appear-in-court/2015/09/16/472604b2-5bc6-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/police-look-for-gunman-clues-in-fatal-shooting-in-alexandria/2014/02/07/da370d26-9004-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/virginia-serial-killer-charles-severance-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/2016/01/20/0ba176c6-bfb0-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

https://northernvirginiamag.com/culture/2020/04/22/recently-released-the-parable-of-the-knocker-sheds-new-light-on-charles-severance/

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love can be a pretty hard thing to define. It’s easier to say what it is not. Love is not secretly following someone and trying your best to keep her within sight every second of the day. Love is not trying to keep someone scared and uncertain so that they’ll rely on you more. And love is not thinking you own a person, and becoming furious when you find out that you do that. This is a story about someone who made all those mistakes, who mistook obsession for devotion, and whose towering sense of entitlement turned into awful violence.

Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit ⁠badmagicproductions.com⁠ for more info and to buy tickets.

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:

Don Stradley, Boston Tabloid

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/03/Missing-Beauty-killer-released/1326739080000/ https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/19/us/killer-marries-in-prison.html https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/28/us/professor-about-to-go-on-trial-admits-killing-his-young-lover.html

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of the stories we cover revolve around the disintegration of a marriage. It’s often a deeply traumatic event, upending entire lives and making an imagined future just vanish into nothing. It can drive some people kind of crazy. But other people are just built differently, and can move effortlessly from one marriage to the next as easily as changing a pair of socks. The woman in this week’s case certainly could do that, and she took that same casual attitude into matters of life and death.

Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit ⁠badmagicproductions.com⁠ for more info and to buy tickets.

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:

Clifford Linedecker, Poisoned Vows

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/backus-appeal-rejected/

https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=STP19931216-01.2.6&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA--------0------

A&E's "American Justice," interview with Jill Coit

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life, obviously, is easier with money. Without having to scrabble and hustle just to survive, you can be free to pursue whatever interests and fascinations you like. But wealth doesn’t make you immune to the realities of human life. Families still have drama, hearts still get broken, dreams still get crushed into dust. This week’s story is about someone who started life with every possible advantage, but despite all her privilege, still descended into darkness.

Sources:

Deadly American Beauty by John Glatt

https://www.smh.com.au/world/jury-awards-a147-million-in-american-beauty-murder-20060322-gdn7du.html

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/sep/18/feature-arrest-warrant-issued/

Join us live at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp in Equinunk, PA, September 10-13th! Visit badmagicproductions.com for more info and to buy tickets.

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, from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas.

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re unlucky, you might have at least one person in your life who just drives you crazy, someone with whom every interaction has an edge of mutual antipathy, that makes you feel like you’re always on the brink of a screaming argument. Sometimes two particular human beings just do not fit together. And because human beings are strange, sometimes a couple like that hook up and stay together for years before finally spinning apart. But that undercurrent of anger can remain, a little toxic flame that doesn’t need much fuel to erupt into an inferno that destroys lives.

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, from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas.

Join us for Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp 2026 in Equinunk, PA! September 10-13. Visit badmagicproductions.com for more info, and to buy tickets.

Sources:

Fatal Vows S7E4, “Hell on Wheels”

Dateline S28E3, “The Plan”

Snapped: Killer Couples, S13E4, “Charlene Childers and Timothy Dean”

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/10/12/what-dateline-didnt-tell-you-tim-dean-charlene-childers/3917826002/

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/in-depth/news/2019/10/10/tim-dean-sodus-ny-double-murder-sunray-texas-police-chief-dateline-nbc-the-plan/1356990001/

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/10/10/charlene-childers-dateline-nbc-the-plan-sodus-ny-double-murder/3910812002/

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/in-depth/news/2019/10/10/double-murder-sodus-ny-of-josh-niles-amber-washburn-children-dateline-nbc/1730190001/

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every night in the city, there are people out looking for something. Usually it’s just fun and excitement, but there are also those who go out looking to fulfill darker desires, who view the night city as a hunting ground where they will get what they want, no matter what. And sometimes, what they want is a nightmare of pain and suffering that shocks the conscience.

Note: This episode is about a serial killer, and the descriptions of his crimes are more graphic than most. Listener discretion is advised.

Join us for Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp 2026 in September! Visit badmagicproductions.com for tickets and more info.

Registration is now open 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:

Delaware Online:

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/14/delaware-murder-serial-killer-shirley-tinker-ellis-catherine-dimauro-steven-brian-pennell/5804258002/ https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/15/after-2-murders-detective-knew-we-have-serial-killer-steven-pennell-route-40-killer/5857068002/

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/16/delaware-rookie-cop-working-undercover-comes-face-face-evil-steven-pennell-route-40-killer/5937449002/

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/17/suspect-discovers-listening-device-his-van-steven-pennell-route-40-killer/3667098001/

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/18/serial-killer-takes-his-secrets-grave-steven-pennell-route-40-killer/5793180002/

Delaware Today:

https://delawaretoday.com/life-style/route-40-delaware-serial-killer/

NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/15/us/delaware-carries-out-first-execution-since-46.html

Court papers:

https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1992/604-a-2d-1368-5.html

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hard to convict someone of murder without a body. Even if it’s plain to everyone with a lick of common sense that the victim is dead and this is the guy who killed her, a prosecutor is wary of going to trial without being able to say with absolute certainty, this person is dead, and we know because we have her body. This week’s story is about a killer whose crime was apparent almost immediately, but who dragged on the crumbling pretense of a normal life for long weeks afterwards, until the horrific results of his actions were uncovered.

Want to join us for grown-up summer camp? Katie and Whitney will be performing live along with the podcasts Scared to Death and Astonishing Legends at Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp 2026, Sept. 10-13. For tickets and more info, go to https://badmagicproductions.com AND...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, from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas.

Sources:

Diane Fanning, Gone Forever

https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/reviewDetail.action?sid=07021839&tdcj=01218516&fullName=MCFARLAND%2CRICHARD+MARVIN

Follow us, campers!

Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire

https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/

Facebook: True Crime Campfire

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en

Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire

Email: [email protected]

MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to books and movies, and very occasionally real life, the idea of the genius killer has become pervasive. But most murderers are not dazzlingly creative schemers. If they have a plan at all, it’s usually simple and dumb—but unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean the plan will fail. This week’s story is about a man who got away with one murder, and then tried to repeat the trick almost exactly.

Registration is now open 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.

If you want to see TCC live but would rather stay on dry land, come to Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp 2026, 9/10-13th in Equinunk, Pennsylvania. Visit badmagicproductions.com for full info and to buy tickets.

Sources:

Please Don’t Kill Mommy, Weinstein & Schumann

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2018/12/13/prison-time-after-parole-for-man-who-strangled-wives-in-tubs

https://katv.com/news/nation-world/man-who-killed-two-of-his-wives-in-two-states-considered-for-parole

Follow us, campers!
Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, tons of extra content, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire
https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/
Facebook: True Crime Campfire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en
Email: [email protected]
MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love is supposed to make you better. Your partner should push lift you up and make you want to improve yourself, improve life for you both. Sometimes, though, there are couples that do nothing but make each other worse. They become jealous, resentful, and cruel. Their relationship is a disgusting mire that sucks in the couple and everyone in their orbit. Everyone knows a couple like that. But today, we’re going to talk about a couple who committed one of the most heinous crimes we ever heard of to satisfy their own jealousy.

Registration is now open 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.

Join us for Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp '26, September 10-13. Go to badmagicproductions.com for more details and to buy tickets. 

Sources:
How I Caught My Killer, Frenemies, S2E3, “Text, Lies, and Murder”
A Stranger In My Home, “Mean Girls”
HuffPost: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brandy-stevens-rosine-murder_n_4065921
https://www.brandyrosine.com/blog

Follow us, campers!
Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire
https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/
Facebook: True Crime Campfire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en
Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire
Email: [email protected]
MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the cases we cover, there are types of relationship that frequently crop up between killer and victim, romantic partners or romantic rivals most of all. Sometimes, though, the relationship that is broken by murder is more shocking: a parent killing a child, or a child killing a parent. And sometimes that killer is still literally a child, someone you would never suspect to be capable of such brutal action. Case 1: The Murder of Jackie Bartlam. Case 2: The Murder of Gina Padilla. 

Tickets are on sale now for CrimeWave 2.0! Visit crimewaveatsea.com/CAMPFIRE to book your cabin, plus get $100 off and a private meet-and-greet with us! The cruise is from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas, Feb. 8-12, 2027.

Sources:
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/coronation-street-obsessed-killer-who-9828273 https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/daniel-bartlam-14-year-old-255698 https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/uk-world-news/chilling-story-coronation-street-obsessed-9289922 https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/02/teenager-daniel-bartlam-jailed-murder
A&E's "Killer Kids" S1E14, “A Scream & Banana Split” 
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-23-me-58845-story.html https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-guilty-of-iscream-i-murder/ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-02-me-52343-story.html

Follow us, campers!
Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire
https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/
Facebook: True Crime Campfire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en
Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire
Email: [email protected]
MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices