Eighteen-year-old Haruka Weiser was a gifted dancer with a bright future when she disappeared on her walk home from rehearsal.

What followed was a homicide investigation built on surveillance footage, physical evidence, and a trail of questions that would challenge investigators and the courts alike. As the search for justice unfolds, the case reveals how difficult it can be to separate what seems convincing from what the evidence truly proves.

For the family who loved her, the greatest loss was not a mystery to solve. It was a daughter, a sister, and a future that would never be. And no verdict can ever bring her home.

Sponsors:

Vinted

Ready to clean out your closet? Turn your pre-loved clothes into extra cash with Vinted! Download the Vinted app for free, list your clothes, and sell with zero seller fees. You keep everything you earn!

Progressive

Looking for insurance that fits your needs? Progressive offers customized home and auto coverage options, 24/7 claims support, and great customer service. Get your quote today at Progressive.com.

Whisker

Say goodbye to scooping! The Whisker Litter-Robot automatically cleans after every use, making life easier for you and your cats. Get 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at whisker.com/CREEPERS.

Uncommon Goods

Find the perfect gift for everyone on your list with Uncommon Goods! Shop unique, thoughtful gifts from independent artists and small businesses. Get 15% off your next gift at UncommonGoods.com/CREEPERS.

Quince

Upgrade your everyday essentials with Quince! Shop high-quality cashmere, clothing, jewelry, bags, home goods, and more at prices you'll love. Visit Quince.com or download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, free shipping, and 365-day returns. Let them know you heard about Quince from True Crime Creepers!

Sources:

Meechaiel Khalil Criner v. The State of Texas - Memorandum Opinion

Texas Forensic Science Commission - Final Report

Statement by Family of Haruka Weiser - UT News

Thomas Weiser Honors the Memory of His Daughter Haruka and Introduces “Walk With Me” Safety Campaign - UT News

Body Found on UT Campus Identified as First-Year Dance Student

Details Emerge About Teen Facing Murder Charge in Texas Student’s Killing - CBS News

Report: Video Shows Suspect Pull Out “Shiny Rigid Object,” Follow Haruka Weiser on UT Campus

Foster Care Teen Arrested in UT Student’s Death - The Texas Tribune

Police Arrest 17-Year-Old in Slaying of First-Year University of Texas Student - The Washington Post

Meechaiel Criner, Texas Campus Slaying Suspect, Said Family Made Him Leave - CBS News

Sister Tells ABC13 Suspect in University of Texas Student’s Murder Had Tough Upbringing

Day 1 for Trial of Man Accused of Slaying UT Student

Day 2: Witnesses Testify About Evidence Surrounding UT Student Slaying

Crime Scene Evidence and Chilling Surveillance Video Shown at UT Murder Trial - FOX 7 Austin

Criner Prosecution Wrapping Up With Graphic Autopsy Pictures - FOX 7 Austin

Criner Takes the Stand, Says He Did Not Kill Haruka Weiser

Prosecutor: UT Student’s Belongings Link Suspect to Slaying - CBS Texas

Jury Convicts Man in Slaying of University of Texas Student - KSL.com

Judge Denies Motion for New Trial in UT Student’s Murder

Haruka Weiser Memorial Commission - UT Austin Department of Theatre and Dance

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

Reddit is an endless archive of humanity’s most disturbing, bizarre, and deeply human stories. If you love going down internet rabbit holes, you are going to love Crimes of Reddit with Alexis Linkletter and Sabrina Deana-Roga.

Every Tuesday, one host brings a set of true-crime stories while the other reacts in real time with no prep, no spoilers asking the questions on everyone’s mind. They pull at every thread until the whole twisted picture comes into view. It’s dark, it’s messy, and the scariest part is simple: These are stories posted by real people.

Follow Crimes of Reddit for a new episode every Tuesday. https://pod.link/1838511303

Crimes of Reddit is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios.

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

“I killed Taunja Bennett.”

The words appeared on a bathroom wall, after two convictions and the closure of the case.

Then came another confession. And another. Each raised new questions about what really happened to Taunja and whether the people behind bars were guilty at all.

As investigators revisited the case, the evidence they thought they understood began to unravel, forcing them to confront an unsettling possibility: sometimes the truth is buried beneath the story everyone has already accepted.

Sponsors:

Quince: Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/CREEPERS. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Litter-Robot by Whisker: Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at Whisker.com/CREEPERS.

Sources:

⁠A Question of Guilt - Los Angeles Times⁠

⁠Laverne Pavlinac | National Registry of Exonerations⁠

⁠Trucker Writing Letters About Serial Killings⁠

⁠'Happy Face Killer' case tapes reveal the lengths woman went to frame boyfriend - ABC News⁠

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

When 23-year-old Taunja Bennett disappeared from Portland, Oregon, her family feared the worst. Days later, her body was discovered in the Columbia River Gorge, brutally murdered and left hidden along an isolated road.

Then investigators received a tip naming a suspect.

What followed was a disturbing investigation filled with accusations and eventually confessions that led to two convictions. Even so, questions about what really happened to Taunja refused to disappear.

Were the right people brought to justice, or had everyone been looking in the wrong direction?

Sometimes the most plausible explanation is also the wrong one.

Sponsors:

Quince: Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/CREEPERS. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Litter-Robot by Whisker: Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at Whisker.com/CREEPERS.

Sources:

A Question of Guilt - Los Angeles Times

Laverne Pavlinac | National Registry of Exonerations

Trucker Writing Letters About Serial Killings

'Happy Face Killer' case tapes reveal the lengths woman went to frame boyfriend - ABC News

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

In the early hours of New Year’s morning, Morgan Metzer was attacked in her own home by a masked intruder.

She was beaten, bound, and left terrified that she would not survive the night.

As detectives investigate, disturbing clues begin to emerge. The closer they get to the truth, the more questions they uncover.

Who was the masked attacker?
Why was Morgan targeted?
And how did the intruder know so much about her life?

This is a chilling true story of deception, betrayal, and a terrifying crime that was anything but random.

Sponsors:

WHISKER

Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at ⁠⁠whisker.com/CREEPERS⁠⁠. That’s 10% off at ⁠⁠whisker.com/CREEPERS⁠⁠.

QUINCE

Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/creepers. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That’s Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/creepers.

PROGRESSIVE

Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Visit Progressive.com and find a rate that works for you with the Name Your Price® tool.

Sources:

CBS News — 48 Hours: Morgan Metzer

48 Hours — Morgan Metzer Case

Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office — Rodney Metzer

FOX 5 Atlanta — He Ex-Husband Found Her Bound and Beaten

A&E — Morgan Metzer True Story

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

In 2010, a silent 911 call from Monica Schmeyer’s Pennsylvania home led police to a shocking discovery: Monica had been murdered.

At first, investigators focused on her ex-husband, but the case fell apart.

Regrouping, the detectives uncovered a chilling connection between a circle of friends, seemingly harmless conversations, and private details about Monica’s life.

The investigation that followed exposed the killer, and revealed how words that seemed insignificant could have devastating consequences.

Sponsors:

WHISKER

Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at ⁠whisker.com/CREEPERS⁠. That’s 10% off at ⁠whisker.com/CREEPERS⁠.

QUINCE

Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/creepers. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That’s Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/creepers.

PROGRESSIVE

Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Visit Progressive.com and find a rate that works for you with the Name Your Price® tool.

Sources:

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. TIMOTHY MATTHEW JACOBY (2017) | FindLaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtAmmHmpyNM

Timothy Jacoby, who murdered Monica Schmeyer, on 'Unexpected Killer'

Timothy Jacoby Kills Friend’s Ex-Wife Monica Schmeyer As She Calls 911

Forensic Files II 02x07 - The Orange Shorts

Commonwealth v. Jacoby Concurring Opinion

Commonwealth v Jacoby Majority Opinion

Commonwealth v. Jacoby, T., Aplt. :: 2017 :: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Decisions

Monica Schmeyer Obituary (2010) - Legacy Remembers

Pennsylvania 2014 – Death Sentences Today

Execution Warrants Issued by Governor (1985 to Present)

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

Twenty-five-year-old Shanquella Robinson traveled to Cabo with friends for a birthday celebration. She never made it home.

Her family was told she died from alcohol poisoning, until an autopsy raised questions and a disturbing video surfaced.

Two countries. Conflicting autopsies. An arrest warrant. A federal investigation. Years without answers.

For Shanquella’s family, this isn’t about headlines. It’s about their daughter, the truth, and the questions her death raises about trust, accountability, and the safety of traveling with those we trust.

What really happened inside that villa in Cabo?

Sponsors:

WHISKER
Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at whisker.com/CREEPERS. That’s 10% off at whisker.com/CREEPERS.

QUINCE
Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/creepers. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That’s Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/creepers.

PROGRESSIVE
Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Visit Progressive.com and find a rate that works for you with the Name Your Price® tool.

Sources:

What is in Shanquella Robinson’s autopsy? Document describes violent death

What the U.S. autopsy of Shanquella Robinson says about alcohol, her injuries

Shanquella Robinson | FBI Vault

Shanquella Robinson: Concierge police interview, autopsy | Charlotte Observer

Doctor tried to revive Shanquella Robinson before her death, police report excerpt shows

How did Shanquella Robinson die? Death certificate vs. police report breakdown.

Western District of North Carolina | Federal Officials Meet With The Family Of Shanquella Robinson

Shanquella Robinson death: Arrest warrant issued for femicide, prosecutor says - ABC News

Mexican prosecutors seek to extradite U.S. suspect in killing of North Carolina woman in San Jose del Cabo

Shanquella Robinson’s friends say she ‘hit her head on toilet’ before mysterious death, FBI report shows

Shanquella Robinson died in Mexico a month ago. Her family still seeks answers.

Mom of Shanquella Robinson who died in Mexico says she didn't believe it was alcohol poisoning

Robinson v Jackson

Appeal filed in Shanquella Robinson wrongful death lawsuit

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

David and Shawna Scott had built a happy life in a close-knit Kentucky community, surrounded by family and the grandchildren they adored.

Then Frances Zaayer moved across the street.

What began as a simple act of kindness became a nightmare of harassment, accusations, and relentless police calls. Slowly, Frances began taking away their sense of safety, and tearing their family apart.

The Scotts tried everything to make it stop.

They never imagined just how far she would go.

Sponsors:

WHISKER / LITTER-ROBOT
Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at whisker.com/CREEPERS. That’s 10% off at whisker.com/CREEPERS.

QUINCE
Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/creepers. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That’s Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/creepers.

PROGRESSIVE
Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Find a rate that works for you with Progressive’s Name Your Price® tool at Progressive.com.

Sources:

Services | Warren County DD

David Scott Murder: Where is Frances Zaayer Now?

Netflix series 'Worst Neighbor Ever' covers fatal Kentucky feud

Where is Frances Zaayer now? An update on the murderous ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’

Netflix: Worst Neighbor Ever, S1 E1 - She Finally Snapped 

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

On a stormy Mother’s Day morning in 2019, a 911 call sends first responders to a secluded property in Milledgeville, Georgia. What they expect to find is a drowning victim in a hot tub. What they actually discover is a scene so bizarre that almost nothing about it makes sense.

Dr. Marianne Shockley, a beloved University of Georgia professor, pioneering entomologist, and passionate advocate for the future of eating insects, is found unconscious beside a dangerously hot hot tub. Two men are with her: her boyfriend, Marcus Lillard, and their friend, Dr. Clark Heindel. Both men have a story about what happened. Neither story seems to explain the evidence.

There are bloody towels, unexplained injuries, strange spiritual rituals, drugs, a delayed 911 call, and a medical examiner who ultimately determines that Marianne didn't drown at all.

Then, before investigators can get all the answers, one of the two men is dead.

As detectives begin piecing together the final hours of Marianne's life, Marcus's story keeps changing. Was this a tragic accident? A drug fueled night gone horribly wrong? A bizarre spiritual ritual? Or was someone hiding what really happened in that hot tub?

And when the case finally reaches a courtroom, the question becomes even more complicated: can a murder be proven when almost every piece of the puzzle raises more questions than answers?

This is the strange and unsettling death of Dr. Marianne Shockley.

Sponsors:

WHISKER
Get the litter box off your mind today with 10% off a Whisker Litter-Robot at whisker.com/CREEPERS. That’s 10% off at whisker.com/CREEPERS.

QUINCE
Find the fall pieces you’ll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/creepers. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That’s Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/creepers.

PROGRESSIVE
Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Visit Progressive.com and find a rate that works for you with the Name Your Price® tool.

Sources:

Podcast: Blood Town Season 1

The Strange Death of Professor Shockley | 48 Hours 

What really happened the night Marianne Shockley died? "Evil came to play," says boyfriend acquitted of her murder

Marcus Lillard acquitted in strangulation death of University of Georgia professor

Medical examiner ruled Shockley died from ‘manual strangulation’ | The Union-Recorder

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

Originally released 1/18/2024, but for the first time here are parts 1 and 2 together in one episode!

December 20, 2019 is when the world became aware of Lori Vallow after police in Rexberg, Idaho sent out a news release reporting two missing siblings: 7 year old JJ Vallow and 17 year old Tylee Ryan. The story quickly made national news when it was revealed that their mother, Lori, had fled to Hawaii, all the while insisting the kids were safe and happy, and refusing to answer any questions about their whereabouts. It left us all wondering: was it true and she was hiding them somewhere for some unknown reason? Had she had something to do with their disappearance? Did this have anything to do with her new husband, Chad Daybell? The answers to these questions would turn out to be far more baffling than anyone realized.

Sources:

Sins of our Mother - Netflix

Daybell, Vallow complete timeline in alleged murders

Joseph Smith 1805-1844

What to Know About Lori Vallow Daybell, the Mother Found Guilty of Murdering 3 in Doomsday Plot.

Murders of Tylee Ryan and J. J. Vallow - Wikipedia

Lori Vallow's third husband's body was found decomposed on bed | Daily Mail Online

Lori Vallow’s brother stun-gunned her third husband & threatened to murder him years before he killed her fourth husband

Charles confronted Lori about affair before he was killed: Vallow Daybell murder trial day 9

Lori's sister-in-law talks of demon possession and burning: Day 10 of Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial

Discrepancies in Charles' death: Day 12 Vallow Daybell murder trial

'She's lost her mind': Estranged husband warned Gilbert Police about Lori Vallow months before his death, kids' disappearance

​​Before J.J. Vallow Vanished, Mom Lori Said He Had 'Evil Spirit' in Him, Was 'Difficult': Friend

The 7 most damning pieces of evidence presented during the first week of 'cult mom' Lori Vallow's murder trial

Coroner: Tammy Daybell's initial cause of death was a cardiac event

Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet) - Wikipedia

Documents sent by Chad Daybell reveal so-called 'past lives' of Lori Vallow

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell exchanged loving texts 24 hours after they allegedly killed his wife

What an Amazon order reveals about Lori Daybell's wedding ring - East Idaho News

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

Originally published on our Patreon on 6/22/26. We usually wouldn't release episodes so recent from the vault, but this was a very special one!

This week, Mogab is telling the story! We're heading to the heart of Kentucky horse country for a case involving wealth, power, and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Jessica Whitaker seemed to have it all. The daughter of one of the most prominent families in the Derby world, Jessica was known as a rising equestrian star with a bright future ahead of her. But after attending the Whitakers' annual Spring Soirée, she was found dead near the family pool, the victim of blunt force trauma.

Police quickly focused on Daniel Preed, a worker at the Whitaker estate who was seen near the barn on the night of the murder. With an arrest made and the community eager for answers, the case appeared to be closed.

But not everyone was convinced.

Jessica's friend Emma believes investigators arrested the wrong person. Even her mother—a prosecutor who worked on the case—had serious doubts about Daniel's guilt. When she pushed back against the official narrative, it cost her everything.

Determined to uncover the truth, Emma launches her own investigation into the secrets hidden behind the gates of one of Kentucky's most powerful families.

What really happened to Jessica Whitaker?

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