In the mid-90s, several men vanished from Indianapolis-area gay bars. Police were piqued after a man claimed he was nearly strangled during sex with Herb Baumeister. Investigators found bones throughout the woods of his secluded horse farm, but before they could question him Baumeister died by suicide in Canada.

In 2022, a local coroner renewed the effort to identify victims from the 10,000 bone fragments found on the property. But it revived an unanswered question: how did Baumeister get the bodies of his victims into the woods by himself? And what should we make of the peculiar man who claimed to have escaped being the killer’s victim?

From ABC News Studios and streaming on Hulu, “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” looks back at the incomplete story of Herb Baumeister’s crimes. It follows those helping victims’ families find closure, while also diving into the biggest hole of the original investigation. The series builds toward a confrontation with an unreliable narrator many suspect is lying about his involvement in the mystery.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE FOX HOLLOW MURDERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: Why Don't We Do It In The Road Road.

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In December 2020, police in Marion, Illinois responded to a brutal death on Songbird Road. Eleven-year-old Jade Beasley was found in a bathtub, stabbed multiple times. Investigators homed in on her stepmother, Julia Bevely, who claimed she returned home to find a man dressed in black with a knife fleeing the scene. Prosecutors pointed to video of Bevely throwing away something at a gas station and a 30 minute gap between finding the body and calling 911. But there was nearly no physical evidence connecting the woman to a bloody attack in the home. That inconsistency has led some to believe Bevely was convicted for a crime she didn’t commit. 

In the podcast “Murder on Songbird Road,” host Lauren Bright Pacheco teams with podcaster Bob Motta to examine holes in the case against Julia Bevely, including the absence of a weapon, a DNA link, and sightings of an stranger dressed in black nearby at the time of the murder.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER ON SONGBIRD ROAD" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Since we reviewed the new ABC doc, we thought we'd drop our original review of the Scamanda podcast.

Inspired by her blog posts about her cancer journey, friends and admirers gave Amanda Riley money - but her illness was all an act. Following our review of the ABC adaptation of the hit podcast, we going back to our original June 8, 2023 episode "Scamanda" from host Charlie Webster and Lionsgate Sound.

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Amanda Reilly warmed hearts with her blog describing her battle with terminal cancer. The young mother received donations from her church and various fundraisers in her name. But some around her became suspicious her elaborate website was nothing more than theater. Soon, reporters and law enforcement were picking apart her health claims and following the money. Even after her fraud was made public, Amanda maintained she was a cancer survivor being set up by her enemies.

Available on Hulu, ABC News Studios presents “Scamanda,” telling Reilly’s story and picking up where the hit 2023 podcast left off. Through interviews with key players, including original host Charlie Webster, the four part documentary recounts her seven year con for cash and sympathy, and relays what Reilly is now doing nearly two years after the number one show made her infamous.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SCAMANDA" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: p*ssed off.

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In 1996, fishermen pulled the body of a man out of the English Channel. An inscription on his Rolex watch led police to believe he was Ronald Platt, who according to his friend, David Davis, had left the UK for France to work as a TV repairman. Though the particulars of how Platt wound up in the sea remained unclear, investigators were ready to close the case. They just needed to retrieve some of his belongings from Davis’s home. But when a detective accidentally knocked on the wrong door, the neighbor gave some information that turned the case on its head.

The latest season of the CBC Podcasts series “Uncover: Sea of Lies” looks into the case of a deadly conman who was among Interpol’s top fugitives. Host Sam Mullins from “Wild Boys” walks us through the investigation’s many twists and turns to see how a nearly perfect crime came undone. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "UNCOVER: SEA OF LIES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In 2021, with plans to create a travel vlog, Gabby Petito and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie set off in a converted van to document their trip across America. But in between social media posts, the couple’s relationship grew dark, even resulting in a traffic stop by cops investigating a domestic violence complaint. In the subsequent days, Gabby’s parents lost touch with her. Then Brian returned home with the van - but with Gabby nowhere to be found. The mystery of the young woman’s disappearance gripped the nation.

Netflix’s “American Murder: Gabby Petito” tackles the biggest true crime case of the decade. Using Gabby’s private videos, texts, and journal entries, the series traces her early life, her ill-fated trip, and frantic search for her online and on the ground. It also examines the actions of the Laundrie family, as well as the conversation the case sparked about who gets press coverage and who gets ignored.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AMERICAN MURDER: GABBY PETITO" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: grand cannon.

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In October 1980, a motorcycle packed with explosives went off outside a Paris synagogue, killing four and wounding nearly four dozen others. French investigators gathered evidence the attack was planned by a Palestinian militant group, but the trail for the bomber went cold for years. 

Twenty-eight years after the attack on Rue Copernic, French authorities accused a Canadian sociology professor of Lebanese descent of planting the bomb. Hassan Diab proclaimed his innocence, saying their evidence was flawed and circumstantial. It spawned a diplomatic crisis, as Canadian judicial authorities also questioned whether Diab should be turned over to France for trial.

“The Copernic Affair” from Canadaland and House of Many Windows re-examines the controversial terrorism probe. Hosts Dana Ballout and Alex Atack talk to victims, investigators, and Diab himself to make sense of how an unassuming academic with a common name was accused of a horrific crime four decades ago. Is Hassan Diab guilty of an unspeakable act of political violence? Or is he a scapegoat for a failed investigation?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE COPERNIC AFFAIR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas was more than a white power hate group. They were also a sophisticated crime syndicate into drug trafficking and prostitution. Known for its violent methods against its rivals, it was equally as brutal to those suspected of being snitches. After a series of particularly cold-blooded killings, law enforcement groups teamed up to take down the Aryans’ statewide operation. By flipping defendants and cultivating informants, authorities were able to connect the racket and destabilize the group.  

“The Takedown: American Aryans” on Max looks at the six-year operation to infiltrate the Neo-Nazi crime syndicate. The series walks viewers through several key cases that allowed them to break up much of the hate group’s criminal activities.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TAKEDOWN: AMERICAN ARYANS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: hard-boiled crime.

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In 2003, Northern Irish journalists outed Freddie Scappaticci as one of Britain's most notorious double agents. His code name was “Stakeknife.” For years he was in charge of finding and killing informants within the IRA, and was now accused of working with the Brits all along.   The story rocked those on both sides of The Troubles. High-ranking British officials were criticized for allowing their secret asset to kill and torture with impunity. And families of those killed for being alleged informants questioned whether they were executed to keep the IRA from suspecting Scappaticci was the real traitor.

“Stakeknife” is the second season of the podcast “Cover” from BBC Sounds, Second Captains & Little Wing. Host Mark Horgan explores how British Army intelligence sanctioned Scappaticci’s dirty work and the lengths taken to protect their valuable operative. He also brings us relatives of those murdered by Stakeknife to talk about the lifelong pain and stigma of having a loved one executed for being an informant - whether it was true or not.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "STAKEKNIFE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL ELEVEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In 1995, when a woman’s body was discovered in a Dayton, Ohio park, Kari thought her boyfriend Mick McQuerter and his prison buddy Tim Terrell may be involved. Before the two could skip town, Kari discovered incriminating evidence in the car.  After the men went to prison, detectives turned up at Kari’s door, looking for connections to a decade’s old pair of unsolved murders on a secluded farm. Demonic symbolism at the crime scene cast suspicion on Tim, who served time with a self-styled Satanist and who sported an occultic tattoo for the “Lords of Death.”

From Tenderfoot TV and Audacy comes the podcast “Lords of Death.” Host Thrasher Banks grapples with his long held presumptions about the culpability of his mother’s boyfriend Mick in the murder of Cindy Cozad. He also looks into whether Tim Terrell bludgeoned an elderly farmer in 1987 - then returned a year later to kill his widow with a screwdriver through the head.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LORDS OF DEATH" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TWELVE MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.

In Crime of the Week: knowing the ropes.

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Myka and James Stauffer built a popular and profitable YouTube channel featuring hundreds of videos of their children and homelife. Then in 2017, after the Stauffers revealed they were adopting a boy from China, subscriptions to their channel took off. Viewers were drawn in by the family’s breezy efforts to address the toddler’s developmental issues. Then past videos of the boy were abruptly gone from the feed and he no longer appeared in the vlog. The mystery around the move sparked a huge backlash, with many criticising Myka’s motives and fearing for the child’s well-being.

The HBO Original series “An Update on Our Family” recounts the controversy around the Stauffers and accusations they adopted a child just for the clicks. It also explores the issues about privacy on the internet, the nuances of trans-national adoption, and the unregulated industry of monetizing one’s family.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AN UPDATE ON OUR FAMILY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.

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