In 1992, Rachel Nickell was brutally murdered in broad daylight in a London park. But her killer left behind a witness: her two-year-old son Alex. With the uneasy consent of his protective father, André, police spent months working with the toddler to coax details about the attacker. After André put an end to his son’s distressing questioning, police laid a honeytrap for a nearby suspect with violent sexual fantasies. They arrested Colin Stagg even though there was nothing connecting him to Rachel’s death. And when a similar murder stunned the city, investigators were at odds with one another on whether they had the right man.

The Netflix documentary “The Murder of Rachel Nickell” tells the inside story of the search for a serial killer. It features in-depth interviews with André and Alex about the toll it took on the two-year-old boy repeatedly asked to identify his mother’s murderer. It also explores how missteps by the police — before and after the crime — resulted in years of delayed justice.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE MURDER OF RACHEL NICKELL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In March 2021, after Faithe Ely left a cookout, her body was found on the side of a rural Oklahoma highway. Officials from one law enforcement agency said it looked like a hit and run accident; however, members of the Highway Patrol weren’t so sure. Her boyfriend said Faithe stormed off after a drunken altercation, and that a white truck towing a black trailer had been traveling in that direction before she was found. Five years later, her family still wants answers as to who was responsible for Faithe’s death — and whether it was an intentional act.

The podcast “Blunt Force Trauma” from EchoSpace looks into the death of Faithe Ely, asking whether her death was a pedestrian accident or premeditated murder. Host Troy Taylor sifts through the evidence with experts and family members to learn the circumstances of the incident — and asks why murder investigators think it was an accident and accident investigators think it might be murder. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 14 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: The long arm of the lawn.

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For her school project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi solved the murders of two students, rescued a girl held captive in an attic, and exposed a serial rapist. Now Pip is dating the victim’s brother; recording a podcast; and still needs to testify against Max for the rapes. But just as she thinks she has left the crimes behind her, Pip’s friend Jamie goes missing. She learns Jamie had been catfished before he vanished. Is his disappearance connected to Max’s coercion campaign to beat the charges? Or the missing son of a serial killer? And who has been sending her warnings to back off? Despite the dark places her last investigation took her, Pip is determined to solve the case.

Emma Myers returns as Pip in season two of “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” Netflix’s adaptation of the YA book series. The student sleuth continues her investigation into the dark secrets of her British village, where every answer uncovers a deeper lie.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF SEASON TWO OF "A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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After a 2000 murder case went cold, Kentucky housewife Susan Galbreath did her own snooping. With the help of cooperative cops and a British journalist, she identified Quincy Cross as Jessica Currin’s killer. Quincy got a life sentence and Susan became a local hero. But in a story already filled with inconsistencies and recantations, Susan never disclosed the original prime suspect was her friend’s son. Now, Susan’s own son is stepping forward with new evidence, saying her mother’s tales should not be believed.

From Message Heard and Sony Music Entertainment comes the podcast “My Mother’s Lies.” Host Beth Karas explains how Galbreath and her enablers reshaped the investigation, diverting attention from one suspect to another. It asks whether money, recognition, and self-preservation drove a citizen sleuth to knowingly put the wrong man in prison.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MY MOTHER'S LIES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: like shooting fish in a breakroom.

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Willy Nast was a passing acquaintance of Jeff Signorelli, an Aurora, IL teen who was killed in 2002 when a bullet went through a wall at a party. As a college student, Nast interviewed Signorelli’s parents for an essay on the crime and the community it happened in. With plans for a sprawling book, Nast continued to interview Al and Mary Ann Signorelli over the years, documenting the ways they turned their grief into action. It included stints in local politics and nonprofits, but time and again city leaders dismissed them as inconvenient gadflies. While Jeff’s murder remains unsolved, his parents have found themselves battling both their grief and a system resistant to their efforts for change.

The independent podcast “City of Lights” looks beyond Jeff’s murder, becoming a profile of the parents affected by the crime, as well as the community institutions it did not. After decades of work on the project, Nast shares his soul searching about his place in the hometown story and why the case continues to animate his work.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CITY OF LIGHTS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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A small Ohio city was stunned after a teen crashed her car into the side of a building, killing her boyfriend and a back seat passenger. Mackenzie Shirilla said she couldn’t remember what happened before she slammed head-on into a brick wall at 100 MPH, but said the fatal collision was an accident. Classmates described Shirilla as a spoiled mean girl whose socials were filled with videos of her expensive taste in clothes, the latest TikTok trends, and clip after clip of her smoking marijuana. Investigators learned her relationship with Dominic Russo was volatile, and details of the crash weren’t adding up. They believed the image-obsessed teen didn’t black out behind the wheel…they thought she drove into the brick wall on purpose.

The Netflix documentary “The Crash” recounts the 2022 case, examining evidence which suggests the high-speed collision was a purposeful act. Featuring interviews with the parents of all three occupants and with Shirilla herself, the film invites the audience to draw their own conclusions on whether the crash was intentional and why. The film looks at how Shirilla’s online persona influenced the narrative around her, raising the question of whether investigators misinterpreted Gen Z culture with motivation for murder.

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

In Crime of the Week: shave off the hair of...two bits!

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Clayton Echard was trying to bounce back from his disastrous appearance on “The Bachelor" when he hooked up with a potential real estate investor. Though he claimed they only had oral sex, Laura Owens said she was pregnant with his twins. What came next from her was an unrelenting mix of romantic overtures and legal threats. Clayton became suspicious of Laura’s evasive actions to prove her pregnancy was real. When the reality TV scandal hit the news, Internet sleuths began to pick apart her story. And information emerged that the former Bachelor was not the first man Laura had accused.

From Glass Podcasts and iHeart Podcasts comes “Love Trapped.” Host Stephani Young goes deep into all the twists and turns in the sensational case involving a reality TV celebrity, an unreliable accuser, and the online community obsessed with the story. The series explores whether Laura’s unwavering insistence in her dubious claims are a long con or the product of a disturbed mind.

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

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Marcellus may be just an octopus, but he’s very observant of what’s happening around him in the aquarium. Tova the cleaning lady is considering selling her home. And when she sprains her ankle, cash-strapped Cameron takes a temp job helping clean. Marcellus can sense the deep sadness in each of them. Tova has questions about her son’s mysterious death at sea and Cameron has come to town to confront the rich father he never knew. But from inside his tank, Marcellus has the answers both are searching for.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” stars Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and Alfred Molina. The Netflix film keeps some of the mystery and all of the emotion from the best-selling novel about an octopus who can see things in the people around him that they can’t see for themselves. What unfolds is a gentle story about loss, second chances, and the strange ways we find our way home.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: pud pulling.

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In the 1960s, United Mine Workers advocate Jock Yablonski bucked his own union for giving into coal companies on critical issues — including cases of black lung disease and mine safety. And when evidence revealed union president Tony Boyle had been making secret deals with the companies to enrich himself at the expense of workers, Yablonski mounted a campaign to unseat the labor boss. But a challenge to Boyle’s iron grip on the UMW was a dangerous proposition. After Jablonski was mysteriously gunned down in his bed, a group of young upstarts discover the only way to get justice and achieve reform is to bring down the untouchable union boss.

In the latest season of the podcast “Shadow Kingdom” from Crooked Media and Campside Media, “Coal Survivor” recounts the deadly struggle for power within the United Coal Miners union. Host Nicolo Majnoni unpacks the plan to silence a reform candidate and the struggle to reorganize organized labor to improve conditions for union members — and not for the comforts of their leaders. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COAL SURVIVOR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In 2020, pathologist Caroline Muirhead swiped right on a gamekeeper from the Scottish Highlands. Her whirlwind romance with Sandy McKellar led to a quick proposal. But before the wedding, her fiancé confided that years earlier, he and his twin brother killed a man and hid his body. Muirhead was torn between her love for McKellar and her duty to turn him in. Her work with police to gather evidence only drew her further into their drug-and-booze fueled relationship. Muirhead found herself spiraling, as she raced to learn more about the crime before McKellar could catch on to her. 

In the Netflix series “Should I Marry a Murderer?” Muirhead tells her story of romance, homicide, and self-destruction.  The show serves as both a tense procedural inside her efforts to uncover the details about the crimes of her fiancé, as well as a confessional for the lovestruck doctor about her mistakes along the way.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SHOULD I MARRY A MURDERER?" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: reel too real.

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In 2016, women of color in Newark, NJ began to disappear. The police response lacked urgency because some were sex workers and others were considered runaways. So friends of Mawa Doumbia set their own trap, using the missing 15-year-old’s social media to draw out her killer. Investigators eventually drew connections between a Jane Doe in a burned building, a murdered college student, and a prostitute who fled from an attacker who duct taped and handcuffed her. The evidence would point them to a young, mild mannered supermarket security guard who they accused of being a serial killer.

The podcast “Someone’s Hunting Us” from nj.com and The Star-Ledger recounts the search for Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, who was accused of murdering four girls and women, and nearly killing a fifth. Hosts Rebecca Everett and Daysi Calavia-Robertson also explore the law enforcement inequities when the victims are Black or do sex work — as well as talk to the victims’ loved ones about how they advanced the investigation when authorities would not.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SOMEONE'S HUNTING US" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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