Thirty years after being convicted of murdering six women and girls, David Wood is now only weeks from dying by lethal injection. Pointing to the fact the only DNA ever recovered points to a different suspect, and new statements accusing police of setting him up, lawyer Greg Warchuk and his team are rushing to win a stay. The lawyers look for alternate suspects, elusive witnesses, and holes in the state’s evidence, all as the clock ticks down to Wood’s execution. Warchuk and the other attorneys pull at every lever to stop the process to save the life of a man they believe was wrongfully convicted — all while preparing themselves for the possibility he’ll die anyway.

From Serial Productions, The Marshall Project, and The New York Times comes the podcast “The Last 12 Weeks.” Host Maurice Chammah and producer Alvin Melathe give the audience an unprecedented look inside a legal team's efforts to find evidence and craft legal arguments that will pause the execution of David Wood, the so-called Desert Killer. Both WITH the attorneys and on their own, the journalists interview witnesses, investigators, and the accused serial killer himself in a literal story of life or death.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE LAST 12 WEEKS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: el Batman!

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The website OnlyFans democratized the world of webcamming, allowing independent creators to make big money attracting their own subscribers for adult entertainment.  But the nature of the forum changed anonymous online sex work to a more personalized service for both the models and their customers. These intimate relationships spawned a new kind of business, one that goes beyond sex. As those on both sides of the camera form parasocial connections, their interactions can feel more personal — leaving some vulnerable, some empowered, and some wanting intimacy that is more than skin deep.  

The Audible Original podcast “OnlyFantasy” investigates how the multi-billion dollar adult website has become not only a financial lifeline for its models, but a marketplace for emotional support. Hosts Leon Neyfakh and comedian/OnlyFans creator Gracie Canaan talk without judgment to creators, subscribers, and business people about the digital intimacy economy and whether its customers are paying for more than online sex.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ONLYFANTASY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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When a Texas trooper pulled her over, Taylor Parker said she was rushing to the hospital, doing CPR on the newborn baby she just gave birth to in her car. But when doctors examined her, they realized she’d never been pregnant. For months, Parker had told everyone she was carrying her boyfriend’s baby, posing on social media with a pregnant belly. But friends knew she’d had a hysterectomy years before. Then as her purported due date arrived, miles away, police made a gruesome discovery.

The Netflix documentary “Maternal Instinct” recounts the 2020 story of Taylor Parker, and how her efforts to fake a pregnancy resulted in a tragic conclusion. The film uses body-worn camera footage, digital evidence, and interviews with Parker’s boyfriend and others to piece together her elaborate scheme and the lengths she went to resolve it.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MATERNAL INSTINCT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: I wanna get off...the ride!

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Relatives of those who died by suicide discovered their loved ones had been active in online forums for those looking for ways to end their lives. They were directed to a retailer selling fatal quantities of sodium nitrite to people in crisis in more than 40 countries. Police and journalists hunted down Kenneth Law, who admitted to selling to hundreds of people worldwide. But authorities wanted to know whether Law was just providing a lethal product — or whether he was actively pushing people in crisis to take it.

The CBC podcast “Hunting the Suicide Salesman” recounts the effort to stop Law and shutdown the business of selling sodium nitrite. Host Daemon Fairless goes beyond the criminal investigation and takes an unusually frank and intimate examination of the issue of suicide — including causes, prevention efforts, and the hidden online world for those considering ending their lives.  

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HUNTING THE SUICIDE SALESMAN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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As André deals with the shock of his girlfriend’s brutal murder, he reluctantly allows police to question the only witness to the crime: his two-year-old son. When the interviews prove too traumatic and press coverage too intrusive, André flees London with Alex — but finds putting the past behind them is difficult. Meanwhile, using information from the toddler, police home in on a man who shares his violent sexual fantasies with an undercover cop. Detectives are sure they’ve got Rachel Nickell’s killer — even though a similar murder suggests a different suspect.

Netflix’s “The Witness” is a dramatized version of the infamous 1992 case, and a companion series to the documentary “The Murder of Rachel Nickell.” The show focuses on father and son, as Rachel’s unsolved murder adds strain to their relationship. It also follows the detectives' efforts to close the case, even though their assumptions about their lead suspect take them in the wrong direction.

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

In Crime of the Week: Noah-countability.

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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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