15 New Crime Podcasts To Listen To
West Cork
In 1996 French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found dead near her holiday home in West Cork. With no witnesses and no known motive, it was known simply as ‘the murder’. The police had a suspect in the community, but they couldn’t make a charge stick. A quarter of a century later, this podcast series brings together a remarkable cast of characters, many of whom have never spoken publicly before. The victim’s family, the aforementioned suspect and other locals are all on hand to share their side of the story.
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Power: The Maxwells
If you were hooked on Hunting Ghislaine, this one’s for you. Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged partner in crime has rarely been out of the headlines in recent years, but there’s a shadowy figure hanging above her who you might not be so familiar with: her father, media tycoon Robert Maxwell. A man with a string of enemies, he rose from nothing to a life of power until, in 1999, he fell from the deck of his super yacht under mysterious circumstances. Ghislaine believes he was murdered; this seven-parter tells his story in full.
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If It Bleeds, It Leads
World-leading criminology professor David Wilson and Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox have teamed up to explore some of the UK’s most notorious crimes. They interview offenders, police, crime experts and investigators to find out what goes through someone’s mind before they commit a crime, and how a string of high-profile murderers, serial killers and bank robbers were ultimately caught.
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Chicano Squad
In the 80s, Houston’s Latino community was plagued by discrimination, police violence and a growing number of unsolved murders. With tensions between law enforcement and the community at their peak, five young officers were placed in an audacious experiment: a new all-Latino homicide squad assigned to solve the city’s most vicious crimes, with little training and few resources. This podcast tells the story of these men, their divided loyalties and a city on the brink.
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Finding Natasha
In the early 70s, Debbie Gayle was one of Britain’s most promising ballerinas. At the age of 17, she was chosen to go to the Soviet Union and become the first Westerner to train at its finest ballet academy. It was a dream come true, but just a few months later things took a near-deadly turn. She made it out of the country thanks to a young girl named Natasha whom she never saw or heard from again. Here, Debbie’s son Jake Warren sets out to understand the story of his mum’s past, and to find the woman who saved her 50 years ago.
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The Apology Line
If you could call a number and say you’re sorry, and no one would know, what would you apologise for? For 15 years, you could call a number in Manhattan to do just that. This is the story of the line and ‘Mr Apology’, the man at the other end who became consumed by his own creation. As thousands of callers flooded the line, confessing to everything from shoplifting to infidelity, then drug dealing to murder, Mr Apology realised he couldn’t just listen. He had to do something, even if it meant risking everything.
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The Devil Within
In the late 80s, Jefferson Township was just a small town in New Jersey. Then all hell broke loose. On a snowy January evening in 1988, 37-year-old mother-of-two Betty Ann Sullivan was brutally murdered in her suburban home by her own 14-year-old son, who only weeks earlier had seemed like the perfect child. What possessed this teenager to murder his own mother? The investigation led to a shocking revelation involving a satanic cult, sending the town – and the nation – into a panic.
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Letters From A Killer
Hosted by documentary makers Zoe Hines and Ned Parker, this podcast looks at some of the intimate letters written by convicted murderers facing life in prison or the death penalty. Each episode unpacks the thoughts of men and women who kill through their own words, analysing their motives, crimes and the stories the letters really tell.
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The Vaping Fix
Young Stanford graduates James Monsees and Adam Bowen set out to rid the world of smoking with an incredible new product. The device stood to disrupt the tobacco industry and make them rich, until it fell into the hands of teenagers. As the devices are distributed to classrooms, hospitals, boardrooms and even the Oval Office, James and Adam struggled to tell the world that it wasn’t as safe as they initially thought. This podcast tells their story.
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Spy Affair
In 2015 Maria Butina, a charismatic Russian woman, arrived in the US on a mission to improve relations between the two countries. She quickly made some powerful friends, but who is Maria? And who was she really working for? As she got closer to the rich and connected, she attracted the attention of the FBI. In the world of US-Russia relations, everyone has secrets and almost nothing is what it seems. Spy Affair is a story about deception, appearances and betrayal.
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The Clown And The Candyman
This one’s not for the fainthearted. Over the course of several years in the 70s, serial killers Dean Corll and John Wayne Gacy brutally murdered over 60 teenage boys. After a gruelling investigation involving police, journalists and members of the public, the pair were found to be connected to a network of paedophiles which was partially financed by prominent members of American society.
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Bernie: Who Killed The Prince Of Soho?
Bernie Katz was an institution in Soho’s club scene for over 30 years. Friends with the rich and famous (he counted Jude Law and Stephen Fry as mates), he was the manager of the exclusive Groucho club and a guy who could get anything done. In August 2017, Bernie was found dead in his north London flat under mysterious circumstances. Amid the thousands of tributes that were paid, it wasn’t clear that in his final months Bernie’s life had unravelled. All the money from his private art collection was gone and he was being pursued by Albanian gangsters. Who was the real Bernie Katz? And what led to his untimely death? This is the place to find out.
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The Trials of Frank Carson
Frank Carson was one of California’s most controversial defence attorneys, a wizard with juries and a courtroom brawler with an unapologetic style who racked up a string of high-profile legal wins. Regularly putting police and prosecutors in the firing line, it’s an understatement to say he had enemies. When a small-time thief disappeared, the police investigation into a world of street hustlers, junkies and snitches led to Carson being charged with murder and accused of masterminding a conspiracy. It became one of the longest criminal trials in California history, with Carson on trial for his life.
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Murder In Alliance
On April Fool’s Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. He was eventually tried, convicted, and sentenced to life without parole, but the entire investigation may have been botched, or worse, covered up. Now journalist Maggie Freleng has relooked at Yvonne’s murder with the help of Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three) and his organisation Proclaim Justice.
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A Death In Cryptoland
Gerald Cotten became the CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in his mid-20s. While honeymooning in India with his wife, both were reported missing, presumed dead. The tragic and mysterious event of his ‘death’ set off a cataclysmic chain of events that would leave nearly 76,000 people out of pocket to the tune of $250m and a trail of conspiracy theories around whether he was really dead or hiding in fear for his life.
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