Serial Killers

Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” We’re joined by Carter Roy from Conspiracy Theories to tell the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1972, Schaefer was the newly appointed Deputy Sheriff of Martin County. He used his badge to gain trust and wield authority over teenage girls — particularly hitchhikers, whose sudden disappearances could be explained away. Authorities connected Schaefer to nearly thirty missing persons cases, but he was only ever convicted in the murders of two.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Obsessed with moral power and control, Gerard Schaefer was a police officer in Florida who targeted teen hitchhikers in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Schaefer spent his youth nursing deviant sexual urges, taking solo hunting trips to indulge in self-inflicted rope torture and animal necrophilia. But the most damning evidence of his descent into brutality may be the hellish fantasies he recorded in his journals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In April 1892, the man authorities now realized was Frederick Deeming was on trial for the murder of his second wife, Emily Williams. But as his story circulated the globe, media began alleging his supposed crimes resembled those of a notorious London criminal — Jack the Ripper. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In March 1892, investigators in Australia were looking for an Englishman named Albert Williams who had allegedly killed his wife and buried her in their home. Once he was taken into custody, a reporter back in the UK decided to do some digging, and unearthed a terrible secret. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What kind of person confesses to multiple heinous crimes — while innocent? Gerald Stano did just that, until there was nothing left to confess to. But while there was no forensic evidence linking him to the 41 murders he implicated himself in, Stano was sentenced to death three times over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a childhood of being bullied and living with a well below-average IQ, Gerald Stano's need to connect with other people was intense. When police questioned him about the stabbing death of a young woman, he wanted to impress the detective. So he confessed. But did he really kill her? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Although he had developed a sense of discipline in the military, a traumatic brain injury and deep-rooted rage inched Wayne Adam Ford closer to losing control. In 1997, over a decade after he was honorably discharged, he killed his first victim. He would kill three more over the next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1979, Wayne Adam Ford was looking for a fresh start. He arrived at boot camp for the U.S. Marine Corps leaving a childhood of chaos and negligence behind him. While the Marines did teach Ford how to curb his aggression using self-control, they also taught him something else… how to kill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Short’s gruesome murder is the LAPD’s most infamous unsolved case. But there’s one person who thinks he’s cracked it — the alleged killer’s own son. Today, we reopen the case against George Hodel, a certified genius and once-celebrated doctor who rubbed elbows with noted surrealists... and had a vile history of abuse and terror, even against his own family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile. The investigation takes police into the hidden sides of the city — illicit romances and gang-related crimes. But when another mutilated body is found weeks later, the hunt is on for a possible serial killer.  This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at the murder of Elizabeth Short and other unsolved cases surrounding it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henry Busch had a love-hate relationship with maternal figures. Perhaps it was because he lacked one growing up. He had already killed a 74-year-old family friend when he saw “Psycho” in 1960. Identifying with the film’s main character, Henry left the screening with his 65-year old date sure of one thing: he needed to kill again.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Throughout 1989 and 1990, elderly women in Sydney were being preyed upon. But because investigators were wrongly looking for a young man, John Wayne Glover was free to kill without suspicion. Until one day, a simple mistake led police right to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He started by stealing and shoplifting as a teenager in the UK. When he was 24, John Wayne Glover moved to Australia, where he became a peeping tom and eventually escalated into physically assaulting older women. It was an obvious red flag, and yet nobody realized he would become Australia's worst serial killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As an overweight Black kid growing up in a white suburb, Kendall Francois dealt with his fair share of bullying. His parents were hoarders, so he wasn't even allowed to have friends visit. The shame he felt as a child turned to rage as an adult, and he took it out on local sex workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As he got older, Sean Vincent Gillis's impulses got darker. He committed murder, necrophilic rape, and even cannibalism. After eight victims, he finally made a mistake at one of the crime scenes. It was all the police needed to track down the killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a kid, Sean Vincent Gillis would visit his grandmother's funeral home and sleep in the empty coffins. He'd sometimes hold the bodies' cold hands or fondle them. The corpses gave him precisely what he was looking for: a female partner who wouldn't say "no.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years, people had been disappearing along the Osage Mission Trail. Between their odd behavior and the horrible stench inside their cabin, the Bender family were obvious suspects. So a town trustee led 75 volunteers onto the property. But things didn’t go as planned. . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Kansas during the 1800s, people who traveled along the Osage Mission Trail began to disappear. And if people had been paying attention, they may have noticed that those who entered the Bender family cabin never came out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2005, the disappearance of 22-year-old Tamara Chipman changed everything. Her case brought enough attention to the Highway of Tears that the Canadian government was forced to act. They launched a task force to reexamine cases, hoping to find links between crimes. But despite the momentum, their investigations have stalled out — leaving residents to live under the specter of the next murder.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices