True Crime Campfire

I have vivid memories of the night of March 22, 1997. Part of it has to do with, y’know, young dumb love—but most of it has to do with the Hale-Bopp Comet, also known as the Great Comet, which was brilliantly visible from my hometown that night. I had a huge crush on this guy, and he invited me to watch the comet with him. We climbed up on the rooftop of this neighborhood bar with a bottle of screw-top wine, and we watched the sky—and suddenly, there it was, a bright silvery ball with a long glowing tail. Magic. I’ll never forget it—wrote some bad poetry about it later that night. And then a couple mornings later, I woke up to the strangest news story of my life. A group calling themselves Heaven’s Gate had taken their own lives en masse out in California—and they’d left behind a video explaining why. They were catching a ride on the comet, with the full certainty that it would take them to paradise. They were leaving their human bodies behind, chasing the pure perfection of enlightenment. These were smart, educated people with families who loved them. What led them to this? Join us for the story of one of the deadliest cults in American history: Heaven's Gate.  Sources: Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion, Benjamin Zeller https://web.archive.org/web/20081003124716/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20081003124716/http:/www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070318/news_lz1n18timelin.html] http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070318/news_lz1n18timelin.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20081003124716/http:/www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070318/news_lz1n18timelin.html] Cult Education Institute https://www.heavensgate.com/ [https://www.heavensgate.com/] https://web.archive.org/web/20080122002236/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986136-1,00.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20080122002236/http:/www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986136-1,00.html] Wikipedia "Comet Hale-Bopp" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp Follow us, campers! Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire [https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire] https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/ [https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/] Facebook: True Crime Campfire Instagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079 [https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079] Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com [https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

As Abe Lincoln once said—or possibly some guy named Peter Drucker, depends on who you ask—the best way to predict the future is to create it. But for a lot of us humans, that’s a little too loosey-goosey. We’re not big fans of the unknown, and we tend to seek out people who claim they can tell us what to expect from the future. Americans, for example, spend billions a year on psychics. A lot of these are legitimate businesspeople who genuinely want to provide counseling and comfort for their clients. But there’s also a bustling trade in psychic fraud—run by people who have no qualms about taking advantage of you at your most vulnerable and desperate. Today we’re gonna tell you about two of those cases. Case 1: The Mysterious Death of Seth Tobias. Case 2: Psychic Scammer Gina Marks Sources: New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/business/04tobias.html ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4279324&page=1 New York Magazine: https://nymag.com/news/features/43914/ The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/article/hunt-for-tiger-the-go-go-boy-after-seth-tobiass-death-5n923qml8pf The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/12/bob-nygaard-private-investigator-psychic-fraud [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/12/bob-nygaard-private-investigator-psychic-fraud] NBC: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-psychic-sentenced-to-6-years-for-scamming-clients/155294/ [https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-psychic-sentenced-to-6-years-for-scamming-clients/155294/] TV show "Pink Collar Crime," episode "The Psychic Didn't See Him Coming" Follow us, campers! Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire [https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire] https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/ [https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/] Facebook: True Crime Campfire Instagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079 [https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079] Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com [https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

Some of the easiest people on the planet to fool are those who have a real high opinion of their own brains based on very little evidence. A classic con-artist trick is to make the mark think they’re the one in charge, they’re the one making the decisions. They don’t realize they’ve been taken until their bank balance is empty and they’ve signed away the deed to granddaddy’s farm. Sometimes they won’t even see it then, because that would mean facing up to some unpleasant realities about themselves. In this week’s story, the consequences of gullibility and manipulation are a lot heavier than financial ruin—three generations of a family have their lives torn to pieces over greed and a web of the darkest lies imaginable.  Sources: Daddy’s Girl by Clifford Irving  Court papers: https://casetext.com/case/ray-v-state-51 [https://casetext.com/case/ray-v-state-51] The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/02/26/true-confessions/718e2739-0997-4ac0-a551-d860a9f51b7f/ [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/02/26/true-confessions/718e2739-0997-4ac0-a551-d860a9f51b7f/] Follow us, campers! Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire [https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire] https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/ [https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/] Facebook: True Crime Campfire Instagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079 [https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079] Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com [https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

On June 10th, 1983, the decomposing body of a well-dressed man was found in a desolate canyon near Los Angeles. John Doe #94 would soon be identified as missing variety show producer Roy Radin. He'd last been seen after meeting with a mysterious woman in a gold dress. Her name was Lanie Jacobs.   Jacobs and Radin were obsessed with becoming Hollywood movie producers. And when their paths collided, it led them to a tantalizing film deal promising fame and fortune. But then, a twisted script unfolded, plunging them into a million-dollar cocaine and cash heist, a tangled web of lies, and ultimately – murder. The trail led investigators right to Hollywood's doorstep, linking former golden boy producer Robert Evans to the case and dredging up Radin's own troubled past.   But the case turned ice cold. It would take more than five years of dogged pursuit by the L.A. Sheriff’s Department detectives, a secret undercover witness, and another murder almost 3,000 miles from Hollywood – to unlock the truth.   This is the story of a doomed Hollywood partnership, a grisly murder and the search that stretched across the country for a killer – or killers.   From Wondery, and the team behind the hit series Hollywood & Crime: The Dating Game Killer, The Wonderland Murders, Death of Starlet, and the Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley comes a six part series that dives into the dark side of Hollywood through a shocking murder – fueled by ruthless ambition and desperate dreams. Co-hosted by Tracy Pattin and Josh Lucas.   Listen to Hollywood & Crime: The Cotton Club Murder: Wondery.fm/TCCM_TCC [https://Wondery.fm/TCCM_TCC] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

When we left you at the end of Part 1, fourteen year old Steven Stayner had escaped from seven years of captivity and abuse at the hands of child predator Kenneth Parnell—and he’d rescued Parnell’s next intended victim, a little boy named Timmy White. The story made international headlines, and Steven Stayner became his hometown’s living legend. It was March 1980, both boys were back home safe and Kenneth Parnell was behind bars where he belonged, waiting to go to trial. It seemed like a happy ending. But the story doesn’t end there. The second half of the Stayner saga is even darker than the first. Justice is denied. Secrets come to light. And another member of the family lets his most depraved fantasies cross over to real life. Big thanks to Mike Moran of the podcast Confessional with Mike Moran for doing much of the work/research on this one and last week's!  Sources: Wikipedia: Cary Stayner A&E's American Justice, episode The Yosemite Killer The Crime Reel: Part 2 of The Troubled Lives of the Stayner Brothers Casefile (podcast): Yosemite Sightseer Murders Parts 1 and 2  CBS News: The Yosemite Murders SF Gate: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/defense-to-fight-for-stayner-s-life-lawyers-2820211.php Follow us, campers! Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire [https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire] https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/ [https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/] Facebook: True Crime Campfire Instagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079 [https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079] Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com [https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].