You're Killing Me

Ep 11 - The Miracle Survival of Alison Botha | A True Crime Story of Unbelievable Resilience | You're Killing Me Podcast

54 min · 19. feb. 2026
episode Ep 11 - The Miracle Survival of Alison Botha | A True Crime Story of Unbelievable Resilience | You're Killing Me Podcast cover

Description

The Miracle Survival of Alison Botha: A True Crime Story of Unbelievable Resilience ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault, extreme violence, and near-fatal injuries. Listener discretion is strongly advised. On December 18, 1994, 27-year-old Alison Botha was abducted from outside her Port Elizabeth, South Africa apartment by two men who would subject her to one of the most brutal attacks in South African history. What happened next defies medical explanation and stands as one of the most remarkable survival stories ever documented. The Attack:Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, known as the "Noordhoek Ripper Rapists," sexually assaulted Alison before attempting to murder her in the most horrific way imaginable. They slashed her throat 16 times—nearly decapitating her—and stabbed her abdomen more than 30 times, causing her intestines to spill from her body. They left her for dead in an isolated area near Summer Strand. The Impossible Survival:Despite catastrophic injuries that should have killed her within minutes, Alison refused to die. With her throat slashed and her intestines exposed, she: * Wrote her attackers' names in the sand as evidence * Crawled toward the road while holding her organs inside her body * Stood and walked when crawling became too slow—even as her head flopped backward and her vision went black * Laid across the middle of the road to ensure passing cars would see her * Survived 90 minutes from attack to rescue Veterinary student Tiaan Eilerd stopped to help, potentially saving her life by tucking her exposed thyroid back into her throat. After 3.5 hours of emergency surgery, doctors said they'd never seen anyone survive injuries this severe. The Aftermath:This episode covers:✓ The full timeline of the attack and rescue✓ Details of the trial and life sentences for Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger✓ Alison's remarkable recovery and journey as a motivational speaker✓ Her marriage to Tienie Botha and the birth of her two sons—despite doctors saying pregnancy was impossible✓ The controversial 2023 parole release of her attackers (without notifying Alison)✓ Her 2024 brain aneurysm and ongoing medical needs✓ The February 2025 parole cancellation following public outcry✓ How you can support Alison's recovery through the Back-a-Buddy fundraiser Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault, graphic violence, near-decapitation, disembowelment, medical trauma Resources: * RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 * Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 * Alison's Fundraiser: backabuddy.co.za/campaign/help-alison-botha-in-her-time-of-need Sources: * "I Have Life: Alison's Journey" by Marianne Thamm * Court documents and trial transcripts * Medical reports and expert testimony * Documentary: "Alison" (2016) Join us on "You're Killing Me" as we explore one of the most incredible survival stories in true crime history. This is Alison Botha's story—and it will leave you speechless. Support Alison here: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/help-alison-botha-in-her-time-of-need~2 #TrueCrime #SurvivalStory #AlisonBotha #SouthAfrica #TrueCrimePodcast #YoureKillingMe #PortElizabeth #MiracleStory #Survivor #TrueCrimeCommunity

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20 episodes

episode Ep 19: Tyler Hadley, Part 1 — He Killed His Parents With a Hammer, Then Threw a Party | Port St. Lucie 2011 | Florida True Crime artwork

Ep 19: Tyler Hadley, Part 1 — He Killed His Parents With a Hammer, Then Threw a Party | Port St. Lucie 2011 | Florida True Crime

It's mid-July 2011 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Sixty teenagers are packed into a house on Grandeur Avenue — red solo cups, warm beer, music thumping through the walls. The host is 17-year-old Tyler Hadley, and the party is everything he always wanted. His parents, Blake and Mary Jo Hadley, are in the master bedroom down the hall. Behind the locked door, underneath a pile of blood-soaked towels, is why they aren't coming out. Tyler had killed them both with a framing hammer hours earlier. Then he cleaned up, hid the bodies, and sent out the invites. Shawnee traces the story from the beginning: the suburb that promised more than it delivered, Tyler's diagnosis with Major Depressive Disorder, a cocktail of benzos, opioids and MDMA, a family trying to hold itself together, and the psychology of a teenager who felt, as he once put it, a step below everyone else. This is not a story about a monster. It's about how someone gets there — and what everyone around him missed. ⚠️ Content warning: murder of parents, drug use, teen violence, graphic crime scene detail. Tyler Hadley | Port St. Lucie | Florida true crime | parricide | house party murder | Blake Hadley | Mary Jo Hadley | teen killer | hammer murder | 2011 murder | MDD | true crime podcast | You're Killing Me

16. juni 20261 h 9 min
episode RE POST Ep 18: Israel Keyes, Part 2 — The FBI Interrogations, the Confessions, and the Secrets He Took to His Grave | American Serial Killer artwork

RE POST Ep 18: Israel Keyes, Part 2 — The FBI Interrogations, the Confessions, and the Secrets He Took to His Grave | American Serial Killer

Israel Keyes agreed to talk to the FBI. He just didn't agree to tell them everything. After his arrest in 2012 for the abduction and murder of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig in Alaska, Keyes entered into a deal with investigators: he would confess — but on his terms, in his own time, with details released only as he chose. Over months of FBI interviews, he described murders stretching from Vermont to Texas to the Pacific Northwest, including the 2011 killing of Bill and Lorraine Currier in a house he'd never been to before that night. Then, on December 2, 2012, he was found dead in his cell. He had taken everything else with him. The FBI believes Keyes killed at least eleven people across at least ten states over more than a decade. Most of those victims have never been identified. His murder kits — buried in remote locations years in advance — may still be out there. Part Two covers the Samantha Koenig case, the FBI interrogation tapes, the Currier murders, what Keyes did and didn't confess to, and why this remains one of the most haunting open investigations in modern American true crime. ⚠️ Content warning: murder, kidnapping, sexual violence. Israel Keyes | Samantha Koenig | FBI interrogation | Currier murders | serial killer confessions | unsolved murders | Alaska true crime | Vermont murders | murder kits | American serial killer | You're Killing Me podcast

10. juni 20261 h 10 min
episode Ep 17: Israel Keyes, Part One artwork

Ep 17: Israel Keyes, Part One

You're Killing Me — Episode: Israel Keyes, Part One He buried murder kits across the country years before he needed them. He flew into cities, rented cars under false names, and drove hundreds of miles to kill strangers he'd never met — people with no connection to him, no pattern, no motive anyone could trace. Israel Keyes didn't just commit murders. He engineered them. In Part One, we cover his early life, the ideology that shaped him, the years of meticulous planning, and the crimes that unfolded across the United States before anyone even knew there was a serial killer to look for. This is one of the most calculated killers in modern American history — and somehow, most people have never heard of him. Content warning: murder, kidnapping, sexual violence, child abuse, extremist ideology.

4. juni 20261 h 1 min
episode Ep 16: Betrayed From Birth: Shannon Matthews Was Missing for 24 Days — Then Police Found Out Who Took Her | True Crime UK artwork

Ep 16: Betrayed From Birth: Shannon Matthews Was Missing for 24 Days — Then Police Found Out Who Took Her | True Crime UK

Five police officers are clearing a flat in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire. They've already searched 1,800 properties. This is just another one. Then Detective Constable Nick Townsend crouches beside a divan bed and hears a small voice coming from inside it. A nine-year-old girl wriggles out of a hidden slot in the base. Tear-streaked. Terrified. Blinking. She says: "I'm Shannon." Shannon Matthews had been missing for 24 days. The search had gripped the UK. A community of working-class women on a Dewsbury council estate had organised themselves into one of the most extraordinary missing-child campaigns the country had ever seen — fundraisers, search parties, TV appearances, tears. And then Shannon told the officer one more thing. He's under the bed. The man. He's where I was. What followed would freeze the room, break the community, and become one of the most shocking betrayals in modern British true crime. This week on You're Killing Me, Shawnee covers the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews — the case that asked who we extend sympathy to, who we believe, and what happens when the person who should protect you is the one who put you in danger. Topics: Shannon Matthews | UK true crime | Dewsbury | missing child | Karen Matthews | Michael Donovan | West Yorkshire | British true crime | working class | YKM New episodes every Monday. Follow so you never miss one.

27. maj 20261 h 28 min
episode Ep 15: The Medicine Hat Murders: Jasmine Richardson & Jeremy Steinke artwork

Ep 15: The Medicine Hat Murders: Jasmine Richardson & Jeremy Steinke

In 2006, the quiet city of Medicine Hat, Alberta became the centre of one of Canada’s most horrifying family murders. Twelve-year-old Jasmine Richardson and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke, were accused of brutally murdering Jasmine’s mother, father, and eight-year-old brother inside their family home — a crime so shocking it immediately made international headlines. What began as an online relationship built around dark fantasies, vampire culture, and teenage rebellion quickly spiralled into obsession, isolation, and violence. Investigators uncovered disturbing messages between the pair discussing murder, running away together, and a belief that they were destined to be together no matter who stood in the way. In this episode, we break down the full case: Jasmine’s upbringing, her relationship with Jeremy, the warning signs missed by the adults around them, the night of the murders, the police investigation, interrogation details, and the trial that followed. We also explore the psychological manipulation, online influence, and emotional vulnerability that turned a deeply unhealthy relationship into one of the most disturbing crimes in Canadian history. This episode contains discussions of child victims, graphic violence, and family homicide.

10. maj 20261 h 58 min