The Butcher of Hanover Protected by the Police

The Butcher of Hanover Protected by the Police

Serial Killer Wins Dating Game Contest While Police Hunt Him for Murder: The Decades-Long Hunt for Rodney Alcalá September 13, 1978. A man smiled at television cameras, charmed a national audience, and won a prime-time dating contest. Off-screen, he had already killed at least three times that year. No producer, no investigator, no one in the studio knew they were broadcasting a serial killer in real time. This episode explores the impossible contradiction at the heart of a true crime investigation that spanned fifty years: how a convicted predator with a documented psychiatric diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and extreme sadism was repeatedly released by the justice system, diagnosed as rehabilitated after thirty-four months in prison, and allowed to keep killing for over a decade. From the moment Alcalá assaulted eight-year-old Tali Shapiro in 1968, the system saw him, documented him, and still let him go-not once, but multiple times. Victim: Robin Samsoe (primary case); also Ellen Hoover, Jill Barcomb, Georgia Wixted, Charlotte Lamb, Jill Parenteau, and others Date: 1968-1979 (primary crimes); trials through 2010 Location: Los Angeles, California; New York; New Hampshire; multiple states Status: Convicted of 7 confirmed murders; estimated 130+ victims; died in prison July 24, 2021 - Eight-year-old Tali Shapiro survived a skull-crushing assault in 1968, yet Alcalá was arrested, served thirty-four months, and was released - Two months after release, he reoffended and was arrested for parole violation-then freed again in June 1977 - Between November 1977 and June 1978, four women were murdered in Los Angeles; their cases remained unsolved for twenty-four years until DNA linked them to Alcalá in 2002 - Police recovered over 1,000 photographs in a Seattle storage unit, with names, dates, and addresses written on the backs of images; one jewelry bag contained an earring from victim Robin Samsoe and DNA from victim Georgia Wixted, connecting two murders a year apart Rodney Alcalá, The Dating Game, serial killer, Los Angeles murders, 1970s unsolved cases, antisocial personality disorder, forensic failure, criminal history ignored, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com [business@obomedia.com]. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

Ariel Castro: ten years of captivity in an ordinary house without effective intervention

The Mother Who Tortured for Nine Years Without Conviction: The Murder of Susan and Sheila by Teresa Cross A mother shot, stabbed, and burned her own daughters alive in Sacramento. For nine years, authorities ignored the cries of a survivor. The system that absolved her of murder in 1964 would fail again decades later, until a television program exposed what no one wanted to see. In this episode, we explore how Teresa Cross kept her children as forced accomplices, how two unidentified bodies remained archived while one daughter pleaded for justice, and why a confession from her own son was necessary to unleash the final downfall of a serial killer operating in broad daylight. Victim: Susan and Sheila Cross Date: 1984-1985 Location: Orangeville and Sacramento, California Status: Sentenced to two life terms (1995) - Teresa shot her first husband in the back in 1964 and was acquitted; the system taught her that dramatic victimization works. - Susan was stabbed, burned alive, and her body was found charred nine years later, classified as Jane Doe. - Sheila died locked in a closet without water or food; that closet survived the fire Teresa ordered to destroy evidence. - Terry reported to the police in 1992 and was dismissed as a liar; in 1993, she saw her dead sister on television and called America's Most Wanted. Teresa Cross, Susan Cross, Sheila Cross, Sacramento, Orangeville, murder, torture, homicide, investigation, serial killer, forensic, unsolved mystery, true crime, late justice, true crime Spanish If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

Teresa Cross: decades of child torture facilitated by system failures

The mother who sold her son for revenge: The murder of Elmer in Iquitos A mother organized the kidnapping of her own 11-year-old son, provided his school route to the captors, and when she was informed that he had been murdered, her only concern was to destroy the chips from the cell phones. On May 9, 2019, Elmer disappeared in Iquitos in what seemed to be an impossible crime: the family itself was the architect of the plan. In this episode, we explore how Arlen designed every detail of the kidnapping, from placing contact numbers in her son's backpack the night before to withholding the ransom money while her accomplices crumbled under greed. We reconstruct the internal breakdown between Lester, Cásculo, and Belson that ended in asphyxiation, the discovery of the black sack next to the cemetery, and the coldness of a mother who never cried during the search. Victim: Elmer (11 years) Date: May 9, 2019 Location: Iquitos, Peru Status: Sentenced (life imprisonment, June 2022) - Arlen placed a phone number in Elmer's backpack the night before the kidnapping, proving premeditation of 24 hours. - Security cameras located Lester at payphones exactly when the captors called the family. - Arlen withheld 4,500 of 5,000 soles from the ransom, causing the financial breakdown that triggered the asphyxiation murder. - The mother did not cry during three days of searching; the only tears came when they found the body. Elmer, Iquitos, family murder, kidnapping, 2019, criminal minds, investigation, homicide, true crime, forensic, revenge, justice, true crime Spanish If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

The Forgotten Card That Exposed a Female Killer

Neighbors Pull Bones from River as Police Realize Their Own Informant Is the Killer: The Serial Murders of Friedrich Haarmann May nineteen twenty-four: fishermen dredging the Leine River in Hannover recovered more than five hundred human bones. Within weeks, forensic experts confirmed they belonged to at least twenty-two young people, all dismembered with butcher's precision. The impossible contradiction: the man police arrested had been working as their own informant for six years while killing. In this investigation, we examine the brutal mechanics of Haarmann's crimes, the ignored red flags stretching back to nineteen eighteen, and the evidence that vanished during a raid when police found him with a naked thirteen-year-old boy yet made no connection to the murders that would follow. We reconstruct the institutional failures, the ambiguous role of his accomplice Hans Grans, and the questions the parliamentary inquiry deliberately left unanswered. Victim: Friedrich Karl Haarmann Date: May 1924 Location: Hannover, Germany Status: Convicted; Executed April 1925 - In October nineteen eighteen, police raided Haarmann's apartment, found him with a thirteen-year-old minor, and searched the space-yet Haarmann later confessed Friedel Rothe's severed head sat hidden behind the stove during that exact raid. - Between nineteen nineteen and nineteen twenty-four, Haarmann worked as a paid police informant while hunting victims at the central station, offering food and shelter before murdering them by tearing their throats with his teeth. - The remains bore cut marks from butcher tools, and two women independently reported suspicious meat to police before his arrest; those reports were filed away as pork and never independently analyzed. - Hans Grans, Haarmann's lover and alleged accomplice since nineteen nineteen, was convicted only as an accomplice despite Haarmann's direct accusations; a letter recanting those accusations arrived after Grans' appeal succeeded. Friedrich Haarmann, Hannover Germany nineteen twenty-four serial killer, butcher, police informant, murder investigation, institutional cover-up, homicide investigation, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com [business@obomedia.com]. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

The Hotel of Death: The Hidden Empire of H. H. Holmes

Woman Returns at Dawn to Find Police Guarding Her Bank Card at Crime Scene: The Murder of Edward Baldock A nearly decapitated body on a Brisbane riverbank. A wallet with thirty-five dollars still inside. And inside the victim's left shoe: a bank card that did not belong to him. On the morning of October twenty-first, nineteen eighty-nine, the woman whose name was printed on that card returned to the river looking for it-only to find the entire scene cordoned off by police. This episode explores the night of October twentieth when four women from Brisbane's underground lesbian subculture encountered Edward Baldock walking alone after a darts tournament. The contradictions begin immediately: the victim had twenty-seven wounds concentrated in his neck, his clothes were carefully folded beside him, and the card inside his shoe would become the single detail that unraveled the entire investigation. How did a card exchange become the forensic evidence that identified a killer? Victim: Edward Baldock, 47 Date: October 20-21, 1989 Location: Brisbane River, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Status: Convicted, served 22 years - Bank card belonging to Tracy Wigginton discovered inside victim's left shoe after he was found nearly decapitated with twenty-seven neck wounds - Highway patrol stopped a green sedan carrying the four suspects hours before the body was discovered, documenting their identities without knowing their connection to the crime - Lisa Kaczynski, one of the four women, voluntarily confessed to police and testified that Wigginton drank blood from the victim's wounds - Tracy Wigginton changed her story three times when confronted by investigators, first denying knowing the victim, then claiming she lost her card days before the crime Edward Baldock, Brisbane River murder 1989, homicide investigation, true crime, forensic evidence, criminal minds, vampire case, serial crime, unsolved mysteries, Australian murder, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com [business@obomedia.com]. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com