Crimery

THE FORGOTTEN SERIAL KILLER: EDWARD SURRATT

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/fan_mail/new] In this episode of Crimery, Tim Novotney tells the terrifying story of Edward Arthur Surratt, a little-known serial killer from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, who terrorized Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and beyond in 1977 and 1978. Known in newspapers as the Highway Killer and the Shotgun Killer, Surratt stalked couples in their homes, attacked families while children slept nearby, abducted women who were never found, and left behind a trail of murders across multiple states. Decades later, from a prison cell in Florida, he began confessing. This episode dives into the murders of William and Nancy Adams, Guy and Laura Mills, Joel Krueger, John Shelkons, David and Linda Hamilton, John Feeny, Ranee Gregor, Joseph and Katherine Weinman, Richard and Donna Hyde, Frank Zeigler, and others tied to one of the most disturbing cold case murder sprees in Pennsylvania history. You’ll hear how Surratt’s confessions unfolded, why so many of these murders were never prosecuted, how Trooper Max DeLuca reopened the story, and why families are still waiting for answers nearly 50 years later. If you’re into true crime, serial killer cases, Pennsylvania cold cases, unsolved murders, and long-form investigative storytelling, this is a case you won’t forget. For more episodes, updates, and merch, visit crimery.show. Edward Surratt, Edward Arthur Surratt, Highway Killer, Shotgun Killer, Aliquippa serial killer, Pennsylvania serial killer, Western Pennsylvania murders, Pennsylvania cold cases, unsolved Pennsylvania murders, Trooper Max DeLuca, Ranee Gregor, John Feeny, Nancy Adams, William Adams, Guy Mills, Laura Mills, Joel Krueger, John Shelkons, Joseph Weinman, Katherine Weinman, Richard Hyde, Donna Hyde, Frank Zeigler, Linda Hamilton, David Hamilton, Ohio cold cases, Florida prison confession, Crimery podcast, Tim Novotney Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/support] CRIMERY Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show. Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised. ©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

THE MORGAN PETERS MURDER: 9 STORIES IN A BIKER MAGAZINE

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/fan_mail/new] THE MORGAN PETERS MURDER: 9 STORIES IN A BIKER MAGAZINE AND A 47-YEAR COLD CASE  In 1972, 29-year-old wrestler and gym equipment installer Morgan Peters Jr. vanished along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in rural Franklin County, Pennsylvania. What began as the cold case murder of a husband and father from Bay Shore, New York, eventually unraveled into something far darker: a roadside robbery crew, a second young victim named Jane Maguire, a surviving witness named Harvey Hoffman, and a killer who may have been confessing in biker magazines for years. In this episode of Crimery, Tim Novotney digs into the Morgan Peters murder, the twisted highway ruse used by Larry “Jody” Via and Charmaine Phillips, and the shocking way investigators finally connected the case nearly five decades later. But this story goes beyond one murder. If three published biker magazine stories match real crimes, what about the other six? This is a haunting true crime story about the Pennsylvania Turnpike, unsolved murder, cold case investigation, hidden confessions, and the chilling possibility that Morgan Peters was not the only victim. For more episodes, merch, and updates, visit crimery.show.  Morgan Peters Jr, Morgan Peters murder, Jody Via, Larry Via, Charmaine Phillips, Pennsylvania Turnpike murder, Pennsylvania cold case, Franklin County murder, Metal Township, 1972 murder case, Jane Maguire, Harvey Hoffman, biker magazine confession, Outlaw Biker magazine, Easyriders magazine, unsolved murder solved, cold case solved after 47 years, true crime podcast, Crimery Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/support] CRIMERY Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show. Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised. ©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

IN COLD BLOOD (PART 4): THE CORNER

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/fan_mail/new] IN COLD BLOOD PART 4: THE CORNER, THE EXECUTIONS, AND WHAT TRUMAN CAPOTE GOT WRONG In the final episode of Crimery’s four-part series on Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, host Jennifer Novotney takes you through the last chapter of one of the most famous true crime books ever written. This episode covers the trial of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the guilty verdict, their years on death row at the Kansas State Penitentiary, and the executions that brought the Clutter family murders to their legal end.  But this episode goes further than the case itself. Jennifer also breaks down the deeper story behind In Cold Blood: Capote’s relationship with Perry Smith, the emotional cost of finishing the book, the ethics of narrative nonfiction, and the major scenes and details that Capote may have fabricated, altered, or reshaped for dramatic effect. From Alvin Dewey and “The Corner” to Perry’s final words and the book’s controversial ending, this is a close look at how a masterpiece can also be morally and journalistically complicated.  If you care about true crime, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood analysis, the Clutter murders, Perry Smith, Richard Hickock, or the line between fact and storytelling, this is the episode to hear. Listen now at crimery.show In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Part 4, The Corner, Jennifer Novotney, Crimery podcast, Clutter family murders, Perry Smith, Richard Hickock, Alvin Dewey, Holcomb Kansas murders, Kansas State Penitentiary, death row, capital punishment, true crime podcast, narrative nonfiction, nonfiction novel, Capote fabricated scenes, Capote ethics, In Cold Blood ending Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/support] CRIMERY Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show. Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised. ©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

IN COLD BLOOD (PART 3): THE ANSWER

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/fan_mail/new] IN COLD BLOOD PART 3: THE ANSWER — PERRY SMITH’S CONFESSION, THE CLUTTER MURDERS, AND CAPOTE’S DARKEST CHAPTER  In Part 3 of Crimery’s four-part In Cold Blood series, Jennifer Novotney takes you into the section Truman Capote withheld until the book’s emotional breaking point: “Answer.” This is the episode where the 46-day manhunt ends in Las Vegas, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are arrested, and Perry finally tells Alvin Dewey what happened inside the Clutter house. The script centers on the arrest, the interrogation, the long drive back to Kansas, the full confession, and the literary choices that make this section one of the most studied passages in true crime history.  This episode explores the actual murder account of Herb Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Nancy Clutter, and Kenyon Clutter, the false promise of the safe that never existed, the split between Dick Hickock’s version and Perry Smith’s version, and why Capote frames Perry’s confession as the emotional center of In Cold Blood. It also breaks down Capote’s technique — the shift into present tense, the dual timeline of confession and memory, and the way he forces readers to sit inside horror rather than observe it from a distance. You’ll also hear why Holcomb’s relief after the arrests was tangled with disbelief, why the “answer” in this section is not closure, and how Part 3 sets up the final chapter of the story: the trial, death row, Capote’s ethical controversies, and the cost of turning murder into literature. If you’re reading along, this is the episode where everything breaks open. Host: Jennifer Novotney Website: www.crimery.show Buy the "In Cold Blood" here: https://amzn.to/4sCZUj2 Keywords: In Cold Blood Part 3, In Cold Blood Answer, Truman Capote podcast, Clutter family murders, Perry Smith confession, Dick Hickock confession, Alvin Dewey, Holcomb Kansas murders, true crime book podcast, literary true crime, nonfiction novel, Capote analysis, Crimery, Jennifer Novotney Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/support] CRIMERY Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show. Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised. ©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

IN COLD BLOOD (PART 2): PERSONS UNKNOWN

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/fan_mail/new] IN COLD BLOOD (PART 2): PERSONS UNKNOWN — THE CLUTTER MURDERS, ALVIN DEWEY, AND THE HUNT FOR PERRY SMITH  The Clutter family is dead. Holcomb, Kansas is in shock. And for 6 weeks, investigators have nothing: no suspects, no motive, no real leads. In Part 2 of Crimery’s 4-part In Cold Blood series, host Jennifer Novotney follows the story into its most unsettling section: “Persons Unknown.” This is where Truman Capote’s book stops being only about the murders — and starts becoming a study of fear, suspicion, obsession, and the men who did it. This episode explores the horrifying discovery of the Clutter family murders, the collapse of safety in Holcomb, KBI investigator Alvin Dewey’s desperate search for answers, and the 6-week stretch where the killers remained unknown. Then the story turns: a prison tip changes everything, and the hunt for Perry Smith and Dick Hickock begins. But this episode goes deeper than the investigation. It also explores why Capote made Perry Smith the emotional center of In Cold Blood — and why that choice still disturbs readers today. In this episode: *  The discovery of the Clutter family murders  *  Why Holcomb, Kansas stopped trusting itself  *  Alvin Dewey and the weight of a case with no answers  *  Floyd Wells, the prison tip, and the break that changed everything  *  Perry Smith’s childhood, trauma, and the controversy around Capote’s sympathy  *  Dick Hickock, the planner behind the crime  *  Why “Persons Unknown” is one of the most psychologically unsettling sections of In Cold Blood If you’re reading along, this episode covers Part 2: “Persons Unknown” and sets up Part 3: “The Answer.” Host: Jennifer Novotney Show: Crimery Website: crimery.show Buy the "In Cold Blood" here: https://amzn.to/4sCZUj2 KEYWORDS In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, Clutter family murders, Persons Unknown, Perry Smith, Dick Hickock, Alvin Dewey, Holcomb Kansas murders, Herbert Clutter, Nancy Clutter, Kenyon Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Floyd Wells, true crime podcast, literary true crime, Jennifer Novotney, Crimery Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2537909/support] CRIMERY Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show. Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised. ©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.