Going West: True Crime

Between April of 1971 and September of 1972, six girls, between the ages of 10 and 18, were abducted from Washington DC and found murdered. After some of their abductions, he would call the families or those close to the case breathing heavily, or giving crude messages. Then, left behind in one of the victims’ pockets was a note from the killer, taunting the police by saying, “Catch me if you can,” followed by a terrifying name he gave himself. This is the story of the Freeway Phantom.

Part 2 of 2. Starting in 1978, a Montana man murdered three people and injured 23 others during a nationwide bombing campaign. Hiding behind a comfortable upbringing, mathematician degrees from prestigious universities, and his perspective of doing right by the environment, Ted Kaczynski violently opposed modern technology and industrial society. And through a 35,000-word manifesto and multiple horrific attacks -many of which were on innocent civilians- he plead his case. This is the story of the Unabomber.

Starting in 1978, a Montana man murdered three people and injured 23 others during a nationwide bombing campaign. Hiding behind a comfortable upbringing, mathematician degrees from prestigious universities, and his perspective of doing right by the environment, Ted Kaczynski violently opposed modern technology and industrial society. And through a 35,000-word manifesto and multiple horrific attacks -many of which were on innocent civilians- he plead his case. This is the story of the Unabomber.

In February of 2020, a 42-year-old Florida man suffocated to death after being zipped into a suitcase during what allegedly started as an innocent game of hide-and-seek. But when an investigation revealed that there had been drinking involved, an ulterior motive presented itself, and so did a suspect whose intentions hadn’t been so playful. This is the murder of Jorge Torres.

In 1988, Dorothea Puente, an elderly and seemingly sweet landlady in Sacramento, California, was arrested after a series of mysterious disappearances plagued her boarding house. When investigators uncovered the remains of several bodies buried on her property, the true horror of her actions came to light: she had been drugging and killing vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals under her care, cashing in on their benefits. As the full extent of her gruesome crimes emerged, a shocking pattern of manipulation and murder was revealed. This is the story of the Death House Landlady.