UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast

In this episode of Case Notes, I'm joined by bestselling author and investigative journalist Howard Blum to discuss one of the most controversial theories to emerge from the Idaho murders investigation: Did Bryan Kohberger act alone? Drawing on his reporting, Howard explains why he began questioning the official narrative and outlines the evidence that led him to consider the possibility of an accomplice. This discussion is a companion to our main episode ⬇️#BryanKohberger #IdahoMurders #TrueCrime #Netflix 

Why did the Idaho murders happen?Bryan Kohberger has pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students. But his plea answered only one question: who committed the crime. It told us almost nothing about why.In this episode of UNMARKED, I take a different approach. Rather than reconstructing the murders, I construct a psychological autopsy of Bryan Kohberger—examining his childhood, social isolation, personality, fantasy life, academic interests, and the evidence surrounding the case to better understand how someone becomes capable of an act like this.Research in Th...

What role does fantasy play in serial murder?In this episode of Case Notes, I sit down with bestselling investigative journalist and true crime author M. William Phelps to explore one of the most misunderstood aspects of violent offenders: the fantasies that often precede, shape, and sustain serial violence.We discuss how violent fantasy develops, why it can become central to an offender's identity, and what investigators, psychologists, and the public often misunderstand about the connection between imagination and real-world violence. Along the way, we examine how fantasy influences victim selection, ritual, escalation, and the...

Why did Long Island produce so many serial killers?From Richard Cottingham and Joel Rifkin to Robert Shulman and Rex Heuermann, Long Island has been home to one of the greatest concentrations of serial killers in modern history. Coincidence? Or did something happen during the 1980s and 1990s that created the perfect conditions for these men to hunt undetected?In this episode, I examine the life of Robert Shulman through newly uncovered prison letters that have never been presented publicly. Drawing on police files, autopsy reports, court records, psychological research, and interviews with...

What does it really take to become a forensic psychologist?In this episode of Case Notes, I sit down with Dr. N.G. Berill, a forensic psychologist with more than three decades of experience evaluating violent offenders, consulting on major criminal cases, and teaching forensic psychology. Before we discuss the path into the profession, Dr. Berill recounts the shocking reality of a career in which defendants have threatened, and even tried, to kill him.Whether you're considering a career in forensic psychology, studying criminal justice, or simply fascinated by the psychology behind violent crime, this...

Why was Emilia Carr the youngest woman on death row in America?When I first received a letter from Emilia Carr in 2010, she was awaiting execution on Florida's death row. Years later, I traveled to Ocala, Florida, reviewed the original case files at the Marion County Sheriff's Office, visited the trailer where Heather Strong was murdered, and listened to hours of unedited interrogation recordings that helped convict Carr.In this episode, I examine one of the most controversial capital murder cases in recent American history. Using police interviews, undercover recordings, trial records, appellate briefs...

Why do so many people misunderstand the insanity defense?It's one of the most debated concepts in criminal law, yet also one of the least understood. Popular culture has created the impression that defendants routinely "get off" by pleading insanity. The reality is far more complicated. Legal insanity is not the same as mental illness, psychopathy, or a psychiatric diagnosis, and successful insanity defences are exceptionally rare.In this episode of UNMARKED: Case Notes, I speak with forensic psychologist Dr. Joni Johnston about what the insanity defense actually is, how courts determine criminal responsibility, and...

Who was the real Ed Gein?For nearly seventy years, the answer has been buried beneath horror movies, sensational headlines, and one of the most enduring myths in true crime. To find the real Ed Gein, I travelled to Plainfield, Wisconsin, walked the cemetery where he robbed graves, visited the locations that shaped his life, and spent years uncovering records that challenge the accepted story.In this episode, I examine the psychology behind Ed Gein's crimes through newly uncovered evidence, hospital records, interviews with people who knew him, and the original confession recorded on...

It's one of the most common assumptions in true crime, but the answer is more complicated than most people realise. In this episode of UNMARKED: Case Notes, I speak with Dr. Louis Schlesinger, Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and one of the world's leading experts on serial and sexual homicide. If you've ever wondered whether psychopathy is required for serial murder, or why some killers appear cold and calculating while others seem disorganised, impulsive, or deeply disturbed, this conversation is for you.

Was Israel Keyes really a criminal mastermind—or have we misunderstood him all along?For years, Israel Keyes has been portrayed as one of the most methodical serial killers in modern history: a man who buried murder kits across the United States, targeted complete strangers, and evaded law enforcement for years. But the deeper I dug into the FBI files, interrogation transcripts, and the people who investigated him, the more that familiar story began to unravel.In this episode, I examine the life of Israel Keyes through an exclusive interview with retired FBI Special Ag...

Demonic dogs. Satanic cults. Multiple shooters. Endless conspiracies. Did David Berkowitz act alone?For nearly fifty years, the Son of Sam case has inspired theories. David Berkowitz would later claim that multiple shooters were involved, that others participated in the murders, and that the public never learned the full story. But do those claims hold up to scrutiny?In this episode, I examine the evidence behind one of the most persistent mysteries in true crime. Drawing on Berkowitz's on words, investigative records, crime scene evidence, and expert analysis from forensic psychologist Dr. R. Louis...

How did a man who passed every background check, every promotion board, and every security clearance manage to hide a violent double life for years?Colonel Russell Williams was one of the most trusted men in Canada. A decorated military officer, commander of CFB Trenton, and pilot to senior government officials and members of the Royal Family. Yet behind that carefully constructed image was one of the country's most prolific sexual predators and murderers.In this episode of UNMARKED I examine the psychology of Colonel Russell Williams, the fantasies that drove his crimes, the warning...

In 1981, children were disappearing across British Columbia. Parents feared a predator was stalking bus stops, shopping malls, and highways throughout the Fraser Valley. What investigators didn't realize was that the man responsible wasn't hiding from police at all. He was talking to them.In this episode of UNMARKED, I examine the case of Clifford Olson, one of Canada's most notorious serial killers. Drawing on my conversation with forensic psychologist Dr. Eric Hickey, we explore Olson's childhood, the development of his violent fantasies, his manipulation of police and journalists, and the institutional failures that allowed him to...

For nearly fifty years, Wayne Williams has insisted he is innocent. But when you step back and examine the evidence as a whole, the picture becomes far more complicated.In this episode of UNMARKED, I dig through FBI files, surveillance reports, witness statements, and forensic evidence to understand the man at the center of one of America's most controversial murder investigations. Along the way, I speak with award-winning journalist Clemson Richardson, who covered the Atlanta Child Murders as they unfolded and witnessed the fear that gripped the city firsthand.Together, we examine the patterns...

In 2008, 16-year-old Erin Caffey was accused of helping orchestrate the murder of her own family in rural East Texas. But nearly two decades later, one question still divides everyone who studies the case: Who was really responsible?Using newly released police recordings, interviews, court records, and original reporting from East Texas, this episode reconstructs the psychology behind the Caffey family murders. Was Erin Caffey a manipulative teenage psychopath? Was she controlled by her older boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson? Or did a volatile group dynamic slowly normalize violence until fantasy became real?This investigation explores adolescent identity...

John Wayne Gacy murdered at least 33 young men and boys. But for years after his conviction, attorney Karen Conti sat across from him on death row, trying to understand the man behind one of America’s most infamous serial murder cases.In this episode of UNMARKED, Conti describes what Gacy was really like behind closed doors: his manipulation, emotional detachment, need for control, and the contradictions that made him so difficult to fully understand. We also examine modern psychological and criminological research surrounding psychopathy, trophy-taking, victim selection, and the environmental patterns that shape serial killers....

Keith Hunter Jesperson wanted to be seen. Between 1990 and 1995, the long-haul truck driver murdered women across the United States while carefully shaping the story around himself. He wrote letters to newspapers. Confessed on truck stop bathroom walls. Participated in psychological research studies about his own behavior. Even donating his brain to science after death. But beneath the “Happy Face Killer” persona is something more revealing: a man driven by grandiosity, callousness, impulsivity, and an insatiable need for recognition.In this episode of UNMARKED, we examine the psychology of Keith Jesperson through exclusive conversations with author and inve...

Joel Rifkin confessed to the murders of 17 women in just three years—leaving their remains scattered across Long Island, New York City, and New Jersey.And for years, no one was looking for him.In this episode, we examine the case through the lens of N. G. Berrill—one of the first psychologists to evaluate Rifkin after his arrest. Drawing on interviews, court records, and police reports, this is a reconstruction of how Rifkin operated in plain sight—and what allowed him to continue.From his early life in suburban Long Island, to the...

“BTK” is one of the most recognizable names in true crime. But it’s also a name that Dennis Rader created.In this episode, I’m not just looking back at the investigation—I’m speaking to people who have been in direct contact with Rader, hearing from those who have corresponded with him, studied him, and, in some cases, continue to engage with him to this day.And what becomes clear very quickly… is that “BTK” isn’t just a label. It’s a carefully constructed identity—one that Rader has spent decades shaping, protecting, and...

Paul Bernardo is one of the most notorious serial offenders in Canadian history. But this episode asks a different question: who was really responsible? Between 1987 and 1993, Bernardo committed a series of violent assaults across the suburbs of Toronto before escalating to the abduction and murder of multiple victims alongside his wife, Karla Homolka.But the story doesn’t begin—or end—with him. In this episode of UNMARKED, we traveled to Toronto and speak with journalists who covered the case in real time. Drawing from court records, archival reporting, and firsthand accounts, we reconstruct what actually happen...