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PODCAST

True Crime Campfire

True Crime Campfire

Join hosts Katie and Whitney for a different kind of true crime podcast. You can start with season 1, The Puppet Master and the Prince of Darkness, a deep dive into the most bizarre murder case you"ve never heard of. Or start with season 2, which covers a different stranger-than-fiction story each week. This bingeworthy show combines meticulous research with a refreshing mix of comic relief and seamless storytelling. There"s plenty of room around the campfire--come help us roast murderers and

true crime

All Episodes

45:14

Prince of Thieves: Con Man Anthony Gignac

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/08/20

There’s a Latin phrase, “Fortune favors the bold.” Con artists understand that better than anyone, I think. It always takes some degree of boldness to do what they do, from Bernie Madoff’s billion dollar Ponzi scheme to the three-card Monte guy on the street. But once in a while, we get ourselves a true master of the art—a con artist so audacious, so arrogant, so bold that they leave everyone they meet feeling like they just got swept up in a hurricane. We’re about to tell the story of one of the

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45:59

Witches' Brew: The Philadelphia Poison Ring

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/08/13

In 1930s Philadelphia, men all over town were dying—some in strange accidents, and some of a swift, excruciating illness. Their widows were devastated, of course—but it being the Great Depression and all, they were somewhat comforted by the substantial payouts they received from their late husbands’ life insurance plans. In medical examiners’ offices across the city, one death certificate after another was stamped “Natural Death” or “Accident.” One family doctor after another signed off: So sad, but

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47:15

Counterfeit: The Murder of Viola Drath

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/08/06

Washington, D.C. has a long history of frauds and fantasists, people who showed up out of nowhere claiming to be somebody important, somebody rich, somebody royal. And people believed them—let them into the inner circle, invested money with them, gave them a seat at the table—only to find out later that they’d been had. That’s bad enough when all you lose is money, or a little bit of your pride. Far worse when your heart is involved. This is the bizarre story of Viola Drath, one of D.C.’s most

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44:07

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: The Real Thelma & Louise

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/07/30

In the mid-90s, a spate of bizarre robberies caught the attention of police in Houston, Galveston, and Las Vegas. The perpetrators were a pair of 30something women who met their victims through dating ads. The women forced the men to strip at gunpoint, handcuffed or tied them up, then ransacked their homes. In only two months' time, they amassed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash and stolen goods. Who were these lady bandits, and what motivated them to drop their seemingly normal lives

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49:19

When Jocks Attack: Power Corrupts - A Bizarre Story...

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/07/23

George Bernard Shaw once said that it’s not really power that corrupts people. It’s the other way around. Well, he said it fancier than that, but that was the gist. We all want power, to some degree. Physical strength, sexual prowess, political sway. Most of us don’t let it control our lives, eat away at our humanity to the point where it’s all we care about. But for some of us, power is kinda like steroids. It makes us big and strong, but it’s addictive and the side effects can be murder

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59:25

Caustic: The Murder of Timothy Schuster

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/07/16

Anger is a double-edged sword. When it’s justified, and properly channeled, it can be a powerful force for positive change. But often, anger is like a strangling vine, winding its way around us, choking us with rage until we can’t see straight, can’t think straight, can’t tell right from wrong. It’s powerful stuff. And when anger flames out of control, it doesn’t matter how smart we are, or how much good we may have done in our lives up til now. If we let it overtake us, we’re going to leave ashes

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37:23

When Nerds Attack: Influencer - The Murder of Susan...

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/07/09

So campers, when we left you at the end of part 1, college-bound Jennifer Bailey, her boyfriend, high school senior, reincarnated executioner and wannabe vampire Paul Henson, Jr., and best friend Merrilee, were hatching a plot to murder their parents. In their minds, this was the only way for them to stay together in this life and the next—and y’know, avoid homework and chores. Hardworking single mom Susan Bailey had no idea what they were planning as she worked double shifts to pay for Jennifer’s

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42:10

When Nerds Attack: Influencer - The Murder of Susan...

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/07/02

Adolescence is a pretty wild ride. On the one hand, we’re starting to move past childhood, where make-believe takes up a ton of our time. But we’re still far enough out from adulthood that we can still get pretty wrapped up in fantasy. And when you combine a child’s ability to blur the line between real and make-believe with a young adult’s hormonal grumpiness and frantic desire for independence, you can end up with a recipe for nastiness. Sources:Let's Kill Mom by Donna FielderInvestigation

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53:34

Unenlightened: The Toxic Cult of James Arthur Ray

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/06/25

Osho said of enlightenment, “You have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don't leave any footprints. You cannot follow them.” I think this is probably true. But that doesn’t stop us from trying our damnedest to find that ready-made road to the truth. And as we’ve seen before on True Crime Campfire, there’s no shortage of self-proclaimed gurus, teachers and self-help experts who claim they can lead us

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45:07

Compos Mentis: The Murder of Lauren Giddings

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/06/18

Our neighbors. We see them every day, usually just for a few moments—long enough to say hi as we head inside with our groceries, or out to walk the dog. For those of us who live in apartments, we’re sometimes uncomfortably close to each other’s lives: sharing cooking smells, overhearing intimate moments, getting annoyed by small inconveniences. Such close proximity, for total strangers. And as much as we may come to know about the small details of our neighbors’ lives—which night of the week they

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62:59

Tangled Web: The Murder of Bernie James

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/06/11

Do you believe in love at first sight? What about love at first sound? The sound of a soft, sexy voice, that is. There's something uniquely intimate about a phone conversation, especially when you're having it late at night. There's anonymity because you can't see each other, but there's intimacy too. You can bond quickly, share secrets you'd be too scared to share face to face. How many of us have had one of those marathon, up-til-dawn phone sessions with a new love interest? How many of us have

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78:06

Sharpening Your Spidey-Sense: De Becker's Gift of Fear

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/06/04

Today you get a sneak peek at what our Patreon-exclusive episodes are like. This was last June's patrons-only offering. We do one of these every month, just for our Patreon angels!Today we've decided to zero in on a subject that comes up all the time on our show: Intuition. That “gut feeling” that tells us our best friend’s new boyfriend is a wrong ‘un, our kid’s new basketball coach is creepy, we should have this Uber driver pull over and let us out…right now. I’m sure you’ve heard us mention

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44:43

Check Mate: The Murder of Bill Stout

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/05/28

The longest tournament chess match ever recorded happened in Belgrade in 1989. It lasted 269 moves and took over 20 hours to complete. Strategy can take time. Some killers lash out in the heat of passion, but others take their time. They may want to toy with their victim for a while first, ratcheting up the torment bit by bit until finally it’s time to pounce. Or they may be biding their time to make sure every game piece is perfectly placed before they make their final move. Whatever the reasons,

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54:07

Stung: Two Failed Murders for Hire

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/05/21

There’s an old saying that if you want something done right, you better do it yourself. But for some people, DIY murder just isn’t right for them. Maybe they’re afraid to get their own hands dirty, maybe they know they’d be the prime suspect if their target were to meet with an unfortunate incident—there are any number of reasons why a prospective killer might turn to a hitman. But as we’ve said before on True Crime Campfire, there are some real pitfalls to contracting out your murder plots. We’re

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51:44

Killer Club: A Bizarre Story of Multiple Murder

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/05/14

The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is generally known as a fun story—a court jester-looking dude in bright colored clothes, playing a flute and jauntily leading the town’s children off into the sunset. Y’know, good times. Dancing and singing and whatnot. The real story may be a lot grimmer—in fact, some historians think the Piper led the youths of Hamelin to be abducted or slaughtered. We don’t really know for sure. But we’re pretty sure about this: When a full-grown adult starts collecting

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42:38

When Nerds Attack: Badfellas - The Murder of Jared...

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/05/07

On the HBO series The Sopranos, retired mob boss Uncle Jun says, “Some people are so far behind in a race that they actually believe they’re leading.” He was talking about hubris, I think, the temptation to convince yourself you’re king of the mountain, when really everybody’s snickering behind your back. What goes hand in hand with that kind of arrogance, of course, is a seething well of jealousy and paranoia. Commit the unforgivable sin of being cooler, or smarter, or stronger than me, and I won’t

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68:28

Cabbage Shakes and Energy Snakes: Three Bizarre New...

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/04/30

Humans have always been seekers of truth. We’re not always great at finding it, but we’re always lookin’. And however noble that quest might be, our desire to understand the hows and whys of human existence can sometimes leave us open to scams, cons, and cults. Give us a confident, charismatic personality with the right buzzwords and promises of enlightenment, and we’re much too eager to hand over our judgment…and our wallets. Today, our special guest Noah Lugeons—cohost of God-Awful Movies—will

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55:42

Venus Flytrap: Ye Olde Bad Bitch Belle Gunness, Pt 2

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/04/23

So campers, when we left you at the end of part 1, Belle Gunness’ 16 year old daughter Jennie had just gone missing, along with a revolving door of mysterious male “cousins.” She used her beautiful La Porte Indiana farm to lure bachelors to their eventual doom. It seemed like nothing could stop her. Join us for part 2 of this bizarre true story--you won't see the ending coming.

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57:30

Venus Flytrap: Ye Olde Bad Bitch Belle Gunness, Pt 1

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/04/16

Margaret Atwood wrote, “When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.” I think that rings true. To many, the thought of the past evokes nostalgia. Some might look at a black and white photo of a poodle skirted girl sharing a milkshake with her beau and they might yearn for a simple time, but they’re missing the “whites only” sign just out of frame. Human history is filled with just as much strife and injustice as we see on the news today

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58:01

Haunted: The Strange Death of Colonel Phillip Shue

True Crime Campfire ·

2021/04/09

Imagine trying to go about your life with the knowledge that somebody wants you dead. What would it do to you, day in and day out? Could you go for a walk without fearing that your enemy might be around the next corner? Could you drive home from work without startling at every flash of new headlights behind you? Could you sleep without nightmares? This is the controversial, bizarre, confounding story of a good man hounded by fear. Whichever side of the debate you end up on, that’s what you’ll find

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