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PODCAST

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

As someone who has been personally effected by homicide, I approach every True Crime case I cover with the goal of balancing facts with empathy—giving victims a voice while exploring the larger cultural and societal implications of the cases. I want you to leave my episodes not only knowing that the people who I talk about are real.. what happened to them is real but also acknowledging that they are much more than just their deaths. Each audio file from this podcast is taken from my videos on

true crime

All Episodes

00:55:50

Cold Medicine Murder: Aspiring Pastor Brutalizes Bride

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/10/13

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Lauren Hugelmaier with me today. In September 2017, 29-year-old Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps was found brutally murdered in her Raleigh, North Carolina home. Her husband, Matthew Phelps, called 911 claiming he “had a dream” and found her dead, with blood all over him and a knife on the bed.The autopsy revealed Lauren had been stabbed 123 times, her body riddled with wounds to her head, neck, torso, and arms. Evidence would later show Matthew had

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01:26:47

Teen Love Triangle Leads to 12-Year-Old's Murder

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/10/10

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Shanda Renee Sharer with me today. In January 1992, 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer was brutally abducted, tortured, and murdered by four teenage girls in Madison, Indiana. The crime was fueled by jealousy and rivalry, one girl believed Shanda was encroaching on her romantic relationship. Shanda was lured under false pretenses, restrained, beaten, stabbed, and ultimately set on fire. The perpetrators left her body in a remote field; investigators

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00:52:24

Serial WOMB RAIDER : Guilty but Insane?

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/10/08

In 2008 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, 18-year-old Kia Johnson, who was 36 weeks pregnant, disappeared. She was later found murdered, and her unborn child was stolen from her womb. The perpetrator, Andrea Curry-Demus, had lured Kia to her apartment under false pretenses, then performed the horrific act before attempting to pass the baby off as her own. Kia’s body was discovered in Curry-Demus’s apartment.Curry-Demus was found guilty of second-degree murder with a verdict of “guilty, mentally

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01:03:42

From Honor's Student to Cold-Blooded Killer? She...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/10/06

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Steven Robards with me today. Dorothy Marie Robards was just 16 years old when she secretly laced her father’s dinner with barium acetate, a toxic chemical she stole from her high school chemistry lab. What seemed like a sudden heart attack in 1993 turned out to be a carefully planned murder, committed by an honor roll student who wanted only one thing, to live with her mother. For over a year, Marie Robards’ dark secret stayed buried… until a

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01:18:07

Parents Killed with Shotgun Shells that Said "Mom and...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/10/01

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Dawn and Richard Heikkila with me today. On January 30, 1991, Dawn and Richard Heikkila were discovered murdered after a welfare check was requested by Dawn's coworkers. Their son, Matthew Heikkila, initially told coworkers his parents had left due to a family emergency involving his brother at Dartmouth, but immediately, they were not buying it. When police entered the couple's New Jersey home, they found Dawn, a successful real estate

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01:29:26

Teen Love Triangle Ends in Murder: The Texas Cadet...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/29

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Adrianne Jones with me today. In December 1995, the brutal murder of 16-year-old Adrianne Jones shocked the quiet town of Mansfield, Texas. Adrianne was a bright high school student whose life was tragically cut short when her body was discovered near Joe Pool Lake. Investigators learned she had been lured out of her home under false pretenses, beaten, and then executed with gunshots to the head. The case quickly gained national attention, not

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01:13:23

13-Year-Old Girl Gunned Down by JEALOUS and OBSESSED...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/26

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Lauren Landavazo with me today. In September 2016, 13-year-old Lauren Landavazo was walking home from school in Wichita Falls, Texas, with her best friend when she was ambushed and shot multiple times. Her friend, Makayla Smith, survived the attack.The perpetrator, 20-year-old Kody Lott, later confessed that his crime was driven by jealousy, he was upset Lauren had a boyfriend. He admitted to planning the shooting and claiming he spoke with “the

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00:42:21

Murdered by a MANIAC and he is ON THE RUN

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/24

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Felicia Marie Johnson with me today. GOFUNDME for Felicia's Family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/x7jqsf-family-in-needIn April 2022, 24-year-old Felicia Johnson flew from San Diego to Houston to celebrate her birthday and look for work. After arranging a meeting via Snapchat, she vanished. Her phone and purse were later found, abandoned and bloodied, near a Houston park. Months later, human remains discovered in the Sam Houston National Forest

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01:01:14

Father Shot in Bed Next to his Sleeping Wife : Who...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/22

In February 2008, 36-year-old father Ben Oxley was brutally murdered in his own home in Minden, Nevada. While he slept in bed next to his wife Melissa Oxley, an intruder entered the bedroom and shot him point-blank in the head with a shotgun. What made this case even more chilling was that his young daughter was also in the house that night. Melissa woke up covered in blood, but with no idea what had just happened, leaving investigators to wonder if the killer had been right beside her all along. At

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01:02:59

Serial Killer "Hannibal" Leads Police To Victims...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/19

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kaysi McLeod, LeAnn Emry, Jennifer Marcum, and Terry Kimball with me today. Scott Kimball is a police informant turned murdered who preyed on vulnerable human beings and was responsible for the tragic deaths of Kaysi McLeod, Jennifer Marcum, LeAnn Emry, and Terry Kimball. Initially, he got a pretty lenient plea deal from the authorities, but when he failed to produce Jennifer's body (something he promises), he ended up receiving a 70-year

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01:02:59

She Killed her Boyfriend, made Bail, then Killed his...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/17

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Andrew Bagby and Zachary Turner with me today. In one of the most heartbreaking true crime cases Canada has ever seen, 13-month-old Baby Zachary Turner was murdered by his own mother, Shirley Turner, in 2003. Just two years earlier, Shirley had been accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Andrew Bagby, after he ended their relationship. While she awaited extradition to the United States to stand trial for Andrew’s murder, Shirley was shockingly

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00:58:49

MOTHER Murders own Daugher to SAVE HER?

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/15

In March 1982, 38-year-old Leslie DeVeau committed a crime that stunned Washington D.C. She shot and killed her 10-year-old daughter, Erin, as the child slept, before attempting to take her own life. Leslie survived, losing an arm from the injury, and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.Confined to St. Elizabeths Hospital, her story took another strange turn when she began a relationship with fellow patient John Hinckley Jr., the man who had attempted to assassinate President Ronald

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00:55:40

Alisa Mathewson and her 55 Hours of Terror

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/12

In March 2017, Alisa Mathewson was kidnapped by her estranged husband, Trevor Summers, in Florida. Despite a restraining order, he broke into her home, tied her up, sexually assaulted her, and tried to kill her. For 55 hours he held her captive, forcing her into his car and driving across several counties before she managed to escape with the help of a bystander.In 2022, Summers was convicted on 11 charges, including kidnapping, sexual battery, and attempted murder. He was sentenced to three life

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00:38:32

Father 'Finished Off' Daughters STALKER with MOOSE...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/10

In March 2023, 27-year-old Levi Axtell walked into the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, covered in blood, and confessed to killing 77-year-old Lawrence Scully, a convicted sex offender.Axtell had long believed that Scully posed a danger to children in the community. Armed with a shovel and a moose antler, he attacked Scully inside his home, bludgeoning him to death in what prosecutors later described as a vigilante-style killing.After the murder, Axtell immediately turned himself in,

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00:49:37

Serial Killer Obsessed Mother Slays Boyfriend : Shaye...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/08

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Frankie Fitzgerald with me today. In July 2022, 25-year-old Frankie Fitzgerald was murdered in his home in Havant, Hampshire, by his girlfriend, 27-year-old Shaye Groves.Shaye, who was obsessed with true crime and violent fantasies, stabbed Frankie more than 20 times in a frenzied attack after their relationship had become increasingly toxic and controlling. Investigators later revealed that Shaye kept an extensive collection of knives and swords,

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01:11:34

Mother Blames OWN SON For Husband's Murder?

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/05

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Greg Williams and Brynn Fletcher with me today. In March 2018, 37-year-old Greg Williams and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Brynn Fletcher, were brutally murdered inside Greg’s apartment in Overland Park, Kansas.Investigators soon discovered that the crime was anything but random. The killers were 18-year-old Logan Mott and 17-year-old Justice Fae, but behind them stood a disturbing influence, Michele Williams, Greg’s estranged ex-wife. Michele had

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01:11:34

"Don't Call Me a Monster": The Nicole Nachtman Case

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/03

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Robert Dienes and Myriam Dienes with me today.In August 2015, the quiet suburb of Carrollwood, Florida, was shaken by a brutal double murder. Twenty-one-year-old college student Nicole Nachtman shot and killed her stepfather, Robert Dienes, inside their family home and hours later, ambushed her own mother, Myriam Dienes, in the driveway.What could drive a daughter to such violence? Prosecutors argued cold-blooded murder. The defense claimed years

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01:11:34

The REAL STORY of the Death of a Cheerleader :...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/09/01

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kirsten Marina Costas with me today. In the summer of 1984, the quiet suburb of Orinda, California, was rocked by the brutal murder of 15-year-old Kirsten Marina Costas. A high school swimmer and varsity cheerleader, Kirsten embodied the “All-American” teen, until she was lured to her death by someone she trusted.Her classmate, Bernadette Protti, invited her under the false pretense of a sorority-like dinner, only to stab her five times with a

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01:00:26

Kuria Family Slaughtered in Their Home… Two Boys...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/08/29

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Jane Kuria, Isabelle Kuria, and Annabelle Kuria with me today. In August 2007, the quiet town of Powder Springs, Georgia, was rocked by a horrifying and still unsolved family murder. Jane Kuria, a single mother who had immigrated from Kenya, was found bludgeoned to death along with her two teenage daughters, Isabella and Annabelle, inside their suburban home. What makes the Kuria family case even more chilling is that two young boys, Jane’s son

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00:41:36

The Killer Was Among her Friends: The Michele "Missy"...

TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein ·

2025/08/27

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Michele "Missy" Avila with me today. In October 1985, 17-year-old Michele “Missy” Avila vanished after going for a ride with her close friends, girls she trusted implicitly. She never came home. Three days later, her body was discovered face-down in a shallow creek within Angeles National Forest, her waist-length hair hacked off and a heavy log placed on top to hold her down.As the investigation turned cold, grief wove into betrayal. One

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