Crime Beat

Rebecca Lavoie, host of "Crime Writers On," talks with Crime Beat host Keith Sharon about podcasting, journalism and some of the best true crime podcasts of all time.

In this special episode of Crime Beat, you will meet Janine Madera, a fierce advocate for justice who works as a homicide prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney's Office. She has tried 72 trials and won 57 convictions without hearing a word of testimony. Madera is deaf and operates in the courtroom with strategically placed sign language interpreters. But her deafness isn't the most important part of her story. Janine Madera was raped as a child, and she decided as a pre-teen that she was going to someday work to put criminals behind bars.

Find out the real story behind the biggest bank heist in American history, the burglary at the heart of the new movie “Finding Steve McQueen.”

Bank heist master Amil Dinsio and his crew were the best around and proved it regularly. Then they were told Richard Nixon had $30 million in dirty money stashed in Southern California and they set out to rip off the President.

Meet the team of thieves that flew from Youngstown to Los Angeles. They might have pulled it off without a hitch if they had stuck to the plan. But one of them got another idea.

All that stands between Amil Dinsio’s crew and the President’s secret stash are an alarm system, reinforced concrete and 500 locked safe deposit boxes.

With the bank breached, and the FBI scrambling to find clues, the boys from Youngstown tried to slip away … and one of them got farther than he ever dreamed.

On Feb. 19, 2019, police made an arrest in the cold-case killing of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe, who was strangled in Orange County in 1973. Southern California News Group reporter Keith Sharon tells the true crime story of the pursuit of her killer. Our regular podcast, "Crime Beat," Season One: "Stealing Nixon's Millions" will continue as scheduled with Episode 5.

Getaway driver Harry Barber starts a new life and tries to live without attracting attention to himself. Everywhere he goes, he is surrounded by cops.

The story appears in 2003, and producers from film companies begin to call. You’ll hear the ups and downs of writing a screenplay, and how it took more than 15 years for the movie “Finding Steve McQueen” to get made.

Master thief Amil Dinsio loses his edge late in his career ... and his freedom. One of the stars of the movie based on the heist, Rachael Taylor, chokes up about the real story. And “Crime Beat” becomes the podcast the Nixon people don’t want you to hear.

A former getaway driver and the writer who captured his story have a big week. And find out what a master thief thinks of the movie about the biggest bank heist in U.S. history.

The body of 20-year-old honor student Cathy Torrez was found in the trunk of her car. For more than 20 years, her mother fought for justice. And for most of that time, the suspected murderer lived across the street. Would justice ever be served?

After Cathy Torrez was murdered in 1994, Girl Scouts planted a tree to honor her. To Cathy's mother, Mary Bennett, that tree only served one purpose.

We meet Cathy Torrez, Mary Bennett and the people in their neighborhood. The last person we meet is Sam Lopez, who lives across the street. About Season 2: On Feb. 12, 1994, Cal State Fullerton honor student Cathy Torrez didn't come home after working the evening shift in the photo department at Sav-On. A week later, her body was discovered stabbed to death in the trunk of her own car. “Crime Beat,” Season 2 focuses on Cathy's mother, Mary Bennett, and her extraordinary quest for justice. It took 21 years for Mary's wish to come true: The man who lived across the street was convicted of Cathy's murder. In this season, we will take you behind the scenes of the investigation, playing old interviews from cassette tapes taken from the 1994 police archives, conducting new interviews with people involved in the case and reporting new stories that have never been published.

We reveal the content of 18 letters between Cathy and Sam. The letters were discovered after Cathy died.

Sam Lopez takes Cathy on a date, and she comes home drugged with slashed tires and no panties.

In the months before she died, Cathy was dating Albert Rangel, who wanted more from the relationship than Cathy could give him.

Cathy doesn't come home after working a shift at Sav-On. People from her family and the community send out search parties trying to find her.

WARNING: This episode includes details from Cathy Torrez's autopsy report that might disturb some listeners. Skip to 9:40 to avoid those details. Police believe Sam Lopez is lying about his movements on the night Cathy disappeared. But they can't arrest him because they don't have probable cause.