Residue: A True Crime Podcast

In this episode, we dig into the truth behind Jennifer’s Body the 2009 horror film that was initially dismissed and later reclaimed as a cult classic with feminist themes of female rage, power, and exploitation. While the movie is fictional, its central premise (a teenage girl sacrificed by a band seeking fame) echoes a disturbing real-life case that many viewers are unaware of. We examine the 1995 murder of Elyse Pahler, a 15-year-old girl from California who was killed by three teenage boys who claimed they were performing a ritual to help their own metal band succeed.This episode walks through what happened to Elyse, how the case unfolded, and how her parents later filed a lawsuit against the band Slayer, arguing that violent lyrics and imagery influenced the killers — a case that was ultimately dismissed on First Amendment grounds. We explore how Elyse’s story became entangled in broader conversations about satanic panic, media blame, and moral responsibility in the 1990s. By separating fact from fiction, this episode centers the real tragedy behind the parallels and highlights the lasting impact of Elyse Pahler’s case beyond the courtroom.Sources:In the Name of Satan by Wensley Clarkson A Killer Among Friends: episode 3 https://www.courthousenews.com/two-killers-from-shocking-satanic-teen-murder-case-paroled/Wikihttps://www.courthousenews.com/two-killers-from-shocking-satanic-teen-murder-case-paroled/

In this episode, we unpack the story behind Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story and the real-life survival of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither. On November 2, 2014, Carlesha was abducted while walking home in Philadelphia, a crime that was partially caught on surveillance footage and sparked a desperate search. Through the Lifetime film, viewers are taken inside the fear, resilience, and quick thinking that defined those terrifying days — including Carlesha’s bravery in leaving behind clues for detectives after she was taken.Sources:Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Storyhttps://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-philadelphia-abduction-found-alive-police/story?id=26706205https://www.aetv.com/articles/carlesha-gaither-abductionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ-oME48Pd4https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040048967/missing-black-women-girls-left-out-media-ignored#:~:text=The%20media%20ignores%20missing%20Black,of%20the%20overall%20female%20population.

In this episode, we examine An American Crime (2007), a harrowing film based on one of the most disturbing true crime cases in American history. The movie follows the story of Sylvia Likens, a teenage girl left in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski while her parents traveled for work. What begins as a temporary living arrangement quickly spirals into unimaginable cruelty, as Gertrude, her children, and neighborhood kids participate in escalating physical and psychological abuse. We also dive into the real-life case that inspired the film, exploring what actually happened to Sylvia Likens in 1965 and how closely the movie follows the facts. This episode discusses the social conditions, power dynamics, and warning signs that allowed the abuse to continue unchecked, as well as the legal consequences that followed. While deeply unsettling, this story raises critical questions about accountability, community responsibility, and how extreme harm can occur in plain sight. Listener discretion is strongly advised.Sources:Torture Mom - Ryan Green https://people.com/sylvia-likens-abuse-caretaker-orchestrated-8752827WikiAn American Crime

The true story behind The Girl From Plainville, the chilling real-life case that sparked national debate about responsibility, mental health, and the power of words. In 2014, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III died by suicide in a Massachusetts parking lot. In the months leading up to his death, Roy had been in an intense, mostly digital relationship with 17-year-old Michelle Carter — a relationship later revealed through thousands of text messages. Prosecutors argued that Carter’s messages didn’t just witness Roy’s struggles, but actively encouraged his death, including a final phone call in which she told him to get back into his carbon-monoxide-filled truck. Carter’s eventual conviction for involuntary manslaughter raised unprecedented legal and ethical questions: Can someone be held criminally responsible for another person’s suicide? We explore the facts of the case, the court’s controversial ruling, and how this tragedy continues to shape conversations around mental health in the digital age.Sources:Dateline:Reckless Michelle Carter: Love, Texts, and Deathhttps://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a37499262/where-is-michelle-carter-now-texting-suicide/https://www.masslive.com/politics/2022/03/conrads-law-bill-created-after-michelle-carter-texting-suicide-case-still-not-passed-case-gets-looked-at-through-new-lens-of-hulus-the-girl-from-plainville.htmlhttps://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Conrad_Roy

Talhotblond is a 2012 Lifetime made-for-television movie based on a shocking real-life internet love triangle that ended in murder. The film dramatizes how online anonymity, emotional insecurity, and deception spiraled into deadly violence.The story centers on Thomas Montgomery, a middle-aged, married factory worker who is dissatisfied with his life and seeks escape through online chat rooms and poker sites. There, he reinvents himself as a younger man, claiming to be a U.S. Marine named “Tommy.” Using this false identity, he begins an online relationship with a young woman known by the screen name “talhotblond.”Unbeknownst to Montgomery, one of his younger coworkers, Brian, is also communicating with the same girl online. Unlike Montgomery, Brian is honest about who he is, and his growing connection with “talhotblond” triggers intense jealousy in Montgomery. As the online relationships deepen, Montgomery’s lies multiply, and his emotional stability begins to unravel.Sources:Talhotblondhttps://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ng/date/2012-06-28/segment/01https://www.huffpost.com/entry/courtney-cox-lifetime-movie-review-wer_b_1828672

This podcast episode explores the tragic true story of Nick Markowitz, a 15-year-old boy whose life was taken after being used as leverage in a reckless dispute that spiraled out of control.When a conflict involving his older half-brother and a local drug dealer escalates, Nick is pulled into a situation he had no part in creating. What starts as a misguided attempt to intimidate someone quickly becomes a tragedy driven by fear, ego, and the inability of the adults involved to stop what they started.The episode also examines how this case entered popular culture through the 2006 film Alpha Dog. While the movie brought national attention to the crime, it also raised difficult questions about storytelling, responsibility, and whose perspective gets remembered. We compare the film’s portrayal of events with the real case, including criticism from Nick’s mother, Susan Markowitz, who later wrote My Stolen Son to reclaim her child’s story from sensationalized narratives.Sources:My Stolen Son: The Nick Markowitz Story by Susan Markowitz w/ Jenna Glatzer https://allthatsinteresting.com/nicholas-markowitzAlpha Dog https://allthatsinteresting.com/jesse-james-hollywoodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Doghttps://www.independent.com/2009/06/21/witness-rundown-hollywood-trial/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-01-me-64254-story.htmlhttps://www.independent.com/2009/06/10/ben-markowitz-on-stand/

In this episode, we explore the real-life case of Susan Wright, a Texas woman whose story captured national attention and later inspired the Lifetime made-for-TV movie Blue-Eyed Butcher. We walk through Susan’s background, her marriage to Jeff Wright, and how a seemingly ordinary suburban life became the center of a high-profile criminal case. Sources:https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/susan-wright-193/Snapped season 1, Episode 9 https://abc13.com/post/susan-wright-murder-trial-jeff-stabbed-husband-193-times/9184616/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Wright_(murderer)https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/trending/blue-eyed-butcher-texas-woman-who-stabbed-husband-193-times-2003-released-parole/GMR2DZYQLVEIBCYYT7DPOB6IW4/https://6abc.com/archive/7736279/

I Am Zozo is a horror film that follows a group of friends who decide to use a Ouija board out of curiosity. During their sessions, the board begins responding aggressively and identifies itself as “Zozo.” As the group continues to engage with it, the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense and unsettling, suggesting that whatever they’ve contacted grows stronger the more attention it receives. The film leaves it ambiguous whether Zozo is a real entity or a manifestation of fear, making the experience feel disturbingly realistic.In real life, Zozo is a modern paranormal legend that gained popularity through internet forums in the early 2000s. Despite claims that it’s an ancient demon, there’s no historical evidence to support that. Many experts point to the ideomotor effect, where subconscious movements cause the planchette to move without the user realizing it. Over time, repeated stories and media portrayals turned Zozo into a widely feared figure, showing how belief and suggestion can transform an online myth into something that feels terrifyingly real.Sources:https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/science-mysteries/zozo-the-ouija-board-demon.htmlhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/zozo-demonhttps://www.nj.com/entertainment/2016/05/zozo_phenomenon_documented_in_new_book_paranormal_corner.htmlhttps://darrenevansparanormal.blogspot.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Zozohttps://www.prweb.com/releases/live_extreme_halloween_paranormal_broadcast_set_for_zozo_ouija_demon_house_in_oklahoma_city_ok/prweb13767920.htmhttps://blogcritics.org/exclusive-interview-tim-wood-darren-evans-on-upcoming-live-stream-of-zozo-paranormal-investigationhttps://www.ranker.com/list/ouija-board-conversations-with-zozo/lowe-saddler

This episode explores the true story behind Lifetime’s Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story. From adoption and reunification to manipulation, abuse, and murder. We examine the escalation of violence, the deaths of Katie, her adoptive father, and her infant son Bennett, and how systemic failures allowed danger to go unchecked. We also separate fact from dramatization in the Lifetime movie, highlighting the real people behind the headlines.Warning: Discussion of incest, domestic abuse, and multiple deaths, including an infant.Sources:https://www.mylifetime.com/movies/husband-father-killer-the-alyssa-pladl-storyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bH9b8zLQF0https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/news/2018/04/13/911-call-reveals-new-details-in-triple-murder--suicidehttps://abc11.com/post/classmate-of-man-who-killed-wife-infant-in-incest-case-recalls-unusual-behavior/3338606/?userab=abc_web_player-460*variant_b_abc_dmp-1901%2Cotv_web_player-461*variant_b_otv_dmp-1903%2Cotv_web_content_rec-445*variant_b_less_popular_bias-1850%2Chp_banner-426*variant_e__tall_white-1781https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43747225https://www.aetv.com/articles/steven-pladl-murders

In 1976, a chilling horror film hit theaters, introducing the world to Damien, the Antichrist child. But while audiences were terrified on screen, strange and deadly events were unfolding behind the scenes. The Omen didn’t just scare moviegoers, it seemed to haunt its cast and crew in real life.Was it coincidence? Or did the dark subject matter of Satan, prophecy, and the Antichrist bring real-world consequences? In this episode, we’ll explore the chilling events, behind-the-scenes horror, and the enduring legend of The Omen curse. Sources:Cursed Films: The Omen The Omenhttps://www.cineworld.ie/static/en/ie/blog/the-curse-of-the-omen-facts-the-first-omenhttps://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/omen-movie-curse-42514085https://screenrant.com/omen-1976-cursed-set-scarier-than-movie/https://eosty.medium.com/the-curse-of-the-omen-real-story-1964c1c355d4https://www.ripleys.com/stories/the-omenhttps://fiveable.me/key-terms/cognitive-psychology/invisible-gorilla-experiment

In this episode, we take a closer look at the tragic abduction of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman—an event that would go on to reshape the way communities respond to missing-child emergencies. We explore the circumstances surrounding Amber’s disappearance in 1996, the investigation that gripped the nation, and how her legacy inspired the creation of the AMBER Alert system used across the United States today.We also discuss the 2006 made-for-TV film Amber’s Story, examining how one heartbreaking case sparked a nationwide movement to protect children and mobilize communities.Sources:Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2021/still-searching-for-ambers-killerhttps://people.com/who-killed-amber-hagerman-8752172

In this episode, we dive into the extraordinary story of actress Theresa Saldana. A rising Hollywood star whose life was nearly cut short by a brutal attack in 1982. From her disciplined childhood in Brooklyn to her breakout roles in Raging Bull and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Theresa seemed destined for fame.But one terrifying encounter with a delusional stalker changed everything. We explore the stabbing that almost ended her life, the bravery of the stranger who intervened, and her grueling journey through physical and emotional recovery.Theresa’s story was so compelling it inspired the 1984 TV movie Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, in which she bravely played herself reliving her attack and survival for the world to see. Hear how she transformed trauma into advocacy, founding Victims for Victims and becoming a pioneering voice for victims’ rights.Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdGGHTjKIRMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFIctvhD-0Qhttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/arts/television/theresa-saldana-actress-and-attack-survivor-dies-at-61.htmlhttps://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/152/961.htmlhttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-05-me-5386-story.html

In July of 1993, a group of Florida teenagers committed one of the most shocking and senseless murders in modern true crime history. The crime, later dramatized in the 2001 film Bully, was not the work of hardened criminals or masterminds, but of suburban kids. At the center of the story were two childhood friends: Marty Puccio, quiet and impressionable, and Bobby Kent, a young man many described as charismatic but deeply controlling. Those closest to them claimed Bobby bullied, manipulated, and terrorized Marty for years. Marty’s friends convinced themselves the only way to escape Bobby’s influence was to kill him.What followed was a clumsy, chaotic, and brutally violent attack carried out in a remote swampy area of Broward County. Their plan unraveled almost immediately, leading to multiple arrests, wildly different prison sentences, and decades of debate about what was true, what was exaggerated, and what was simply self-serving testimony. Was Bobby Kent truly the monster the killers claimed he was? Or did a group of teenagers justify murder by rewriting the story after the fact?Sources:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbtfrPpqoqIBully Bully:The True Story of High School Revenge  by Jim Schutz https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/tag/lisa-connelly/

In this episode, we uncover the terrifying true story behind Taken In Broad Daylight, the Lifetime movie based on the abduction of 17-year-old Anne Sluti. In April 2001, Anne was kidnapped in broad daylight from a Nebraska shopping mall by convicted felon Anthony Steven Wright. What followed was a harrowing six-day ordeal that stretched across multiple states and showcased Anne’s remarkable courage, intelligence, and determination to survive.We’ll break down how the real-life events unfolded, explore how accurately the film portrayed her experience, and discuss the psychological strength that helped Anne turn from victim to survivor.Sources:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mSZZCNFjSshttps://nebraska.tv/archive/what-ever-happened-to-anne-slutiDeadly Demands Season 1, Episode 6 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abducted-girl-returns-homehttps://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/340/724/588043/

In this episode, we start with Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie a gripping Lifetime film that dives into the disappearance of a young woman at a historically Black college. When a student suddenly vanishes, her counselor refuses to look the other way, uncovering a system that too often dismisses missing Black women and girls. The story is fictional, but its message hits painfully close to home.The film shines a light on how the media and institutions frequently overlook these disappearances. How urgency fades, headlines never come, and families are left to fight alone for attention and answers.From there, we turn to the real-life disappearance of 18-year-old Cleashindra Hall, a decades-long missing person case that deserves to be remembered.Cleashindra, or “Clea,” as her family calls her, was an honors student from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with dreams of becoming a pediatrician. On the evening of May 9, 1994, she finished her shift working for a local business and called her mother to say she’d be home soon. But Cleashindra never made that second call, and she was never seen again.Over the years, her family has searched tirelessly for answers. There were searches, interviews, and countless leads — yet no arrests have ever been made, and no trace of Cleashindra has been found. Despite the time that’s passed, her loved ones have never given up.Like the story told in Abducted at an HBCU, Cleashindra’s case reflects a painful reality: when young Black women go missing, the attention they receive rarely matches the depth of the loss. This episode is about remembering her, and about refusing to let these stories fade into silence.Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3odKv1Fin0https://www.the-sun.com/news/11962351/lifetime-abducted-hbcu-black-girl-missing/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Cleashindra_HallBlack Girl Gone: The Disappearance of Cleashindra Hall https://www.kark.com/news/local-news/family-of-cleashindra-hall-still-hopes-for-answers-nearly-30-years-after-her-disappearance/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09Z4loP9G5ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63MC4OwNYmEhttps://news.morehouse.edu/professor-avery-o.-williams-86-writes-screenplay-for-lifetime-original-abducted-at-an-hbcu-a-black-girl-missing-moviehttps://www.fox16.com/news/only-on-fox16-transcribed-interviews-from-larry-amos-following-teenagers-disappearance/https://www.yahoo.com/news/family-cleashindra-hall-still-hopes-221635171.html

In the early 1990s, the college town of Gainesville,Florida was paralyzed by fear. Over just three days, five students were brutally murdered in their own apartments, victims of Danny Rolling, the man the press would call The Gainesville Ripper. His crimes were savage, his methods deliberate, and the terror he left behind felt like something straight out of a horror movie.Years later, screenwriter Kevin Williamson watched a documentary about those killings while home alone. That fear he experienced while watching that documentary became the spark for Wes Craven's Scream (1996). Set in the quiet town of Woodsboro, Scream follows a masked killer who taunts his victims with phone calls and deadly games, blurring the line between fiction and reality. What began as a true story of terror became a movie that made us all ask the same question…“What’s your favorite scary movie?”Sources:World’s Most Evil Killers: S3,EP13 https://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/psyc%20405/serial%20killers/rolling,%20danny%20-%202004.pdfhttps://www.ksla.com/video/2024/03/29/archives-murders-tom-julie-sean-grissom-shreveport-la-1989/https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/crime/2019/11/08/grissom-family-murders-shreveport-louisiana-gainesville-murders/4157607002/https://www.aetv.com/articles/how-serial-killer-danny-rolling-inspired-scream-with-his-1990-slayingshttps://people.com/serial-killer-gainesville-ripper-danny-rolling-exclusive-11763591https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Rollinghttps://www.tampabay.com/archive/1993/02/20/5-dead-may-have-been-stalked/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvIh8rC4ak

In this episode, we dive into the true story behind Left for Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story, the Lifetime movie that shocked viewers. We recount the 2006 case of 17-year-old Ashley Reeves, a high school student from Illinois who was lured to a remote park by her former teacher and brutally attacked—strangled and left paralyzed, alone in the woods for over 30 hours. Miraculously, she survived.We’ll examine how the film portrayed the events, explore key differences between the dramatization and reality, and discuss the psychological aftermath of the attack. This crime highlights the dangers of authority abuse and the strength it takes to reclaim one’s life after trauma.Sources: Left For Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbH6S4z57hEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrWztHfwNBYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBxYrXrsQYchttps://fox2now.com/news/illinois/cable-tv-movie-to-chronicle-the-2006-ashley-reeves-case-from-metro-east/https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/87/68762db5-4e2b-5eda-baf6-b8d851de839b/60c0dafe96b8c.pdf.pdfhttps://people.com/teacher-who-choked-17-year-old-student-left-her-woods-after-believing-she-was-dead-is-released-8639074https://truecrimenews.com/2017/02/06/exclusive-illinois-teen-survives-older-lovers-murderous-attack-returns-to-scene-where-she-was-left-for-dead/https://thecinemaholic.com/lifetimes-left-for-dead-everything-we-know/?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-teacher-gets-20-years/

The 1983 made-for-TV movie Adam tells the true story of six-year-old Adam Walsh, who was abducted from a Sears department store in Hollywood, Fl in July 1981. The movie follows his parents, John and Reve Walsh, as they struggle with the devastating loss of their son and the failures of the system meant to protect children.The real-life case behind the movie had a lasting impact. John Walsh became a well-known victims' rights advocate and later hosted America's Most Wanted. The Walsh family helped establish the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Adam remains one of the most influential true crime TV movies in American history, remembered not just for its emotional storytelling but for the real change it helped create.Sources:Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America by Les Standiford Tears of Rage by John Walsh https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2024/adam-more-than-a-moviehttps://time.com/4437205/adam-walsh-murder/https://justiceforadam.com/https://curbarchive.journalism.wisc.edu/2009/12/01/are-you-there-god-its-me-jeffrey/2/index.htmlhttps://people.com/who-killed-adam-walsh-11777914#:~:text=Before%20John%20Walsh%20was%20the,and%20my%20love%20for%20him.%22

We revisit the harrowing true story of Francine Hughes, the Michigan housewife whose decades-long abuse at the hands of her husband, Mickey Hughes, ended in a desperate act that would shake the nation. On a cold night in March 1977, after suffering relentless physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, Francine set fire to the bed where her husband lay sleeping.We explore the real events behind the groundbreaking 1984 TV movie The Burning Bed, starring Farrah Fawcett, which brought national attention to domestic violence in a way the American media had rarely done before.Sources: The Burning Bed - By Faith McNulty https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=f3826a3017f5c801&rlz=1CAGZLV_enUS1160&sxsrf=AE3TifNI_ytsXlwnrn18p_4EHPVMZ0jfPw:1759263288213&udm=7&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeiAkWG4OlBE2zyCTMjPbGmMU8EWskMk2JSE__efdUJ3xRFvZ0M2vJLB0hUMk5HOE2OjlycQYRp9vQECfaBtuI77VBixuZT8Ikq7knPIraxtLcXUn-925YP4AZPohtCshEMzz_HYh-s2jy_GenEFZtSggFj5UruF1QvDnKbUPJW54S8V0hw&q=the+burning+bed&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwity_C6poGQAxUtEFkFHUAlCW4QtKgLegQIGBAB&biw=1536&bih=710&dpr=1.25#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:65d05521,vid:ZGXeu5WCZgE,st:0https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/farrah-fawcetts-film-role-helped-change-domestic-abuse-63176346https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmyQcq9YY8Mhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/us/francine-hughes-wilson-dead-burning-bed-defendant.htmlhttps://www.wkar.org/history/2017-03-30/burning-bed-murder-case-defense-attorney-looks-back

When Susan Wilson and her family move into what they believe is their dream home in a quiet Louisiana neighborhood, everything seems perfect. But soon, Susan begins to suspect that something isn't right. Susan makes the horrifying discovery that her trusted neighbor has been spying on her family, watching their most private moments. He has secretly installed hidden cameras in her home. Even more disturbing, the law offers her no protection.Determined to seek justice, Susan fights not just for her family, but for others too. Susan Wilson becomes an advocate for victims' rights and pushes to change the laws that failed to protect her basic privacy.Sources:https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/dec/30/federal-law-against-video-voyeurism-hailed-by/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYVuRAyQYughttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/making-video-voyeurism-a-crime/https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/lifetimes-tale-video-voyeur-spurs-us-law-15614/