UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast

What happens when two psychopaths find each other—and realize they share the same violent fantasies?This episode is part of Psychopath², a series of UNMARKED episodes examining what happens when serial killers work together. For this episode of UNMARKED, I went through Charles Ng’s prison letters, court records, investigative files, and contemporary reporting to understand the relationship between Ng and Leonard Lake.Lake had spent years documenting increasingly sadistic fantasies he called Operation Miranda. Ng brought his own history of violence, grievance, theft, weapons, and grandiose fantasy. When the two men came together, those private obsessions became something operational. This episode traces both men from childhood through the military, survivalist circles, the Wilseyville property, the murders, the M-Ladies tapes, and finally Ng’s capture in Calgary.Research in This Episode: de Ruiter, C., Burghart, M., De Silva, R., Griesbeck Garcia, S., Mian, U., Walshe, E., & Zouharova, V. (2022). A meta-analysis of childhood maltreatment in relation to psychopathic traits. PLOS ONE, 17(8), e0272704. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272704. Show Notes:If you want to go deeper into the Charles Manson case, my book Charles Manson: The Last Words documents years researching the story and speaking directly with members of the Manson Family — including Charles Manson himself. Read it here:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7If you want to follow the cases as I’m working on them, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbuddyday/For those who want to examine the evidence directly, complete phone calls and documents are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files, our research portal, along with ad-free episodes.Join here:https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastUNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom. 

Is Philadelphia dealing with a serial killer—or are the headlines getting ahead of the evidence?A sprawling investigation in Philadelphia has connected Raymond “R.C.” Horsch and his son, Eugene Horsch, to a growing mystery involving missing women, Kensington’s sex-work corridor, and a house in the city’s Olney neighbourhood.In the first episode of this ongoing investigation, I break down what we actually know, what the media may be getting wrong, and the evidence that has led police to examine the Horsch family.This is an active investigation. Police have linked multiple missing women to Raymond Horsch and the Olney property, but major questions remain unanswered. No one has been convicted of murdering these women, and allegations and suspicions should not be confused with established fact.Over the coming weeks, I’ll continue following the evidence, digging into the records, and separating what we know from what we think we know.#PhiladelphiaSerialKiller #RaymondHorsch #EugeneHorsch #Kensington #Philadelphia #TrueCrime

Netflix has reignited the debate over Lizzie Borden—but how much of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is actually true?Cara Robertson Phd, author of The Trial of Lizzie Borden, returns to UNMARKED to separate fact from fiction. We break down what Netflix got right, what it changed, and the historical evidence behind one of America’s most infamous murder cases.We also tackle some of the series’ biggest creative choices: its portrayal of Lizzie, its themes of female rage and feminism, and the controversial decision to bring serial killer Aileen Wuornos into Lizzie Borden’s story.Did Netflix illuminate Lizzie Borden—or turn a complicated historical case into something closer to true-crime fan fiction?Cara Robertson has spent years studying the Borden case, the original trial, and the historical record. This is our deep dive into what really happened in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892—and how it compares with the story Netflix is telling today.#LizzieBorden #MonsterNetflix #Netflix #TrueCrime #AileenWuornos 

A disturbing investigation in Philadelphia is taking another turn, as five missing women are now linked to the home connected to Eugene Horsch. Investigators continue to sift through more than one million images and videos recovered from the property, while new evidence and newly surfaced photographs are adding to the questions surrounding what happened inside the house—and what investigators may still uncover.In this Friday edition of UNMARKED, producer Jon Nadeau joins me to break down the new information in the Eugene Horsch story and how the story goes all the way back to the 1970sThen we get to your questions: Is Casey Anthony capable of telling the truth, what happened to the children of the Manson family and the story behind James freeing an innocent victim from prison. Have a question for the show? Leave it in the comments on Youtube or Apple Podcasts, DM @ Unmarkedpodcast on Instagram, or find me directly @ JamesBuddyDay.

What if Casey Anthony finally told the truth—would anyone believe her?Nearly twenty years after Caylee Anthony disappeared, the case remains one of the most controversial mysteries in American true crime. Casey lied about her job, invented a nanny, misled investigators and waited 31 days before her daughter was reported missing. But a jury still found her not guilty of murder.In this episode of UNMARKED, I sit down with lead prosecutor Jeff Ashton and challenge him on the evidence, the timeline and the questions I still have about what happened on June 16, 2008. I also speak with reporter Steve Helling, revisit the places at the center of the case, and dig into Casey’s extraordinary pattern of lying.Research in This Episode:Tejasvi Kainth et al. (2026), “Pseudologia fantastica: a systematic review of sociodemographic features and psychiatric comorbidities,” Annals of Medicine & Surgery, 88(7), 4487–4497. Miethe, S., Wigger, J., Wartemann, A., Fuchs, F. O., & Trautmann, S. (2023). “Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and its Association with Rumination, Thought Suppression and Experiential Avoidance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 45, 480–495.Show Notes:If you want to go deeper into the Charles Manson case, my book Charles Manson: The Last Words documents years researching the story and speaking directly with members of the Manson Family — including Charles Manson himself. Read it here:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7If you want to follow the cases as I’m working on them, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbuddyday/For those who want to examine the evidence directly, complete phone calls and documents are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files, our research portal, along with ad-free episodes.Join here:https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastUNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.