Crimes Of The Times

For over forty years, the Golden State Killer terrorized California with 13 murders, 50 rapes, and 120 burglaries before vanishing without a trace. In 2018, investigators made history by using a public genealogy database to track down Joseph DeAngelo, revolutionizing criminal investigations forever and finally bringing closure to countless victims.

Both demanded newspapers publish their writings. Both taunted police with coded messages. But while the Unabomber's manifesto led to his capture, the Zodiac's ciphers kept his identity hidden forever. We explore how two of America's most infamous killers weaponized the press—with wildly different outcomes.

You'd think criminals planning elaborate crimes would proofread their messages—but you'd be wrong. From bank robbers to kidnappers, we're counting down five cases where terrible spelling became the smoking gun that cracked the case. Turns out spell-check could have kept these perpetrators out of prison.

On Thanksgiving Eve 1971, a man in a business suit hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305, extorted $200,000, and jumped into a thunderstorm over Washington state—never to be seen again. For over 50 years, the FBI pursued thousands of leads, analyzed deteriorating evidence, and chased suspects across the country, only to officially close the case in 2016 with zero answers. We're diving deep into the only unsolved case of air piracy in U.S. history.

While the Great Depression gripped America, two criminal phenomena captured the public's imagination in wildly different ways. We examine how Bonnie and Clyde's lovers-on-the-run mystique contrasted with John Dillinger's celebrity bank robber persona, and why the FBI's hunt for these outlaws helped shape modern law enforcement—even as newspapers turned them into folk heroes.