Serial Killers

Hi listeners! After this week, we'll be taking a short break for the holiday. We'll be back in December with a special series to close out the year. Until then, here's Ed Gein Pt. 2. After murdering two women, robbing graves, and decorating his home with human body parts, Ed Gein found himself arrested and in the media’s spotlight. We look into his trial, institutionalization, and the public’s fascination with him… a fascination that still lives on today. Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We explore the twisted mind of Ed Gein, whose gruesome killings inspired horror movies Pyscho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Gein was known for years as the local handyman in Plainfield, until it was uncovered in 1957 that he killed two women and robbed the graves of multiple other women. Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Halloween this year we are bringing back one of your favorites, an urban legend about a terrifying Texas child-killer… and discussing how real-life cases echo the legend. Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Halloween this year we are bringing back one of your favorites. In 1996, a new horror movie with an innovative twist would reinvigorate the slasher genre. But behind the fictional Ghostface was an inspiration steeped in reality. A man in a makeshift mask who stalked and tormented teenage girls during a three-day murderous rampage. A man known as the Gainesville Ripper. Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode first aired on November 18, 2024. Across the U.S., college-aged men have been found dead in rivers, lakes, and ponds, and while their deaths have been ruled accidental, a team of retired detectives believes something more nefarious is going on. We’re joined by producer Chelsea Wood and co-hosts Aine Cain and Kevin Greenlee from The Murder Sheet.  Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode first aired on April 14, 2025. The sordid story of Chad and Lori Daybell hit national news in 2020: missing children, suspicious deaths, and a trail of fringe religious beliefs. We’re diving in with author and former criminal defense attorney Lori Hellis, whose book Children of Darkness and Light unpacks the twists of this case.   Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode first aired on August 19, 2024. He’s been called many names: the Boogeyman, the Thrill Vulture, the Moon Maniac, the Werewolf of Wysteria… But in life, he was known as Albert Fish and his gruesome crimes redefined the limits of human depravity.  Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode first aired on January 15, 2018. On the outside, Jane Toppan seemed like a loving nurse who cared deeply for her patients. But for years, she used her nursing skills to experiment with medicines…and kill the people who trusted her the most.  Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She dressed like a grandmother, lied about her age, and acted like a guardian angel… while secretly killing the very people she claimed to help. At her Sacramento boarding house, Dorothea Puente took in elderly, sick and disabled tenants. But once their social security checks arrived, she killed them, then spent all their money. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Biegenwald didn’t have a consistent method or a clear motive. He killed out of impulse—sometimes for attention, sometimes for no reason at all. His crimes were scattered, senseless, and terrifyingly casual. From luring teens to shooting strangers, Biegenwald thrived on chaos and unpredictability. With no victim profile and no emotional trigger, he’s a textbook example of a hedonistic thrill killer—driven not by anger or revenge, but by the rush of the act itself. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeffrey Dahmer seemed quiet, even unassuming. But beneath the surface was a man consumed by violent desire. He didn’t kill out of anger—he killed to satisfy a fantasy. Every detail was deliberate, from the way he lured his victims to the way he posed their bodies. Driven by arousal, obsession, and control, he found pleasure not just in death, but in what came after. With his ritualistic methods and fixation on domination, he’s a textbook example of a hedonistic lust killer. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Florida cop dedicated his life to fighting crime. But in his mind, the only way to truly clean up the streets, was to become a killer himself. So Manuel “Manny” Pardo killed nine people. And even in jail, he claimed his family would see him as a hero. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The visionary killer blames their crimes on an external force – an apparition who commands them to kill. In Joseph Kallinger’s case, multiple entities urging him to commit arson… and then, to kill everyone on planet Earth. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ted Bundy was calculated, composed, even charming. But behind the polished exterior was a predator obsessed with control. He used manipulation, deceit, and dominance to gain total power over his victims. From his carefully planned attacks to his detailed confessions, Ted Bundy is a textbook case of a power and control killer. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2022, Six weeks after the murders of the Idaho Four, Bryan Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania. Fast forward to July of 2025, when just weeks before his trial was set to begin, he pleaded guilty. Later that month, he was sentenced to life in prison. ABC News Kayna Whitworth joins to talk about who Bryan is, what the evidence is, and what role his criminology background may have played in the crimes. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, four students at the University of Idaho were murdered in their off-campus home. The shocking brutality of the murders garnered media attention while police searched for the killer. But for author and private investigator J. Reuben Appelman, the story was personal: his own daughter was a student at the same college as the victims. And he wanted to know about the people behind the story. Who were Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle in life? Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast. J.’s book, While Idaho Slept: The Hunt For Answers in the Murders of Four College Students, is available now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Hook Man is an urban legend dating back to the 1950s. The terrifying story tells of a killer with a hook for a hand who preys on young couples parked in lovers’ lanes. The legend found new life in the 1997 slasher film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is being rebooted in 2025. But this story is more than just campfire fuel. The legend was possibly inspired by the Texarkana Moonlight Murders of 1946 – a string of unsolved attacks by a masked assailant known only as The Phantom Killer. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a young boy vanished in 1911, police received mysterious postcards. The horrifying allegations and broad inconsistencies led them to believe the notes were a hoax – until it was too late. With one victim recovered, police faced the question: what other murders could these postcards solve? Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May, 1985. Two days before her high school graduation, Shari Faye Smith was abducted from her parents’ driveway in broad daylight. Her kidnapper taunted Shari’s family by phone for days, calling in the middle of the night and revealing bone-chilling details of his crime. With little evidence to go on, South Carolina investigators brought in FBI criminal profiler John Douglas and his colleagues, who used the recorded phone calls to create a profile of their UNSUB. About 2 weeks later, 9-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped in a similar manner. When both girls turned up dead, investigators realized they had a probable serial killer on their hands – and they needed to find him before he could strike again. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ervil LeBaron, the prophet of a Fundamentalist LDS sect in Mexico, has grasped power after being released from prison for orchestrating his brother’s murder. Now, Ervil has a list of names of those who have turned their back against his leadership. By reinstating the religious doctrine of blood atonement, Ervil compels his followers to murder his opponents and family members in his name. This episode features guest host Madison McGhee of Ice Cold Case. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices