Serial Killers

In 1989, Kristen Gilbert started her nursing career at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts. She impressed medical staff for her quick and skilled reactions to emergencies on her ward and in the ICU. But over the following seven years, so much death occurred during her shifts that she gained the moniker “The Angel of Death.” Was it a coincidence, or was Kristen Gilbert killing her patients? Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1975, two young girls, Kate and Sheila Lyon, disappeared from the Wheaton Plaza Mall in Montgomery County, Maryland. Investigators assumed the worst: that they were abducted by a stranger with sexual motivations. But the case went cold without answers — and all these years later, the truth is still complicated. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Based on a tip from a former cellmate, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock drove for miles across Kansas to get to the Clutter family home. Their plan was to steal the family's hidden safe and then kill them, but things didn't go as planned. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All Anthony Garcia ever wanted to be was a successful doctor.  When anyone got in his way, he attacked – resulting in four violent murders. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Israel Keyes died having only confessed to a handful of murders and crimes. Researchers and investigators are left piecing together evidence to solve cold cases. Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of six months in 2012, Israel Keyes sits down with the FBI for a series of interviews. In between toying with investigators and bargaining for what he wants, he confesses to a handful of other crimes — while alluding to a whole lot more. Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2012, Israel Keyes is arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old barista. Prior to that, he’d had just one blemish on his criminal record: a DUI. He’s since been called “the most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of.” Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman took one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule to ease her sore throat and mysteriously died less than four hours later. The same day, three members of the Janus family ingested Tylenol. Brothers Adam and Stanley died hours later. Theresa, Stanley’s wife, experienced chest pain and was rushed to the hospital, where she passed away two days later. In that span of time, two more victims – Mary Reiner and Mary McFarland – met similar fates. Shortly after, Paula Prince was discovered dead in her apartment All seven victims were living in the Chicago area; all seven had taken Extra-Strength Tylenol. Authorities determined the capsules had been laced with deadly potassium cyanide; a task force was promptly assembled; and Tylenol’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, swiftly removed products from shelves amid growing concern around the country. Soon, they introduced tamper-proof packaging that became ubiquitous for medications and other products. And yet, the crime remains unsolved to this day. One name loomed large in the field of suspects connected to the unsolved 1982 Chicago Tylenol Murders: James Lewis. Investigators could never prove he did it, but Lewis held a certain fascination anyway. Why? Who was this man – and could he really have committed such an evil crime? CBS Chicago investigative reporter Brad Edwards decided to trace Lewis’s past to answer those questions for the docuseries PainKiller: The Tylenol Murders, on Paramount Plus. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In July 2023, Rex Heuermann was arrested and charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello. Additional charges came in January 2024 for the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery joins the show to talk about the 16-year investigation, the apathy toward sex workers, and the lives and families of the Gilgo Four. The audiobook edition of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker is available for Spotify Premium Subscribers in our Audiobook catalog, where you can check it out after listening to this episode. To buy the hard copy, you can visit: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lost-girls-robert-kolker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Olivia Hope and Ben Smart were partying with their friends on New Year’s Eve in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand. As the party was dying down they accepted an offer from a stranger to come aboard his yacht. They were never heard from again. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In October 1983, police found Gertrude McCabe dead inside her San Jose home: Who would murder an 88-year-old woman in such a violent fashion? Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com — This episode is sponsored by ABC’s Will Trent, last season’s most talked-about new crime series. Special agent Will Trent has an eye for the crucial clues that close even the toughest cases. He uses his amazing gift for reading crime scenes to catch kidnappers, murderers – even a serial killer. Watch Season 2 of Will Trent, at its new time, Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and stream on Hulu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During a 1972 snowstorm, musical prodigy Lee Morgan and his band played a set at Slug’s Saloon in New York City. One minute, he was entertaining the crowd, his trumpet blaring with solo after solo. The next, he was dead. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes violence comes from the people you least expect. ​Annie Elise, host of SERIALously and 10 to Life, joins Vanessa to discuss two shocking murders, overlooked warning signs, and how all of us can prevent future tragedies. The case of Brenda Delgado and Ricky Paniagua begins at (2:53), and the case of Morgan McCaffery and Gilbert Newton III begins at (17:17). Annie and Vanessa share their final thoughts and the resources available to all of us starting at (28:11). Visit https://impact.byspotify.com/serialkillers to learn more, get support, and take action on the specific types of abuse in this episode. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence in any form, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, confidential support 24/7. Call 1-800-799-SAFE, or visit TheHotline.org. If you need support for a teen or young person experiencing dating abuse, visit the Love is Respect website at https://www.loveisrespect.org/. For mental health resources and global domestic violence resources, you can visit https://resources.byspotify.com/ Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores the music references Manson’s followers left at the crime scenes, how the crimes reverberated through the music business, and why Charles Manson blamed the murders on The Beatles. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores how Manson’s failed music career morphed into a murder cult. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

50 years ago to this day, Dennis Rader, aka BTK, killed four members of the Otero family. These murders were his first of ten, and he would play cat-and-mouse games with media and law enforcement for the next 30 years before his own ego got him captured. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A fire in the beautiful LaLaurie mansion reveals some ugly secrets. In this episode we recount the events of the night in 1834 when Delphine went from being the queen of Creole society to one of its most reviled citizens. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast and Tiktok @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Her New Orleans mansion is said to be haunted, but the truth behind the legend of Delphine LaLaurie is much scarier than a ghost lurking in the corner. Join Vanessa as she recounts the life and horror of the infamous mistress. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast and Tiktok @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year. After Robert Garrow committed his first murder, he retreated to Adirondack Park to hide in the wilderness. But the peaceful atmosphere of the woods only agitated him more, leading him to go on a gruesome murder spree in the Adirondack Mountains. And even after being caught, he still planned to continue killing. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast and Tiktok @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year. He grew up without any friends and suffered severe head injuries due to abuse from his parents. As Robert Garrow got older, he turned to crimes like larceny and burglary. But eventually, he gave way to darker and more twisted impulses. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast and Tiktok @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices