True Crime Uncensored with Burl Barer and Mark Boyer

Kerrie M. Droban is an award-winning author and attorney in Phoenix, Arizona. Droban’s true crime books Running with Devil: The True Story of the ATF’s Infiltration of the Hells Angels and Prodigal Father Pagan Son: Growing Up Inside the Dangerous World of the Pagans Motorcycle Gang have received critical acclaim.

Kevin M. Suilivan joins host Burl Barer for a fascinating discussion of the Indian wars, Ted Bundy and what it is like to research and write true crime

For years Lori Orr believed her Los Angeles firefighter dad was a selfless hero. When Lori’s dad was arrested and charged with four murders and countless arson fires, it was her testimony that helped keep him from being sent to Death Row. Eventually, Lori’s search for the truth lead her to the dark secrets lurking in her family’s past and to an inescapable conclusion about the remorseless killer and arsonist known as the "Pillowcase Pyro" and his reign of terror in sunny Southern California.

 Break Free from Anxiety, Anger, and Stress Using Advanced Discoveries in Neuropsychology. A fun and fascinating show! We get into the "criminal aspects" of the topic, why people willingly believe nonsense and turn their brains off to join cults that believe in conspiracy theories, or are willing to turn control of their lives over to fascist dictators, past or present.

https://www.amazon.com/HIGH-Confessions-Leonard-Lee-Buschel/dp/1737926601/ If National Lampoon published a hysterically funny and mildly offensive parody of recovery memoirs, it couldn’t be as funny and mildly offensive as this autobiography of Leonard Lee Buschel, co-founder of Writers in Treatment, producers of the internationally acclaimed Reel Recovery Film Festivals, the Experience Strength and Hope Awards, and publishers of the Addiction/Recovery e-Bulletin. HIGH is far more than a vastly entertaining recovery memoir. It is an open emotional summons, a sincere invitation to a life lived awake and alert, a life vibrating at a higher frequency of increased creativity and joy, and if you so desire, social inclusion, fun, fellowship, and plenty of free coffee.

Now a summer 2023 ViX Original series based on this book byRon Chepesiuk.Carlos Lehder is one of the most important and fascinating individuals in the history of drug trafficking and the U.S. War on Drugs. Lehder was the drug kingpin who developed the transportation system that helped flood the flood the U.S. with drugs from Latin America. This is the first biography of Lehder. Born in 1949, Carlo Lehder rose from a struggling, small time pot dealer to become a major godfather in the Medellin cartel, the crime syndicate largely responsible for initiating the cocaine epidemic plaguing American society since the late 1970s. Federal U.S. prosecutor Robert Merkle, who successfully prosecuted Lehder in 1988, said that the drug lord "was to cocaine transportation what Henry Ford was to automobiles" because he was the mastermind behind the transportation network that revolutionized the international drug trade. Lehder's genius was to devise a sophisticated transportation system that allowed the Medellin cartel to transport huge quantities of cocaine from Colombia, the source country, to the U.S., the world's major illegal drug market. By 1987, the DEA and the Colombian government had put Lehder's net wealth at more than $3 billion. A great admirer of both Nazi icon Adolph Hitler and Marxist Che Guevara, Lehder hated the U.S. and viewed cocaine as a kind of atomic bomb that could destroy Uncle Sam from within. Lehder got the nickname, "Crazy Charlie," because of his bizarre and often unpredictable behavior.

A producer for CNN during the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, McDougal has won more than fifty honors, including a George Foster Peabody Award. In addition to his famed best-selling true crime classics, he is the award-winning biographer of Jack Nicholson, Bob Dylan, Universal Studios chieftain Lew Wasserman and the Los Angeles Times’ Otis Chandler. He has lectured in journalism and creative writing at UCLA, Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Long Beach, but his biggest thrill is laughing and trading one liners with Burl Barer and Mark Boyer on True Crime Uncensored!

A true treat for true crime fans as Burl Barer and Ron Chepesiuk talk the nuts and bolts of investigating and writing true crime. Henry Louis Wallace terrorized Charlotte, North Carolina, from May 1992 to March 1994. Wallace preyed on lower economic class Black women between 17 and 35 years old. He knew most of his victims, some through his job at Taco Bell, and gained their trust with his friendly demeanor and gentle nature—concealing a monster fueled by drug abuse and rage against women. A rarity in that he was an African American serial killer, his murderous rampage spurred controversy throughout the city. Community members accused local police of ignoring the murders because of the victims' race. Wallace attended the funerals of many of his victims and offered condolences to families. The ensuing investigation became the largest in North Carolina’s history. Wallace was eventually found guilty and convicted of nine counts of murder, but he admitted to more killings while incarcerated; he is potentially responsible for anywhere from 20 to 90 deaths of Black women. Wallace continues to appeal and awaits his execution at Central Prison in Raleigh. BAD HENRY: The Murderous Rampage of ‘The Taco Bell Strangler’ by Ron Chepesiuk offers valuable insight into the psychology of serial killers and sheds light on issues surrounding race and policing.

https://www.amazon.com/SECRETS-HOLLYWOOD-PRIVATE-Fred-Wolfson-ebook/dp/B002LE7KEW Secrets of a Hollywood Private Eye is a white-hot, page turner expose of cheating spouses, greedy conmen, easily duped superstars, jealous directors, kidnapped children, and every type of civil and criminal caper imaginable in a town known for tinsel and glitter.This compelling compendium of stranger than fiction cases from the files of Fred Wolfson, PI, take him not only to the exclusive Bel Air and Beverly Hills haunts of the rich and famous, but also to the hooker strewn street corners of seedy Hollywood Blvd, criminal hideouts in South America, and terrorist investigations in Saudi Arabia.Whether Wolfson is tracking down missing money for Caesars Palace, outfoxing an international swindler, or breaking up a black market of stolen children, all the action is one-hundred percent true. The real bonus is that Wolfson doesn’t simply recount his adventures, but he shares the methods, both legal and otherwise, that made him the most in-demand and respected private detective of our time.The famous names drop like quarters in a Vegas slot machine – The Rolling Stones, Roseanne Barr, Groucho Marx , Zsa Zsa Gabor, Michael Jackson, Rodney King, and the list goes on.Wolfson’s fascinating reminiscences detail exactly how to tell when someone is lying, cheating or stealing from you. You’ll learn the tragic consequence of failing to conduct a simple background check, how to find out the truth about anyone, and most intriguing of all, how Fred Wolfson “hired himself” to get back millions of dollars that was stolen from him by someone he loved and trusted; someone who thought they had the perfect plan, but they didn’t plan on Fred Wolfson living long enough to bring them to justice.About the authorFred Wolfson, PI, is America’s most famous private detective and executive producer of the successful USA Network reality TV series, CASE CLOSED. He has also acted as consultant to L.A. Law, Murder She Wrote, Picket Fences and numerous others hit crime dramas.

In 1958, 19-year-old Charlie Starkweather went on a murder spree that paralyzed Nebraska, shocked the nation, and left 11 people dead. With him when he was captured was his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend Caril Fugate. The question soon arose, was Caril a kidnapped victim, or a heartless accomplice?Appointed to her case, attorney John McArthur initially accepted the assignment out of a sense of constitutional duty. But as he delved deeper, he found that the truth was far more complicated than anyone was letting on. Up against incredible odds, and with a strong conviction of her innocence, McArthur remained with Caril and fought for her freedom for 18 years. For this service, he took no pay, accepting the case pro bono.This book follows the long struggle of McArthur, his partner Merril Reller, and John's son James as they took on the Nebraska legal system and a public that had already determined Caril's guilt before ever hearing a word of testimony. The story continues through all it influenced, such as Stephen King, who became a horror writer because of it, Bruce Springsteen, who wrote a whole album about it, Terrence Malick, Oliver Stone, Martin Sheen, and Peter Jackson, who wrote his first major movie based on the Starkweather-Fugate incident.Pro Bono explores aspects of this incredible story that have never been revealed before, and sheds new light on these terrifying and complex events.

STEALING MANHATTAN...The long awaited much anticipated and often dreaded first entry in the trilogy now exists....listen and be amazed.

The gripping story of a young woman’s murder, unsolved for more than two decades, brilliantly investigated and reconstructed by her stepsister. Growing up, Rachel Rear knew the story of Stephanie Kupchynsky’s disappearance. The beautiful violinist and teacher had fled an abusive relationship on Martha’s Vineyard and made a new start for herself near Rochester, NY. She was at the height of her life - in a relationship with a man she hoped to marry and close to her students and her family. And then, one morning, she was gone. Around Rochester - a region that has spawned such serial killers as Arthur Shawcross and the 'Double Initial' killer - Stephanie’s disappearance was just a familiar sort of news item. But Rachel had more reason than most to be haunted by this particular story of a missing woman: Rachel’s mother had married Stephanie’s father after the crime, and Rachel grew up in the shadow of her stepsister’s legacy. In Catch the Sparrow, Rachel Rear writes a compulsively listenable and unerringly poignant reconstruction of the case's dark and serpentine path across more than two decades. Obsessively cataloguing the crime and its costs, drawing intimately closer to the details than any journalist could, she reveals how a dysfunctional justice system laid the groundwork for Stephanie's murder and stymied the investigation for more than 20 years, and what those hard years meant for the lives of Stephanie’s family and loved ones. Startling, thrilling and deeply moving, Catch the Sparrow is a retelling of a crime like no other.

On February 13, 2017, two Indiana teenagers, Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, went for a walk in the woods near the abandoned Monon High Bridge. They never returned home. Their bodies were discovered on Valentine's Day morning, sparking a torrent of news coverage and social media speculation that engrossed the attention of people around the world. A grainy photo of the suspected killer walking across the bridge and a chilling cellphone recording of his voice saying "down the hill" captured the public's attention. Numerous possible suspects were brought to the attention of the authorities but dismissed, leaving everyone wondering who could have committed such a heinous crime. THE DELPHI MURDERS : Author Nic Edwards, host of the wildly popular True Crime Garage podcast, was fascinated by the case and for years conducted his own extensive research and commentary. As such he was able to dissect the investigation that included an extensive list of possible suspects, such as a hatchet-wielding lunatic, a kidnapper with unusual tattoos, a murderous pastor, a rapist, and a father and son catfishing team. Then in late October 2022, local pharmacy technician Richard Allen was charged with the murders. His arrest raised multiple questions about how he was able to evade law enforcement for so long and what motivated him to commit such a horrific crime. In The Delphi Murders: The Quest To Find ‘The Man on the Bridge’, Edwards and his best-selling coauthor Brian Whitney (You Have a Very Soft Voice, Susan) provide a detailed account of the investigation from the day the girls’ bodies were found to the events leading up to Allen's arrest, and unique insight into the minds of the killer and those who worked tirelessly to bring him to justice.

In the early morning of October 18, 1986, Cherie Wier’s life collapses when her teenage son takes the life of her beloved husband. For years, Cherie grapples with events preceding and following the crime, struggling to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from her loss and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts, only add to Cherie’s yearning to make sense of the crime. She is tormented, wanting to know how and WHY this tragedy happened and if there was anything she could have done to prevent it . . .

On Christmas Night 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. She had been strangled with a garrote and her skull was fractured. The media sensationalized the tragic death of the “child beauty queen” and public speculation and rumors ran rampant. What followed was one of the most notorious unsolved murder investigations in American history. Boulder police fixated on JonBenet’s parents as suspects. Needing investigative help, the Boulder DA brought in legendary homicide detective Lou Smit. However, he was soon disenchanted with law enforcement’s obsession with the Ramsey family as the primary suspects, excluding other possibilities. Smit resigned but continued to work on his own time, and at his own expense, determined to find justice for JonBenet. He determined the Ramsey family was not involved in her death but died in 2010 before he could identify the killer. Thousands of people attended his funeral service, including John Ramsey, and the detective’s lifelong friend and colleague, John Anderson. Along with a handful of retired detectives, Anderson and Smit’s family continue to pursue justice based on Smit’s work. Now, for the first time in LOU AND JONBENET, Anderson tells the story of Smit’s investigation and why the Smit family team now believes that the killer can be identified.

Ken and Mark share stories of corruption and crime by officers of the law, while Burl asks questions and makes his usual smart -a** remarks.

Toxic Rage: A Tale Of Murder In Tucson - Amazon.com Three years after Stidham moved to Tucson, his life ended in an empty, darkened parking lot. But who would murder such a nice man in such a violent manner?

Wade "Chip" Williamson did think there was any danger is having his wife's former boyfriend over  to the house.  WRONG. The ex boyfriend  roughs up the wife and threatens to kill the husband.  When the boy friend  tries to kill the husband, Chip shoots him in self defense. He is surprised when he is charged with first degree murder. 

An Outrageous Theory For Murder! On December 9, 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, NC home. Her scalp was laced with deep incisions, and her blood was strewn from outside to inside the house. The sinister truth of that night turned her murder into North Carolina's most enigmatic criminal case, capturing media attention across the globe. Police zeroed in on Kathleen’s husband, Michael Peterson, and charged him with murder. But Was It The Truth? A neighbor, Larry Pollard, came up with an alternative “killer;” he claimed an owl had attacked Kathleen outside her house. He said it sliced her scalp with its fierce talons and caused her to run inside, collapsing at the stairwell, and bleeding to death. When the media heard about his theory, Larry was mocked. And Michael was convicted. Now, twenty years later, author Tiddy Smith explores Pollard’s theory and questions whether law enforcement ignored, or even hid, evidence to convict Michael Peterson. And was an owl, in fact, the real killer?

Burl gave previous guest, author and musician Pat Craig, an assignment: find examples of Amish criminals and bring them back to the show.  Pat did as requested, even finding an Amish serial killer!