Serial Killers

Before he was the subject of HBO’s “The Jinx,” he was the son of a wealthy real estate developer who had everything at his disposal. As he grows up he finds a best friend in Susan Berman and marries his first wife Kathie. Within decades, they’d both be gone — one vanished, one murdered.  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was bullied at school and abused by his mother. As an adult, he had violent fantasies of raping and strangling women. But Carroll Cole's first murder was actually as a child. And once he did it, he couldn't stop fantasizing about doing it again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the time he aged out of the foster system, Vincent Johnson had already shown signs of being violent. As an adult, he became increasingly unstable while living on the streets of Brooklyn. Then as his rage grew, he targeted women in his neighborhood, some of whom knew each other.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No matter where Bill Suff lived, he was seen mainly by neighbors and co-workers as a helpful and happy man. It was a massive shock to them, and especially his wife, when he was indicted on 14 murder counts and one count of attempted murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was the late 1960s when Bill Suff, the oldest of five children, was forced into a co-parenting role after his dad walked out on the family. His lack of control over the world around him made him angry. And one day, he would let out all that anger in a violent fashion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the weeks after their third murder, Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky disappear into the woods of northern Manitoba, over a thousand miles away from where their killing spree began. The RCMP throws their resources into the investigation, but the biggest headway comes from a local man named Billy Beardy — an expert hunter and Cree Nation trapper who knows the land better than anyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the start of a new special series on Serial Killers, we’re delving into the minds of killers on the run — cracking open some of the largest manhunts ever undertaken. Our first episode takes us into the vast wilderness of Northern Canada, where the discovery of three bodies along remote highways begins an unprecedented search for a pair of killers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1980s, Richard Angelo was a Long Island native working as a nurse in the ICU. He’d found his passion — emergency medicine — in college. But somewhere along the way, his drive to be a hero took an ugly detour. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While the Stocking Strangler terrorized a Georgia suburb, another killer stalked military bases in the state. William Henry Hance was an army officer with an eruptive temper who was charged with the murders of three women. Police caught onto his crimes in part because Hance wrote them letters blaming the attacks on an evil cabal named the Forces of Evil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a confession leads police down the wrong path, they establish the Strangling Task Force and redouble their efforts. 27-year-old Carlton Gary keeps up appearances, until he’s arrested for the last time. For police, it’s an open-and-shut case. Yet Carlton maintains his innocence until the very end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For several terrifying months in the 1970s, elderly women in a Georgia suburb were turning up dead or brutally injured in their homes. The murders set the community on edge as police reckoned with a serial strangler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1946, the mysterious Phantom Killer who had terrorized the town of Texarkana for months disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. With little evidence to go on, the police home in on one suspect. But justice proves harder to come by than they'd hoped. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1946, the city of Texarkana was plagued by a series of attacks and murders on couples parked in their cars. Police, however, failed to act quickly enough, potentially giving the murderer enough time to get away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The spree continues into Christmas Day and beyond, during which the teen gang murders their third, fourth, fifth and sixth victims. After a tip, police catch the group wearing victims’ clothing, driving a victim’s stolen car, and in possession of the guns they used in their murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early hours of Christmas Eve 1992, a senseless murder in Dayton, Ohio, marks the beginning of a rampage. What started as a desire for Christmas cash turns into a three-day killing spree that leaves six people dead. Even more shocking was that the brazen killers were just teens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eddie’s crimes escalated in the ‘90s as he continued to dodge police. By 1996, he had attacked eight people, killing three of them. But unlike the original Zodiac Killer, Eddie didn’t stay anonymous for long.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twenty years after the notorious Zodiac Killer terrorized San Francisco, someone else picked up their mantle. Heriberto “Eddie” Seda was a Brooklyn native and one-time street preacher who began targeting victims and taunting police with cryptic letters. His plan: kill twelve people — one of each Zodiac sign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once back in the U.S., Maust serves time for manslaughter before regaining his freedom. He continues befriending teenage boys who fill his need for companionship. But time and again, Maust caves to his violent urges. Despite his guilt, and his spontaneous ability to stop himself mid-murder attempt, he takes four more lives by 2004. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A volatile childhood and stints in a hospital psych ward set the stage for a violent killer who murdered teenage boys in Germany and the U.S. from the 1970s to the early aughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the ages, arsenic has had many lives — beauty fad, household product, medical prescription… and weapon of choice wielded by killers everywhere from Alabama to ancient Rome. Brine your turkey, knead your dough, and listen to our Thanksgiving Special on the regime-changing, assassination-aiding King of Poisons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices