The Murder Police Podcast

Send us Fan MailA single detail flips the whole ending: “We’re not following you with the disguise, we’re following the tracers.” From there, the Tree House story stops feeling like a stylized true crime hit and starts sounding like what it really is, a chain of choices, pressure, and consequences that never fully leaves the people who lived it. We sit down with Steven Meyers alongside former FBI agent Shawn Johnson to revisit the final stretch of the Seattle bank robbery saga and the moment it becomes clear it will not end with an escape. We talk through the eerie buildup Steven describes, including apparitions, unsettling “energy,” and prophetic dreams that seemed to point toward the last robbery days before it happened. Shawn shares how the case still returns to him every Thanksgiving, and we unpack what that kind of long-term weight looks like for law enforcement families, not just the victims and offenders the public usually hears about. From the poetic irony of a man who prized freedom ending his life confined in a cold camper, to the blunt reality that there were “no winners,” we keep circling back to meaning rather than mythology. We also get into the mechanics and escalation: early robbery mistakes, the push toward vaults, surveillance, vehicles, and even talk of radio strategy that edges into jamming police frequencies. If you watched the Netflix documentary and felt like something was missing, you’re not alone. Hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend who loves long-form true crime, and leave us a review so more people can find the full story. The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 1 of 6        7/28/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 2 of 6        8/4/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 3 of 6        8/11/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 4 of 6        8/18/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 5 of 6        8/25/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 6 of 6        9/1/2026David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailA bank robber and the FBI investigator who chased him do not usually end up swapping stories and laughing about dinner next to a vault, but that’s where this chapter of the Hollywood case leads. We sit down with Steven Meyers and Shawn Johnson to talk through what the Netflix documentary hints at, what it skips, and what it gets wrong by omission. Steven brings the lived detail behind The Tree House, including the original prison manuscript packed with scenes, subplots, and character moments that never make it to screen. Shawn brings the investigative lens: patterns, predictability, and the frustrating reality that one tiny slip can generate a lead that takes years to fully understand. Along the way, we unpack a name mistake that put “Mark” into the story, the role of tracers, and why a disguise does not matter when the money itself is marked. We also get tactical, because the planning is the point. Why stormy and rainy nights? Why late afternoons? Why avoid lunchtime? Steven explains how fewer bank patrons reduce danger, while weather and traffic chaos slow response times. Shawn adds how investigators think about likely targets, neighborhood similarities, and the broader spike in West Coast bank robberies along the I-5 corridor. If you care about true crime that respects facts, motive, and method, you’ll leave with a clearer picture of how bank robberies work and how cases finally close. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves investigative stories, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show. The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 1 of 6        7/28/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 2 of 6        8/4/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 3 of 6        8/11/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 4 of 6        8/18/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 5 of 6        8/25/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 6 of 6        9/1/2026David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailA trenchcoat in blazing sun should never be the detail that ends you, but in Portland it nearly did. Part Four of The Treehouse story digs into the robbery that went sideways fast, when “Hollywood” walks into a bank expecting storm cover and instead meets clear skies, a watchful drive-thru witness, and the kind of radio traffic that forces a no-money abort. If you’re here for real-world criminal tradecraft and the thin line between planning and luck, this is where it gets painfully clear. We talk through how the crew built its edge: weather checks, disguises, police scanner awareness, and getaway vehicle strategy designed to leave investigators chasing shadows. Steven Meyers explains the intense focus of the job, the fear, and the release that only comes after they’re back at The Treehouse. Shawn Johnson brings the FBI perspective, showing why serial bank robbery behaves like a pattern crime and how investigators look for those patterns across locations, routes, and timing. You’ll hear how something as mundane as license plates or new tires can become the thread that pulls a case together. Then the conversation turns sober. Shawn reflects on knowing “Hollywood” but never meeting Scott Skurlock as a person, and why a case can end without celebration, without closure, and with lasting impact on victims inside the banks. We close on what professionalism is supposed to look like in law enforcement: protecting partners and the public, getting home safe, and avoiding unnecessary force. Subscribe for more, share this with a true crime friend, and leave a five-star rating and review. What detail in this story do you think mattered most: the weather, the plates, the tires, or the timing?The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 1 of 6        7/28/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 2 of 6        8/4/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 3 of 6        8/11/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 4 of 6        8/18/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 5 of 6        8/25/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 6 of 6        9/1/2026David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailA bank robber walks into a bank with a face that looks almost human, just wrong enough that people glance away instead of staring. That single social reflex can buy the seconds needed to control a room, and it sits at the center of our conversation about Scott “Hollywood” Skurlock and the disguise work that made his run so hard to stop. We talk with Steven Meyers about the craft behind prosthetic disguises: sculpting components, cutting wigs, building looks that shift with the weather, and even planning how to strip everything off in seconds with a simple kit. Shawn Johnson brings the investigator view, from how the FBI and local agencies tracked patterns, to why surveillance images and public tip lines can help and hurt at the same time. We also dig into the strategy that keeps things calm on purpose, not out of mercy, but to avoid unpredictable resistance, extra charges, and the spiral that turns a robbery into a shooting. Then the story widens into the Olympia treehouse compound, a place described as magical, improvised, and completely outside the normal rules. We walk through the final Thanksgiving timeline, how pressure and outside relationships start to crack a carefully controlled “work period,” and what happens to the people left standing when the chase ends. Subscribe for more, leave a five-star written review, and share the show with a friend. What detail about the disguises or the treehouse stuck with you most?  The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 1 of 6        7/28/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 2 of 6        8/4/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 3 of 6        8/11/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 4 of 6        8/18/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 5 of 6        8/25/2026The Treehouse. The Story Netflix Couldn't Tell | Part 6 of 6        9/1/2026David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailYou think you know what a bank robbery looks like, until you hear how a “face” can do more than a gun. We talk through the unsettling mechanics behind the “Hollywood” robberies, where prosthetic disguises, wigs, and deliberate imperfection created a psychological blind spot. When tellers looked away to avoid embarrassing someone who seemed disfigured, politeness became part of the plan, and that detail changes how you understand threat, attention, and human instinct.We also pull back the curtain on the practical side of bank robbery investigations in the Seattle area: the limits of old surveillance video, the reality that most robbers aren’t “professionals,” and why escalation is a trap you can’t easily walk back from. The conversation digs into crowd control, repeat hits on the same banks, and the logic of minimizing confrontation to reduce unpredictable resistance and harsher charges.Then the story widens into Olympia’s infamous treehouse compound, a sprawling off-grid world of walkways, parties, and isolation that felt “magical” to the people inside it. Long hikes in the Olympics and near Mount Rainier become planning sessions, until pressure, fatigue, and personal choices collide in the final stretch: a changed plan, a girlfriend arriving at the worst time, a search warrant, and the aftermath that leaves lingering questions about what she knew and how she learned the truth.If you’re into true crime podcasts, FBI bank robbery cases, criminal disguises, and the psychology of violence and restraint, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the series.David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailStarting Season 14 out with a 6 part series that a real true crime fan will love!David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailOur candid behind the scenes conversation with Steven Meyers and Shawn Johnson. A bank robber who studies law enforcement like a science project. A retired FBI agent who spends years trying to predict the next move. Then, decades later, they finally compare notes. That’s the tension driving our conversation with Sean Johnson, the former FBI case agent who led the investigation, and Steven, the accomplice who later wrote The Treehouse and helped tell the story behind the Netflix documentary How to Rob a Bank. We talk about how this all starts long before the first robbery: Scott “Hollywood” Scurlock’s precision mindset, his shift from meth production to bank jobs, and the way he treats risk like a craft. Steven breaks down the reality of surveillance and countersurveillance, including the crew’s code for police, how lookouts are positioned, and why “normal” patrols matter less than the moment a car comes flying with urgency. Sean adds the law enforcement side: what investigators can prove, what they can only suspect, and how a multi-year spree leaves holes that haunt a case agent. The second half goes where true crime rarely gets to go: the proffer interviews and the psychology of bargaining. Steven explains how he decides when to tell the truth and when to minimize, while Sean explains how agents keep it professional and fact-driven while trying to close gaps, connect crimes, and secure a plea agreement. The treehouse itself becomes more than a location, it’s the hub where identity, secrecy, and myth all collide. If you want a deeper, more honest look at FBI bank robbery investigations, criminal tactics, and the human choices inside a real case, listen now. Subscribe, share this with a true crime friend, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show.Get Steven Meyers' THE TREEHOUSE today on Amazon.David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailA woman posted an ad to sell herself because she had no food at home and needed baby formula. That story sets the tone for a hard conversation with Detective Ricky Lynn about human trafficking as it exists in the real world: less Hollywood, more coercion built from vulnerability, addiction, homelessness, and fear.We unpack how victims can live inside exploitation without even naming it, why trafficking overlaps with domestic violence and long-term relationship control, and what Lynn has learned from working cases tied to drug dependency and survival sex. He shares what he sees in treatment programs and why the numbers are far bigger than most communities want to admit. We also talk about the personal cost of this work, including secondary trauma for investigators and how repeated exposure to child sexual abuse material can change the way a person experiences everyday life.The conversation goes wider into labor trafficking and debt bondage, including how organized networks move people across borders, impose “travel debts,” and use threats against family back home to enforce compliance. Lynn explains practical tools that can protect victims and witnesses in the United States, including continued presence, the T visa for human trafficking, and the role of victim advocates and immigration attorneys who can help even when someone is not ready to call police.We end by facing the demand side head-on, from sting operations to online grooming risks, and why prevention has to include smarter reporting pathways like the National Human Trafficking Hotline and trusted local organizations. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs to hear it, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailPeople picture trafficking as a stranger and a van, but the reality is usually quieter and harder to spot: a need gets filled, then used as a leash. We sit down with Detective Ricky Lynn to talk about human trafficking and sex trafficking in Kentucky, and why the most important evidence often starts with understanding vulnerability instead of judging behavior.We dig into how traffickers use addiction, withdrawal, and the promise of a bed or a hotel room to control adults and minors, and why that cycle can look like “choice” from the outside. Ricky explains the method he uses to prove cases by “writing the vulnerability backwards,” showing what a victim lacked and how the trafficker exploited it. We also talk about runaway teens, missing kids, and why the danger grows fast once basic needs like food, showers, and a safe place to sleep disappear.The conversation gets practical for law enforcement and for anyone supporting survivors: trauma-informed interviewing, why “I believe you” can open the door to truth, and how strong investigations can reduce the burden on victims in court. We cover Kentucky’s tougher human trafficking penalties, the victims fund, and the Tim Nolan case as an example of networks that recruit through access and enticement. We also confront modern grooming where it actually happens: porn culture, regular-web escort ads, Snapchat, OnlyFans money pathways, and even payment apps being used to normalize transactions with kids.If you care about real prevention, better reporting, and accountability that doesn’t retraumatize victims, this is a tough but necessary listen. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people find it.David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!

Send us Fan MailA “white van” isn’t the center of most human trafficking stories. Vulnerability is. We sit down with Detective Ricky Lynn for one of the darkest conversations we’ve produced, and we ask the question people avoid because it’s uncomfortable: how does exploitation actually work when the victim is hungry, homeless, scared, or trying to survive another night?We unpack a clear, real-world definition of human trafficking, including child sex trafficking and CSAM, and why “something of value” is often a meal, a ride, a hotel shower, dry clothes, drugs, or even a 50-cent bottle of water. Ricky walks us through how traffickers groom targets at malls and public spaces without force, by identifying the kid who has nowhere to go. We also talk about trauma-informed, victim-centered policing, why community contact matters more than activity metrics, and how so much harm lives in the unreported “dark figure of crime.”Then we move into the tougher layers: family-based trafficking, neglect that opens the door to predators, and the reality that systems like social services may be stretched past their limits. For adults, we break down the legal test of force, fraud, or coercion and how addiction and “dope sick” withdrawal can be used as control.If you care about real prevention, real warning signs, and real accountability, listen through to the end. Subscribe, share this with someone who still believes the myths, and leave us a review so more people can find the facts.David's book, True Crime and Consequences is FINALLY available!This book explores the intricate and often controversial relationship between the true crime community and law enforcement. For  amateur sleuths, true crime fans, and social media detectives and cops everywhere.http://truecrimeconsequences.com/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5QDo you have your copy of David's book True Crime and Consequences? Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBQ4BT5Q.See what you have been missing on YouTube!