COVID-19 conspiracies turned this church into a deadly cult

Kevin Smith seemed like your typical pastor. He was a respected member of his community in Montego Bay, preaching the Bible to hundreds of congregants each week. But he also preached conspiracy theories from his social media account. On October 17, 2021, Smith sent a message on Facebook instructing his followers to get to the church. He told them “the Flood is coming”. Members of his congregation packed their suitcases and rushed over. But when they arrived, that’s when the real danger began. Three people were killed, two of them, witnesses allege, as part of a human sacrifice. This week on Crime Story, reporter Rachel Browne explains how a pastor’s pandemic conspiracy theories turned a church into a cult and a crime scene.

Maria Hinojosa first met David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez when he was serving life without parole — sentenced as a juvenile. What began as a chance visit inside a Pennsylvania prison grew into a decades-long story of friendship, justice and redemption.Suave’s journey out of prison exposes the harsh realities of juvenile sentencing, the complexities of freedom under lifelong parole, and the fragile line between journalist and subject. Along the way, Maria confronts the emotional toll this story takes on her family and herself.If you like this episode, we think you’ll enjoy Trouble in Sweetwater: Connie Walker investigates a crisis of policing on America’s largest reservation.

Not every journalist is willing to explore the darkest corners of humanity. It’s hard. It’s haunting. And not everyone can stomach what they would discover But Ian Urbina has made a career out of going there. In his podcast, The Outlaw Ocean, Ian explores the most lawless place on earth – the vast unpoliceable ocean. He’s back with season two where he sheds light on secretive Libyan prisons, flagrant human rights abuses off the shores of China, and the horrors of a shrimp processing plant in India. And this week, we have something special for you. Ian sat down with Daemon Fairless, host of the podcast Hunting Warhead, to discuss what it takes to report crime on the ocean.

On October 21st, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for his new Western film, Rust, when tragedy struck. The gun he was holding wasn’t supposed to have live ammunition. Both the director, Joel Souza, and the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, were shot. Halyna, a 42-year-old mother and filmmaker, died.Right from the start, the question on everyone’s minds was this: how did a real bullet end up in a gun that everyone, including Alec Baldwin, thought was a prop? In her new documentary, Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, director Rachel Mason takes us on set to explore who Halyna Hutchins was and what really happened on the set of Rust.

At first, Kat Torres seemed like your average social media influencer. She was a young, Brazilian model photographed with Hollywood elites. She spoke about her life, relationships, and meditation, spouting advice from self-help books. But then, her content began to shift.She told her followers she had supernatural abilities that could change their lives. And their lives did change - but not in ways anyone could have imagined. This week on Crime Story, journalist and influencer Chico Felitti from the hit podcast, Don’t Cross Kat. If you like this conversation, we think you’ll enjoy our episode with Scott Johnson about the Hollywood Con Queen. 

In 1987, Leo Schofield was convicted of murdering his wife, Michelle. Decades later, a different man confessed to the crime. Jeremy Scott’s DNA was found in the car Michelle was driving the night she was murdered. And yet, the state of Florida doesn’t believe either of them. Not only did Leo lose Michelle but he spent 36 years in prison for her murder. This week on Crime Story, Bone Valley’s Gilbert King is back and he brought a surprise guest: Leo Schofield. Exactly one year since Leo was released from prison, we discuss season two, meeting Jeremy and Leo's decision to forgive him.If you like this episode, we think you’ll enjoy our first conversation with Gilbert: Bone Valley: ‘Why is Leo Schofield still in jail?’

In 2009, Amanda Knox was wrongly convicted of the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. She should have been a footnote in a tragic story. But despite zero physical evidence linking her to the crime, she spent four years in prison. Amanda was vilified by the press and made infamous as ‘Foxy Knoxy’ in the tabloids. After eight years on trial, she was finally exonerated in 2015. And yet, her release from prison was only the beginning of Amanda’s search for freedom. Who was she now that the world had branded her a killer?Today, Amanda is a writer, podcaster, and advocate for criminal justice and media ethics. She joins Crime Story to discuss her new book, Free: My Search for Meaning. If you like this episode, we think you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maurice Chammah.Feedback for us? You can email us directly at [email protected].

In 1977, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club opened up a chapter in Montreal. One of its founding members was a man named Yves “Apache” Trudeau.Although he was quiet and diminutive, Trudeau had a knack for violence. And, before long, he had developed a reputation as a ruthless assassin. By the time his criminal career ended, he had murdered no fewer than 43 people.Despite the magnitude of his crimes, Trudeau only served 7 years in prison.Now, Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman are reexamining the story in their new book Hitman: The Untold Story of Canada’s Deadliest Assassin. Feedback for us? You can email us directly at [email protected] Crime Story early and ad-free by becoming a subscriber here.

When we started this podcast a year and a half ago, there was one name at the top of our dream guest list: Keith Morrison.For more than 30 years, Morrison has been the face – and the voice – of NBC’s Dateline, which, in some ways, is the original true crime show.In recent years, Morrison has moved into podcasting. His latest offering, Murder in the Moonlight, is about a pair of wayward drifters who murder an elderly couple in a quiet farming community. Morrison explains how he picks the stories he works on, what it’s been like to spend three decades covering true crime, and whether the death of his stepson, the Friends actor Matthew Perry, impacted the way he approaches his job. To hear episodes of Crime Story a week early, and ad-free, become a subscriber here.Feedback for us? You can email us directly at [email protected].

FBI undercover agent Scott Payne’s job was to infiltrate the most dangerous gangs of our times: outlaw bikers, drug cartels and the international neo-Nazi networks hellbent on inciting a race war. He was taking down these groups from within. And Scott was good at it — people confided in him their most audacious plans for mass violence and domestic terrorism.In the second season of White Hot Hate, host Michelle Shephard gives you an unvarnished view of a life undercover. Because after a 28-year-long career pretending to be somebody else, Agent Payne is ready to tell his side of the story. This series was produced alongside a book co-written by Scott Payne and Michelle Shephard titled Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis.More episodes of White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/iSaGFR