The Villisca Axe Murders: One Night, Eight Victims, No Conviction

A charming stranger walked into San Francisco’s gay nightlife scene with a pencil, a smile, and a sketch meant to make his victims feel seen. But behind the drawings was one of the city’s most disturbing cold cases: the Doodler, a killer linked to at least six men and possibly many more. Fifty years later, police say they may still know who he is — but proving it is another story. Get early access to ad-free episodes with a 7-day FREE TRIAL of⁠ ⁠Crimehub Premium⁠⁠. Cancel anytime. No commitment. 👉🏼 ⁠patreon.com/crimehub⁠⁠. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Quince: Go to⁠⁠ ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠⁠ Whatnot: Download ⁠Whatnot⁠ in the app store today and get free shipping on your first order. Author: Jake Bible * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1912, an entire family and two young guests were found murdered inside a quiet Iowa home, but the crime scene was destroyed almost immediately by the very town desperate for answers. What followed was a maze of false leads, suspicious ministers, powerful enemies, coerced confessions, and a chilling theory about a killer who may have been traveling America by train. More than a century later, the Villisca axe murders remain one of the most disturbing unsolved cases in American history. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Quince: Go to⁠⁠ ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠⁠ Whatnot: Download ⁠Whatnot⁠ in the app store today and get free shipping on your first order. Author: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris turned a windowless cargo van into one of California’s most horrifying crime scenes. For months, young women vanished across Southern California while police struggled to connect the cases. But when one survivor came forward and one killer finally talked, investigators uncovered the nightmare behind the Toolbox Killers. Get early access to ad-free episodes with a 7-day FREE TRIAL of⁠ ⁠Crimehub Premium⁠⁠. Cancel anytime. No commitment. 👉🏼 ⁠patreon.com/crimehub⁠⁠. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Quince: Go to⁠⁠ ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠⁠ Whatnot: Download ⁠Whatnot⁠ in the app store today and get free shipping on your first order. Author: Mike Colucci * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A disturbing number of scientists and government-linked researchers have died or vanished under strange circumstances. Some were tied to NASA, Los Alamos, the Air Force, and classified UAP programs. Now investigators are asking the question everyone wants answered: coincidence… or did they know too much? Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Quince: Go to⁠ ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Whatnot: Download Whatnot in the app store today and get free shipping on your first order. Author: Jake Bible * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A family of four is found murdered in their quiet Tokyo home, and the killer leaves behind an ample trail of evidence—fingerprints, DNA, clothing, even traces of his final hours inside the house. What should have been one of Japan’s most solvable crimes instead becomes its most haunting mystery. Decades later, with no arrest and time slipping away, the question remains: who walked out of the Miyazawa home that night? Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Author: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What begins as a search for spiritual meaning ends in a subway car filled with invisible death. Follow the tragic journey of the Sakamoto family and the horrifying rise of Aum Shinrikyo, a cult that turned enlightenment into a mandate for mass murder. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Author: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roch Thériault, known as the “Modern Moses,” led the Ant Hill Kids, a Canadian doomsday cult built on fear, isolation, and total obedience. What began as a religious survivalist commune slowly transformed into a nightmare of manipulation, violence, and blind devotion. As Thériault’s power grew, his followers found themselves trapped under the control of a man who believed he answered only to God. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Writer: Jake Bible * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ina, Illinois was the kind of town where nothing ever happened… until an entire family was found murdered inside their mobile home. A young mother, her children, and a newborn baby were left arranged in bed, while the husband was discovered miles away in a field—executed and mutilated. Decades later, a notorious serial killer confessed, but his story kept changing, leaving one terrifying question behind: did the real killer ever get caught? Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Writer: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2016, fitness instructor Missy Bevers arrived early to teach a class inside a church in Midlothian—but never made it out alive. Surveillance cameras captured a mysterious figure in tactical gear roaming the halls before her murder, and nearly a decade later, the killer still hasn’t been identified. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns. Writer: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two married colleagues slip away after a New Year’s Eve party—but by morning, both are found dead by a quiet riverbank. Their bodies are strangely arranged, with no signs of violence and no clear explanation. What happened in those final hours remains one of Australia’s most haunting mysteries. Huge thanks to our sponsors for making this episode possible: Acorns: Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Head to⁠⁠⁠ ⁠acorns.com/crimehub⁠⁠⁠⁠ or download the Acorns app to get started. Shopify: Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at ⁠shopify.com/crimehub⁠ Quince: Go to ⁠quince.com/crimehub⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns.  Writer: Samantha Davis * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #truecrime #truecrimestories #truecrimepodcast #crimehub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices