Episode 290

It was a quiet Shabbat Saturday in Boca Raton, Florida. The Jewish community was shut off from the world for their holy day of rest, but inside Tzvi Allswang’s house on Larkspur Trail, one social worker was trapped in every woman’s worst nightmare.

The calm of a suburban street in Youngstown, Ohio, was shattered when a sudden explosion ripped through a home, leaving witnesses stunned as they watched their neighbors’ house consumed by flames. The fire claimed the lives of the homeowners, Bill and Judy Schmidt, and as police delved into the case, they uncovered a shocking truth: this was no accident, but a calculated act of arson. At the heart of this twisted crime was an unlikely person—a ten-year-old girl named Corrine Gump.

Ashley Bocanegra told everyone the attack was random, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t. Hours later, she was dead, and her attackers were on the hook for murder. What no one realized was that Ashley had been hiding a secret, and it was one she was determined to take to her grave.

On June 5th, 1994, a young woman and her dog stumbled upon a dismembered torso behind a gas station dumpster in a quiet Florida town, setting off an investigation that would span decades. As the case went cold, a dark figure remained hidden in plain sight, only to resurface years later. When a missing person’s flier related to the disappearance of 16-year-old Fred Laster sparked new interest, a shocking family connection led detectives to a seemingly upstanding youth pastor with a sinister past.

On March 20, 2017, Tahirih Lua D’Angelo was found brutally murdered in her Riverview, Florida home. Investigators quickly realized this was a personal attack when they discovered she had been killed on her 39th birthday. Suspicion only deepened when a bloodied aluminum baseball bat with the word "Rampage" imprinted on the side, was located by the front door…

When 23-year-old Ellie Weik vanished from her West Chester, Ohio home on July 29, 2018, her journal entries and messages revealed a dangerous presence in her life. Over the course of a month, detectives unraveled a web of deception, catfishing, and stalking, all leading to someone she already knew.

Some men think marriage means control, a game of blackmail sealed with secrets. Mark-Eric Ponsati thought he’d silenced his wife for good. But some things refuse to stay buried. Even in death, they’d come back to haunt him.

In 1990, 11-year-old Robin Cornell and 32-year-old Lisa Story were brutally assaulted and murdered in their Cape Coral home. For over two decades, the case remained unsolved, leaving their families and community desperate for closure. Then, a single piece of evidence—a DNA match—finally brought an answer. But with that answer came an even deeper question: Are we all born free of evil, is it something that can grow within us over time?

One morning, seven-year-old Adrian woke up to a confusing and upsetting scene at home. As he tries to understand what's happening, we learn about the hidden problems and growing conflicts among the adults in his life. This child's confusion turns into a harsh reality that will have a lasting impact on his world.

When 14-year-old Alianna Defreeze didn’t come home from school one January afternoon, her parents knew something terrible had happened. Police would follow clues from video surveillance to find the monster that was responsible for one of the most unjust crimes Cleveland had ever seen.