The State of Perfect Balance: A True Crime Podcast

The big question remains: does incarceration as a punishment work? As we currently handle crime and punishment, are inmates rehabilitated to the point where they can safely be returned to society? We can tackle these quandaries in an abstract way in the safety of our locked homes, digging out statistics and data to answer our burning questions. But for many, the debate about whether an inmate should continue to be held in custody or let go free is an intensely personal one, with the real experiences of people on both sides of prison walls.

There are couples who seem to have all "The Things." Successful careers, a family they’ve lovingly created, social connections, important charity work--the kind of people who do good things for the right reasons and leave behind a positive legacy of well remembered contributions, the kind we tend to admire and remember fondly as a community. When tragedy strikes such a family, it almost seems especially hard to grasp.Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert were just such a couple. And this is their story.

After Christmas of 2016, Shannon didn’t check in with her family. What would happen next is the stuff of nightmares...

The most dangerous times in a woman’s life are when she is in the company of men. That may seem like a dramatic overstatement, but if you think about it, it’s true. This is the story of a young woman named Angel.

America has a self-created mental health crisis, and state and federal prisons are dominated by populations of the mentally ill, where resources are few and treatment is non existent. Our story involves a family struggling to deal with a very sick young man, culminating one Halloween night when people asked the question: Is this a sick prank, or something much, much worse?

You don't know anything about the people who live next door.

When we think of a crime committed by someone who is truly, demonstrably, certifiably insane, an image of such a person may come to mind. We imagine someone who has seen lengthy periods of institutionalization, in cells designed for their own, and their caregivers, protection against violence. You may imagine straight jackets and electric shock therapy--this is not that case.

When a child commits a murder, and the victim’s surviving family members rightfully want the killer to be punished, the age of a youthful perpetrator can automatically dial down how severe that punishment is, because we, as a society, don’t hold children to the same standard of accountability as adults. Then there’s the general public squeamishness about sending a kid to death row or life in prison. It just doesn’t feel right, and seems like compounding the tragedy.

When you hear of a home invasion, the words likely conjure a scenario in which one or more people enter a home forcibly, seeking to rob the inhabitants and perhaps relieve them of their lives. And you’d be right. Such home invasions are rare, rare enough that when something like that appears to have occurred, law enforcement is generally suspicious of the story from the get-go.But there are violent home invasions bent on robbery and murder, and then there are invasions of a home’s peaceful space by increments, in which a guest is invited willingly, but they bring unwelcome others and others, and still others, until a home is invaded by a horde of unknown and hostile squatters. Either scenario can be dangerous...

Join us for part two of this amazing story about love, loss, and forgiveness, as we sit down with Mrs. Reiser while she talks about her beautiful and talented daughter, Liz.