serial murder

Fritz Honka was a German serial killer who murdered at least four women between 1970 and 1975 in Hamburg's notorious St. Pauli district. He dismembered his victims and hid body parts in the attic of his apartment on Zeißstraße. His crimes were discovered in 1975 when a fire broke out at the building.

Joseph James DeAngelo murdered at least 13 people and raped over 50 women in California between 1974 and 1986 under three different criminal identities. The retired police officer and mechanic was arrested in April 2018 at age 72, after evading capture for 40 years. His capture through forensic genealogy revolutionized cold case investigations worldwide.

A three-part documentary series on Paramount+ brings fresh attention to Lucy Studey McKiddy's long-standing claims that her father, Donald Studey, was a serial killer operating in rural Iowa. Though Studey died in 2017 without ever being charged or convicted, local rumors about "The Monster from Green Hollow" have persisted for decades across the American Midwest.

The Mørkeland podcast released Episode 303 on December 14, 2025, examining two distinct true crime cases: the disappearance of a 9-year-old girl from a remote forest and the mysterious death of a woman whose body was discovered naked in a compost heap.

In August 1996, Belgian police arrested Marc Dutroux, an electrician who had spent months abducting, torturing, and sexually abusing young girls in a concealed basement dungeon. What emerged was a conspiracy involving multiple accomplices and at least six confirmed victims—some who survived, others who did not.

In the mid-1990s, Belgian serial killer Marc Dutroux constructed a concealed dungeon beneath his home in Marcinelle to imprison kidnapped girls as sex slaves. Despite multiple police visits to the property while victims remained captive, the case became a landmark example of systemic investigative failure.

In April 2008, Austrian police discovered that Josef Fritzl had imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth in a concealed basement chamber for 24 years, subjecting her to repeated rape and forcing her to bear seven children in captivity. The case shocked Austria and revealed systematic failures in a family home in Amstetten.

On the night of 6–7 August 1985, five members of the Bamber family were shot dead at White House Farm near Tolleshunt D'Arcy in Essex, England. Jeremy Bamber was convicted of the murders in 1986, but his case remains mired in controversy, with claims of police misconduct and disputed evidence keeping the case in the public eye.

Jacob Wetterling was 11 years old when he vanished while cycling home from a convenience store in rural Minnesota in October 1989. Twenty-seven years later, DNA evidence and a confessional plea deal would finally reveal what happened to him—and podcasters would document every twist of this watershed case.

Karen Read was acquitted of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an accident in the death of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe on June 18, 2025, after a second trial in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The jury convicted her only of operating under the influence of alcohol.

Mørkeland, a Danish true crime podcast, explores two separate cases linked by the recurring theme of unlocked doors in Episode 286, offering listeners an examination of Nordic crime narratives.

The "Mord ved Østersøen" podcast has documented the case of a Lithuanian high school student named Mindaugas whose parents and younger sister vanished after a routine market trip, leaving investigators puzzled by his seemingly indifferent response to their disappearance.

The Felon True Crime podcast examines some of Australia's most compelling criminal cases, including an ongoing manhunt for a dangerous suspect in the Lake Cargelligo triple shooting and the unresolved disappearance of a Belgian traveller in Tasmania.

In 1976, a quiet residential neighborhood in Denmark became the site of a shocking family homicide when a father killed his entire family in a violent attack. Now, a new podcast series is bringing this largely forgotten Nordic case to international audiences, examining the circumstances and consequences of one of the country's most disturbing domestic crimes.

On August 28, 1976, 23-year-old Elizabeth Plunkett walked out of McDaniel's pub in Brittas Bay, County Wicklow, Ireland, and vanished. Her body was found a month later washed ashore in County Wexford. Two convicted serial killers confessed to her murder—yet no one was ever formally charged with her death.

In August 2019, a young man walked into Hvidovre Hospital near Copenhagen dressed in a white coat, claiming to be a medical student. What followed was a chilling month-long deception that saw him examine patients, order medications, and prescribe controlled drugs—all without any legitimate medical qualifications.

Mørkeland, a Danish true crime podcast, released Episode 284 around June 1, 2025, focusing on mysterious deaths. The episode joins the podcast's ongoing exploration of unsolved cases and cryptic crimes across Scandinavia.

In late August 1976, 23-year-old Elizabeth Plunkett vanished from Brittas Bay in County Wicklow, Ireland. Her body was discovered weeks later—raped, strangled, and bound to a lawnmower. Nearly 50 years later, her sisters are demanding justice for a crime that was never prosecuted.

The Danish true crime podcast Mørkeland explored a murder case in Nordjylland where an unidentified man was shot and dumped from a car onto a beach. What made this case distinctive wasn't just the crime itself, but the reaction from locals—many of whom expressed relief or even satisfaction that this particular victim was dead.

Joseph Roy Metheny operated as a serial killer in Baltimore during the 1990s, claiming to have murdered up to ten people. Known as 'Joe the Cannibal' and 'The Cannibal Cook,' Metheny was convicted of two murders and died in prison in 2017, leaving a trail of unproven confessions and alleged victims.