The Casual Criminalist

Donald Harvey worked as a hospital orderly in Kentucky and Ohio for seventeen years, killing dozens of patients through poisoning, suffocation, and deliberate overdoses. He claimed mercy motivated his crimes, but investigators uncovered something far darker: a desperate need for control over helpless people who trusted him with their lives.

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In 1986, Sherri Rasmussen was brutally murdered in her Los Angeles home. Police dismissed it as a botched burglary for twenty-three years. DNA evidence finally revealed the killer was an LAPD detective and her husband's obsessive ex-girlfriend. This chilling case exposes stunning police failures and raises troubling questions about justice.

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For fifteen years, Akku Yadav terrorised the slum of Kasturba Nagar through extortion, murder, and sexual assault while police turned a blind eye. When he threatened the wrong woman in 2004, the entire community finally fought back, cornering him inside a courtroom and delivering their own brutal form of justice.

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Sonia Exelby was a kind, talented music tutor from England who struggled privately with severe mental health issues. Through dark online communities, she connected with Dwain Hall, a Florida man now charged with her murder. Evidence suggests that despite earlier discussions, Sonia changed her mind and desperately wanted to escape.

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For three weeks in October 2002, snipers terrorised Washington DC, killing randomly at petrol stations and car parks. Behind the attacks were John Allen Muhammad, a Gulf War veteran with a troubled past, and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, whom he had groomed into a killer. This is their chilling story.

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In 2007, Ellen Pakkies strangled her drug-addicted son after six years of abuse, theft, and violence. Her trial revealed a childhood of neglect, institutional failures, and a community ravaged by tik. The judge gave her a suspended sentence. Today, she campaigns for Cape Town mayor, fighting addiction and demanding accountability.

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In 1880s Austin, Texas, a serial killer stalked domestic servants, brutally murdering eight people with axes before vanishing into history. The police failed spectacularly, private detectives proved useless, and two husbands faced murder trials. Was the killer a local man named Nathan Elgin, or did he become Jack the Ripper?

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In 1991, four teenage girls were brutally murdered at an Austin yogurt shop. For decades, the case was plagued by wrongful arrests, coerced confessions, and constitutional violations. Finally, in 2025, advanced DNA testing identified serial killer Robert Brashers as the true perpetrator. Four wrongly accused men were declared factually innocent.

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William Bonin became one of Southern California’s most notorious serial killers. Explore his disturbing crimes, accomplices, victims, failed releases, investigation, confessions, and eventual death-row fate.

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Debra Newell was a successful interior designer who fell for charming doctor John Meehan online. Her daughters sensed something was wrong immediately. What they uncovered was terrifying: a convicted felon, drug addict, and serial con artist who stalked women. When Debra finally tried to escape, John came for her family.

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Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and his wife Michele seemed to have a life defined by love, family, and activism—until their shocking murders exposed a devastating familial tragedy.

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Natalie Wood’s death remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries. Explore the conflicting accounts, unanswered questions, and investigation that continue to cast doubt over what happened that night.

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The FBI has a history of shocking investigative failures. Explore four controversial cases involving botched investigations, unreliable evidence, corruption, and devastating consequences for victims and their families. Edit description

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Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was a rising music icon whose life ended in a shocking betrayal. Explore her extraordinary journey, tragic murder, Yolanda Saldívar’s trial, and enduring legacy.

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Marta del Castillo vanished in Seville, sparking Spain’s most haunting murder mystery. Explore the investigation, shifting confessions, missing body, disputed evidence, and unanswered questions that continue to haunt the case.

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Was Michael Peterson a cold-blooded killer or the victim of a flawed investigation? Explore the staircase death, shocking evidence, disputed theories, courtroom battles, and the twists that changed everything.

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Meredith Kercher’s murder became one of the world’s most controversial criminal cases. Explore the investigation, Amanda Knox trial, Rudy Guede, disputed evidence, shocking twists, and unanswered questions.

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In this flashback episode, Simon dives into one of Oklahoma’s most baffling mysteries. In 2009, the Jamison family vanished during a trip to the remote San Bois Mountains, leaving behind their truck, personal belongings, thousands of dollars in cash, and their beloved dog.

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A chilling true crime story of Daniel LaPlante, the infamous “Boy in the Walls.” Discover the terrifying home invasion, brutal murders, shocking investigation, and disturbing psychology behind one of America’s most haunting criminal cases.

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A toxic romance, shocking betrayal, and a deadly crash—uncover the chilling Mackenzie Shirilla case, where disturbing digital evidence transformed a tragic accident into one of America’s most haunting murder convictions.

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