In 1957, 24-year-old Willie Edwards Jr. spent the last hours of his life being terrorized by Ku Klux Klan members, including one named Henry Alexander. Though this KKK cohort were suspects in Willie’s murder, the judge threw out their case — twice. Henry’s wife always believed he was innocent. His deathbed confession not only proved her wrong, but revealed that Willie didn’t even commit the offense that upset his killers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

In April 1988, a top Soviet scientist, Valery Legasov, died by suicide. He was 51 years old. Before his death, he recorded a series of chilling deathbed confessions concerning one of the world's deadliest disasters: the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. Over four hours, Legasov confessed terrifying truths and disturbing realities from the nuclear power-plant, revealing secrets that had been hidden for two years and lies which had been repeatedly spun. His death left the world with a dangerous collection of information that can finally answer the question the Soviets sought to suppress for years: Wh ..read more

In August 1975, Samuel Bronfman was kidnapped by two strangers. As his father was a multi-millionaire, the FBI suspected that money was the motive behind the abduction. But then, at the trial in 1976, one of the defending lawyers — Peter DeBlasio — spun a convincing and captivating tale that Samuel in fact masterminded his own kidnap. DeBlasio told the jury about Samuel’s homosexual affair with one of his captors, the resentment he felt towards his own father, and evidence that seemed to prove Samuel was not a victim at all. Months before his death in 2020, DeBlasio published a memoir that inc ..read more

In 1969, local beauty queen Anne Zappelli was brutally murdered while walking back from a visit to the drive-in with her friends. Witnesses saw two men following her, climbing out of a car near the crime scene, and it seems like a slam dunk. But what followed is a tale of frustration and grief for the Zappelli family that would last decades. It's a list of police errors and questionable decisions, that saw an already tragic case fascinate true-crime fans for over 40 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

In 2020, former NYPD detective, Raymond Wood, died…but he had a secret he was determined not to take to the grave. As an undercover agent whose duty it was to infiltrate Black civil rights groups in the mid-1960s, Ray was no stranger to danger or controversy. However, in a letter written to his cousin, he revealed the true extent of his undercover work. Ray claimed to have been part of a conspiracy involving the NYPD and FBI to bring down one of America’s leading activists: the assassination of Malcolm X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

On a cold, gray March morning in 1912, hundreds of spectators gathered in the Carroll County Courthouse, Virginia. They were there to watch the trial of Floyd Allen. However, just seconds after Floyd was convicted, a bullet shot through the air, followed by dozens more. Over the course of 90 seconds, a total of 57 shots fired through the courthouse, killing five innocent people, and injuring many more. It was obvious that Floyd Allen and his family were involved in some way, but did they start the deadly shoot-out? This question remained unanswered for over 50 years, until a mysterious deathbe ..read more

Samuel Little was never a normal boy. Growing up, he experienced sexual fantasies about strangling women's necks and throats. These fantasies came to life when he was just 24 years old, resulting in the horrific strangulation of a young sex worker. For the next 45 years, Little terrorized the poorest neighborhoods of America, picking out vulnerable women and strangling them to death. They all existed on the outskirts of society — so police never investigated their deaths, or even linked the murders. It was only when Little was arrested for a separate crime in 2012 that the pieces of his murder ..read more

In 1963, a gang of masked men stole an obscene amount of money from a train nobody was supposed to know about. It was the kind of audacious heist that belonged in the movies, planned to perfection by a criminal mastermind with a track record for big scores. But their plan derailed when the train driver, Jack Mills, was badly beaten. Nobody knew who the attacker was. The gang closed ranks. It wasn't until five decades after the crime, when a dying man decided to clear his conscience, that one of the longest running questions in British crime folklore was answered: who attacked Jack Mills? Learn ..read more

Roscoe White was a family man and a patriot. He served his country as a Marine, and did his duty back home as a police officer in the Dallas P.D. But Roscoe had a secret. One he kept to himself until hours before his death. As he lay dying from injuries sustained in an accident at work, Roscoe told his pastor that he had killed for his country. It wasn't until years after his death that evidence emerged as to just how serious those claims were. Roscoe's son found a diary in which his dad claimed to have been part of one of the most notorious killings in modern history. None other than that of ..read more

In 1971, a man calling himself DB Cooper boarded a flight bound for Seattle. The plane reached its destination safely, but not before Cooper had threatened to blow it up unless his demands were met. Two hundred thousand dollars and four parachutes, plus a full tank of gas for the plane. What followed was one of the most extraordinary crimes, and largest manhunts in US history, as the FBI threw the full weight of their resources at answering one question: Who was DB Cooper? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more