GRIMM: A True Crime Podcast

In Part 2, Erica returns to close out Sherri Rasmussen’s story as the burglary theory that once satisfied investigators begins to unravel. Decades pass before a cold case review and a DNA breakthrough point detectives towards someone almost no one expected.

In Part 1 of this baby break episode, our guest host, Erica, tells the tragic story of Sherri Rasmussen - a brilliant young woman whose promising future was cut short by a shocking murder. As detectives pursue a burglary theory, troubling questions and overlooked clues hint that the truth may be far more complicated.

Two Everett women, murdered four years apart. Two cold cases. Decades of silence — until DNA, a determined detective, and a stick of gum finally caught up with the man who killed them. In this episode, Marina covers the horrific crimes of Mitchell Gaff and how his narcissism contributed to his life sentence.

For years, Gisèle Pelicot knew something was wrong. She was exhausted, losing chunks of time, living with symptoms no doctor could explain. Then her husband of fifty years was arrested, and the truth finally surfaced. In this episode, Marina covers what Dominique Pelicot did inside an ordinary home in the south of France, the dozens of ordinary men who came through its doors, and the decision Gisèle made to waive her anonymity and face every one of them in open court. As she put it: shame must change sides.

*Special Guest Appearance by Colby!* In September 2004, Charlie Brandt and his wife Teri evacuated the Florida Keys ahead of a hurricane and went to stay with Teri’s niece Michelle in Orlando. Two of them never left. What investigators found in that house — and what they would learn about Charlie’s past — would unravel a secret the Brandt family had kept for more than thirty years, and reopen cold cases across South Florida that had been waiting for an answer.

*Special Guest Appearance by Colby!* In 1997, a teacher was raped at her elementary school in Rogers, Arkansas. The man who did it left almost no evidence behind, and for two decades, the case went cold. In 2017, a city worker was shot to death on a country road in a town of 450 people. In episode, Marina discusses how Grant Hardin, a small-town police chief, was the missing link.

In the finale of this series, Marina brings the story of Fred and Rose West to its conclusion. From the police investigation that finally broke the case open, to the discovery of nine sets of remains at 25 Cromwell Street and the fields of Much Marcle, this episode covers the full reckoning: Fred’s confession, his death on New Year’s Day 1995, and the trial that put Rosemary West behind bars for life.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In Part II, Marina picks up where the story left off — inside 25 Cromwell Street, where Fred and Rose West had already gotten away with murder. This episode covers the assault on Caroline Owens, the one victim who survived and went to the police — and what happened when the justice system let Fred and Rose walk free. From there, Marina covers the eight young women murdered at Cromwell Street between 1973 and 1979, and the fate of Heather West, the daughter who never made it out.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In the first of this series, Marina explores the origins of one of Britain's most notorious killer couples — Fred and Rose West. From Fred's troubled childhood and his first murders in the 1960s, to Rose's deeply disturbed upbringing and how the two came together in Gloucester, this episode traces the making of two killers before the world knew their names.

In March 1960, a quiet day trip to Starved Rock State Park ended in tragedy. Three women set out to hike the trails and never came home. What followed was a confession, a conviction, and decades of lingering doubt. The man who admitted to the crime later recanted, raising unsettling questions about how the case was handled and whether the truth was ever fully uncovered. In this episode, we walk through what happened that day, the investigation that followed, and why the Starved Rock murders still feel unresolved more than 60 years later.

Daisy De La O was nineteen years old when she was murdered outside her Compton apartment in February 2021. Her killer, Victor Sosa, was identified quickly. Then nothing happened. In this episode, Marina tells the story of who Daisy was, the relationship that killed her, and how the people who loved her refused to let her case go cold.

In August 2017, Swedish journalist Kim Wall boarded a homemade submarine in Copenhagen for an interview with Danish inventor Peter Madsen. She was supposed to be back in two hours. She never returned. This is the story of Kim Wall - an accomplished journalist who traveled the world telling stories about people others overlooked. It's about the investigation that followed her disappearance, the trial that exposed the truth, and how her family made sure she would be remembered not as a victim, but as the fearless reporter she was.

In this episode, Marina examines the case of Brittany Smith, who was charged with murder after shooting a man in her Alabama home in 2018. Brittany claimed she acted in self-defense after being raped and beaten, and that the man was strangling her brother when she pulled the trigger. Alabama's stand your ground law was designed to protect people who defend themselves in their own homes—but would it protect her? Marina breaks down the legal framework, the evidence presented at the hearing, and the complicated aftermath that followed.

In the finale of our Robert Durst series, The Jinx airs and millions of people hear what Bob said in that bathroom. As the episode goes live, the FBI is already tracking Bob—he's on the run again. They arrest him in New Orleans and charge him with Susan Berman's murder. At trial, prosecutor John Lewin builds his case while Bob's defense team fights back with everything they have. Bob takes the stand for a grueling cross-examination. We follow the trial through to the verdict, Bob's death in prison, and the civil lawsuit that finally forces his wife Debrah to answer questions under oath about what she really knew.

In this episode, Marina examines some medieval torture devices including the Pear of Anguish, the Rack, the Iron Maiden, the Catherine Wheel, and the Judas Cradle. These instruments were used across Europe for interrogation, punishment, and execution, designed to inflict severe pain and maintain social control through fear.

In Part 2, Bob flees to Galveston, Texas disguised as a mute woman named Dorothy Ciner. When his neighbor Morris Black is found dismembered in Galveston Bay, Bob admits to cutting up the body—but claims it was self-defense. With the best lawyers money can buy, he faces a Texas jury. Years later, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki convinces Bob to sit for interviews for the HBO documentary The Jinx. Bob says things that don't add up. Then Susan Berman's relative discovers a letter that ties Bob directly to her murder. When confronted with the evidence, Bob asks to use the bathroom. His microphone is still on.

The Appalachian mountains have a rich history and are infamous for containing things that go bump in the night. In this episode, we discuss “The Mimic.”

Before he became one of America's most infamous suspects, Robert Durst was the eccentric son of a New York real estate dynasty. In this first installment of our three-part series, we explore the 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathie Durst, the 2000 execution-style murder of his best friend Susan Berman, and Robert's flight to Galveston, Texas, where he lived disguised as a mute woman. What connects these deaths? And who is the dismembered neighbor whose body parts washed up in Galveston Bay?

In 1983, Tracey Thurman did everything she was supposed to do. She reported threats from her estranged husband, Charles “Buck” Thurman, sought restraining orders, and pleaded for help. Police refused to act—until a brutal attack shocked the nation and reshaped how the law handles domestic violence.

In 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded a flight out of Portland, handed a note to a flight attendant, and calmly claimed he had a bomb. What followed became one of the most famous hijackings in American history — a ransom drop, a midnight parachute jump into rough wilderness, and a suspect who vanished without a trace. Over the next five decades, theories multiplied, evidence surfaced and disappeared, and a mysterious bundle of cash washed up along the Columbia River. Despite one of the longest and most exhaustive investigations the FBI ever launched, the true identity — and fate — of D.B. Cooper remains one of the country’s most enduring unsolved mysteries.

The horrors inside the Knotek home escalate as Shelly’s cruelty consumes everyone around her—family, friends, and anyone who dares to care. In Part 2, Marina covers the final years of Shelly’s reign of abuse and the shocking truth that finally brought it all to light.

From the outside, the Knotek home looked ordinary, just another farmhouse tucked behind the trees on the Washington coast. Inside, though, things were different. Part I traces Shelly Knotek’s path from troubled daughter to abusive wife and mother, as her control and cruelty escalate—ending with the death of family friend Kathy Loreno.

In the fall of 1982, a wave of sudden deaths swept through the Chicago area — healthy people collapsing just hours after taking Extra Strength Tylenol. As panic spread, shelves were cleared, public trust shattered, and investigators raced to find out who had poisoned one of America’s most trusted products.

In 1987, a 911 call from a Philadelphia payphone led police to a row house on North Marshall Street—and to horrors they could barely comprehend. Women chained in a basement. Human remains in the freezer. A pot boiling on the stove. At the center of it all was Gary Heidnik, a preacher and self-styled investor whose neighbors thought he was eccentric but harmless. In this episode, we unravel Heidnik’s disturbing childhood, his twisted church, the pit in his basement, and the crimes that made him one of the most notorious killers in American history.

In September 1989, Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer set out on what should have been a short drive. Days later, their car turned up miles off course, and their bodies were discovered in the woods nearby. Their murders added new complexity to the string of Colonial Parkway cases and shifted how investigators viewed the pattern. This episode explores the final couple connected to the parkway, the evolving investigation, and the many theories that have surrounded the case ever since.

Between 1986 and 1989, four young couples were killed along Virginia’s Colonial Parkway. Isolated turnouts and quiet overlooks became crime scenes, and investigators struggled to connect the cases. In this first part, we look at the early victims, their lives, and how the investigation began to take shape.

A family vacation in the Caribbean should have been nothing more than a week of sun, music, and memories. For the Bradleys, it began that way—laughter over dinner, dancing late into the night, and plans for the next day’s adventures. But before the ship could reach its next port, their 23-year-old daughter, Amy, was gone. In the years since, sightings, rumors, and unsettling leads have pointed in every direction—from chance encounters on remote beaches to the shadowy world of human trafficking. More than two decades later, the question remains: what happened to Amy Lynn Bradley?

When 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten vanished just a few hundred feet from home, her small Missouri town sprang into action—searching woods, knocking on doors, and hoping for the best. But the truth behind her disappearance would stun even seasoned investigators. In this episode, we walk through the heartbreaking case that raised difficult questions about justice, rehabilitation, and the capacity for violence in the very young.

When Somerset staff dug into Charles Cullen’s medication logs, the pieces finally started falling into place. In Part 2, Lisa takes us through the investigation that exposed Cullen’s pattern of quiet killings, the legal fallout, and the staggering number of lives he may have claimed—while hospitals looked the other way.

Charles Cullen was supposed to keep patients alive. Instead, he became one of America’s most prolific serial killers. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Marina’s sister Lisa is back by popular demand to tell the story of Cullen’s troubled early life, his path into nursing, and the suspicious deaths that followed him from hospital to hospital. By the time Somerset Medical Center started questioning his use of the Pyxis machine, the true scope of the horror is only starting to come into focus.

In December of 2021, police in Manchester, New Hampshire made a stunning announcement: a little girl named Harmony Montgomery was missing and no one had seen her for more than two years. Her father, Adam Montgomery, who had recently fought to obtain custody of her, claimed that she was with her biological mother, but police knew that wasn’t true. Where was Harmony? It was Adam’s estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, who filled in the gaps for authorities that shifted the case from a disappearance to a murder investigation.

When Betsy Faria was found stabbed to death in her Missouri home, suspicion quickly fell on her husband, Russ. He had an alibi. He had no blood on him. But none of that seemed to matter. As police built their case, another figure stayed quietly in the background: Pam Hupp—Betsy’s friend, the last person to see her alive, and the unexpected beneficiary of her life insurance policy. In this episode, we follow the case from wrongful conviction to the slow unraveling of a story that was never as simple as it first seemed.

We say it all the time—so now it’s a series. “We Digress” is true crime adjacent: strange stories, interviews, and the stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into a regular episode. There are people who say they can communicate with the dead—not as a trick or a party game, but as a calling. They call themselves mediums. To some, it’s a sacred gift. To others, it’s hard to believe. Join us for a special episode of GRIMM where we sit down and pick the brain of psychic medium, Julia Jette.

Joseph Metheny, a six foot, 500 pound man nicknamed “Tiny” claimed to have killed 10+ people in Baltimore, Maryland. He has become infamous for more than just the lives he allegedly claimed. According to Joe, he served up BBQ human meat at a roadside stand. Was Joe as savage a killer as he said? Or were his tales as tall as him?

When 30-year-old Emily Lambert vanished during a weekend trip to New Mexico in March 2014, her friends and family were left desperate for answers. What began as a fun getaway soon spiraled into a chilling mystery involving inconsistent stories, hidden motives, and a shocking confession. In this episode, we retrace Emily’s final hours, examine the investigation that followed, and uncover the disturbing truth behind her tragic fate.

Looking for more GRIMM? Subscribe to our Patreon to unlock additional bonus content, including Patreon Bonus Episode 30, where Laura delves into the disappearance of the McStay family from their home in California in 2010.

In 1984, Alton Coleman and Debra Brown, a “killer couple,” went on an almost 2 month crime spree across four states that left eight people dead. Once they were finally captured, the states took turns trying the couple for their crimes, stacking up death sentences.

In 1981, Cabin 28 in the remote town of Keddie, California became the site of a brutal triple homicide—and a missing child. Decades later, the case is still unsolved, but not forgotten. In this episode, we dig into the timeline, the suspects, the missteps, and the strange twists that continue to haunt this story over 40 years later.

Joseph Kallinger was a father, a cobbler—and a deeply disturbed man whose unraveling mind would lead to a series of unthinkable crimes. In this episode, we dig into the psychological roots of his violence, the early warning signs, and the twisted dynamic with his teenage son that turned delusions into deadly reality.

**Special Edition** On February 17, 2025, firefighters in Connecticut arrived at a home in Waterbury in response to a 911 call from Kimberly Sullivan. She told dispatchers that her step-son was inside and that he needed an ambulance. The firefighters were unprepared for the GRIMM discovery within. Kimberly's step-son had collapsed in the house, but it was clear that he was suffering from more than just smoke inhalation, as he was skeletal, dirty and disheveled. In this special episode of GRIMM, Marina covers the unfathomable details surrounding the rescue of 32-year-old "John Doe," after an alleged 20 years behind a door locked by his own family.

Looking for more GRIMM? Subscribe to our Patreon to unlock additional bonus content, including Patreon Bonus Episode 1, where Marina dives into the tragic circumstances that led to the murder of college athlete Lauren McCluskey by her ex-boyfriend, Melvin Rowland.

The Chundawat Family was an average middle class family with 3 generations living under one roof; they were close knit, pious and well-respected local business owners. But no one around them knew the secrets behind the walls of their home that led to the death of all 11 family members. Was it murder, suicide, or something else?

In the first part of this unbelievable true story, we introduced the Texas 7—seven dangerous men with a history of violent crimes and a bold escape plan. On December 13th, 2000, they broke free from a maximum-security prison in a daring, meticulously executed escape. With the authorities scrambling in the immediate aftermath, a massive manhunt ensued. In the first few days after their breakout, they evaded capture, robbed stores, and despite the massive resources deployed to track them down, hid in plain sight. But by December 19th, just six days after their escape, their violent journey took a darker turn with the murder of a police officer—a crime that deeply unsettled the authorities but did not bring their capture. Instead, it would take another month before their successful run came to an end thanks to an unassuming RV park owner.

On a non-descript Wednesday in mid-December 2000, seven dangerous men walked away from a Texas maximum-security prison, orchestrating one of the most brazen escapes in American history. Their plan was nearly flawless, and their escape set off a massive manhunt that saw local, state, and federal authorities scrambling to catch up. Desperate to catch them, police found themselves always one step behind, until they finally crossed paths with deadly consequences.

In this episode, Laura examines the Excedrin murders, focusing on Stella Nickell and the case that led to the first conviction under federal anti-tampering laws. Then Marina covers the disappearance of Ana Walshe and the arrest of her husband for her suspected murder.

Karen Read’s trial for the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, began on April 29, 2024. Her defense: she was being framed by law enforcement. Did the jury believe her? Tune in to the finale of Karen Read to find out.

On January 28, 2022, Karen Read and her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, went out for some drinks before she dropped him off at the home of another law enforcement officer, Brian Albert. In the early morning hours of January 29, John was found unresponsive in the snow of Brian Albert’s front lawn. What happened? The police said that Karen hit him with her Lexus and left him for dead. Karen said the police beat John up and left him for dead on the lawn, framing her to cover up the crime. Who is telling the truth?

In this episode, we delve into the unsolved murder of Suzanne Jovin, a 21-year-old Yale senior brutally stabbed 17 times near her off-campus apartment in 1998. Despite extensive investigations and media attention, her case remains a haunting mystery. Join us as we explore the evidence, theories, and lingering questions surrounding one of New Haven’s most infamous cold cases.

Belle Gunness came to the United States from Norway in 1881, in search of the American Dream. Belle seemed to have it all in the beginning— a husband, a daughter, a candy business. But tragedy struck Belle and her family time and time again, making some question whether Belle’s misfortune was coincidental or self-inflicted. Belle’s crimes led to her earning the nicknames the Black Widow of La Porte, Lady Bluebeard, and the Butcher of Men.

In this episode, we examine the chilling story of Roy Norris and Lawrence Bittaker, the Toolbox Killers. After meeting in prison, the pair forged a twisted bond, leading to a horrifying crime spree in 1979 that claimed the lives of five teenage girls in California. Using meticulous planning and unimaginable cruelty, their crimes shocked the nation and left a haunting legacy. We uncover their dark partnership, the evidence that sealed their fate, and the disturbing aftermath of their actions. Listener discretion is advised.