Today in True Crime

After over a decade of attacks, John Wayne Gacy confessed to murdering dozens of young men and boys. Guest hosted by Richard Rossner from Unexplained Mysteries, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After spending over a decade on death row, Seth Penalver was exonerated by a jury for the murders of Butch Casey, Marie Rogers and Sharon Anderson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Northern California, David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were brutally shot to death. They were the first known victims of the infamous Zodiac Killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Police arrested well-respected doctor John Bodkin Adams after rumors circulated that he may have been guilty of hundreds of murders over his many years of practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23-year-old Phoenix Coldon got in her black SUV and drove away from her parents’ house around 2 or 3 PM. She was never seen again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two college students entered the Transylvania University's Special Collections Library in Lexington, Kentucky, and stole an estimated $735,000 worth of books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two men worked together to steal over $350 worth of toys from a local Walmart. Their plan worked at first… But the law would catch up to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The body of 18-year-old Traci Hammerberg was discovered in a driveway on Maple Road. Her killer would not be identified until decades later. Guest hosted by Alastair Murden from Medical Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

67-year-old US Colonel George Trofimoff was arrested by German authorities on suspicion of spying for the Soviet Union. While the case against him fell apart shortly after his arrest, he wouldn't be so lucky upon his return to the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21-year-old Creio Chance Bishop attempted to prevent his girlfriend from exotic dancing by setting fire to JB’s Gentleman’s Club in West Virginia where she worked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In New York City, socialite and heiress Dorothy Arnold told her mother she was heading out to buy an evening dress. When it was time for them to meet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel later in the afternoon, Dorothy never arrived. And she was never seen again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bernie Madoff was one of Wall Street's most respected financiers. But on this day in 2008, he was arrested for swindling some of the planet's richest investors out of $65 billion in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A clever crook tricked four bank guards into vacating their cash truck. By the time the guards realized what was happening, the truck carrying 300 million yen was gone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In her North Carolina home, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Her husband Michael claimed she had fallen, but the evidence told a different story...or so investigators believed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headmaster Philip Lawrence was stabbed to death when he intervened during a gang attack on a 13-year-old student. Guest hosted by Greg Polcyn from Serial Killers, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a sexual assault case between the Dollar General Corporation and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harold Perelson, a successful cardiologist, murdered his wife with a hammer while she slept. He then tried to murder his oldest daughter. The site would later be referred to as "The Los Feliz Murder House." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the U.S., the selling and consumption of alcohol became legal after states ratified the 21st Amendment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While awaiting his next trial, imprisoned politician "Boss Tweed" was allowed to leave his cell on daily, supervised walks around the city. On this day, he left his cell and didn’t come back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the release of the "Pumpkin Papers" a day earlier by Richard Nixon, the entire country had to grapple with evidence that former State Department official Alger Hiss spied for the Soviets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

American abolitionist John Brown, who had served as a leader during the Bleeding Kansas warfare, was hanged for attempting to start a slave rebellion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Russian Tsar Alexander I was pronounced dead of a mysterious illness, some believed he faked his death to escape the royal court. Guest hosted by Kate Leonard from Dictators, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite a heavy security detail, the Chairman of Deutsche Bank was killed after an explosive detonated near his car in West Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Notorious U.K. serial killer Rosemary West was born on this day in Devon, England. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was one of two inmates murdered by Christopher Scarver inside the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sixty-seven years ago, former State Department official and suspected Soviet spy Alger Hiss was released from prison after serving almost four years for perjury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bruno Richard Hauptmann gained notoriety for his involvement in the "Crime of the Century," where he climbed a ladder and kidnapped the Lindbergh baby from his nursery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Greek Junta came to an end when George Papadopoulos was ousted in a military coup by Dimitrios Ioannidis, his partner from their coup to take over Greece years earlier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, on live television. Guest hosted by Carter Roy from Unsolved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen targeted young men and brought them back to his flat where he would strangle and drown them, often keeping their bodies as company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite his numerous awards over decades of service, retired CIA analyst and translator Larry Wu-Tai Chin was caught secretly selling information to the Chinese government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Stroud, better known as “the Birdman of Alcatraz” spent most of his prison life in solitary confinement, researching and writing about ornithology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Senator Alan Cranston was reprimanded by the Ethics Committee for his improper behavior surrounding the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association scandal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite a plea from President Woodrow Wilson to review the case more closely, musician and labor organizer Joe Hill was executed by firing squad in Utah after being convicted of murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the Lebanon hostage crisis, Anglican envoy Terry Waite was held captive for nearly five years before the U.N. secured his release. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sir Walter Raleigh went on trial for treason for his role in an assassination plot against the King of England. Guest hosted by Richard Rossner from Unexplained Mysteries, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The body of a woman referred to as Jane Doe 59 was found in the brush off Mulholland Drive. Her identity would remain a mystery for over 46 years until somebody finally came forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After serving a 9-year sentence for murder in the United States, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was executed in England for murdering four London women and attempting to kill one more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former prisoners Perry Smith and Richard Hickock drove for miles across Kansas to get to the Clutter family home. Their plan was to steal the family's hidden safe and then kill them. But things didn't go as planned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kristen Gilbert worked as a nurse at a veterans hospital and earned the nickname "Angel of Death" after so many patients mysteriously died during her shifts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anchorage police didn’t realize it at the time, but after a shootout that killed James Dale Ritchie, they discovered that Ritchie was actually a serial killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

18-year-old Miranda Barbour and her husband Elytte killed a man named Troy LeFerarra after finding an ad he posted on Craigslist. Was this their first murder? Or the last of a years-long murder spree? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt gave stranded motorist Katelyn McClure his last $20 for gas money, she was so moved by his gesture that she started a GoFundMe for him. But after $400,000 worth of donations, something didn't add up. Guest hosted by Molly Brandenburg from Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Nazi stormtroopers were sent into Jewish neighborhoods and ordered to start violent riots, approximately 100 Jews were murdered and 7,500 businesses were vandalized, destroyed, or burned — in addition to countless homes, synagogues, and holy sites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The body of missing hospital aide Jennifer Watkins was discovered by two elevator workers. It would take two decades for DNA technology to help solve the crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A group of thieves plowed into London's Millennium Dome with a bulldozer and set off toxic gas in the halls so they could pull off the ultimate jewel heist. One thing they didn't plan for was that police would already be waiting for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eighty-two years ago, David Parker Ray — a prolific serial torturer and suspected serial killer — was born into an abusive household in Belen, New Mexico. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Labor union strikers and law enforcement exchanged gunfire in Everett, Washington, leaving seven people dead and dozens more injured. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dominique Dunn died after her family made the heart-wrenching decision to take her off life support. Dunn was in a coma for five days from injuries she sustained in a violent attack from ex-boyfriend John Sweeney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jason Neo Bourne stormed into the apartment of his downstairs neighbor and shot three people before kidnapping a child at gunpoint. Guest hosted by Alastair Murden from Superstitions, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices