Horror Sleep Stories

Epizody

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  He Walked Into His Garage - Someone Was Already Waiting 04.10.2026 17min

  He Walked Into His Garage - Someone Was Already WaitingThe garage door opened at seven on a November evening and a seventy-two-year-old man never came back out; his own pipe wrench, covered in blood and hair, lay on the workbench while his body lay face down across two bicycles. Routine, a missing will, and a single softened footprint on the wet concrete point to someone who knew his schedule - but who let them in, and why?In this episode, we lay out the scene exactly as investigators found it and follow the timeline and relationships that surrounded Bruce Furman's last night. We map the forensic details, the household tensions, and the alibis that leave one central question unresolved: who opened that garage and waited in the dark?Person: Bruce FurmanDate: November 27, 2001Location: St. Catharines, OntarioPerson: Margaret BaneshPerson: Diane (daughter)- Bruce Furman was 72 years old at the time of death.- Bruce returned from his bicycle ride and entered his garage at about 7:00 PM.- The body was found face down across two bicycles with one hand on a handlebar.- A pipe wrench from Bruce's workbench had blood and hair and was set down carefully on the bench.- Margaret Banesh and her daughter were confirmed at a restaurant and arrived home at approximately 8:45 PM.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Pretended to Die: The Salford Man Who Bought Sympathy with Lies 03.10.2026 20min

  He Pretended to Die: The Salford Man Who Bought Sympathy with LiesThey handed over life savings, cash in envelopes and entire retirement pots, while he bought fake blood from a joke shop and kept the receipts in a drawer; between 2000 and 2003 he defrauded neighbors and friends of roughly £200,000-£250,000 by pretending to have a terminal brain tumour. How did a young British Airways cabin crewman turn local trust into a multi-year con built on hospital stationery and a non-existent professor?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that led from a BA uniform and an insider investment pitch to a staged illness, luxury travel paid for with donated money, and a court hearing with 25 guilty pleas; what kept the deception going and why nobody phoned the hospital to check?Person: Glenn RycroftDate: 2003Location: Salford / ManchesterAmount: £200,000-£250,000Case: 25 guilty pleas- He was 27 years old when a judge in Manchester called him "mean, wicked, and heartless."- He spent three years pretending to die and used fake blood bought from a joke shop; receipts were found in his drawer.- The largest single victim lost just over £50,000.- He left British Airways in November 2000 claiming his mother had cancer, after promoting a private BA investment bond scheme.- A typed letter on Stepping Hill Hospital stationery, signed by a non-existent "Professor Knowles," recommended £250,000 in treatment that never occurred.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Escaped in a Mattress: The Island Boys' Invisible Kingpin 02.10.2026 18min

  He Escaped in a Mattress: The Island Boys' Invisible KingpinA man folded inside a brand-new mattress walked out of a Colombian prison after more than three million dollars in bribes - and vanished into South America with a false passport. The cocaine pipeline that ran from the Virgin Islands to Augusta, Georgia reshaped neighborhoods, but how did one man build a machine that kept him untouched while everyone around him fell?In this episode, we tell the story of the Island Boys operation, its route through the American Virgin Islands into Augusta, the people who ran it on the ground, and the FBI agent who spent years dismantling the network - all leading to the mattress escape that left investigators stunned. What kept the kingpin invisible even as arrests multiplied?Person: James SpringettEvent: Prison escape hidden inside a mattressDate: March 1, 2000Case: The Island Boys drug operationLocation: Augusta, Georgia- Springett paid more than three million dollars in bribes to exit a Colombian prison inside a mattress.- Two years after the mattress escape, the FBI placed Springett on its ten most wanted fugitives list alongside Osama bin Laden.- The Island Boys began in the American Virgin Islands in the early 1990s and funneled Colombian cocaine north through the islands into Augusta.- On June 14, 1995, a suitcase from the islands arrived in Atlanta containing seven kilograms of cocaine linked by a postal employee to Shakeem Gabriel.- Fifteen thousand dollars in one-dollar bills were recovered from Gabriel's home during his arrest, stored in glass jars.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Faked the Past: How an IQ-165 Conman Rewrote Museum Archives 01.10.2026 19min

  He Faked the Past: How an IQ-165 Conman Rewrote Museum ArchivesA single classified ad reading "Genuine Fakes, nineteenth and twentieth century paintings from one hundred and fifty pounds" led to a fraud that cost four million pounds and six months of a London court's time. A man with an IQ of 165 quietly replaced archive pages and supplied forged provenance that let paintings sell for tens of thousands - but who really controlled the deception?In this episode, we tell how a struggling painter's magazine advertisement met a charismatic fraudster and how their partnership created a paper trail that fooled major institutions and auction houses. How did donated access to archives, altered catalogues and fabricated certificates turn affordable copies into high-value auctions?Person: John MyattPerson: John Drewe (born John Cockett)Date: 1998Location: LondonInstitution: Tate Gallery; Victoria and Albert Museum- The Private Eye ad offered copies "from one hundred and fifty pounds" and later Myatt raised prices to two hundred and fifty pounds.- Drewe donated twenty thousand pounds to the Tate to gain archive access.- Myatt produced approximately two hundred paintings over roughly eight years.- A Giacometti sold at Sotheby's for over one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.- A Ben Nicholson allegedly sold in the United States for one hundred and five thousand pounds.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  Satan, Speedos and a Cold Shepherd's Pie: The Southwark Murder 30.09.2026 19min

  Satan, Speedos and a Cold Shepherd's Pie: The Southwark MurderThe first sight: a man in pink speedos and aviator sunglasses answering the door with a calm confession - "I've killed a police officer. Satan told me to do it." A shepherd's pie cooling in Dartford and eighteen unanswered calls sat alongside that moment; how did ordinary domestic life collide with a six-day descent into murder and concealment?In this episode, we follow the timeline from the April 1st meeting on Southwark Street through the days that followed, outlining the actions, purchases and missed signals that preceded discovery. What choices and missed chances allowed one man to disappear while another sat home waiting for his dinner?Person: Stefano BrizziPerson: Gordon SempleDate: April 1, 2016Location: Southwark Street, South LondonEvent: Missing person reported April 2; smell reported April 4; body discovered after April 5- Gordon Semple was 59 years old and a police officer with 30 years' service.- Stefano Brizzi was born June 26, 1966, and moved to London in 2012.- Semple's partner called his phone 18 times over 90 minutes the evening he disappeared.- Brizzi entered a DIY store on April 5 and was filmed measuring buckets by putting his head and shoulders inside them.- Neighbors and a caretaker noticed a smell on April 4 and logged it; discovery actions continued for three more days.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Walked Into A Hospital With Someone Else's Name-and Killed Trust 29.09.2026 20min

  He Walked Into A Hospital With Someone Else's Name-and Killed TrustThe thought that a stranger could walk into a hospital, put on a white coat, and instantly be trusted is quietly terrifying - and it happened again and again over twenty-five years. Paul Bint used at least twenty-four different identities, posed as doctors and aristocrats, and once told grieving parents their seventeen-year-old daughter would be fine before she died six hours later; how did institutions keep saying yes?In this episode, we follow the chronology of Paul Bint’s deceptions and the moments that reveal why people believed him, from teenage intrusions in 1983 to convictions across the 1980s and 1990s. We trace the incidents that exposed gaps in verification and ask what made a hospital corridor accept a stranger as authority.Person: Paul BintPeriod: 1983-1993 (noted incidents)Age at 2003 interview: 41Sentence (2003): Four years and four monthsConvictions mentioned: five years (1984 sentence), additional four years (aristocratic con)- In 1983 he first entered a hospital in Kettering wearing a white coat and stethoscope as a teenager.- By 1984 he worked under the name Dr. Dominic York at Whittington Hospital and other London hospitals.- He administered twelve stitches to a patient with a head injury and attended a patient with a collapsed lung during his fake shifts.- Over twenty-five years he accumulated more than one hundred offences, more than twenty court appearances, and at least twenty-four different identities.- In 1993 at St. James's and York District Hospitals he told parents their 17-year-old daughter would survive; she died six hours later.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Trail That Swallowed Her: Greens Creek's Unseen Witnesses 28.09.2026 20min

  The Trail That Swallowed Her: Greens Creek's Unseen WitnessesThe suburbs felt safe until a summer trail became a crime scene: Ardith Wood was found partially buried 25 meters from Greens Creek with algae in her lungs, her borrowed bicycle submerged, and no DNA or fingerprints linking anyone to the bank. How did a shirtless man seen approaching multiple women vanish from the physical evidence, and what did the teenager who heard the scream decide when her thumb hovered over 911?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning Ardith borrowed her brother’s bicycle to the discovery of her body five days later, following witness accounts, search efforts, and the eventual conviction that relied on a partial confession and a hand-drawn sketch. What failures and near-misses on those trails changed one afternoon into a five-year investigation?Person: Ardith WoodDate: August 6-11, 2003Location: Greens Creek trails, Orleans, OttawaCause of death: DrowningEvidence status: No DNA or fingerprints recovered from creek bank- Ardith was 27 years old and borrowed her brother’s bicycle on the morning of August 6, 2003.- The bicycle was found submerged in Greens Creek before Ardith’s body was recovered.- Ardith’s body was found partially buried behind two large trees, 25 meters from the east bank, on August 11, 2003.- Algae from Greens Creek was found in Ardith’s lungs, indicating she drowned in the creek.- Investigators had no forensic evidence linking anyone to the creek bank; the conviction relied on a partial confession, a hand-drawn sketch, and witness testimony.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Night an Eight-Year-Old Vanished: The White Van Clue 27.09.2026 19min

  The Night an Eight-Year-Old Vanished: The White Van ClueThe quiet of a West Sussex field was shattered by one ordinary detail: a white van seen driving away as an eight-year-old girl stepped through a hedgerow. Within 60 seconds Sarah Payne had disappeared; within days the search swelled to over a thousand officers and a single petrol receipt would change everything. How did one scrap of paper become the linchpin that exposed a killer?In this episode, we tell what happened the evening Sarah Payne vanished, how the police expanded a local search into a massive operation, and how a found receipt contradicted a suspect’s alibi and shifted the case. What the receipt revealed and why it mattered is the question that drives the story.Person: Sarah PayneAge: eightLocation: Kingston Gorse, West SussexDate: 1 July 2000Suspect: Roy Whiting, 41- Sarah was with four of her five siblings in a field in front of her grandparents' home the evening she disappeared.- Lee, her thirteen-year-old brother, followed her through a gap in the hedgerow and found her gone within seconds.- The emergency call was made at 9:00 p.m. and within two hours over 100 officers were deployed.- By Sunday morning the search involved 500 officers, and within three to four days it exceeded 1,000 personnel.- A petrol receipt dated 1 July 2000 found in Roy Whiting’s white van placed him on a route toward Crawley, contradicting his claim he had been at a fair in Hove.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Hidden Psychiatric Report That Let a Fake Spy Walk Free 26.09.2026 21min

  The Hidden Psychiatric Report That Let a Fake Spy Walk FreeA sealed psychiatric report, never shown to the judge and buried by a defense team, may be the single document that explains how a man convinced multiple people he was an MI5 agent. The case includes a decade of manipulation, at least £390,000 extracted from one victim's family, and the fact that the man described in the report walked free after five years - so what did the report say?In this episode, we follow the timeline from a pub in Newport in January 1993 to Heathrow in autumn 2003, tracing how Robert Hendy-Freegard constructed a total fiction that trapped victims into isolation, money transfers, and fear, and we return again to the sealed psychiatric report as the key unresolved element that could change everything.Person: Robert Hendy-FreegardDate of birth: 1 March 1971Location of first con contact: Newport, ShropshireAmount given by John Atkinson to Freegard: approximately £390,000Heathrow meeting: autumn 2003- Freegard was born in Derbyshire on 1 March 1971.- In January 1993 Freegard began telling students at Harper Adams he worked for MI5.- Sarah Smith had an inheritance of £188,000.- John Atkinson eventually gave Freegard approximately £390,000, mostly his family's money.- The man described in the sealed psychiatric report was released after serving five years in prison.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  She Had the Key: The Forgotten Aconite That Killed "Lucky" 25.09.2026 17min

  She Had the Key: The Forgotten Aconite That Killed "Lucky"A quiet West London kitchen hid a lethal secret: a jar of curry laced with Aconitum ferox, a plant whose active compound pseudoaconitina is described as the most virulent aconite known. The first attack in December 2008 left both victims hospitalized and undiagnosed; weeks later the same jar proved fatal - who used the key and why was the poison almost forgotten by modern toxicology?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the unexplained December illness to the fatal call on January 28, 2009, follow the forensic work that involved Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Victorian medical texts, and ask how a plant from Uttar Pradesh became the instrument of a calculated poisoning.Person: Lakhvinder Cheema ("Lucky")Person: Gurjeet, aged 19Person: Lakhvir SinghDate: January 28, 2009Location: Feltham, West London- Both Lucky and Gurjeet fell violently ill on December 8, 2008 with numbness around the mouth, vomiting, and inability to stand.- The fatal incident occurred on January 28, 2009 after both ate from the same jar of curry stored in Lucky’s refrigerator.- Lakhvir Singh traveled to India in October 2008 and returned with material from Uttar Pradesh where Aconitum ferox grows.- The poison identified was Aconitum ferox, whose active compound is pseudoaconitina, noted in the transcript as the most virulent form of aconite.- Investigators consulted the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and referenced Victorian medical texts to recognize and explain the poisoning.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  She Said a Stranger Did It-Forty-Two Stabs, Orchestrated Lie 24.09.2026 20min

  She Said a Stranger Did It-Forty-Two Stabs, Orchestrated LieForty-two stab wounds, a woman kneeling beside the body in the dark, and a public appeal naming a phantom road-rage attacker who was never found - but the evidence said otherwise. How did a story with a specific vehicle, a direct plea to a supposed driver, and precise details survive when the scene left no trace of a second car?In this episode, we lay out the facts of the December 1, 1996 death on Cooper's Hill and the statements that followed, contrasting the physical scene with the woman’s public account to ask whether the narrative was created or observed. What did the investigators notice in those early moments that made them doubt the stranger story?Date: December 1, 1996Location: Cooper's Hill, Bromsgrove, West MidlandsVictim: Lee Harvey, age 25Witness/Key Person: Tracy Andrews, age 27Lead Investigator: Detective Superintendent Ian Johnston- The victim had forty-two stab wounds, including a wound to the carotid artery.- Lee Harvey was found dead by 11:00 PM on December 1, 1996.- Tracy Andrews gave a public appeal on December 3, 1996 describing a dark Ford Sierra with an F-registration.- Neighbors reported ongoing domestic shouting in the couple's flat prior to the incident.- Keepers Cottage resident saw a woman standing with her back to the car and a body on the ground and called police.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Van, the Freezer, and the Man Who Was Never Found 23.09.2026 20min

  The Van, the Freezer, and the Man Who Was Never FoundA monstrous strength, a vanished body, and a composure so cold it reads like a construction plan: a 250-pound man simply ceased to exist on Christmas Eve 1966, and not a single bone or thread was ever found. What really happened in the back of a van on Ladysmith Avenue, and who carried out a disappearance so complete that even those closest to the Krays could not fully explain it?In this episode, we tell the story of Frank Mitchell and the people who moved around him-how he was taken from Dartmoor, held in a flat on Barking Road, and why the men who promised him freedom turned him into a problem instead. Can the quiet professionalism of those who acted explain a crime with no physical trace?Person: Frank MitchellDate: December 24, 1966Location: Ladysmith Avenue; Barking Road; Dartmoor PrisonPerson: Freddie ForemanPerson: Ronnie and Reggie Kray- Frank Mitchell weighed over 250 pounds and was nicknamed "The Mad Axeman."- Mitchell was on a work detail outside Dartmoor Prison when the Krays' men collected him on December 12, 1966.- Mitchell was held in a flat on Barking Road for twelve days before he disappeared.- Freddie Foreman had stayed at the Adelina Grove flat where Ronnie Kray was hidden after escaping Long Grove Asylum.- George Foreman was shot in the chest on December 17, 1964, survived after three operations, and the shooter Jimmy Evans was never charged.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Wore a Suit and Stole a Life: The Man Who Belonged 22.09.2026 17min

  He Wore a Suit and Stole a Life: The Man Who BelongedHe could walk into The Ivy with a British socialite on his arm and look like he belonged, even though he had 102 criminal convictions by then. Impersonation, forged letterheads and a life built on proximity - how did a man from Bexhill-on-Sea keep deceiving rooms full of strangers without ever stealing just cash?In this episode, we tell the story of Michael Edward Hammond from his first CID phone call at 18 to his arrest at Windsor Castle, following the pattern of fraud, forged credentials and staged belonging that defined his life. What was he really after each time he chose disguise over the legitimate chance he was given?Person: Michael Edward HammondDate of birth: December 1968Location: Bexhill-on-SeaConvictions: 102 recorded by age 30Notable event: Arrest at Windsor Castle after impersonating Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan- Hammond committed his first confirmed impersonation in 1987 at age 18 by calling a telephone exchange pretending to be a CID officer.- By his 30th birthday he had 102 criminal convictions, including 48 fraud charges and 17 theft charges.- In 1989 he forged a company letterhead to open a £10,000 overdraft and used the funds to buy a Porsche.- In 2001 he met actor Scott Wright at the National Television Awards and later showed a flat filled with photographs and scrapbooks documenting his proximity to celebrities.- In 2004 he called Windsor Castle claiming to be Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan, CCTV and fingerprints linked him to the grounds and led to his arrest.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Quiet Street That Spilled Three Policemen's Blood 21.09.2026 17min

  The Quiet Street That Spilled Three Policemen's BloodA warm Friday afternoon in Shepherds Bush ended with three police officers dead and a single witness scribbling a licence plate that cracked the case; the man who ordered the killings then hid in the woods for ninety-six days. How did an ordinary July-like moment turn into one of Britain’s most shocking crimes, and what kept the killer hidden for more than three months?In this episode, we follow the day of August 12, 1966, from the quiet houses of Braybrook Street to the parked Vanguard by Wormwood Scrubs, tracing the lives of the three officers and the three men in the car - and asking how a plan for petty theft became a lethal ambush.Date: August 12, 1966Location: Braybrook Street, Shepherds Bush, West LondonCar: Standard Vanguard, plate PGT 726Victims: Jeffrey Fox (41), Christopher Head (30), David Wombwell (25)Suspect hideout duration: 96 days- The three officers were on an unmarked patrol near Wormwood Scrubs shortly after 3:00 p.m.- Harry Roberts was 30 when first imprisoned and 50 when imprisoned again, born in 1936 in Wanstead, Essex.- Roberts served national service with the Rifle Brigade, served in Malaya and Kenya, and trained as a marksman.- Jack Whitney owned and drove the Vanguard with licence plate PGT 726 and claimed there were already guns in the car.- The attack occurred minutes after the Vanguard turned into Braybrook Street on the afternoon of August 12, 1966.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Sat on The Dating Show - Smiling While Bodies Waited 20.09.2026 19min

  He Sat on The Dating Show - Smiling While Bodies WaitedA smiling man charmed millions on national television while the skeletal remains of a missing twelve-year-old lay undiscovered forty miles away; he had already killed at least five women before he ever sat under those studio lights. How did Rodney Alcala move through schools, camps, and a dating show while bodies and victims' lives trailed behind him?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Rodney Alcala's early life through his appearance on The Dating Game and the discovery of Robin Samsoe's remains, exploring how the case unfolded and asking what gaps allowed him to remain free.Person: Rodney AlcalaDate: August 23, 1943 (birth)Date: June 20, 1979 (Robin Samsoe disappeared)Location: Angeles National Forest (where remains were found), 40 miles from the oceanEvent: Appearance on The Dating Game, September 1978- Rodney Alcala sat in seat number one on The Dating Game in September 1978 after having served 34 months for assaulting an eight-year-old in 1968.- Robin Samsoe, age 12, disappeared on June 20, 1979; her skeletal remains were found 12 days later.- Cornelia Crilley, age 23, was strangled in her New York City apartment in June 1971, a crime not connected to Alcala until about 40 years later.- Alcala enrolled in New York University film school under the false name John Berger and drove approximately 3,000 miles to New York after the 1968 attack.- He served 34 months for the 1968 kidnapping/assault, was released in August 1974, arrested again two months later for supplying marijuana to a 13-year-old, and was later declared "rehabilitated" in official records.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Touched a Shoulder - Died for Trying to Stop a Fight 19.09.2026 14min

  He Touched a Shoulder - Died for Trying to Stop a FightThe cold was minus sixteen Celsius and a forty-four-year-old steelworker touched a stranger's shoulder to break up an argument - and forty-four minutes later he was dead on a stretcher. A man with twenty years of marriage, two sons, and a steady job was beaten so severely that his wife performed CPR on him in a hallway while no one else seemed to notice; who were the three men at the adjacent pool table and what happened in that narrow, poorly lit corridor?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from a Friday night at O'Grady's pub through the first hours of the police response, following the timeline from ten-thirty p.m. to Art Rosenthal's death at eleven-fourteen p.m., and we ask how what began as a single touch led to a fatal assault.Person: Arthur RosenthalDate: January 14, 2005Location: O'Grady's pub, 592 Upper James Street, HamiltonStatus: Deceased, declared at 11:14 p.m.Suspect: Cairo Sparks, age 23, from Kitchener-Waterloo- Temperature outside the bar: negative sixteen degrees Celsius on the night of the incident.- Time window from when Art went to the bathroom to death: approximately forty-four minutes.- Time of death: 11:14 p.m. on January 14, 2005.- Physical evidence collected from suspect: a set of metal grilles recovered after officers tasered Cairo Sparks.- Age and affiliation of the man picked up near the scene: Cairo Sparks, 23, documented member of a gang called The Kings.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  He Smiled at Court: The Love Scam That Nearly Killed Her 18.09.2026 17min

  He Smiled at Court: The Love Scam That Nearly Killed HerA woman sat alone in her car with the engine running, contemplating pressing the accelerator after a man she met online told her he loved her and took everything she had. The scam used a pilot's uniform, rehearsed stories, rented flats and routed finances through victims' accounts - and left some paying £250 a month; how did a smile in court become the end of the story?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the first chat room contact in 2001 through repeated deceptions, showing how the con unfolded across relationships and bank accounts, and why a courtroom moment mattered so much to the survivors. What exactly happened in that courtroom, and why did it not stop him?Person: Nick GagePerson: Stella DriscollPerson: Katie BourneEvent: Convicted in Maidstone, October 2002Amount lost: £17,000- Stella paid the rent for nearly a year while Gage lived in a rented flat in Kent with her name on the lease.- Stella lost £17,000 before a friend reported the fraud to police.- In October 2002 a Maidstone court found Gage guilty of one count of obtaining property by deception and two counts of using a false instrument.- Gage received a two-year community rehabilitation order rather than a custodial sentence.- Sally Rainsford, a former landlady, had already lost £3,500 to Gage before warning Katie.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  The Night Seven Planes Should Have Fallen - How They Almost Succeeded 17.09.2026 19min

  The Night Seven Planes Should Have Fallen - How They Almost SucceededA single internet café search in Walthamstow nearly set a synchronized window for seven transatlantic flights to be destroyed, risking roughly two thousand lives over open ocean. What stopped the plot was ordinary-looking shopping - and a discarded carrier bag - but how such everyday items became the linchpin of mass murder is the question that drives this episode.In this episode, we follow the surveillance and intelligence that tracked a small network in 2006 and reveal the moment ordinary behavior became evidence of an aviation plot; could a bottle bought at a corner shop really be the world’s most dangerous bomb?Date: August 6, 2006Person: Ahmed Ali KhanLocation: Walthamstow, east LondonOperation: Operation OvertController: Rashid Rauf- Ahmed Ali Khan, age 25, logged flight schedules for seven transatlantic routes from an internet café on August 6, 2006.- Investigators estimated the target window could have killed roughly 2,000 people if all seven planes were downed simultaneously.- Operation Overt began in early 2006 with 28 surveillance teams and 8-14 officers per shift monitoring suspects.- Surveillance found a discarded carrier bag in Lloyd Park containing hollowed-out batteries linked to bomb construction.- Codified communication included the message "the bat and the bottles are ready, only need the juice now," indicating final assembly using hydrogen peroxide-based materials.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  She Faked Dying - How Six Men Gave Her £250,000 16.09.2026 17min

  She Faked Dying - How Six Men Gave Her £250,000She told a different man she was dying and within weeks they handed over hundreds or tens of thousands of pounds; across two years six victims lost a total of £250,000 while she kept inventing stories and identities. What made ordinary people hand over their lives to a woman who seemed plain, vulnerable and in a hurry?In this episode, we follow the timeline of Emma Go Lightly’s deceptions, from her first online marriage to multiple simultaneous identities, and ask why so many men waited months or never reported the betrayals. How did small, believable details-pills, fake ceremonies, a ringing “PA”-become enough to convince them she was real?Person: Emma Go LightlyDate of arrest: January 2006Birth year: 1984Total taken: £250,000Duration of fraud: two years- Married Chris Williams seven months after meeting him online in May 2004.- Chris Williams spent £17,000 on the marriage and aftermath; a £12,000 cheque she gave him bounced.- Spent £5,000 on Andrew Norris’s card within a single month.- Charged approximately £88,000 to Stephen Bell’s credit card over less than a year.- Posed as "Dr Taylor Go Lightly" at Nuffield Hospital, while the hospital confirmed no record of her on staff.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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  She Baked Cookies While Burying Them: Inside 1426 F Street 15.09.2026 22min

  She Baked Cookies While Burying Them: Inside 1426 F StreetThe backyard of 1426 F Street hid seven bodies beneath neat mounds of fresh soil while the housekeeper baked cookies for officers and collected tenants' Social Security checks. This episode follows the discovery that began November 11, 1988 - but how could a woman trusted by social workers conceal multiple murders in plain sight?In this episode, we tell how a welfare check led detectives into a Victorian rooming house with a historic landmark status, the moment a detective unearthed a human femur, and the questions about decades of abuse and forgery that followed. Could the house’s ordinary appearance and Dorothea Puente’s careful routines have masked a calculated pattern of killings?Address: 1426 F StreetDate: November 11, 1988Person: Dorothea PuenteVictims recovered: 7 bodiesEarlier conviction: forging tenants' benefit checks (released 1985)- The first bone recovered was a human femur pulled from the backyard by Detective John Cabrera.- Seven bodies were recovered from the garden after three days of excavation following the November 11, 1988 discovery.- Dorothea Puente had been released from the California Women's Institution at Chowchilla in 1985 and returned to run the boarding house.- Everson Gilmouth, aged 77, was the first confirmed victim found outside the property, his body discovered in a handmade wooden box along the Sacramento River.- Ruth Monroe, aged 61, died in April 1982 and had been ruled a suicide before later scrutiny linked her to Puente.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].