Episodes
Dec. 24, 2025
116. Marion Parker: The Infamous 1927 Los Angeles Kidnapping and Murder
In this special Christmas episode of Hard Times and True Crimes, we examine one of the most disturbing crimes in American history: The kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker in Los Angeles in 1927.
In December 1927, Los Angeles was rocked by the kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker, a crime s…
Dec. 9, 2025
115. A Christmas Nightmare: The Crimes of Ronald Gene Simmons
Ronald Gene Simmons lived quietly in Arkansas throughout the 1980s, keeping mostly to himself and his large family. Outwardly, he appeared to be living a simple life in the country—but behind closed doors was a world shaped b...
Nov. 19, 2025
114. Erin Patterson Australia Mushroom Poisoning Case: The True Crime Story Everyone's Searching For
In 2023, Erin Patterson sat down to lunch with her in-laws. A fatal family lunch in rural Australia. A handful of mushrooms. Three deaths. One survivor. And a woman at the center of a case that grabbed the world's attention almost overnight.
In this episode, we break down the 2023 Erin Patters…
Oct. 30, 2025
113. Halloween Special: The Asylum Edition
Episode Summary: In our Halloween special, we step into the dark history of women’s mental health in early 20th-century America. Two women — Catherine Ward and Carrie Selvage — entered the asylum system from different directions. One commited a horrific crime. One guilty of nothing. Both lives ende…
Oct. 15, 2025
112. The Real Amityville Horror Story: What Really Happened
🎙️ In this episode, we uncover the chilling truth behind The Amityville Horror — separating fact from fiction in one of America’s most infamous stories. Long before the bestselling book and Hollywood movies, there was a real tragedy inside 112 Ocean Avenue: the DeFeo family murders.
Join us as w…
Sept. 30, 2025
111. The Phillips Family Murders: Winston-Salem’s New Year’s Eve Tragedy (1947)
On New Year’s Eve, 1947, Winston-Salem was still glowing with Christmas decorations when a tragedy unfolded that shocked Forsyth County and made headlines across the state of North Carolina.
Everett and Margaret Phillips were a devoted couple who waited eight years for their only child, Tommy …
Sept. 17, 2025
The Murder of Dr. Cozart in Fuquay-Varina | True Crime in Wake County
In the early 1950s, the quiet community then known as Fuquay Springs - today's Fuquay-Varina in Wake County, North Carolina - was shaken by the violent killing of Dr. Cozart, a respected local physician. His sudden death stunned the town and left behind questions that linger more than a century lat…
Sept. 2, 2025
109.The Rowan County Axe Murders: The Lyerly Family
In July of 1906, Rowan County, North Carolina, was shaken by one of the most brutal crimes in state history. Isaac Lyerly, his wife Augusta, and two of their young children were murdered in their farmhouse near Barber Junctio...
Aug. 20, 2025
108. A Shot in the Dark: The Barbara Stager Case
In February 1988, a single gunshot shattered the quiet of a Durham, North Carolina, neighborhood. Barbara Stager told police her husband Russ's death was a tragic accident. But as investigators dug deeper, the picture-perfect image of a devoted wife began to crack.
In this episode of Hard Times…
Aug. 6, 2025
107. Paradise Lost: The Chillingworth Murders of 1950s Florida
In the warm summer of 1955, Judge Curtis Chillingworth, Florida’s youngest ever circuit judge and a man known for his fairness would vanish from his beachside cottage in Manalapan, just south of West Palm Beach. His wife, Marjorie, disappeared with him.
Footprints led to the sea and never came …
July 23, 2025
106. A Crime, A Conversion, A Controversy: The Karla Faye Tucker Case
In 1983, a brutal double homicide in Houston, Texas shocked the public—not just because of the violence, but because of who was eventually held responsible. Karla Faye Tucker, a 23-year-old woman with a troubled past, quickly became one of the most controversial figures in modern true crime history…
July 16, 2025
MINI Episode - A Supernatural Turn in the Welch Family Case
In this special mini-episode, we revisit 102. Murder on Route 66: The Welch Family Tragedy with a surprising update. The link to the original episode is in the show notes below. One of the individuals directly connected to th...
July 8, 2025
105. North Carolina's First Serial Killer: The Chilling Confession of Asbury Respus
In 1931, a little girl named Vera Leonard vanished while waiting for the school bus in Guilford County, NC. Hours later, her body was found in the ashes of her burned-down home. The man arrested—“Will Moore”—turned out to be ...
June 25, 2025
104. Burned Alive: The Martyrdom of Graham Staines and His Sons in India
In this gripping true crime episode, we explore the harrowing and heartbreaking story of Graham Staines, an Australian missionary who was burned alive along with his two young sons by a radical mob in Odisha, India, in 1999.
Even in the face of horrific violence, forgiveness and faith can speak…
June 10, 2025
103. Moonshine and Murder in the Smoky Mountains: The Perry’s Camp Murders of 1949
In 1949, deep in the Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, Tennessee, a savage double murder shattered the stillness of a quiet Appalachian community. Charlie Perry—a former Knoxville bootlegger turned tourist camp owner—and his ...
May 28, 2025
102. Murder On Route 66: The Welch Family Tragedy
There is an UPDATE on this story, which we recorded as a bonus/MINI episode. It is linked below in the show notes.
In June 1961, JD and Utha Welch packed up their car, their four young sons, and headed west from Oklahoma to visit family in California.
It was supposed to be a simple road trip …
May 13, 2025
101. Boy in the Walls: The Daniel LaPlante Horror Story
Show Notes: In 1986, Tina and Karen Bowen were just teenage girls when their mother passed away from cancer. Not long after, strange things started happening in their home. Knocking from inside the walls. Furniture moved. Objects disappeared. Messages scrawled in red across the bedroom walls: 💬 “I’…
April 30, 2025
100. The Pied Piper of Tucson: Charles Schmid's Deadly Reign Over 1960s Arizona
In this chilling episode of Hard Times and True Crimes , we dive deep into the twisted tale of Charles Schmid, the manipulative and charismatic serial killer who terrorized the young women of Tucson, Arizona, during the 1960s...
April 15, 2025
99. A Deadly Obsession: The Murder Of Olga Duncan
📍 Episode Summary: In 1958, 30-year-old nurse Olga Duncan vanished from her Santa Barbara apartment. She was newly married, seven months pregnant, and full of hope for the future. But what no one could’ve imagined was that the person behind her disappearance wasn’t a stranger… it was someone much c…
April 2, 2025
98. The Doctor's Wife: A Searcy, Arkansas Murder Story
In 1974, the quiet town of Searcy, Arkansas, was shaken by the shocking murder of Fern Rodgers, the wife of local physician Dr. Porter Rodgers. What seemed like a tragic crime soon unraveled as more information came to light ...
March 26, 2025
97. Blood in the Quarter: The 1927 Louisiana Trunk Murders
🎙️ Hard Times & True Crimes Show Notes: In the fall of 1927, New Orleans was buzzin’ with jazz, bootleg liquor, and secrets behind every shuttered window. But nothing prepared the city for what was found inside a quiet little apartment at 715 Ursulines Street. Two women—Theresa Moity and her si…
March 19, 2025
96. A True Crime Mystery Solved: The Murders of Aundria Bowman and Kathleen Doyle
In this gripping episode of Hard Times and True Crimes, we uncover the hauntingly intertwined stories of Aundria Bowman and Kathleen Doyle - two women connected by tragedy and a ruthless predator who evaded justice for decade...
March 12, 2025
95.Caril Ann Fugate: Hostage or Accomplice? The Truth Behind the Starkweather Murder Spree
Episode Summary: This week, we’re diving into one of the most notorious crime sprees in American history—the 1958 murder rampage of Charlie Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Was Caril Ann Fugate a hostage or an accomplice? Did she have chances to escape, or was she trapped in a nightmare she could…
March 5, 2025
94.Sean Patrick Goble: The Serial Killer Truck Driver
🔎 Episode Summary: Truck stops, open highways, and a killer hiding in plain sight—Sean Patrick Goble was a long-haul trucker with a dark secret. 🚚💀 In the early 1990s, Goble crisscrossed the country, using his job as a cover to prey on vulnerable women leading to multiple murders. But what led to h…