Casefile True Crime

On August 19 1990, the tiny mountain town of Camp Nelson, California was stunned when the owner of the Camp Nelson Lodge, Bonnie Hood, was found shot to death in her private cabin. Her handyman, Rudy ...

It’s been four years since I first learned about the disappearance of Niamh Maye, an 18-year-old who went missing from the small New South Wales town of Batlow back in 2002. I don’t know if it’s becau...

*** Content warnings: Mass murder, suicide *** When the crew of an oil tanker discover a man lost at sea on November 13 1961, he tells them a harrowing tale. His name is Captain Julian Harvey, and he...

*** Content warnings: Child abuse, sexual assault *** On an early morning in March 1994, two strange men entered 16-year-old Aaron Bacon’s bedroom and told him they were there to take him away. Aaron...

*** Content warnings: Suicide, self-harm, pregnancy loss *** When retired schoolteacher Celia Blay stumbled across an online forum where suicidal individuals shared their innermost thoughts, she had ...

When married couple Ray and Jennie Kehlet went on a prospecting trip to the Western Australian outback in March 2015, they had one thing on their minds and that was to find gold. But when the couple s...

[Part 2 of 2] After arresting Darrin Lopez for the murder of Jamie Faith, detectives were confident they had solved the case – but the biggest revelation was yet to come. --- Narration – Anonymous H...

[Part 1 of 2] Married couple Jamie and Jennifer Faith lived a comfortable and happy life together in Oak Cliff, Texas. That all changed on the morning of Friday, October 9 2020, when a masked assailan...

*** Content warnings: Child abuse, child victims, sexual assault *** In the late 1970s, young girls along the Andes mountain range in Ecuador began to disappear. By 1980, the number of missing girls h...

In October of 2011, an advertisement was posted on the website Craigslist. It read: Wanted: Caretaker For Farm. Simply watch over a 688 acre patch of hilly farmland and feed a few cows. You get 300 a ...

** Content warnings: Child victims *** When a Holden belonging to Glenroy man Elmer Crawford was found at the bottom of the Loch Ard Gorge in July 1970, immediate concerns were raised for the safety...

When Mersea Island couple Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead in their favourite recliner chairs in April 2023, there were no visible injuries or an obvious cause of death. Their house was immacu...

*** Content warnings: Domestic violence, suicide *** Dutch national Mark van Dongen met South African Berlinah Wallace in 2010 in Bristol, England. After 5 years together, Mark decided he wanted to e...

When Half and Susanne Zantop were found brutally stabbed to death in their Etna, New Hampshire home, friends, colleagues and investigators were all at a loss to understand it. The married couple were...

After two planes struck New York City’s World Trade Center on September 11 2001, Tania Head was one of the lucky few who managed to escape from above the impact zone of the South Tower. Saved by laude...

*** Content warnings: Domestic violence *** When freelance writer Louise Ellis disappeared after leaving her Ottawa home on April 22 1995, the person leading the search for her was her devoted partne...

*** Content warnings: Animal cruelty, gun violence *** 43-year-old Graham Backhouse lived a peaceful life with his wife and children on Widden Hill Farm in Horton, England. But in 1984, a campaign of...

When Dutch friends Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon set out for a six-week adventure in Panama in 2014, they were ready for the trip of a lifetime. But after failing to show up for a planned tour in the...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault *** In 2004, several young girls around Fort Wayne, Indiana received handwritten letters threatening that they would be the next victim of a child k...

*** Content warnings: Racial violence, sexual assault *** In June of 2020, London social worker Bibaa Henry decided to celebrate her 46th birthday with a picnic at scenic Fryent Country Park. Celebr...

*** Content warnings: Animal cruelty *** On a hot summer’s day in 1989, a father and son travelling through Stockton, California, discover a VHS tape left by the side of a road. When they take it ho...

In early January 2000, residents of Asheville, North Carolina were told to be on the lookout for 18-year-old Zebb Quinn after he failed to return home after finishing his shift at Wal-Mart. A co-worke...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault *** [Part 2 of 2] Colin Ross maintained his innocence for the murder of Alma Tirtschke right up until his execution. Could he have been telling the...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault *** [Part 1 of 2] When 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke failed to return home after running an errand for her family, they were immediately concerned. Al...

*** Content warnings: Sexual assault, domestic violence *** Jeff and Tim Slaten woke on the morning of Friday, September 4 1981, to find their home teeming with police. Their mother, Linda, had been...

May 3 1991, was a typical Friday for 58-year-old Margaret Penny. In the afternoon, she visited the Old London Coiffure in the heart of Portland, Victoria, for her weekly hair appointment with 49-year-...

*** Content warnings: Sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking *** When Angela Connell met Ian Diaz, the pair began a whirlwind romance that quickly led to marriage and a growing family. But their...

*** Content warning: Child victim *** On November 16 2001, two state troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police arrived to conduct a welfare check at the Poconos Mountains home of 52-year-old Benjam...

*** Content warning: Child victims, serial rapist, stalking *** When the Koneva family fled to England to escape the war-torn Balkans, their hopes for a peaceful new beginning were soon shattered. In...

On September 5 2012, a cyclist driving through the French Alps came upon a shocking scene. Married couple Saad and Iqbal al-Hilli, along with Iqbal’s elderly mother Suhaila al-Allaf, were shot executi...

*** Content warning: Child victim, child sexual assault, sexual assault/rape *** When six-year-old Bonnie Clarke is murdered in her bed in the middle of the night just four nights before Christmas in...

*** Content warning: Sexual assault *** For 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher, spending a year studying in Italy was a dream come true. But within months of arriving in the medieval town o...

*** Content warning: Animal cruelty *** In May 2021, residents of the affluent Athens suburb of Glyka Nera were left shaken by news of a violent home invasion. Three masked intruders had killed 19-ye...

*** Content warning: Extreme sexual violence, captivity *** [Part 2 of 2] As the years of abuse, torture and confinement to the bed box continued for Colleen Stan, she remained paralysed by her fear ...

*** Content warning: Extreme sexual violence, captivity *** [Part 1 of 2] When Colleen Stan’s family received an unexpected phone call from Colleen in June 1980, they were stunned. No one had seen or...

In the spring of 2005, two 18-year-olds met in an online chat room and immediately hit it off. Jessi went by the username TalHotBlond, while her new friend Tommy called himself MarineSniper. It wasn’t...

In March 1977, school bus driver Mary Gillespie started receiving threatening letters delivered to her home in Circleville, Ohio. It wasn’t long before her husband, Ron Gillespie, also received the le...

For Marea Yann, two things mattered most in life - family and community. When the 69-year-old was found violently bludgeoned to death in her Healesville home, the small Victorian town was left shaken....

*** Content warning: Child victim, child abuse, suicide, grooming *** When 14-year-old Andrew Gosden mysteriously disappeared from his home in the UK suburb of Doncaster, evidence emerged to indicate ...

When Brian and Beverly Barry returned from a weekend away to discover their 19-year-old daughter Kim was gone, they initially assumed she was out with friends. Then news broke that a body had been fou...

*** Content warning: Domestic violence, sexual assault *** In Pakistani culture, arranged marriages are common.  So when the parents of Samia Shahid chose a husband for her, Samia agreed to the marria...

*** Content warning: Sexual assault *** [Part 2 of 2] When nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was abducted from the front of her family’s trailer in Richland County, South Carolina, there were immediate...

*** Content warning: Sexual assault *** [Part 1 of 2] When 17-year-old Shari Smith disappeared from the end of her family's driveway in Lexington, South Carolina, there were immediate concerns for he...

*** Content warning: Elder abuse *** The Director of Nursing at the Alpine Manor Nursing Home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was thrilled when Catherine Wood and Gwen Graham joined their team of nursing ...

*** Content warning: Child victim, child sexual abuse *** When eight-year-old Jamie Lavis failed to return home on Monday, May 5 1997, his family quickly raised the alarm. Soon, it seemed as though a...

On November 16 2009, a 911 call was placed to the Utah County Sheriff’s Department by 34-year-old Pamela Mortensen. According to Pamela, her father-in-law Kay Mortensen was brutally murdered in his ow...

After a routine check on suspicious activity turns to tragedy for Illinois Police Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz, Fox Lake locals struggle to come to grips with the loss of their hero cop. A statewide manh...

*** Content warning: Crimes against children, child abuse, domestic abuse, alcoholism *** On April 27 1964, young mother Dora Fronczak was in her hospital bed feeding her one-day-old son, Paul, when ...

When 52-year-old German farmer Rudolf Rupp failed to return home from a night out drinking in the town of Neuburg an der Donau, several questions were raised. Had Rudolf accidentally driven into the n...

*** Content warning: child victim *** On the afternoon of January 14, 2012, 15-year-old Winsie Hau was attacked with a knife by a 14-year-old boy. Winsie's father was also attacked, and while he survi...