Cold Case Murder Mysteries

On the morning of November 1, 2007, Amanda Knox, an American college student living abroad in Perugia, Italy, returns to her apartment to find the front door open, blood in the bathroom, and her unresponsive roommate locked inside a bedroom. Fearing the worst, she calls her boyfriend, and the two of them try to break down the door, to no avail. So, they call police, who discover the body of 22-year-old English student Meredith Kercher inside. But the nightmare has only just begun ... because now the police are looking at the couple's strange behavior. And, before long, they'll be separated and confined to jail cells, interrogated until they finally break and point the finger at each other, ultimately spawning a desperate quest for justice and redemption that would span a decade.

On July 5, 2011, Casey Anthony was acquitted of numerous charges related to the asphyxiation death of her 3-year-old daughter Caylee in Orlando, FL, drawing outrage from the media and general public that persists to this day, even garnering her the moniker "World's Most Hated Mom." But years later, still lost in the shuffle is what really happened to little Caylee Anthony. In a case predicated upon lies, join me as I endeavor to uncover the truth by way of reverse-engineering the psychology and linguistics of this madness in the absence of fact.

In the early morning hours of December 9, 2001, novelist and aspiring politician Mike Peterson makes a harrowing 911 call to report that his wife Kathleen has fallen down the stairs of their Durham, NC mansion and is barely breathing. By the time police arrive, however, they find Kathleen dead in a pool of blood, and what's been reported as an accident suddenly seems like murder. But the only other person in the house that night was her loving husband. So, did he do it? And is the truth buried in a dark secret from his past? Let's take a look.

In a 2-part episode, we first delve into the unsolved Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders, a series of unexplained deaths throughout the 1970s involving young female victims being dumped along roadsides, a case in which there is still very little evidence. Everybody from Ted Bundy to the Hillside Stranglers have been investigated, to no avail. However, there is a prime suspect, one we know all too well. But did he do it? Then, in the second part of our show, we take a closer look at some of the evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey case, specifically analysis of the 911 call, ransom note, and bowl of pineapple.

On September 27, 1969, a young woman named Cecelia Shepard died while being rushed to the hospital after she and fellow student Bryan Hartnell were viciously stabbed as they picnicked along an isthmus on a beautiful day at Lake Berryessa in Northern California. But before succumbing to her injuries, she provided a detailed description of a man dressed in a black executioner's hood who carried a gun and a foot-long knife. This was the face of evil. This was the Zodiac. But despite one of the largest manhunts in American history, his identity remains unknown. Or does it?

On the morning of December 26, 1996, a frantic mother named Patsy Ramsey calls 911 to report that her daughter is missing and a ransom note was left on their back staircase demanding $118,000. As authorities investigate the disappearance, however, it quickly becomes apparent that not everything is what seems. And their suspicions are validated when the little girl's dead body is discovered in the wine cellar near a broken basement window. But was there really an intruder? Or were parents John and Patsy hiding something? Maybe even a dark secret about their 9-year-old son, Burke? Let's find out.