Where To Start With Casefile True Crime

The crime scene was described as looking more like the set of a horror movie, than real life. It is one of the most horrific crimes ever committed. Not only did it shock the small town of Aberdeen in country NSW, where the crime occurred, it shocked the entire nation of Australia and parts of the world. What could possibly drive somebody to do this? A psychiatric illness? Or premeditated, pre-planned, pure evil? For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-12-katherine-knight

On the 28th of February 1997 Los Angeles police officers, Perello and Farrell were on routine patrol driving along Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood. As they were driving past the Bank of America they saw two large figures enter the bank. Both were dressed in black, both were wearing ski masks and both were carrying automatic rifles. What followed, was 44 minutes of mayhem… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-18-the-north-hollywood-shootout

On November 8th, 2010, just after 9.30pm; 25-year-old Jennifer Pan was in her bedroom. She had her TV on and was chatting on the phone while getting ready for bed. She could hear movement downstairs and voices she didn’t recognise. There were people in the house… Researched and written by Anna Priestland For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-50-jennifer-pan

On the 17th of May 2008, two motorway patrol officers attended to a call that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle on the M6 motorway, near the city Stoke-on-Trent, in England. Expecting the worst, the two officers were surprised when they arrived to see two pedestrians standing calmly and uninjured on the shoulder of the motorway. It didn’t look like much was going on at all… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-17-the-eriksson-twins

[Part 1 of 5] In 1976, Rancho Cordova was a fairly new, postwar suburb in East Sacramento. Beginning as a housing development in the 50’s by the 70’s it was predominantly a middle-class single story neighbourhood, surrounded by other similar suburbs… Researched and written by Anna Priestland Download the map of the attacks here For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-53-east-area-rapist-1976-part-1

[Part 2 of 5] On June 18th, 1976, the Sacramento Sherriff’s Department responded to a break in, and rape of a young woman. By the end of the year, there were ten attacks in total, all attributed to the one serial offender, who the media dubbed, “The East Area Rapist”… Researched and written by Anna Priestland Download the map of the attacks here For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-53-east-area-rapist-1977-part-2

[Part 3 of 5] 1977 started off with a task force being created by the Sacramento Sherriff’s department to catch the East Area Rapist. The crime lab was able to determine that the rapist’s blood was Type A… Researched and written by Anna Priestland Download the map of the attacks here For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-53-east-area-rapist-1977-1978-part-3

[Part 4 of 5] Part 3 began with an emergency press conference in mid-1977. A composite sketch, as well as a physical and psychological profile of the East Area Rapist, was released. The public were warned to be vigilant. Researched and written by Anna Priestland Download the map of the attacks here Download "The Homework" files here For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-53-east-area-rapist-1978-1979-part-4

[Part 1 of 3] You may think you know the story, but do you… Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-1

[Part 2 of 3] You may think you know the story, but do you… Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-2

[Part 3 of 3] You may think you know the story, but do you… This is the chilling conclusion to Jonestown. Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-3

[Part 1 of 3] The Moors in England have been a matter of interest and discussion ever since their immortalization in Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights.” Where they were described as never-ending, wild, and even maddening. In Thomas Hardy’s "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", he chose the English Moors as a metaphor for fear, ignorance and savagery…. Researched and written by Victoria Dieffenbacher For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-49-moors-murders-part-1

[Part 2 of 3] (A recap of Part 1) Ian Brady and Myra Hindley met while working together at Millwards Merchandising company. They committed the murder of 16-year-old Pauline Reade on the 12th of July 1963. Four months later the 23rd of November 1963 they murdered 12-year-old John Kilbride… Researched and written by Victoria Dieffenbacher For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-49-moors-murders-part-2

[Part 3 of 3] (A recap of part two) Brady and Hindley continued their killing spree, murdering Keith Bennett on the 16th of June 1964, seven months after the murder of John Kilbride. Two months later Hindley’s sister Maureen married David Smith… Researched and written by Victoria Dieffenbacher For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-49-moors-murders-part-3

In the 1980's in Sydney Australia, Justice David Opas was shot dead outside his home and bombs were exploded at the homes of Justice Richard Gee and Justice Ray Watson. All three were Family Law Court judges. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-13-the-family-court-murders

"You won't believe it, but it was like, satan saying to me that it's the right thing to do." In the early hours of the 18th of November 2011 a fire was deliberately lit at the Quakers Hill Nursing Home. The nursing home housed 89 residents, a lot of whom were highly dependent patients who were immobile, suffering dementia and Alzheimer's disease. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-06-roger-dean

On the 18th of April 1943, four boys discovered a skeleton buried in the hollow of a wych-elm tree in Hagley Woods, England. Police immediately got to work on identifying the remains and trying to determine the cause of death, however, the investigation hit a wall… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-04-who-put-bella-in-the-witch-elm

The 7th of May 2005 was a typical run of the mill day for Shirley Withers. She worked the full day in her Melbourne fashion boutique and once the shop had closed, she bought a take-out meal and headed to the North Caufield mansion of her millionaire boyfriend Peter Shellard… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-10-peter-shellard

On the 29th of January 1999, best friends Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman had a sleepover at Ashley’s house to celebrate her 16th birthday. Ashley’s parents Danny and Kathy Freeman were also home. It was a quiet uneventful evening, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until 6 am the next morning when a neighbour reported the Freeman house was on fire. For all credits and sources please visit http://casefilepodcast.com/case-03-lauria-bible-and-ashley-freeman

First came the seizures and sleep paralysis. Then came the hallucinations and violent behaviour. Anneliese Michel made endless visits to doctor’s and specialists only to be either referred to another doctor or placed on medication that wasn’t helping her. Her condition became so bad that at times she started to growl and speak in a horrific deep voice… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-11-anneliese-michel

He was implicated in a case of missing money from a courthouse evidence vault. He was facing allegations of misconduct and illegal handling of a witness in a major drug trafficking trial, which lead to the judge ordering a federal investigation. One way to stop that federal investigation would be to come up with a quick plea deal to end the case. One problem, there was no way to do the plea deal without violating federal law. And unfortunately, for US assistant attorney Jonathan Luna things were about to get worse. Much, much worse. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-09-jonathan-luna

On the 4th of August 2002, best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared from the small town of Sohom in England. One of England’s biggest ever manhunts followed. The media became critical of the lack of progress police were making on the case….but they did have a suspect. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-08-holly-wells-and-jessica-chapman

On Tuesday the 2nd of November 1999 Donna Wheeler was found murdered in her home in Berala, Western Sydney. There were several suspects. Was it her ex-husband John who found her body and called the police? Was it her violent ex-boyfriend Keith who was recently arrested for assaulting Donna. Keith wasn't happy that Donna was spending a lot of time with his brother Colin since they separated… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-05-donna-wheeler

On the 11th of January 1965, two fifteen-year-old schoolgirls Christine Sharrock and Marianne Schmidt were found murdered in the Wanda sand hills, just north of Cronulla Beach in Sydney's south. The crime remains one of the most horrific Australia has ever seen. Despite an exhaustive police investigation, the killer remains unknown… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-1-the-wanda-beach-murders

On the first of December 1948, a body of a man was located along the seawall of Somerton Beach, just near Adelaide in South Australia. At first, the police thought it was going to be a straightforward matter, but as the weeks and months went on, it became apparent that this case was anything but straightforward… To this day we don’t know who he is, we don’t know where he came from and we don’t know how he died. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-02-the-somerton-man

[Part 1 of 3] West Yorkshire is a county in England that has a population of over 2 million people. It covers an area of over 2,000 km² and is formed by five cities: Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. Each one of these cities has its own history, its own identity, and its own voice. But during the 1970’s, they were all united. The residents of each city were looking over their shoulders, praying they wouldn’t be the next victim, in one man’s reign of terror who the press named, “The Yorkshire Ripper.” Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the Anonymous Host. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-37-yorkshire-ripper-part-1

[Part 2 of 3] West Yorkshire is a county in England that has a population of over 2 million people. It covers an area of over 2,000 km² and is formed by five cities: Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. Each one of these cities has its own history, its own identity, and its own voice… But during the 1970’s, they were all united. The residents of each city were looking over their shoulders, praying they wouldn’t be the next victim, in one man’s reign of terror who the press named, “The Yorkshire Ripper.” Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the Anonymous Host. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/yorkshire-ripper-part-2

[Part 3 of 3] “Well I think the time had come, you might say the time had come a few murders ago, but it’s certainly come for a rethink about the whole investigation." Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the Anonymous Host. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/yorkshire-ripper-part-3