Serial Killers

Say Candyman’s name five times in a mirror and you’ll summon his vengeful spirit, then he’ll slaughter you with his hook. That’s how the urban legend goes anyway. It was directly inspired by a short story, a series of Hollywood films, and some suspect…a real-life crime. Don’t believe a killer can come through your bathroom mirror? Tell that to Ruthie Mae McCoy. Ashley Flowers — creator of hit podcasts like Crime Junkie and The Deck Investigates, and author of #1 New York Times bestseller All Good People Here — takes over as guest host for this Halloween special. For more gripping true crime stories, listen to Crime Junkie, and follow Crime Junkie on Instagram @crimejunkiepodcast for even more exclusive content. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’ve babysat, you’ve heard this tale: While her charges sleep, a babysitter receives harassing phone calls telling her to “check the children”. But this urban legend has disturbing real-life parallels, including the case of 14-year-old Karen Slattery. The major difference between truth and fiction? Who dies. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a remote area of York County, Pennsylvania, a two-story clapboard house stands in Rehmeyer’s Hollow, aka “Hex Hollow” – where some say the spirit of Nelson Rehmeyer still resides. Perhaps that’s because his home was also the site of a real-life terror: the 1928 Hex Hollow Murder, which claimed Nelson’s life. The crime made headlines, but it wasn’t just the brutal act itself that shocked the nation…it was the fact that the killers believed Nelson Rehmeyer was a malicious witch whose hexes could only be broken in death. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to the urban legends, Highway 666 is a paranormal hotspot in the remote American Southwest. The “Devil’s Highway” is cursed by ghostly hitchhikers, UFOs, and the homicidal “demon trucker” who stalks his prey along the highway. Highway 666 has since been renamed. And while the demon trucker has never been confirmed, the stories about him pale in comparison to the true case of Robert Ben Rhoades, the “Truck Stop Killer” who abducted victims and tortured them in his sleeper cab as they crossed the U.S. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In August of 1989, 21-year-old Lyle and 18-year-old Erik Menendez murdered their parents in Beverly Hills after years of abuse. Afterward, they attempted to cover it up, but their stories quickly unravelled. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jose Menendez pursued wealth at the expense of everything else in his life, including his relationship with his family. He abused his wife Kitty, and his sons, Lyle and Erik, until tension in the household finally boiled over in 1989. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On September 13th, 1978, an episode of The Dating Game aired on network television featuring a man named Rodney Alcala as “Bachelor Number One.” The announcer introduced him as a “successful photographer” – but at the time, Rodney had a secret. He’d already killed at least four victims…and he wasn’t done yet. Be sure to watch Woman of the Hour on Netflix, starting October 18th. Directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour tells the story of a woman whose life intersects with Rodney Alcala’s in a surprising way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ted Kaczynski, the man better known to the world as the Unabomber, died in 2023. But his manifesto and the ideas he presented as justifications for his killings have become more mainstream. We sat down with Candice DeLong, one of the FBI agents who helped capture Kaczynski in 1996, as well as Gary Wright, who survived a bombing in 1987. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Check out Candice’s new podcast Natural Selection: Scott v. Wild Bill. All episodes out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was no debate over whether Betty Lou Beets killed two of her husbands. But there was great concern over her motivation. Did she do it out of fear or for money? Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All she really wanted in life was freedom. But Betty Lou Beets wound up trapped in abusive marriage after abusive marriage. It was only a matter of time before she would strike back. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re celebrating 500 episodes over at @serialkillerspodcast - come share your favorite episodes and memories from the show, and enjoy some special behind-the-scenes bonus content! He’s been called many names: the Boogeyman, the Thrill Vulture, the Moon Maniac, the Ogre of Murder Lodge, the Grey Man, the Brooklyn Vampire, and the Werewolf of Wysteria. But in life, he was known as Albert Fish and his gruesome crimes redefined the limits of human depravity. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 13 years as a Mafia hit man, he found himself in the crosshairs of the New Jersey Police. There was only one thing left to do: slaughter every last one of his friends before they got the chance to turn on him. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He killed over a hundred people before the police had even heard his name. So when the Mafia needed a body to drop without getting their hands dirty, there was only one man to call. Richard Kuklinski was quick, vicious, and utterly invisible. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In August of 2018, Chris and Shanann Watts’ marriage ended in violent tragedy. The trauma left a family broken and a Colorado community reeling, as the public struggled to understand the shocking crime. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris and Shanann Watts seemed to have the picture-perfect life. But in reality, an extramarital affair, financial struggles, and conflicts with extended family were tearing the couple apart, all leading to a shocking, brutal crime that would shock the nation. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1978, Ann Wolbert Burgess was a psychiatric nurse, researcher, and professor at Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing. She and her colleague, Lynda Holmstrom, had recently published their findings on the emotional and psychological effects of sexual assault on survivors. That fall, her work was interrupted by a phone call. The FBI wanted to speak with her. They needed her help. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honolulu, on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, is a quintessential paradise. In 1986, it was also the hunting grounds of a serial killer who was never caught: The Honolulu Strangler. Investigators believe he claimed as many as five victims before seemingly disappearing into thin air. Now, cold case detectives believe they may have some answers in the as-yet-unsolved case. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Joseph Smith, the “London Bluebeard,” was said to have hypnotizing eyes that lured women into marriage – and on to their untimely deaths. But it was his strange method of killing them that would eventually lead to his downfall…after his third wife died in the bathtub during their honeymoon. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a Missouri real estate tycoon fell sick in 1909, he promised his family a large inheritance. But one in-law was after far more than a piece of the pie. Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde wanted the whole fortune, even if it meant using his medical knowledge for murder. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By 1938, Philadelphia’s Bolber-Petrillo Murder Ring had collected an estimated $100,000 in insurance payouts. But like many criminals on a lucky streak, they got sloppy. As investigators unraveled the threads of the ring’s vast conspiracy, Dr. Morris Bolber put on one last show. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices