Episodes
Last week we told you how over 1,000 people ended up in the Guyanese jungle following the orders of a meth-head with a god complex. Short answer: Nobody knowingly joins a cult.This week we’re here to tell you how the arrival of US Congressman Leo Ryan inadvertently set off a chain of events that led to the chaotic end of Jonestown and the tragic loss of nearly 1,000 lives.This is part two of their storyExclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhanded...
In February 1986, the prime minister of Sweden was walking home from the cinema, when a man stepped out of a shop doorway and shot him in the neck with a .357 Magnum. The killer ran down a side street – and disappeared without a trace.The mystery surrounding Olof Palme’s death is a Swedish national obsession that's barely left the headlines in the decades since. Hundreds of theories, from international hitmen to lone gunmen and police conspiracies, have swirled around one of the most extensive murder investigations in history.And then, in 2020, investigators called a press conference – to a...
On the 18th of November 1978, 909 men, women, and children were killed by chemical-laced Flav-Or-Aid in the Guyanese jungle, all at the will of one man - Jim Jones. It was the largest loss of American lives since the Second World War. That’s what everyone remembers.But despite the notorious “Jonestown Massacre” being forever etched into the public consciousness, few people know how almost 1000 people ended up living in the jungle, thinking they were fighting the Capitalist machine, whilst starving half to death, and following the words of a meth-addled maniac.This is the first part of their...
In this episode, we unravel the mystery of the Isdal Woman, Norway’s most notorious cold case. Was it murder, suicide, or something even more sinister? With whispers of Cold War espionage, coded notes, fake identities - and the persistent smell of garlic - this bizarre tale will leave you questioning everything. Wrap up warm: it’s time to enter the Ice Valley.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhandedpodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art...
One of the most prolific serial killers in America's so called 'golden era', Rodney Alcala is responsible for the deaths of at least eight people, although the true number is likely much higher. Yet few people have even heard of him. In fact his ability to narrowly avoid any real consequence for his multiple sexual assaults and violent murders, often on young girls, was so prolific that he even had the chance to appear on one of America’s biggest TV quiz shows... which he won.Hannah and Suruthi revisit their coverage of the Dating Game Killer – one of the most uncomfortable cases we’ve ev...
With Netflix releasing a brand new documentary on the tragic and suspicious death of JonBenét Ramsey, we thought it would a good time to have a little recap on the case that shook the nation. So here's us from way back in December 2019...When 6 year old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family’s mansion on Boxing Day 1996 - it sparked a relentless mystery that still endures 25 years later.Leave what you think you know behind and join Hannah and Suruthi to try and sort fact from fiction...Happy Christmas.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPa...
Through the 2000s, three neo-Nazi terrorists and serial killers rampaged across Germany – bombing and shooting immigrants in broad daylight, with total impunity. And despite plenty of evidence, investigators failed to join the dots time and time again. Worse still, the German government was, unknowingly, actively funding the bloodshed.To find out why – a half century after the Holocaust – German authorities refused to believe there was any white supremacist threat, we’re joined by investigative journalist Jacob Kushner, who moved to Germany while the five-year trial of the century played ou...
In 1994, Zhu Ling – a brilliant chemistry student at China’s most prestigious university – fell mysteriously ill. A desperate SOS call by her friends on the fledgling Internet brought a chilling discovery: Zhu had been poisoned with thallium.And despite the evidence all pointing in one direction, the investigation ground to a suspicious halt, and nobody was ever charged. Join us for a story of jealousy, digital manhunts and seriously toxic friendship.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandAmazon Music - Ad-free & ShortHand (available with some Prime accounts)Patreon - Ad-free ...
Richard Allen has been found guilty on all charges relating to the 2017 murders of Abby Williams and Libby German.But if anyone thinks that this story is over, think again - there is a lot of controversy around this trial and people are hugely divided over the outcome.In this update we’ll look at what convicted Richard Allen, what the jury didn’t hear, and why people are quite so angry…For the full story, listen to our deep-dive episodes below:The Delphi Murders: In Plain Sight - Part 1The Delphi Murders: The Man in the Woods - Part 2Delphi Update: Odinism & Accusations of Ritual SacrificeE...
Of the 83 men who had raped Gisèle Pelicot, she recognised only two faces. One was a neighbour – and the other was her beloved husband of over 50 years. Dominique Pelicot had been using a chatroom to invite total strangers over to assault his wife, without her knowledge, for almost a decade. And she had had no idea.We peel back every layer of this unfathomable case: the shockwaves it sent through France and the Pelicot family; the rapists’ jaw-dropping attitudes to their crimes; Gisèle’s astonishing bravery in speaking up in her 2024 trial; and even evidence linking Dominique Pelicot to two...
This week, we continue our spooky tradition of swapping stories on All Hallows Eve, with two chilling cases of betrayal and deceit. From a death in the dorms to a long-buried family secret that changed a Midwestern teenager’s life forever, we’ll have you looking at your inner circle with a healthy dose of suspicion: how much can we really trust those closest to us? Happy Halloween!Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhandedpodcast.comSee Privacy...
The winter solstice is almost here – the time when the threshold between the living and the dead is at its weakest. And here at RedHanded towers, that only means one thing: spooky story swap time!Hannah and Suru have once again searched high and low for the spookiest, most bone-chilling cases they can find, to tell each other for the first time. For the first of our two story-swaps this year, Hannah takes us through the gates of the monstrous (and monstrously haunted) Pennhurst Asylum, and Suru tells the tale of a mummified savant, lying in a house on the North Yorkshire moors – and her two...
Incest runs in the family – and Eddie Lee Sexton’s depravity knew no bounds. From his own teenage daughters right down to the children he had fathered with his own kin – nobody was safe from him, or the sons he’d raised in his image. With the authorities breathing down his neck, Sexton fled with his miserable menagerie in tow. By the time the law caught up to them, at least two people had been murdered in cold blood. Terrifyingly, Eddie Lee Sexton’s grip over his family was so strong that a conviction was far from certain. This is the story of how the fate of one of America’s vilest men hu...
We're digging deeper than ever into the dark recesses of the RedHanded vault – seven years to be exact – to bring you our first EVER Halloween special from 2017...For Halloween, the girls bring you the most disturbing cases they could find for their very own treehouse of horror, filled with kidnapping, a Buffalo Bill copy cat and shivers for days. Get cosy and grab the dog as Hannah & Suruthi take you through 2 harrowing cases, told to each other for the first time. Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTok...
Neglect has a smell – and it clung to the walls of 1849 Caroline Street, Stark County, Ohio. As a litany of horrors unfurled, the stench was dwarfed only by the darkness emanating from its owner – Eddie Lee Sexton.Over the next two episodes, we reveal a multi-generational secret; one that haunted Sexton’s 12 children for the rest of their days. The DHS, the Police and the Sheriff’s department all had their suspicions for years. But in 1991, a tip came in and the race was on to get those children out of that house.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus...
At first, police thought they were only looking for a double murderer. Nicknamed the ‘Bedsit Killer’ in the press, the suspect’s reputation for savage violence already loomed large in the town of Tunbridge Wells in the late 80s. But it was only when they caught David Fuller – more than 30 years later – that they learnt the blood-curdling truth: that for years, the mortuary worker had been acting out his sick fantasies with the bodies of the dead. These exploits were so shocking, and so extensive, that Fuller earnt his second nickname: the Monster in the Morgue.Exclusive bonus content:Wonder...
We now know that the CIA quietly tested mind-bending psychedelics on unwitting American citizens. But how do we know?In Part 2 of our series on MK-Ultra, we're going to tell you the story of how one of the CIA's many dirty secrets was revealed to the world, and how they were forced not only to hand over damaging information about their mind-bending escapades but also to inadvertently help promote the book that followed.More importantly, what does any of this have to do with Fidel Castro's beard?Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us ...
ShortHand is available exclusively for Amazon Music and Wondery+ subscribers.Rumours about NASA scientists trying to teach dolphins to talk and getting frisky in the process have long been internet lore. But what really happened when Margaret Howe took on the task of training a sexed-up sea mammal to speak? And how on earth did they get it funded?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In the wake of an Allied victory, the threat of a communist New World Order loomed over the West. Desperate to beat the Soviets at their own game, the USA gave the secret service all the money and drugs they needed to create a real-life Manchurian Candidate.Left with their minds in tatters and their relationships all but destroyed, the subjects of the CIA program ‘MKUltra’ were unwitting lab rats in the USA’s never-ending search for a truth serum.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our ...
Kirk Anderson was abducted from an LDS meeting house in Surrey by his ex-partner – and ex-beauty queen – Joyce McKinney. He said he was taken to a small rural cottage, tied to a bed, and sexually assaulted for three days. According to McKinney, everything was above board – Kirk just liked things kinky. But the British tabloids only cared about one thing: the wisecracking Southern belle Joyce McKinney made for great headlines. All the papers needed was a picture of her naked, to sell the story of the century. And they'd do anything to get it.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortH...
When the body of a weeks-old baby was found in a plastic bag in a shed, covered in soil and rubbish, it marked the end of one of the UK’s strangest and most tragic criminal manhunts. The baby’s parents were Constance Marten and Mark Gordon – an aristocratic heiress and an American convicted rapist.As a jury wrestled for months over the couple’s guilt, more and more shocking details came out. Details of nights spent in a cheap tent out on the freezing moors. Of Gordon’s brutal criminal history. And the heartbreaking image that stuck in the nation’s mind more than anything else: the accusatio...
Nicknamed "Artemis" and "The Limping Lady" by Nazi Germany, Virginia Hall was, without a doubt, one of the most effective—and certainly the most feared—Allied spies during the Second World War. She helped countless POWs escape and funneled a constant stream of weapons into and information out of Nazi-occupied Europe. Her contribution is almost unfathomable, yet most people don't even know her name.This is her story.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our website:WebsiteSources available...
When the son of Mormon family vlogger Ruby Franke turned up bound, emaciated and apparently covered in blood – it horrified the police, the internet and Franke’s millions of followers.The uber-strict brand of parenting advice she preached on her YouTube channel, “8 Passengers”, had been drawing online criticism for years. But even her loudest detractors couldn’t know how despicable and unhinged her punishments had grown. That is, until a diary, found among evidence of torture in a windowless basement, revealed the depths of her abuse to the world.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ...
In our unexpected third part on this neverending rabbit-hole of a case, we finally take on the big, crucial factors that have sent the internet into a frenzy: the taillight, the flirty texts, the inverted video, and the conduct of one Trooper Michael Proctor.And, finally, we give our verdict: is Karen Read guilty of murder?Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramXVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhandedpodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...
In this second (and not-quite-final) part on the Karen Read saga, we take a look at the most talked about trial of the year.In front of a packed courtroom – and with furious demonstrators from both sides lining the streets outside – Karen Read’s defence team painted a picture of a malicious conspiracy that went all the way to the top. The plot, they said, included dozens of public officials, their school friends and distant relatives, and a German Shepherd called Chloe, sent far away up north to avoid incrimination.We discuss the trial, beat for beat – and try to pick apart what really happ...
At roughly 12:30am on 29 January 2022, Karen Read drove her boyfriend, Boston police officer, John O’Keefe to a party at a friend’s house. The next morning John would be found unresponsive on the front lawn of this house, and would later die in hospital.Karen would say that she saw John go inside the house - so the people at the party must be the ones responsible for his death. But the 9 people in the house that night said that John never came inside.So, what happened to John O’Keefe? And who’s lying?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://ar...
With Scott Peterson back in the news, having given his first interview in decades we thought it would be a good time to refresh our memories on this baffling case, and remind you all of one very important fact - He 100% did it.When beautiful, eight-and-a-half-month-pregnant Laci Peterson vanished without a trace on Christmas Eve 2002, headlines across the US exploded.As much as the media and the public obsessed over the case, and the seemingly odd behaviour of her husband Scott, no one was prepared for the shocking revelations that were to come…Leaving people asking: did Scott Peterson kill...
A serial paedophile and murderer, Javid Iqbal dedicated his entire existence to grooming, sexually abusing, and eventually killing young boys from the streets of Lahore. Using his father’s money, Iqbal designed his entire life – from his businesses to his home – around capturing vulnerable children who were desperate for help.By the time Iqbal had handed himself in to the police, he had sexually assaulted countless street boys and killed at least 57. But how did detectives allow it to get to that point? This is a story of police incompetence on an industrial scale.Exclusive bonus content:Wo...
This week on RedHanded we’re joined by some new friends from across the pond - Lucy and Amanda aka Wine & Crime! Given our geographical and cultural differences we thought it would be fun to discuss some “Bad Brits”, as well as give our new mates a bit of insight into the British way of life.So tune in for the tale of Pottery Cottage, and the story of the “Teacup Poisoner”, two British true crime classics that might sound quaint, but are anything but.More Wine & Crime:https://wineandcrimepodcast.comhttps://www.instagram.com/wineandcrimepod/Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHa...
In the early hours of Valentine's Day 2014, 29 year old model Reeva Steenkamp was shot to death by her partner: South African Olympic sprint runner and double amputee, Oscar Pistorius. He still claims that it was a tragic case of mistaken identity, but the forensics and the messages Reeva left before her death tell a very different story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.