Best New True Crime Podcasts: Murders, Scams, Unsolved Crimes
Admit it, we all love a little bona fide murder mystery in our lives! So to quench your blood thirst, we advise tuning into True Crime Daily The Podcast.
With 3.9 million subscribers on YouTube, you may already be familiar with the platform. If not, let’s catch you up to speed. Moored from the footpaths of New York City and spearheaded by acclaimed seasoned journalist Chris Hansen, True Crime Daily (formerly known as Crime Watch Daily) renders in-depth actual crime sagas. From undercover investigations, scandalous crimes caught on camera, cogent mysteries, to unsolved murders, the series brings tales from small towns throughout the United States to national attention.
Best New True Crime Podcasts – 2020
The show has reinvented itself to align with today’s times and now hosts a podcast every week covering dramatic felonies. Naturally, we’ve watched a bunch of True Crime Daily podcasts, and below have listed several episodes that hit home with us. Enjoy reading the descriptions and watching the macabre content.
Fort Hood Is Hood / TikTok Body Bags
This week’s podcast is hosted by Ana Garcia and Dr. Judy Ho. The first story the women cover is about a soldier, 20-year-old Vanessa Guillén, who was murdered in April 2020 while inside a Fort Hood armory. Yes, she was killed right on the base! Guillén was bludgeoned to death with a hammer by a fellow enlisted soldier, 20-year-old Aaron David Robinson. Since April 22, Guillén had been missing until dismembered pieces of her buried remains were discovered on June 30 along the Leon River. Upon receiving the news Guillén’s remains were found, Robinson fled the Army base, and a little after midnight as law enforcement closed in on him in Killeen, Texas he fatally shot himself. On July 5, unearthed remains were confirmed to be Guillén.
Before she went missing, Guillén informed her kinfolk that an unspecified higher-up at Fort Hood was sexually harassing her. The last text message Guillén sent was to Aaron Robinson, which consisted of serial numbers of weapons stored inside the armory. After the murder, Robinson utilized a plastic trunk to remove Guillén’s body from the base and got help from Cecily Anne Aguilar (an alienated wife of another soldier and Robinson’s girlfriend) in dismembering the body before burying parts along the river. It’s whispered that Guillén was geared to tell superiors about Robinson’s affair. What a crazy story!
The second news narrative Ho and Garcia covered was when teenagers in Seattle found dead bodies stuffed in suitcases while on TikTok. Evidently, two teenage girls were live on TikTok while on an excursion by the beach. While filming, the teens spotted two suitcases lying near the shore. They approached the bags and detected a foul stench emitting from them, and when they opened the suitcases, well…let’s just say it wasn’t money inside of them! The dismayed teens promptly called 911. That may be the first time corpses were uncovered on an app in real-time!
Missing Couple Finally Found / #MeToo Chrystul Kizer
Ana Garcia and guest host Luis Bolaños open up the podcast about a couple that was missing for 3 years. Jonathan Reynoso, 28, and Audrey Moran, 26, disappeared on May 10, 2017. According to investigators, Moran was last heard from when she departed her home in Coachella to pick up Reynoso, who may have been coming back from the Brawley area to the Coachella Valley the day the pair went missing. The 26-year-old told her sister she was going to give Reynoso a lift to his Palm Desert abode, however, the SUV Moran drove was discovered on the side of Interstate 10 parked two days after the couple was last heard from.
In early July, Abraham Fregoso Jr. and Manuel Rios of Coachella were arrested and charged with two counts of murder. A third suspect was also detained and charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. It’s said the victims were known to their supposed killers. The police have not given specifics about when and where the couple’s remains were found; they also have yet to disclose a motive. Guess soon we’ll receive more info surrounding the case, though, in the meantime, we’re glad the families are no longer chasing the wind and can adequately say their final goodbyes.
The second case the podcast hosts address is about Chrystul Kizer, 19, who killed the man she claims compelled her into sex trafficking. After two years in a Wisconsin jail awaiting her trial, Kizer was released from custody back in June after the Chicago Community Bond Fund paid her $400,000 bond. She stated she met her alleged abuser, 34-year-old Randall Volar III when she was 16. Kizer says he sexually abused her for over a year. Eventually, she contends that Volar started trafficking her to other men. On the night of the murder, Kizer says Volar attacked her in an effort to sexually abuse her once more—that’s when she fought him off and shot him in the head twice. We suggest you view the podcast to gather more about this kooky case!
Insane In The Membrane / For The Love Of Money
Ana Garcia and criminal defense attorney, Alison Triessl, begin the True Crime Daily podcast with one of the most horrendous cases we’ve ever heard. In the early morning, Adam Slater, 49, met up with his estranged pregnant wife, Ashley Grome, 23, in the parking lot of Southwest Community Church so she could exchange their 1-year-old daughter with him. Upon arrival, an enraged Slater stabbed Grome, snatched their baby daughter, and drove off. His car was discovered roughly 30 minutes away from the initial stabbing at the scene of a rollover wreck on Highway 74.
Witnesses at the crash attempted to help, however, Slater reportedly “ran to the passenger side of the vehicle, where he stabbed a male who had assisted getting a young girl from the vehicle.” Slater grabbed the 1-year-old from the arms of the good samaritan he had knifed and “threw her over a steep cliff into a ravine.” He then ran away into the canyon but was snared after a short foot chase. Following, the baby’s lifeless body was found. And to fling a tad more petro on the flame – Slater was convicted back in 1995 for a sex crime and is a registered sex offender listed on California’s Megan’s Law website. Madness…just pure madness!
The second case the ladies address is about 31-year-old Albert Johnson who’s been charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the homicides of Tony and Katherine Butterfield. Johnson was allegedly low on money and days before the killings had asked Tony (a landscaping proprietor) for a job; Tony declined due to Albert’s criminal record. On the night of the murders, Johnson broke into the Butterfield’s home, pointed his shotgun at them, and demanded cash. After leaving with two cell phones and $20, when Johnson got to his vehicle and removed his mask, he became aware that he left his keys in their house and went back inside. Defending his family, Tony started stabbing Albert. Johnson then shot Tony, and when his wife began shrieking he shot her as well. The couple’s children, ages 4 years old, 2 years old, and 6 months were asleep upstairs; luckily, Johnson exited the house without harming them.
Now you see why we tune in weekly to True Crime Daily The Podcast! Check it out yourself on YouTube the next time you itch to laze in the callousness of the world.
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