Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

The polished facade of NXIVM has shattered, and in Part 2, we take you inside the federal courthouse where its leaders finally face justice. We explore the harrowing trial of Keith Raniere, built on the brave testimony of the women who escaped his control. From the secret master-slave sorority known as DOS to the shocking details of branding, blackmail, and psychological abuse, the full truth of the cult is laid bare. We cover the verdicts, the sentences, and the downfall of the man who called himself "Vanguard." But what happens after the headlines fade? To discuss the case's complex legacy, we are joined by a special guest: Natalie, the host of the popular podcast "Allison After NXIVM." She shares her unique insights into the story, the people involved, and the long road to recovery for those who lived through it. Find more information about "Allison After NXIVM" here Thank you to this week's sponsors! IQBAR is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQBAR products—including the sampler pack—plus FREE shipping. Text MOMS to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Give the gift of confidence this holiday season with Nutrafol. Right now, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription plus free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com com and use promo code MOMS. It's time to get your own personal stylist with DailyLook. Head to DailyLook.com to take your style quiz and use code MOMS for 50% off your first order. #truecrime #truecrimepodcast #momsandmysteries #nxivm #keithraniere #trial #dos #allisonafternxivm #justice #cult New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/momsandmysteries ⁠ Visit our website: ⁠momsandmysteries.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imagine thinking you signed up for a self-improvement course, only to wake up inside a secret hierarchy where starvation, blackmail, and branding were sold as empowerment. This is the story of NXIVM, the so-called leadership program that unraveled into one of the most disturbing criminal enterprises in modern history. In Part 1, we pull back the curtain on how Keith Raniere, a man who called himself "Vanguard," and his partner Nancy Salzman built a multi-million dollar empire on the promise of human potential. We explore the early days of their Executive Success Programs (ESP), the manipulative techniques used to lure in thousands of followers—including celebrities and business leaders—and the slow, deliberate process of indoctrination. How did a group that started with corporate retreats and PowerPoint presentations devolve into a destructive cult? We trace the origins of the abuse, the creation of a master-slave sorority, and the psychological tactics that kept its members loyal, even as the darkness closed in. Thank you to this week's sponsors! Find gifts so good you'll want to keep them with Quince! Go to Quince.com/moms for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. #truecrime #truecrimepodcast #momsandmysteries #nxivm #keithraniere #cult #nancysalzman #selfhelp #esp #vanguard New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1931 Liverpool, a bizarre phone call sent William Herbert Wallace on a wild goose chase across the city. The caller, a man named "Qualtrough," had left a message for him at his chess club, asking him to meet at a non-existent address. When William returned home, he found his wife, Julia, brutally murdered in their parlor. The house was locked, there were no signs of forced entry, and the timeline seemed impossibly tight. Police immediately suspected William, believing the phone call was a ruse to create a fake alibi. He was quickly arrested, tried, and convicted, only to have the verdict overturned in an unprecedented move by the Court of Criminal Appeal. For nearly a century, the case has remained one of Britain's greatest unsolved mysteries. Was William a cunning killer who almost got away with it, or an innocent man framed by a phantom? New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #MomsAndMysteries #JuliaWallace #UnsolvedMysteries #HistoricalCrime #Liverpool #LockedRoomMystery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When police responded to a domestic dispute call at a Victorian home in Louisville, Kentucky, they stumbled into a house of horrors. The fight between lovers Jeffrey Mundt and Joseph Banis led them to a gruesome discovery in the basement: the body of James Carroll, who had been stabbed and shot, his body hidden inside an airtight container buried beneath the floor. The investigation unraveled a dark story of a love triangle fueled by meth, jealousy, and counterfeit cash. As Jeffrey and Joseph turned on each other, each painting the other as the mastermind, detectives were left to piece together what really happened. Was it a robbery gone wrong, a crime of passion, or something even more sinister? This is the twisted story of a murder that exposed the dark secrets hidden within a historic home. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #MomsAndMysteries #JamesCarroll #Louisville #KentuckyCrime #Murder #LoveTriangle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2012, a 16-year-old girl in a quiet Dutch town made a simple mistake: she accidentally set her Facebook birthday party invitation to "public." Within days, the invite went viral, attracting tens of thousands of RSVPs and becoming known online as "Project X Haren." While the birthday girl and her family fled, thousands of strangers descended on the small town, ready to party. What started as a digital joke quickly spiraled into a real-world riot. Fireworks, flipped cars, and clashes with police turned the night into a scene of chaos that made international headlines. This is the unbelievable true story of how one click of a button unleashed the power of the internet and turned a quiet Sweet 16 into one of the most infamous parties in European history. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueStory #Podcast #ProjectXHaren #FacebookFail #Viral #Riot #Netherlands #SocialMedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1998, a polite and oddly courteous criminal known as "Roofman" began a crime spree across nine states, targeting mostly McDonald's restaurants. Jeffrey Manchester, a former Army paratrooper, would cut holes in the roofs of buildings, wait for employees to arrive, and then rob them at gunpoint—after politely telling them to grab a jacket before locking them in the freezer. After being caught and sentenced to 45 years, he escaped prison by hiding under a truck. For six months, he lived inside the walls of a Toys "R" Us in Charlotte, North Carolina, surviving on baby food and entertaining himself with remote-controlled cars. He even started a new life, complete with a girlfriend and a church community who knew him as "John Zorn." This is the unbelievable true story of the criminal who turned a toy store into his personal hideout and the bizarre double life he led before his final capture. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #JeffreyManchester #Roofman #RooftopRobber #ToysRUs #CharlotteNC #CrimeSpree #PrisonEscape Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In September 1999, 17-year-old Nicole Sanchez was a talented singer with a contagious laugh and big dreams of becoming a veterinary assistant. But her life was brutally cut short by her 23-year-old boyfriend, Lionel Villarreal, in a horrifying act of intimate partner violence. After just four months of dating, Nicole had decided to end the controlling relationship. That weekend, she was shot and killed. Lionel claimed it was a suicide, but the evidence told a different story. The single gunshot wound was a deliberate, humiliating act of aggression. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to what the court called "life," but in Michigan, that could mean parole in just 20 years. For over two decades, Nicole's family has lived with the devastating loss, while her killer has been planning his future. This is the story of a vibrant young life stolen too soon and the relentless fight her sister has waged to keep a dangerous man behind bars and to ensure that Nicole's story is never forgotten. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #NicoleSanchez #JusticeForNicole #DomesticViolence #DatingViolence #SaginawMichigan #LionelVillarreal #EndDV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Thanksgiving Day 2018, 29-year-old mother Kelsey Berreth vanished from her Woodland Park, Colorado home, leaving behind her 1-year-old daughter and a batch of unbaked cinnamon rolls. The last trace of her was a bizarre series of texts and a phone pinging 800 miles away in Idaho. Her fiancé, Patrick Frazee, claimed they had broken up and that she had left voluntarily. But Kelsey's family knew the devoted mother would never abandon her child. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a story far more sinister than a simple disappearance. The investigation led them to Krystal Lee Kenney, a nurse from Idaho with a secret, decade-long relationship with Patrick. Her chilling confession revealed a gruesome murder plot, a brutal crime scene cleanup, and a calculated cover-up. Patrick had bludgeoned Kelsey to death with a baseball bat while their infant daughter was in the next room, all because she refused to give him full custody. This is the story of a holiday turned horrific, a secret affair that ended in murder, and the relentless pursuit of justice for Kelsey. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #KelseyBerreth #PatrickFrazee #ColoradoCrime #ThanksgivingMurder #KrystalLeeKenney #DomesticViolence #JusticeForKelsey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imagine hearing sirens outside your home, stepping onto your porch, and being shot by police—all because of a prank call from a thousand miles away. This is exactly what happened to Andrew Finch in Wichita, Kansas, in a tragic "swatting" incident that shocked the nation. In this episode, we're diving into shocking stories where pranks, online feuds, and marketing stunts spiraled into tragedies. From a $1.50 Call of Duty bet that led to a fatal swatting, to teens throwing a sandbag from an overpass that killed a passenger, to a YouTube stunt where a girlfriend shot her boyfriend through a book—these cases remind us that pranks can have deadly consequences. We also cover the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare that shut down Boston in 2007, and more stories that prove sometimes, a joke isn't funny at all. These are cautionary tales about the dangers of chasing views, seeking revenge, and underestimating consequences. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com Thank you to this week's sponsors! IQBAR is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQBAR products—including the sampler pack—plus FREE shipping. To get your 20% off, text MOMS to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. #TrueCrime #Podcast #FloridaMoms #PranksGoneWrong #Swatting #AndrewFinch #YouTubePranks #OnlineDanger #DeadlyPranks #TrueCrimeThursday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daniel Brophy was a beloved chef and culinary instructor at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. At 63 years old, he was passionate about teaching and loved by his students. On June 2, 2018, Daniel was found shot to death inside his classroom—murdered in the place he loved most. The investigation led police to an unlikely suspect: his wife, Nancy Crampton Brophy, a romance novelist. Years before Daniel's murder, Nancy had written an essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband." In it, she detailed various methods of killing a spouse and getting away with it. Investigators discovered Nancy had purchased gun parts online, taken out life insurance policies on Daniel, and her car was captured on surveillance footage near the culinary school the morning of the murder. In May 2022, Nancy Crampton Brophy was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. This case is a chilling reminder that sometimes, truth is stranger—and darker—than fiction. Thank you to this week's sponsors! Save 25% on your first month of subscription by going to dosedaily.co/MOMS or entering MOMS at checkout. Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/moms. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #FloridaMoms #DanielBrophy #NancyBrophy #HowToMurderYourHusband #Portland #Oregon #TruthStrangerThanFiction #RomanceNovelist #ChefMurder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices