Chris Watts, a prisoner being interviewed by law enforcement officials, discusses various topics such as his encounters on a dating app, communication restrictions, family dynamics, emotional detachment, financial aspects, stress, and living conditions in prison.

   After eight years together, blonde housewife Sabrina Limon and her railroad worker husband Robert decided to make suburban life in San Bernadino County more exciting. They “opened up” their marriage, joining the local swingers’ scene, hosting raucous parties taking “adult” vacations. Then, while working at Costco offering free samples to shoppers, Sabrina, 38, met Jonathan Hearn, 27, a firefighter with an impressive vocabulary. Hearn was a devout Christian, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing the older woman, and after a torrid affair, the pair fell seriously in love. Believing Robert would never countenance a divorce, Sabrina and Jonathan decided God’s purpose was for them to be together, and, as Hearn said on the stand, “Bob had to go.” The couple’s first plan involved poisoning Robert with arsenic laced banana pudding. In July 2104, Hearn tested out the poison by feeding a “pretty obnoxious” neighborhood dog a piece of arsenic-spiked salmon. The dog became quiet, but Sabrina lost her nerve. Instead, a month later, Hearn shot Robert at the railroad in Tehachapi, where he worked. Suspicions were raised when Jonathan moved in with the Sabrina shortly thereafter; a police wiretap uncovered the murder. Hearn took a plea deal, testifying against Limon and pleading guilty to manslaughter to avoid a life sentence. He received 25 years and four months in prison. Sabrina Limon was convicted of murder and several other charges, and received a similar sentence. This episode contains audio from Day 13 of Limon’s trial, which took place in September 2017. Sabrina is on the stand. Even on direct examination, she isn’t a convincing witness. She’s nervous and hesitant; her responses are short and vague, and she has little to offer in her own defense. Listen to the episode here.

Last month, in response to demands from the press, the psychiatric interviews and evaluations of mass murderer James Holmes were released. In 2012, Holmes walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire during a midnight screening of Batman Returns. A dozen people were killed and 58 others wounded. In this excerpt from 25 hours of interviews, court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. William Reid questions Holmes about his motives and his experiences after his arrest. Holmes is laconic and taciturn, giving nothing away. He doesn’t reveal a motive for the crime.  He seems bored by the questions, and repeats that he feels nothing, and has nothing to say. He expresses no regret, admitting that he replays the shooting in his head from time to time–apparently as a way to stave off boredom. Holmes was a grad student at the time of the shooting. We learn that he expressed hostility towards his campus psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton, sending her half-burned dollar bills when she raised her fees and mistakenly wrote the wrong last name on his prescription, but he made no threats and had no history of violence. Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and Dr. Reid’s evaluation was intended to help determine whether or not he was competent to stand trial. He was convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Listen to the episode here.

In 2008, former NFL running back O.J. Simpson was convicted on 10 counts of robbery for his role in an armed heist to retrieve some items of his memorabilia that had been put up for sale. In July 2017, after serving nine years of his 33 year sentence, Simpson appeared before the Nevada Parole Board by video link from Lovelock Correctional Institute in Lovelock, Nevada. He was accompanied by his attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, and seemed to be in good spirits. At 70, Simpson looks healthy and seems to have lost some weight. His voice is deep and resonant. He is not especially remorseful or apologetic–“I’ve done my time,” he repeats– and when asked about the robbery, he goes into unnecessary detail, holding forth for more than 10 minutes. He becomes slightly heated when one of the commissioners presses him on his belief that the memorabilia items were actually his property, but mostly he is relaxed and confident. The Parole Board does confirm that Simpson’s 1994 double murder case, of which he was acquitted, would not be considered to be a factor in their decision. After their interview with Simpson, the parole board interviewed his daughter Arnelle as well as Bruce Fromong, one of the victims in the case, before deciding that Simpson deserved to be paroled. He was released in October 2017. Listen to the episode here.

Nichol Kessinger, 30, was hired as a contract employee at Andarko Petroleum in Platteville, Colorado, where she worked in Health and Safety. In either May or June 2017, she met and got to know Chris Watts (see episode 85), who also worked at Andarko. The two began a heavy affair that lasted for ten months. […]

This confession was recorded on Nov. 29, 2016 by Ottawa police homicide investigator Detective Theresa Kelm, the Mary Poppins of police interrogators. Her remarkably gentle, sympathetic and understanding manner is appropriate, since her subject, 22-year-old Cameron Rogers, who suffers from autism, appears edgy and unstable. His conversation is tangential at times; at other times he […]

This episode contains audio from the 2009 trial of Stacey Castor, 41, for the murder of her husband David, 48, in Onondaga County, New York State. In the face of cross examination by prosecutor Bill Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Castor remains calm and collected on the stand, and her testimony is meticulous in its detail–both of which may have counted against her in the minds of the jury. Mrs. Castor claims that David, her second husband, had been despondent over health and business worries, and after a long and heated argument, he locked himself in the marital bedroom, drank whiskey for hours, then killed himself by drinking automotive antifreeze, which has no smell and a sweet taste, allowing it to be mixed undetected into beverages like coffee or iced tea. Mrs. Castor’s first husband, Michael Wallace, died in 2000, also under suspicious circumstances. Police investigators, who smelt a rat, spent two years collecting evidence against her. In 2007, when the widow realized the net was closing in, she panicked, and wrote a “suicide note” on her computer in which her daughter Ashley “confesses” to poisoning both her father and stepfather. Mrs. Castor then invited Ashley, 20, to “get drunk” with her, and over the course of the evening, attempted to poison her daughter with crushed pills mixed with vodka, orange juice, and Sprite. The jury found Stacey Castor guilty of the second-degree murder of David, and guilty of the attempted second-degree murder of Ashley. In June 2016, Castor was found dead of a heart attack in her prison cell. Listen to the episode here.

Chris Watts, a man who committed a brutal murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters in 2018, discusses the actions and emotions experienced during the search for his family. The podcast explores the speaker's determination to find answers amidst their helplessness and strong emotions.

This episode contains the testimony of Nicole Alvarez at the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, in September 2011. Prosecutors allege that, during Michael Jackson’s final hours of life, Murray was preoccupied by phone conversations with his four girlfriends. In addition to Alvarez, Sade Anding, Michelle Bella and Bridgette Morgan also testified […]

This episode contains testimony from days 2 and 3 of the Denise Williams trial at the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida. This tight-knit group of Florida couples–all former high school buddies–were entangled together in a complex web of sex and secrets. First up is Nick Williams, Mike’s brother, who talks about the emotional toll the case has taken on the family. He’s followed by his mother, Cheryl Williams, who’s wheeled into the courtroom in a wheelchair, her gray hair in pigtails. She talks about the eighteen-year search for her missing son, and her quest to keep his case in the news. Realtor Angela Stafford describes how she went back with Brian Winchester to his house one night, although both were married with children. She says that while she and Brian were having sex, Denise Williams walked into the room, then turned and fled. Brian, pulling on his pants, abandoned Angela and ran after her. Later, he told Angela that the women who interrupted them was his wife, Kathy, but Ms. Stafford testifies that she got a clear look at Denise, and didn’t believe him. Finally, Brian Winchester’s ex-wife Kathy Thomas takes the stand. She says that she always suspected her husband and Denise Williams were having an affair. She says Brian was a selfish husband who often made her feel excluded. Early in 2018, Ms. Thomas became an informant for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and recorded several calls with Denise Williams. During one of those calls, played for the jury, Kathy refers to her current husband, Rocky. “He’s good and honest,” she tells Denise. “He’s not like us.” Listen to the episode here.