In 2022, Six weeks after the murders of the Idaho Four, Bryan Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania. Fast forward to July of 2025, when just weeks before his trial was set to begin, he pleaded guilty. Later that month, he was sentenced to life in prison. ABC News Kayna Whitworth joins to talk about who Bryan is, what the evidence is, and what role his criminology background may have played in the crimes.
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
--------
44:47
--------
44:47
The Idaho Four Pt. 1 (with J. Reuben Appelman)
In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, four students at the University of Idaho were murdered in their off-campus home. The shocking brutality of the murders garnered media attention while police searched for the killer. But for author and private investigator J. Reuben Appelman, the story was personal: his own daughter was a student at the same college as the victims. And he wanted to know about the people behind the story. Who were Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle in life?
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast. J.’s book, While Idaho Slept: The Hunt For Answers in the Murders of Four College Students, is available now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
--------
34:28
--------
34:28
The Hook Man
The Hook Man is an urban legend dating back to the 1950s. The terrifying story tells of a killer with a hook for a hand who preys on young couples parked in lovers’ lanes. The legend found new life in the 1997 slasher film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is being rebooted in 2025. But this story is more than just campfire fuel. The legend was possibly inspired by the Texarkana Moonlight Murders of 1946 – a string of unsolved attacks by a masked assailant known only as The Phantom Killer.
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
--------
38:29
--------
38:29
The Postcard Killer: J. Frank Hickey
After a young boy vanished in 1911, police received mysterious postcards. The horrifying allegations and broad inconsistencies led them to believe the notes were a hoax – until it was too late. With one victim recovered, police faced the question: what other murders could these postcards solve?
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
--------
34:21
--------
34:21
Phone Call From a Serial Killer: Larry Gene Bell
May, 1985. Two days before her high school graduation, Shari Faye Smith was abducted from her parents’ driveway in broad daylight. Her kidnapper taunted Shari’s family by phone for days, calling in the middle of the night and revealing bone-chilling details of his crime.
With little evidence to go on, South Carolina investigators brought in FBI criminal profiler John Douglas and his colleagues, who used the recorded phone calls to create a profile of their UNSUB.
About 2 weeks later, 9-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped in a similar manner. When both girls turned up dead, investigators realized they had a probable serial killer on their hands – and they needed to find him before he could strike again.
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Get a rare glimpse into the minds and methods of sadistic murderers. From notorious names like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy to lesser-known killers like “Death House Landlady” Dorothea Puente, what turns a regular person into a predator? Serial Killers is a Spotify Original. New episodes Mondays.
México