True Crime Sleep Stories

Gather close on this frosty December night for a special holiday bonus episode of True Crime Sleep Stories. We’re stepping away from real cases tonight to bring you something delightfully dark and festive: a twisted true crime parody of the beloved classic poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Imagine the quiet anticipation of Christmas Eve… but instead of reindeer on the rooftop, shadowy figures descend the chimney. Evidence bags hang by the fire. A blood-spattered moon illuminates the snow. And a sinister crew of history’s most infamous killers arrives in a black unmarked van. This chilling, rhyming retelling blends holiday cheer with macabre true crime flair — perfect for drifting off to uneasy dreams under the glow of your Christmas lights. No real murders tonight… just a little festive fright to tingle your spine. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! If you enjoyed this bonus episode and want more exclusive content (including ad-free episodes, bonus stories, and behind-the-scenes insights), join our Patreon community at patreon.com/kellibrink. Your support helps keep the shadows alive. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for creepy stories to help you drift off to sleep: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime --- --- --- --- Thank You for Listening If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and recommend True Crime Sleep Stories to your fellow true crime enthusiasts. Follow along for more dark and mysterious tales to ease you into your evening. And as always, stay curious and stay safe. --- --- --- --- Buy The Books: True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 1: https://amzn.to/3Z8jx5L True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 2: https://amzn.to/4kAthhj True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 3:https://amzn.to/3H9xfPQ --- --- --- --- Support the show by joining Patreon https://www.patreon.com/KelliBrink Social Media: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/truecrimesleepstories INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/truecrimesleepstories Instagram.com/kellibrink YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime APPLE PODCASTS: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-sleep-stories/id1649396201 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qDUjSgEY2T6KMHrFoLTaQ?si=f532504c83f34669 TIKTOK: @truecrimeirl  Support us: Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or share this episode with a friend. Your support brings more stories to light.  Suggest a case: Have a mystery you’d like us to explore? DM us on social media or email us via our website. #Truecrimepodcast #sleepstories #unsolvedmysteries #truecrimerelaxation 

In this chilling holiday-season episode of True Crime Sleep Stories, we delve into the brutal 1979 murder of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in a Cedar Rapids mall parking lot. For nearly four decades, her killer lived freely just an hour away, until groundbreaking DNA technology and genetic genealogy finally brought justice. Host Kelli Brink shares the full story, including eerie coincidences, lingering questions, and her own shocking personal connection to the case. As always, lock your doors and hold your loved ones close this holiday season. Thank you for listening to True Crime Sleep Stories. Goodnight. 🌙 SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for creepy stories to help you drift off to sleep: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime --- --- --- --- Thank You for Listening If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and recommend True Crime Sleep Stories to your fellow true crime enthusiasts. Follow along for more dark and mysterious tales to ease you into your evening. And as always, stay curious and stay safe. --- --- --- --- Buy The Books: True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 1: https://amzn.to/3Z8jx5L True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 2: https://amzn.to/4kAthhj True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 3:https://amzn.to/3H9xfPQ --- --- --- --- Support the show by joining Patreon https://www.patreon.com/KelliBrink Social Media: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/truecrimesleepstories INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/truecrimesleepstories Instagram.com/kellibrink YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime APPLE PODCASTS: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-sleep-stories/id1649396201 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qDUjSgEY2T6KMHrFoLTaQ?si=f532504c83f34669 TIKTOK: @truecrimeirl  Support us: Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or share this episode with a friend. Your support brings more stories to light.  Suggest a case: Have a mystery you’d like us to explore? DM us on social media or email us via our website. #Truecrimepodcast #sleepstories #unsolvedmysteries #truecrimerelaxation 

Welcome to True Crime Sleep Stories On Christmas Eve 1945, a devastating fire destroyed the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia. George and Jennie Sodder escaped with four of their ten children, but five siblings—Maurice (14), Martha (12), Louis (9), Jennie (8), and Betty (5)—vanished in the flames. No remains were ever found. What followed was a lifetime of questions, strange clues, and a family's unwavering belief that their children may have survived. Join host Kelli Brink as she explores one of America's most enduring unsolved mysteries. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for creepy stories to help you drift off to sleep: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime --- --- --- --- Thank You for Listening If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and recommend True Crime Sleep Stories to your fellow true crime enthusiasts. Follow along for more dark and mysterious tales to ease you into your evening. And as always, stay curious and stay safe. --- --- --- --- Buy The Books: True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 1: https://amzn.to/3Z8jx5L True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 2: https://amzn.to/4kAthhj True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 3:https://amzn.to/3H9xfPQ --- --- --- --- Support the show by joining Patreon https://www.patreon.com/KelliBrink Social Media: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/truecrimesleepstories INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/truecrimesleepstories Instagram.com/kellibrink YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime APPLE PODCASTS: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-sleep-stories/id1649396201 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qDUjSgEY2T6KMHrFoLTaQ?si=f532504c83f34669 TIKTOK: @truecrimeirl  Support us: Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or share this episode with a friend. Your support brings more stories to light.  Suggest a case: Have a mystery you’d like us to explore? DM us on social media or email us via our website. #Truecrimepodcast #sleepstories #unsolvedmysteries #truecrimerelaxation 

On a quiet Thanksgiving night in 2013, while Seattle slept off its turkey dinners, two ordinary plumbers executed the the most audacious wine theft in Pacific Northwest history. Over 13 meticulous hours, Samuel Harris and Luke Thesing cut through walls, disabled cameras, and walked away with more than $648,000 worth of rare Bordeaux, California Cabernets, and priceless collectibles, only to be undone by a city tow truck and their own explosive overconfidence. This is the true story of the spiral notebook titled “The Plan,” spray-painted security lenses, gas lines sliced, and the single camera they never saw. It’s a caper so perfectly planned and hilariously botched it feels scripted, except every detail actually happened. Pour yourself a (legally purchased) glass, dim the lights, and let me walk you through the night two men tried to steal Thanksgiving… and almost burned down half of SoDo trying to cover it up. Sweet dreams, and Happy Thanksgiving. Cheers! ❤️ SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for creepy stories to help you drift off to sleep: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime --- --- --- --- Thank You for Listening If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and recommend True Crime Sleep Stories to your fellow true crime enthusiasts. Follow along for more dark and mysterious tales to ease you into your evening. And as always, stay curious and stay safe. --- --- --- --- Buy The Books: True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 1: https://amzn.to/3Z8jx5L True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 2: https://amzn.to/4kAthhj True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 3:https://amzn.to/3H9xfPQ --- --- --- --- Support the show by joining Patreon https://www.patreon.com/KelliBrink Social Media: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/truecrimesleepstories INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/truecrimesleepstories Instagram.com/kellibrink YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime APPLE PODCASTS: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-sleep-stories/id1649396201 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qDUjSgEY2T6KMHrFoLTaQ?si=f532504c83f34669 TIKTOK: @truecrimeirl  Support us: Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or share this episode with a friend. Your support brings more stories to light.  Suggest a case: Have a mystery you’d like us to explore? DM us on social media or email us via our website. #Truecrimepodcast #sleepstories #unsolvedmysteries #truecrimerelaxation 

A gentle note before we begin This week’s episode is 100% original crime fiction—a cozy, atmospheric holiday thriller I wrote especially for you. If you’re strictly here for real-life cases, feel free to save this one for a night when you’re in the mood for a creative bedtime story. Next time we’ll return to our usual true-crime format. But if you love a resourceful heroine, glittering empty mansions, and justice served with a side of Midwestern politeness… you’re in exactly the right place. About the story Sarah “Sunny” Jensen was once one of Chicago’s most trusted luxury real-estate agents. After a brutal divorce leaves her secretly living in her own vacant listings, one November night in a breathtaking Winnetka mansion she stumbles upon something monstrous hiding behind the Christmas lights: a high-society trafficking ring using the city’s empty homes as staging points. With nothing but her ring of master keys, and the kind of grit that comes from growing up in the Heartland, Sunny dismantles the operation, saves four terrified girls, loses her real estate license…and accidentally launches an entirely new chapter of her life. Part thriller, part love letter to women who refuse to stay down. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart Creating these stories—whether pulled from real headlines or spun straight out of my imagination—is the source of great joy in my life. Knowing you’re here listening, blanket pulled high, means the world to me. Thank you for letting me be part of your wind-down ritual. About the ads I keep every ad in the first few minutes so the story itself is never interrupted. Those few ads are what allow me to keep the podcast free for everyone, week after week. If you’d prefer an ad-free experience (I completely understand!), you can join our Patreon family for just $5/month at patreon.com/kellibrink. This will give you instant access to every episode ad-free the moment it’s finished, plus exclusive bonus stories and behind-the-scenes notes. Your support in any form keeps the lights on and the stories flowing. Should “The Keys She Kept” become a full novel (or series)? Sunny still has an entire key ring of empty houses and a new job recovering missing people… Let me know in the comments wherever you listen! Reply with YES if you want more of Sunny Jensen’s adventures! Thank you for being here with me in the dark. Change your alarm codes this season… just in case. Sweet dreams, Kelli ❤️ SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for creepy stories to help you drift off to sleep: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime --- --- --- --- Thank You for Listening If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and recommend True Crime Sleep Stories to your fellow true crime enthusiasts. Follow along for more dark and mysterious tales to ease you into your evening. And as always, stay curious and stay safe. --- --- --- --- Buy The Books: True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 1: https://amzn.to/3Z8jx5L True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 2: https://amzn.to/4kAthhj True Crime Sleep Stories, Volume 3:https://amzn.to/3H9xfPQ --- --- --- --- Support the show by joining Patreon https://www.patreon.com/KelliBrink Social Media: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/truecrimesleepstories INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/truecrimesleepstories Instagram.com/kellibrink YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@SleepyTimeCreepyTime APPLE PODCASTS: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-sleep-stories/id1649396201 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qDUjSgEY2T6KMHrFoLTaQ?si=f532504c83f34669 TIKTOK: @truecrimeirl  Support us: Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or share this episode with a friend. Your support brings more stories to light.  Suggest a case: Have a mystery you’d like us to explore? DM us on social media or email us via our website. #Truecrimepodcast #sleepstories #unsolvedmysteries #truecrimerelaxation