Day By Day: True Crime Stories

On the final day of 1993, deputies in rural Nebraska entered a small farmhouse outside Humboldt and found a scene of horror: three people had been executed—21-year-old Brandon Teena, 24-year-old Lisa Lambert, and 22-year-old Phillip DeVine.Just days before, Brandon—a young transgender man—had reported being brutally raped by two men. He asked the sheriff’s office for help. They failed him.This episode explores the events leading up to the murders, the failures of law enforcement, the trials of John Lotter and Tom Nissen, and the lasting legacy of Brandon Teena’s life and death. It’s a story of courage, injustice, and the human cost of prejudice.#TrueCrime #BrandonTeenaAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On December 29, 1999, two best friends in rural Oklahoma—Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible—celebrated Ashley’s 16th birthday with a sleepover. By morning, Ashley’s family home was in flames, both her parents were dead from gunshot wounds, and the girls were missing. What followed was a decades-long search marred by early investigative missteps, chilling rumors, and a trail that led to a shocking break years later involving disturbing Polaroids and witness testimony.In this episode of Day by Day: True Crime Stories, host Kona Gallagher walks through the devastating case that became one of Oklahoma’s most haunting unsolved crimes. From the tragedy in Welch to the long road to an arrest—and the painful reality that Ashley and Lauria are still missing—this episode unpacks the timeline, the failures, and the resilience of two families determined to find the truth.#AshleyFreeman #LauriaBible #MissingGirls Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On the night after Boxing Day in 1996, two best friends—11-year-old Patrick Warren and 13-year-old David Spencer—left their homes on a housing estate outside Birmingham and were never seen again. The only trace ever found was Patrick’s new red bicycle, discovered behind a petrol station. Over the next few weeks, the case would be overshadowed by other news stories, and early assumptions that the boys were runaways delayed a proper investigation.Today, nearly 30 years later, police treat the case as a “no-body” double murder. A known child killer emerged as the prime suspect, but he died in prison in 2024 without ever being charged. Patrick and David—remembered across the UK as the “Milk Carton Kids”—remain missing.In this episode, host Kona Gallagher revisits the timeline of the boys’ last known movements, the troubling early police response, the long shadow cast by suspect Brian Lunn Field, and the families’ continuing fight for answers.#UKCrime #MilkCartonKids #PatrickWarren #DavidSpencer #ColdCase Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Christmas morning in 1996, six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was reported missing from her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. A ransom note had been left behind, warning her parents not to contact police. But hours later, JonBenét’s body was found in the basement of the house, sparking one of the most infamous and controversial murder investigations in American history.In this episode of Day by Day: True Crime Stories, host Kona Gallagher walks through the tragic and complicated case of JonBenét Ramsey—from the events of that Christmas night, to the flawed early investigation, the grand jury vote, and the decades of speculation and evolving forensic science that have followed.Nearly 30 years later, JonBenét’s murder remains unsolved—but efforts to find the truth continue. With renewed testing, updated evidence, and national attention as recently as late 2025, investigators say they are still pursuing leads. Could this cold case finally be nearing a break?#JonBenetRamsey #UnsolvedMystery #ColdCase #ChristmasCrime Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On December 23, 1993, 25-year-old takeaway driver Paul Logan left a Chinese restaurant in Consett, England, expecting to deliver a holiday meal. The order had come in for a remote farmhouse outside Shotley Bridge. But when Paul arrived, the residents hadn’t ordered any food. He had been lured there by a hoax call.Hours later, Paul was found dead in a nearby field, brutally beaten with a blunt weapon that has never been found. His cash and car were untouched. It wasn’t a robbery—it was a trap.Despite arrests, renewed appeals, and a £50,000 reward offered by his daughter decades later, Paul’s murder remains unsolved. Investigators believe he was targeted. But by whom—and why—has never been answered.#TrueCrime #UnsolvedMystery #PaulLogan #UKCrimeAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 took off from London’s Heathrow Airport, bound for New York and Detroit, carrying 259 people—many of them heading home for the holidays. Just 38 minutes later, the plane exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing everyone on board and 11 people on the ground.The bombing would become the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil and launch a decades-long international investigation. What began as a devastating midair explosion evolved into a massive criminal inquiry involving Libyan intelligence, sanctions, a controversial conviction, and an ongoing search for full accountability.In this episode, host Kona Gallagher walks through the human tragedy, the forensics, and the political ripple effects of the Lockerbie bombing. From the first responders in Scotland to courtroom battles in Europe and the U.S., this case shaped the future of aviation security and international justice—and left behind hundreds of families still seeking answers.#Lockerbie #PanAm103 #AviationDisasterAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On a cold night in December 1979, 18-year-old high school senior Michelle Martinko attended a choir banquet, stopped by the brand-new Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa — and never came home. The next morning, her body was found in her family’s Buick, parked in a quiet corner of the mall lot. She had been stabbed nearly 30 times in what investigators described as a “personal” and “frenzied” attack. There were no signs of robbery or sexual assault.For nearly 40 years, her murder remained unsolved. But thanks to breakthroughs in forensic genealogy, a discarded straw, and tireless cold-case work, justice finally caught up with her killer — on the very same date the crime took place.In this episode, we explore Michelle’s life, the night she was killed, the investigation that spanned decades, and how a small trace of blood ultimately helped close one of Iowa’s most haunting cold cases.#TrueCrime #MichelleMartinko #GeneticGenealogy Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this day in 1968, 20-year-old college student Barbara Jane Mackle was kidnapped at gunpoint from a Georgia motel room and buried alive in a homemade underground box. For more than 83 hours, she lay trapped beneath the soil while her kidnappers demanded a $500,000 ransom and the FBI raced against time to find her.In today’s episode, host Kona Gallagher walks through the harrowing details of one of the most infamous kidnappings in American history — a case that led to the first woman ever placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, and that still captivates the public over half a century later.#BarbaraMackle #BuriedAlive #CrimeHistoryAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this day in 1927, 12-year-old Marion Parker was abducted from her Los Angeles junior high school by a man posing as a messenger from her father. Within 48 hours, her disappearance turned into one of the most horrific ransom cases in American history — a story of deception, cruelty, and unimaginable loss.In today’s episode, host Kona Gallagher recounts the chilling case of Marion Parker and William Edward Hickman — a man who used familiarity and trust to lure a child, then orchestrated one of the most grotesque crimes of the era. From the schoolyard abduction to the heartbreaking ransom exchange and national manhunt that followed, we explore the crime that shocked a city and left an indelible mark on American legal and cultural history.#MarionParker #kidnapping #crimehistoryAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this day in 2000, seven men executed one of the most shocking and well-coordinated prison escapes in American history. Known as the Texas Seven, the group walked out of a maximum-security facility in Kenedy, Texas — not in chaos, but with chilling precision.Their escape from the John B. Connally Unit set off a nationwide manhunt and led to a violent crime spree that culminated in the murder of Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve.This episode revisits the escape, the elaborate planning behind it, the devastating aftermath, and the continuing legal reverberations — including recent developments in 2024.#TrueCrime #TexasSeven #AubreyHawkins #PrisonEscape Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On December 11, 2003, Rick and Suzanna Wamsley were found brutally murdered inside their home in Mansfield, Texas. To friends and neighbors, they seemed like the picture of suburban success — loving parents, a quiet neighborhood, and a home filled with holiday cheer. But prosecutors would soon allege that the violence was no random crime. Instead, it was the result of a calculated plot involving the couple’s own 19-year-old son, Andrew, his girlfriend Chelsea Richardson, and two accomplices.In this episode of Day by Day: True Crime Stories, host Kona Gallagher walks through the shocking timeline of a family torn apart by greed. From the chilling planning stages to the violent end, and through the courtroom outcomes that followed, we explore one of Texas’s most disturbing true-crime cases — a murder-for-inheritance scheme that still haunts the community two decades later.#truecrime #WamsleyMurders #texascrime #andrewwamsleyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this day in 1988, 34-year-old Joan Yarbrough Bernal was supposed to be hitting the road with her husband and children for a holiday trip from Joliet, Illinois, to Texas. Instead, she vanished without a trace—and was never seen again.Her husband, Gilbert “Gil” Bernal, has long claimed that Joan walked away from her life during the road trip. But Joan’s children and investigators believe the truth is much darker—and that Joan may never have made it out of Joliet.In this episode, we trace Joan’s story: her life as a devoted mother of five, the troubling history of domestic abuse in her home, and the suspicious timeline of events surrounding her disappearance. We explore the initial 1993 murder charge against Gil that was later dropped, and how, decades later, the case has been revived with new forensic efforts and national attention thanks to Cold Justice.Thirty-seven years on, Joan’s body has never been found, and no one has been held accountable. But her children—and cold case detectives—still haven’t stopped searching for the truth.#ColdCase #JoanBernal #MissingPerson #ColdJusticeAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On December 7, 1958, Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their three daughters—Barbie, Virginia, and Susan—set out from their Portland home for a Sunday drive into the Columbia River Gorge to gather Christmas greenery. They never returned.What followed was one of Oregon’s most perplexing missing-persons cases. Despite a massive search, the family’s station wagon vanished without a trace, and it wasn’t until months later that the bodies of two of the girls were found in the Columbia River. The other three Martins—and their car—remained missing for decades.In this episode, host Kona Gallagher unpacks the haunting mystery of the Martins’ disappearance, explores theories ranging from a tragic accident to foul play, and shares new developments—including a major underwater discovery in 2025 that may finally answer the question of what happened that day.#MartinFamilydisappearance #ColumbiaRiverAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy