183. Murder In A Church: Arlis Perry

183. Murder In A Church: Arlis Perry

From The Desi Crime Podcast by Desi Studios

February 7, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

The episode recounts the disturbing murder of Arlis Perry in a Stanford University church in 1974.

On an October night in 1974, Stanford University was quiet in the way elite campuses often are after dark—orderly, confident, almost untouchable. Students slept behind locked doors, bells stood silent, and the church at the center of campus felt like the safest place imaginable. Inside that church, a young woman sought nothing more than solitude, reflection, and rest. And by morning, she was dead. What investigators found was disturbing, ritualistic, and completely at odds with the image Stanford projected to the world. There were no signs of forced entry, no clear suspect, and no immediate explanation for how violence had entered a sacred space so easily. Questions remained for decades, until one development—long after most had stopped looking—changed everything. This is the story of that one pristine university church, that one night, and that one woman locked behind its doors who never made it out alive. This is the story of Arlis Perry. For extra episodes, early access, silly bloopers, subscribe at: https://www.patreon.com/thedesistudios or join our YouTube family https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbfV0YvrxWMq3h0hmo13Jg/join For fastest updates, follow our socials at…

People in this episode

Host: Desi Studios

Topics covered

  • murder
  • true crime
  • Stanford University
  • ritualistic crime
  • unsolved cases

Keywords

  • Arlis Perry
  • Stanford murder
  • true crime podcast
  • ritualistic murder
  • unsolved mystery

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford University

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