UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast

How did a man who passed every background check, every promotion board, and every security clearance manage to hide a violent double life for years?Colonel Russell Williams was one of the most trusted men in Canada. A decorated military officer, commander of CFB Trenton, and pilot to senior government officials and members of the Royal Family. Yet behind that carefully constructed image was one of the country's most prolific sexual predators and murderers.In this episode of UNMARKED I examine the psychology of Colonel Russell Williams, the fantasies that drove his crimes, the warning signs that were missed, and the investigation that finally exposed him. Drawing on interrogation footage, court records, and expert analysis, we explore how power, secrecy, and fantasy combined to create one of the most disturbing criminal cases in Canadian history.Research in This Episode: Birke JB, Jern P, Johansson A, Bondü R. Links between Aggressive Sexual Fantasies and Sexual Coercion: A Replication and Extension of a Multifactorial Model. Arch Sex Behav. 2024 Mar;53(3):1047-1063. doi: 10.1007/s10508-023-02782-5. Epub 2024 Jan 17. Rossegger, A. (2021). "High Risk Sexual Fantasies and Sexual Offending." Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention.Show Notes:If you want to follow the cases as I’m working on them, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbuddyday/If you want to go deeper into the Charles Manson case, my book Charles Manson: The Last Words documents years researching the story and speaking directly with members of the Manson Family — including Charles Manson himself. Read it here:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7For those who want to examine the evidence directly, complete phone calls and documents are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files, our research portal, along with ad-free episodes.Join here:https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastUNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

Aileen Wuornos is one of the most infamous killers in American history, often reduced to a label and a caricature. This episode of Unmarked examines what actually happened—and why.Through on-location reporting in Florida, primary source interviews, and a close analysis of the crimes, this episode traces Wuornos’s trajectory from lifelong abuse and instability to a clear pattern of escalating violence. It focuses on the moments where ambiguity gives way to repetition, and where personal pathology intersects with systemic failure.This is not a retelling of myth or spectacle. It is an examination of responsibility, escalation, and the conditions that allow violence to repeat unchecked, until it becomes impossible to ignore.UNMARKED: A true crime podcast built on real cases and never-before-heard audio.Extended interviews, primary documents, and ad-free episodes are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFollow UNMARKED for additional case material, updates, and short-form analysis: • YouTube: @Unmarked_Podcast • Instagram: @unmarked_podcast • TikTok: @unmarkedpodcast • Patreon: /Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFor readers interested in primary-source work on the Manson case, see Buddy’s book, Charles Manson: The Last Words: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

For decades, the Grim Sleeper terrorized South Los Angeles — killing women in neighborhoods he knew by heart, often within miles of his own home. Lonnie Franklin Jr. wasn’t a criminal mastermind or a drifter moving between states. He was a neighbor. A city worker. A man who lived quietly beneath the LAX flight path while violence unfolded around him. In this episode of UNMARKED, we break down how Franklin was able to operate for nearly thirty years without being caught — and why traditional serial-killer profiling failed to see what was happening right in front of investigators. Using geographic profiling, DNA evidence, and firsthand accounts, we examine how systemic blind spots, ignored communities, and outdated assumptions allowed one of America’s most prolific serial killers to hide in plain sight. This is not a story about a monster. It’s a story about what happens when the most vulnerable voices go unheard — and what we can learn from the Grim Sleeper case to prevent it from happening again. UNMARKED: A true crime podcast built on real cases and never-before-heard audio. Extended interviews, primary documents, and ad-free episodes are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFollow UNMARKED for additional case material, updates, and short-form analysis: • YouTube: @Unmarked_Podcast • Instagram: @unmarked_podcast • TikTok: @unmarkedpodcast • Patreon: /Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFor readers interested in primary-source work on the Manson case, see Buddy’s book, Charles Manson: The Last Words: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

In part 2 we dig deeper into Bob’s Diaries and into the years that his fantasies darken into a calculated pattern.This episode of Unmarked investigates the crimes of “Bizarre” Bob Berdella, City’s first documented serial killer—using never-before-heard material, recovered police files, and an AI restoration of Berdella’s sealed confession.For decades, the confession was believed lost. The tapes were ordered destroyed. The documents were sealed.And the case slipped out of the headlines after a massive explosion reshaped the city’s priorities.Featuring interviews with investigators, archival reporting, original documents, and restored audio based on the only surviving descriptions of the confession, this is the most complete account of the Berdella case ever told.James Buddy Day is an award-winning true crime filmmaker known for directing and producing some of the most watched and most discussed crime documentaries today. His work covers infamous serial killers, cold cases, cults, missing persons, and some of the biggest true-crime stories of the last decade.Extended interviews, primary documents, and ad-free episodes are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFollow UNMARKED for additional case material, updates, and short-form analysis: • YouTube: @Unmarked_Podcast • Instagram: @unmarked_podcast • TikTok: @unmarkedpodcast • Patreon: /Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFor readers interested in primary-source work on the Manson case, see Buddy’s book, Charles Manson: The Last Words: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

Before his death, Robert Pickton calls from prison. The recording he leaves behind — never before heard — reveals a man who still believes he hasn’t been caught.In this episode of Unmarked, we uncover the story of Canada’s most notorious figures through his own words, and through the detectives who tried to stop him. Lead investigator Lorimer Shenher recounts the warnings that were ignored, the evidence that was missed, and the moment Pickton nearly confessed.From Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to the pig farm in Port Coquitlam, this is the story of how decades of indifference allowed a killer to hunt freely — and how a single phone call, years later, exposes the mind of a man who never believed he was guilty. James Buddy Day is an award-winning true crime filmmaker known for directing and producing some of the most watched and most discussed crime documentaries today. His work covers infamous serial killers, cold cases, cults, missing persons, and some of the biggest true-crime stories of the last decade.Extended interviews, primary documents, and ad-free episodes are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFollow UNMARKED for additional case material, updates, and short-form analysis: • YouTube: @Unmarked_Podcast • Instagram: @unmarked_podcast • TikTok: @unmarkedpodcast • Patreon: /Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcastFor readers interested in primary-source work on the Manson case, see Buddy’s book, Charles Manson: The Last Words: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.