Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

On May 11, 2022, 25-year-old professional gravel cyclist Moriah Wilson was found shot to death inside a friend's apartment in Austin, Texas. She had traveled to town for a major race that had the potential to elevate her rising career. Investigators quickly discovered that Moriah had spent the evening with Colin Strickland, a fellow cyclist who was involved in a complicated, on-again, off-again relationship with 34-year-old yoga instructor Kaitlin Armstrong.

As detectives unraveled the timeline, they found that Kaitlin had been tracking Moriah's movements for months. Surveillance footage placed Kaitlin's vehicle at the scene within minutes of Moriah being dropped off. What followed was a massive search that crossed international borders, involving altered identities, cosmetic surgery, and a desperate attempt to evade justice in Costa Rica.

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A quick note on today's episode: Linda Hazzard's 'treatments' heavily involved extreme fasting and starvation. We want to mention this up front for anyone who might be sensitive to discussions around restrictive diets or disordered eating.

This week we discuss Linda Hazzard, a self-proclaimed doctor in the early 1900s who convinced patients that extreme fasting was a medical cure. Operating out of Washington state, Linda exploited legal loopholes to open a sanitarium that locals grimly called "Starvation Heights." She targeted wealthy individuals, placing them on starvation diets while slowly taking control of their finances and estates as they grew weaker.

The situation finally reached a breaking point when wealthy British heiresses Claire Williamson and Dora Williamson entered her care. We cover the harrowing conditions the sisters endured, the desperate rescue mission by their childhood nanny, and the sensational murder trial that followed.
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Have you ever met someone who was terrible at something but thought they were a genius? This week, we explore the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their own competence. We start with the case that inspired the research: McArthur Wheeler, a man who robbed two banks after covering his face in lemon juice, believing it would make him invisible to security cameras. His baffling confidence led psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger to study this strange phenomenon.

We then look at how this bias plays out in the world of true crime, from the comically inept “Hillbilly Heist” orchestrated by the Loomis Fargo crew, to the chilling case of Caleb Flynn, a former American Idol contestant accused of murdering his wife and staging a break-in. We also examine the tragic story of Lauren Giddings and the law student who thought he could commit the perfect murder, only to have his plan unravel on live television. Finally, we share the incredible story of Brett Johnson, a cybercriminal who went from the Secret Service's Most Wanted list to a respected FBI consultant, demonstrating the rare journey from the “peak of Mount Stupid” to true self-awareness.

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At 2:14 AM, Navy sailor Angelina “Angie” Resendiz made a frantic, crying phone call to a friend, begging to be picked up from a fellow sailor’s barracks. Moments later, a man took the phone and insisted she was fine, even as Angie could still be heard saying she wanted to leave. Her friend arrived within minutes, but Angie was nowhere to be found. Less than two weeks later, her body would be discovered inside a duffle bag in the woods behind a Virginia elementary school.

This week, we cover the tragic and preventable murder of Angie Resendiz at the hands of Jeremiah Copeland, a fellow sailor with a documented history of violence. We also discuss the heartbreaking parallels to the case of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, whose death sparked national outrage and led to military reform. Angie’s story raises critical questions about whether those reforms go far enough and what happens when the system designed to protect service members fails them.

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At 16, Barry Minkow started a carpet cleaning company in his parents' garage. By 21, he was one of the youngest CEOs of a publicly traded company in America, with a business valued at over $200 million. But the entire empire was built on a foundation of lies. This is the story of ZZZZ Best, one of the most audacious corporate frauds of the 1980s, and the story of a charismatic young man who fooled auditors, investors, and the media with staged job sites and forged documents. After serving time in federal prison, Barry reinvented himself as a pastor and a fraud investigator, only to find himself back in court, facing new charges of embezzlement and stock manipulation. It's a wild ride through the mind of a master manipulator who couldn't stop scamming.

Thank you to this week's sponsors!

See why more than 3 million families have chosen K12 – find a K12 Powered School near you today! Enrollment portals are now open. Go to K12.com/MOMS to learn more.

New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday!

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