We’ve had a pretty heavy summer on TCC, haven’t we? Nazis and Norwegian black metal murders, and those last two cases were gnarly. So we thought maybe this week, you’d appreciate something a little lighter—something just for fun. So we decided to talk about hoaxes. Sometimes hoaxes are hilarious, like the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle pranked five of his friends by sending them all an anonymous letter saying “We are discovered. Flee at once,” and then watched in amazement as one of ‘em up and left town the next day. Sometimes they’re kind of a public service, reminding us that we can’t believe everything we see on TV or the internet. Sometimes they’re sick burns—humiliating revenge against a stuck-up snob who deserved it. But whatever the motive, and whether anybody ends up in jail or not, pranking the crap out of our fellow humans is almost always entertaining. Join us for a grab bag of hoaxes through history--from Mary Toft and her miraculous "rabbit births" to the infamous "War of the Worlds" broadcast that terrified America, to a Canadian woman who faked a pregnancy and abducted a real baby, and more. Sources:Toronto Star: https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/i-m-not-a-bad-person-says-gta-baby-snatcher-with-guilty-plea/article_928babfb-b457-5942-bbee-7daf500d3eb6.htmlCBS's "The Dr. Phil Show," episode "I Abducted a Baby/I am a Psychopath"https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-war-on-paper-operation-mincemeatTime Magazine: https://time.com/6174289/operation-mincemeat-netflix-true-story/The Smithsonian Mag: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/NPR: https://www.npr.org/2014/03/14/290119435/society-for-indecency-to-naked-animalsThe Ringer: https://www.theringer.com/music/2017/11/8/16615842/grunge-new-york-times-slangParis Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/07/05/an-extraordinary-delivery-of-rabbits/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/05/21/sneaky-teen-texting-codes-what-they-mean-when-worry/101844248/Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: [email protected]! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4251960/advertisement

When we left you at the end of Part 1, former Mormon golden boy Taylor Helzer had decided on two disciples who would aid him in his weird scheme to bring about a planet-wide spiritual awakening through a network of self-help groups fueled by sex and drugs, a plan he called Transform America. These disciples were his quiet younger brother Justin, and Dawn Godman, a vulnerable young woman convinced that Taylor was divinely inspired. But Transform America needed a lot of money to get off the ground, and there were no limits to what Taylor, Justin, and Dawn were willing to do to reach their goal. Join us now for part two of “Until the End of the World,” the cult of the Children of Thunder.Sources:Unholy Sacrifice by Robert ScottInvestigation Discovery's "True Crime With Aphrodite Jones," episode "The Children of Thunder"Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: [email protected]! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4251960/advertisement

For fifteen years you could call a private number in Manhattan and anonymously apologize for anything. It was called The Apology Line. This is the story of the phone line and the man at the other end who became consumed by his own creation. He was known as “Mr. Apology.” As thousands of callers flooded the line, confessing to everything from shoplifting to adultery, drug dealing, to murder, Mr. Apology realized he couldn’t just listen. He had to do something, even if it meant risking everything. Prime Members, you can binge all seven episodes of The Apology line exclusively on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today: www.amazon.com/AL_TCCThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4251960/advertisement

Being part of a society means that for the most part you follow its rules, often without thinking about it at all. And those rules, those strictures of what is right and wrong, good or bad, are frequently dumb and sometimes awful—human societies are not utopias, after all, they’re messy and loud and full of argument. But some shared consensus on the boundaries of behavior is necessary if people are going to live together in something approximating peace. So what happens when a group of people give up on the idea of right and wrong entirely, and surrender all their free will and moral judgment into the hands of madman who thinks he was born to save the world? Nothing good, that’s what. Join us for part 1 of the story of Taylor Helzer, a narcissistic man who was raised to think he had the "gift of revelation" and was destined to be a prophet--and the impressionable people he gathered around him to do his deadly bidding. Sources:Unholy Sacrifice by Robert ScottInvestigation Discovery's "True Crime With Aphrodite Jones," episode "The Children of Thunder"Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: [email protected]! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4251960/advertisement

When we left you at the end of part 1, married couple BJ and Erika Sifrit had decided to take a break from their demanding schedule of selling scrapbook supplies and burgling local businesses and drive down to Ocean City, Maryland for a little vacation…join us now for part 2 of this chilling true story. Sources:Cruel Death by M. William PhelpsA&E's "American Justice," episode "Thrill Kill Couple"Investigation Discovery's "People Magazine Investigates"Cape Cod Times: https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2005/02/25/life-sentence-ordered-in-beheading/50917379007/Follow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: [email protected]! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com/This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4251960/advertisement