Episodes

What drives someone to risk everything for the darkest of compulsions? In this gripping episode, we dive into the disturbing case of Christopher Cooley, a Mooresville man who couldn't stop his predatory behavior even while out on bond for child exploitation charges. The digital breadcrumbs tell a chilling story. Despite pretrial release restrictions, Cooley acquired burner phones, created fake accounts, and attempted to cover his tracks with technological tricks that ultimately failed. When Dete...

What drives a person down a path of escalating criminal behavior despite multiple chances at redemption? In this eye-opening episode, we dive deep into the troubling case of Ryan Davis, Indiana DOC inmate #263161, whose criminal journey spans decades and reveals critical failures in our justice system. From a Christmas Day arrest for syringes to hiding in a police officer's attic, carjacking a neighbor, and most recently being caught with a 15-year-old runaway and dangerous drugs, Davis's story ...

Nestled among Kentucky's rolling hills and bourbon distilleries, Bardstown's charm earned it the title "America's Most Beautiful Small Town" in 2012. Yet behind this picturesque facade lurks a darker reality—five unsolved murders that have traumatized the community and left families searching for answers for over a decade. At the heart of this mystery is Crystal Rogers, a devoted mother of five who vanished without a trace on July 3, 2015. Her abandoned car discovered on the Bluegrass Parkwa...

A father's worst nightmare unfolded in the dead of night when Aaron Spencer discovered his 14-year-old daughter missing from her bed. What followed was a desperate search that would end in bloodshed and raise profound questions about justice, protection, and the failures of our legal system. At the center of this Arkansas tragedy stands Michael Fosler, a 67-year-old Army veteran facing 43 felony charges including rape, sexual assault, and possession of child sexual abuse material—all related...

The true crime landscape is forever changed when you hear the story of Morgan D. Stapp, a mother of seven whose life spiraled into a nightmare of unimaginable accusations. What began as a shocking headline—a 32-year-old woman allegedly attempting to sell her infant daughter for sexual acts via Snapchat—quickly evolves into a complex digital mystery that challenges everything we think we know about online evidence. As we delve into the FBI investigation that started with disturbing messages trace...

Some crimes shake us to our core, forcing us to confront uncomfortable questions about justice, revenge, and where to draw the line. The case of Allen Cogswell and Nicholas Stanley embodies this moral quandary in its rawest form. When authorities discovered explicit images of underage girls on Allen Cogswell's phone in January 2018, they uncovered something far more disturbing. Two young sisters, just five and seven years old, revealed during forensic interviews that Cogswell had been entering t...

Trust shattered in an instant. The Jayson Tatlock case reveals the devastating consequences when school authority figures cross unthinkable boundaries with students under their care. This episode unpacks the troubling relationship between Jayson Tatlock, a 45-year-old school resource officer with extensive law enforcement experience, and a 17-year-old Bloomington North High School student. What began as casual office visits morphed into something far more sinister when Tatlock took the student o...

A chilling investigation unfolds as we dissect the case of Jayson Tatlock, a former school resource officer who betrayed his position of trust in the most devastating way. What started as seemingly innocent interactions with a 17-year-old student spiraled into a calculated pattern of grooming that culminated in sexual assault during a private fishing trip. The evidence paints a disturbing portrait of predatory behavior. Tatlock meticulously established himself as a trusted figure—bringing Starbu...

Two predators, two victims, and a system that failed them both. In the quiet city of Anderson, Indiana, Leslie Houston's life ended violently at the hands of her husband of seven years, John Daughtry. What began as a medical emergency call quickly revealed a horrifying pattern of abuse that had been occurring for years. Leslie's body told a story her voice no longer could – bruises in various stages of healing, evidence of strangulation, and a fatal brain hemorrhage that doctors immediately reco...

The digital shadows that conceal online predators are being illuminated by sophisticated detective work, as demonstrated in the shocking case of Ryan Wade Layman - a recently retired Martinsville firefighter facing multiple felony charges for child exploitation and possession of child pornography. Detective Jonathan Moscato's investigation through the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children task force revealed a disturbing pattern of activity on the eDonkey file-sharing network that led directl...

The haunting question "What would happen if I said I lied?" sits at the heart of this gripping exploration into a long-buried child sexual abuse case that's finally seeing the light of day. Ten years after a teenage victim recanted her allegations against her stepfather, she's back—armed with recordings, screenshots, and the unshakable determination to set the record straight. John Dale Payton, a longtime resident of Morgan County, Indiana, now faces serious felony child molestation charges ...

A mother's worst nightmare unfolds in real-time at an Indianapolis hotel when she returns to Room 111 to find convicted child molester Bruce Pierce attacking her 12-year-old daughter. In that split-second of horror, she makes a decision that will forever alter multiple lives—she draws her gun and fires. The bullet-riddled walls of Room 111 tell only part of a story that stretches back more than a decade. Bruce Pierce's predatory shadow first emerged in 2013 when a courageous 10-year-old girl...

When a gym-goer noticed a foul odor coming from a locked tanning room at Planet Fitness, no one expected to discover 39-year-old Derek Sink, who had been dead for three days. Despite wearing an ankle monitor that repeatedly pinged his location and multiple visits from his monitoring officer, Sink's body remained undiscovered in plain sight. The investigation unearthed a heartbreaking web of addiction, negligence, and accountability. Text messages recovered from Sink's phone revealed a devastatin...

A dismembered body dumped in rural Indiana. A classic Oldsmobile Cutlass that vanished without a trace. A stolen car stereo that sparked a deadly grudge. After more than 30 years of silence, the brutal 1992 murder of Tony Bledsoe is finally coming to light, revealing the dark secrets buried in a small Indiana town. When human remains - lacking a head, hands, and feet - were discovered at an illegal dump site near Greencastle in April 1992, investigators had little to go on. The victim remained u...

Murder came quietly to rural Indiana on a cold February night in 1977. While the rest of the country was preparing for Valentine's Day celebrations, a family in Park County faced unimaginable horror when armed intruders entered their double-wide mobile home and changed their lives forever. The case known locally as the "Valentine's Day Massacre" bears no relation to its famous Chicago namesake, but carries just as much weight for those who remember this shocking crime. Four brothers—Reeve, Ralph...

Do you want to advertise with 69 SOUTH? Scented Jewels We’ve got the coolest wax melts ever. Dive into a world of many aromas at shopscentedjewels.com Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show Disclaimer: All defendants are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY in a court of law. All facts are alleged until a conviction!

A shocking case unfolds as we meticulously examine the probable cause affidavit filed against Jacob Wessel, a former robotics teacher at Mooresville Christian Academy in Indiana. The document reveals disturbing allegations of grooming behavior directed at a 13-year-old student, including inappropriate text messages stating he was "in love" with her and wanted to kiss her. Most troublingly, Wessel allegedly provided the minor with Adderall on school grounds and marijuana at his home—classic groom...

A white Pontiac Firebird speeds northbound in the southbound lanes of State Road 67 at nearly 100 mph, T-tops removed, blonde hair blowing in the wind. Inside, four children clutch whatever they can as witnesses report them screaming. The driver, 32-year-old Judy Kirby, appears eerily calm, "stoic" and "on a mission" according to those who swerved to avoid her. What drives a mother of ten to commit an act that would claim seven lives, including three of her own children, her nephew celebrating h...

Ready for your jaw to hit the floor? We're diving deep into the mind-boggling case of Janet Mello—aka "The Gucci Goddess"—who pulled off one of the largest frauds in U.S. Army history while working as a modest civilian financial manager. Picture this: a government employee making $130,000 annually somehow manages to divert $109 million meant for military children's programs into her own pockets over seven years. Her secret? Creating a fake organization called Child Health and Youth Lifelong ...

Four words will haunt the parents of Brownsburg, Indiana for years to come: "We handled it ourselves." Those words, spoken by daycare administrators who chose their reputation over children's safety, allowed Gabriel Garner to continue working with kids despite multiple red flags and disturbing allegations. The horror began unfolding when a concerned teacher finally contacted authorities in April 2025, revealing that several incidents involving Garner had been swept under the rug by Main Street U...

Oaklee Snow's tragic death in 2023 could have been prevented if the justice system hadn't failed her through a lenient plea deal given to her killer years earlier. We investigate how Rowan Waters went from facing decades in prison to walking free in just four years, only to allegedly murder little Oakley by February 2023. • Roan Waters' 2017 arrest for armed burglary with multiple felonies that should have kept him behind bars until 2037 • How a lenient plea deal reduced his sentence from a pote...

The horrific torture and murder of Sylvia Likens stands as one of America's most disturbing cases of child abuse—a stark reminder of what happens when an entire community turns a blind eye to suffering. Summer 1965 in Indianapolis was a time of Beatles records and drive-in movies, but behind the doors of a rundown house on East New York Street, 16-year-old Sylvia was experiencing unimaginable cruelty. After being left with Gertrude Baniszewski while her carnival-worker parents traveled, Sylvia b...

The dark underbelly of small-town America surfaces in this gripping episode as we examine the disturbing case of Nathan Bailey, a 59-year-old Martinsville man now facing one count of child exploitation and 33 charges of possession of child pornography. When vigilante groups "Bikers Against Predators" and "Predator Poachers" discovered connections between Bailey and another predator they'd investigated in Michigan, they drove straight to Morgan County to confront him. What followed was a communit...

A seemingly ordinary day in an apartment shared by Catherine Schwartz, Tyler Mertlow, and their three children ended in unspeakable tragedy when a fire claimed the life of their three-month-old son. The devastating case unravels like a noir mystery, revealing layers of neglect, substance abuse, and domestic turmoil that created perfect conditions for disaster. The investigation reveals a household in absolute disarray. Dog waste covered children's mattresses, forcing the family to crowd into a s...