The bestselling author of Norco ’80 returns to True Murder with a riveting story of mid-1980s San Diego that placed one young Black man at the center of a whirlwind of crime and punishment that profoundly altered Southern California.
March 31, 1985. Two white patrol officers in search of a gang member followed a pickup truck carrying seven young Black men up a dirt driveway in the Encanto neighborhood of Southeastern San Diego. Minutes later, gunshots rang out, and the truck’s driver, Sagon Penn, fled the scene in an officer’s patrol car. The incident stunned the city. What followed would change it forever.
Penn was an idealist who believed in the power of Buddhist chants to bring about the oneness of humanity. The two police officers were rising stars in one of the most progressive police departments in the country, yet one that had suffered more officers killed in the line of duty than any other. While the facts of the case were never in dispute, what remained unresolved was what, if anything, could justify such a violent confrontation? For over two years, a determined prosecutor and a charismatic defense attorney engaged in a sensational courtroom drama that revolved around matters of mental health, racial biases, and the self-image of a once-sleepy beach town grappling with its transformation into a major metropolitan area. The Sagon Penn incident forever altered how San Diego would respond to incidents involving police and communities of color. REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Violence, Race, Justice, And The Story Of Sagon Penn-Peter Houlahan

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Mike and Denise Williams had a tight knit, seemingly unbreakable bond with childhood friends, Brian and Kathy Winchester. The two couples were devout, hardworking Baptists who lived perfect, quintessentially Southern lives. Their friendship seemed ironclad. That is, until December 16, 2000, when Denise’s husband Mike disappeared while duck hunting on Lake Seminole.
After no body was found, everyone assumed that Mike had drowned in a tragic accident, his body eaten by alligators. But things took an unexpected turn when, within five years of Mike’s disappearance, Brian Winchester divorced his wife and married Denise. Their surprising romance set tongues talking. People began wondering how long they had been a couple, and whether they had anything to do with Mike’s death. It took another twelve years for the truth to come out—and when it did, it was unimaginable.
Now, the full, shocking story is revealed by Mikita Brottman, acclaimed true crime writer of the “enthralling” An Unexplained Death. Through tenacious research and clear-eyed prose, she probes the psychology of a couple who killed and explores how it feels to live for eighteen years with murder on the soul. GUILTY CREATURES: Sex, God and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida-Mikita Brottman

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It’s a case that has stumped generations of detectives and Internet sleuths. On Sept. 16, 2009, 24-year-old Richardson was arrested at an oceanside Malibu restaurant and taken to Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. With no money, no phone, and no ride, and in the midst of what was later described by law enforcement as a severe bipolar episode, Richardson was released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. just after midnight, and disappeared into the night. Her whereabouts confounded authorities for nearly a year until her skeletonized and partially mummified remains were found on Aug. 9, 2010, up rugged Dark Canyon, some six miles away from the station.

There was no sign of trauma to Mitrice’s remains and the coroner could not determine the cause of death. But Mitrice’s death was undoubtedly suspicious. Her bra, belt, and jeans were found some distance from her body; the rest of her clothing was never found. And investigators never recovered a tiny bone called the hyoid, which often breaks when a person is strangled.A tenacious reporter and gifted storyteller, Goodyear spent the past five years on the case, leading her and her co-reporter, Hayley Fox, to the secluded tight-knit mountain community of Monte Nido where Mitrice was last seen.

Driven by conversations with Richardson’s grieving friends and family and undeterred by the scant clues that have been picked through by dozens of previous investigations, LOST HILLS: Dark Canyon probes where others have not, including Richardson’s never-before-seen personal journals, new eyewitness interviews, and new potential forensic evidence. In 12 gripping episodes, Goodyear painstakingly builds a case that Mitrice’s death involved foul play—and she identifies a potential suspect. LOST HILLS: Dark Canyon-Season 4-Dana Goodyear

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On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor’s repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled “Last Will & Testament,” in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari’s body.
Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith’s murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari’s lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed.
One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas’s storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created—alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer’s psychology—combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari’s family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer. WHEN A KILLER CALLS: A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town-John Douglas

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Before the sensational cases of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony—before even Lizzie Borden—there was Polly Bodine, the first American woman put on trial for capital murder in America’s debut media circus.
On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emelin Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home—and then covered up the crime with hellfire.
When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin’s sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new “penny press” explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she’s a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials—in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh—for the “Christmas murders.”
After Polly’s legal dream team entered the fray, the press and the public debated not only her guilt, but her character and fate as a fallen woman in society. Public opinion split into different camps over her case. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman covered her case as young newsmen. P. T. Barnum made a circus out of it. James Fenimore Cooper’s last novel was inspired by her trials.
The Witch of New York is the first narrative history about the dueling trial lawyers, ruthless newsmen, and shameless hucksters who turned the Polly Bodine case into America’s formative tabloid trial. An origin story of how America became addicted to sensationalized reporting of criminal trials, The Witch of New York vividly reconstructs an epic mystery from Old New York—and uses the Bodine case to challenge our system of tabloid justice of today. THE WITCH OF NEW YORK-The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice-Alex Hortis

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A Harvest of Innocence is Dan Stidham's story, until now untold, regarding his involvement in the West Memphis 3 murder case. He stepped into its current as a young lawyer, unaware of its strength and the immutable, unpredictable eddies that would forever change his life and his view of the law. He tells it now because it must be told. He spent most of the past 30 years viewed in widely disparate lights. In the beginning, to some he was a pariah, a man so bold as to represent a teenager accused of being a Satanic child killer. Much later, others began to respect his efforts in seeking justice for Jessie Misskelley. In the real world, it is much more complicated than that. He was nothing more than a lawyer committed to doing his job, what was required of him by his moral compass. As a reward for his efforts, he spent a good deal of the past 30 years being pummeled by those hellbent on stopping his quest for justice for the West Memphis 3, young men who spent nearly two decades in prison for heinous crimes they simply did not commit. This is the true story of those events. A HARVEST OF INNOCENCE: The Untold Story of the West Memphis Three Murder Case-Dan Stidham

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Award-winning author and journalist Ivor Davis, author of Manson Exposed: A reporter's 50-year journey into Madness and Murder discusses he and his wife Sally's investigation into their longtime friend and neighbor when he is arrested for the murder of his wife and stepson.

Ivor and Sally Davis were horrified when their Malibu neighbors, Verna Roehler and her son, Doug died in a terrible boating accident. The nightmare only continued when her husband, their friend, Fred Roehler, was arrested and then convicted for their murder. As investigative writers they set out hoping to find Roehler innocent—instead they found a viper’s nest of deceit and murder. THE DEVIL IN MY FRIEND: The Inside Story of a Malibu Murder-Ivor Davis

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Step back in time to the winter of 1929, where the magic of Christmas in Brooklyn, New York, was shattered by a heinous act that reverberated through the ages. In "The Murder of Mary Falzone: A Shocking True Crime Story,” Rod Kackley unravels the chilling tale of a family torn apart by an explosion that claimed the lives of Mary, Philip, and Rose Falzone, innocent children whose lives were extinguished by a bomb disguised as a holiday gift.
As the city grappled with the aftermath of this unspeakable tragedy, a relentless investigation unfolded to unmask the perpetrators behind the merciless attack. Rod Kackley takes readers on a gripping journey through the dark alleys of 1920s Brooklyn, where organized crime thrived, and the thin line between justice and retribution blurred. The narrative unfolds like a suspenseful thriller, capturing the tension of a city on the brink.
Through painstaking research and vivid storytelling, Rod Kackley paints a vivid picture of a bygone era, immersing readers in the sights, sounds, and emotions of a community grappling with grief and the quest for justice.
As the investigation deepens, readers will be engrossed by the cast of characters—dedicated detectives, grieving family members, and the shadowy figures lurking in the criminal underworld. The book unveils the layers of deception and betrayal that led to that fateful December morning, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with every revelation.
"The Murder of Mary Falzone" transcends the true crime genre, becoming a poignant exploration of the enduring quest for justice and the impact of violence on a family and a community. This is a tale that goes beyond the headlines, inviting readers to contemplate the fragility of life and the strength that can emerge in the face of tragedy. Gripping, evocative, and profoundly moving, this true crime narrative is a must-read for those seeking an unforgettable journey into the heart of a dark chapter in American history. THE MURDER OF MARY FALZONE: A Shocking True Crime Story-Rod Kackley

Ritual.com/Murder

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