When Timothy Jones Jr. was stopped by police in Mississippi in 2014, his five children were missing. Days later, investigators learned the horrifying truth: he had murdered all five of them and dumped their bodies in the woods in Alabama.

This episode breaks down the full story, from the custody battle and early warning signs to the murders, the investigation, and the trial that exposed the full horror of what happened. It is one of the most horrifying child murder cases in recent history, a chilling story of rage, control, and vengeance that destroyed an entire family.

RESOURCES:

• https://wpde.com/news/local/closing-arguments-06-03-2019
• https://www.abccolumbia.com/2019/06/04/jury-finds-timothy-jones-jr-guilty-of-murdering-his-five-children/
• https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/toledo/ap-top-news/2019/06/04/dad-guilty-of-killing-5-kids-faces-possible-death-sentencE
• https://whdh.com/news/jury-deliberating-again-in-trial-of-dad-in-deaths-of-5-kids/
• https://www.abccolumbia.com/2019/06/13/recap-on-timothy-jones-trial-from-first-day-testimony-to-death-penalty-sentence/
• https://wach.com/news/local/timothy-jones-jr-sentenced-to-death-so-what-comes-next
• https://www.fox4news.com/news/jury-agrees-on-death-penalty-for-sc-father-convicted-of-killing-his-5-children
• https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-14/us-man-who-killed-his-five-children-sentenced-to-death/11208416
• https://www.wistv.com/2019/06/21/convicted-sc-child-killer-jones-appeals-conviction/
• https://law.justia.com/cases/south-carolina/supreme-court/2023/28145.html
• https://solicitor11.sc.gov/news/2019-06/solicitor-hubbards-statement-following-timothy-jones-jr-death-penalty-trial
• https://www.wltx.com/article/news/mother-of-5-murdered-sc-children-doesnt-want-killer-put-to-death/101-7fb9ea4b-9b3d-4dd4-9bed-818cfb740baf
• https://www.abccolumbia.com/2019/06/11/ex-wife-of-timothy-jones-jr-calls-on-jury-to-spare-his-life/
• https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/ap-top-news/2019/06/11/mom-of-slain-children-asks-mercy-for-ex-husband-in-his-trial
• https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/ap-top-news/2019/05/20/mom-of-5-slain-children-sobs-on-stand-at-ex-husbands-trial
• https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/timothy-jones-jr-sentencing-ex-wife-mercy/129142/
• https://www.wistv.com/2024/08/21/mother-receive-15m-settlement-sc-agencies-after-husband-kills-her-5-children/
• https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/tag/tim-jones-jr
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAkNt8yuRD8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHF1jAisO0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM828kSGjqMListener Supported

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In 2012, a 21 year old Kenyan woman named Agnes Wanjiru went out for a night in a small town shaped by the presence of a foreign military base - and never came home.

In this episode, we trace Agnes’s last known hours, the uneasy power dynamics of the British troops stationed in Kenya, and the long trail of missed chances that followed. Sometimes the most terrifying mystery isn’t who did it, it’s how so many people knew about it, and did nothing to stop it.

RESOURCES:

• itv.com/news/2025-11-07/british-soldier-appears-in-court-over-murder-of-agnes-wanjiru-in-kenya
• itv.com/news/2025-10-15/niece-of-murdered-kenyan-woman-calls-for-british-soldiers-extradition
• theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/07/former-british-soldier-robert-purkiss-accused-of-murdering-kenyan-woman-agnes-wanjiru-appears-in-court
• theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/21/british-soldier-accused-of-murdering-kenyan-woman-agnes-wanjiru-named
• theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/22/british-ex-soldier-denies-meeting-kenyan-woman-agnes-wanjiru-alleged-murder
• theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/16/agnes-wanjiru-niece-urges-labour-extradite-ex-soldier-kenya
• theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/24/uk-defence-minister-faces-call-for-inquiry-into-2012-killing-of-kenyan-woman
• reuters.com/world/africa/former-british-soldier-arrested-over-alleged-kenyan-murder-2025-11-07
• reuters.com/world/uk/kenyan-lawmakers-identify-disturbing-trend-misconduct-by-british-troops-2025-12-03
• apnews.com/article/2bfc454e5c3c1eaa8bb227c5e6445cbe
• apnews.com/article/0389c1ecb7f2a593796869e77180e79e
• apnews.com/article/23ef6d907b869bdcd2e0ffa40cb35bda
• gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-meets-family-of-the-late-agnes-wanjiru-in-kenya
• gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-meets-with-the-niece-of-the-late-agnes-wanjiru
• questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-30/49427
• news.sky.com/story/niece-of-kenyan-woman-murdered-by-british-soldier-calls-on-king-to-act-during-visit-12996890
• news.sky.com/story/agnes-wanjiru-niece-of-kenyan-woman-murdered-by-british-soldier-comes-to-uk-to-seek-justice-13449012
• the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/agnes-wanjiru-death-british-army-b1944227.html
• forcesnews.com/services/army/charting-timeline-agnes-wanjirus-death-former-soldier-faces-extradition-kenya
• aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/20/kenya-court-orders-uk-soldiers-arrest-for-agnes-wanjiru-death-all-we-know
• aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/5/british-soldiers-accused-of-more-abuses-in-kenya-what-we-know
• thetimes.co.uk/article/soldier-accused-murder-agnes-wanjiru-w6c62w8st
• thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/robert-james-purkiss-agnes-wanjiru-jnx7bgvm9
• thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/british-army-soldier-murder-mother-kenya-9hffnjqqv
• www.sbs.com.au/news/article/family-of-kenyan-woman-allegedly-murdered-by-british-soldier-to-sue-uk-army/9fuxv02y0
  
  

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They spent their life savings to save a boy from a harsh Ukrainian orphanage, then one night, everything inside their quiet Florida home went violently wrong.

In this episode, I unravel the story of Robbie and Jennifer Tower, the son they adopted as a teen, the unsettling red flags leading up to a bloody crime scene, and the courtroom showdown that left everyone questioning how well we can ever truly know the children we bring into our homes.

RESOURCES:

• forgave-him-for-everything-adoptee-from-ukraine-allegedly-murdered-loving-parents-after-troubled-history-of-violence/
• https://www.courttv.com/news/fl-v-dima-tower-troubled-orphan-murder-trial/
• https://www.courttv.com/news/dima-tower-admits-to-brutal-murder-of-adoptive-parents-in-chilling-testimony/
• https://www.courttv.com/title/eyewitness-defendant-dima-tower-had-blood-on-his-hands/
• https://www.courttv.com/title/neighbor-i-heard-banging-and-screaming-for-help-made-911-call/
• https://www.courttv.com/tag/dima-tower/
• https://robersonfh.com/obituary/robbie-tower/
• https://robersonfh.com/obituary/jennifer-christine-tower/
• https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/portcharlotte/name/robbie-tower-obituary?id=53054160
• https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/fl/north-port/jennifer-christine-tower-16901680
• https://nypost.com/2025/11/13/us-news/ukrainian-adoptee-dima-tower-breaks-down-in-florida-court-as-hes-accused-of-slaughtering-parents-in-murder-trial/
• https://open.spotify.com/show/5uzx4TEFdqTLhBvycXYLDm
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/43679042799/posts/10160307474627800/

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In 1957, police in a quiet Wisconsin town entered a farmhouse and uncovered one of the most disturbing crimes in American history. What they found inside revealed a life consumed by grief, isolation, and madness. This episode explores the true story of Ed Gein - the man whose obsession with his mother and the dead blurred the line between devotion and horror, and whose crimes still cast a shadow over modern culture and film today.

Follow / Support The Crime Shack and Host Michelle Pense:

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RESOURCES:

• Ed Gein (overview, trial, myth-vs-fact anchor): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ed-Gein
• “How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?” (victim count context): https://www.britannica.com/topic/How-Many-People-Did-Ed-Gein-Kill
• “Body of Ed Gein’s final victim, Bernice Worden, is found” (Nov. 16, 1957): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-16/ed-gein-kills-final-victim-bernice-worden
• “Ed Gein dies” (1984 death at Mendota): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-26/real-life-psycho-ed-gein-dies
• Ed Gein Farm Auction notice (IM2022): https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM2022
• Ed Gein at State Crime Lab (photo, Nov. 17, 1957): https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM41777
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo gallery (includes the shed photo; graphic): https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/09/15/images-from-the-strange-highly-disturbing-case-of-ed-gein/70

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A small-town run on a warm July evening should have been routine for 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. Instead, it became the last time anyone would see her alive. What unfolded next gripped the nation: a massive search, hidden clues, and a chilling story that unraveled in the courtroom. In this episode, we step into Mollie’s final hours, the investigation that shocked Iowa, and the twisted defense that left more questions than answers.

Follow / Support The Crime Shack and Host Michelle Pense:

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RESOURCES:

• ABC News – Jury gets case after hearing contrasting claims of how Mollie Tibbetts was killed
• KCRG – The Disappearance and Death of Mollie Tibbetts: A Timeline
• Runner’s World – Mollie Tibbetts Disappearance: How Fitbit Data Became Part of the Investigation
• KCCI – The Trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera: Complete Coverage
• ABC News – Guilty Verdict in Murder of Iowa Student Mollie Tibbetts
• Des Moines Register – What to Know About the Life and Murder of Mollie Tibbetts
• ABC7 News – A Timeline of Mollie Tibbetts’ Disappearance
• For Iowa – Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Fund Surpasses $125,000

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A brutal axe attack in the dead of night shatters a quiet New York suburb, leaving one parent dead, the other barely alive, and a son at the center of a shocking investigation. Lies, forged documents, and a mother’s haunting accusation unravel a story that’s equal parts family drama and cold-blooded betrayal. Was this a random break-in...or the ultimate act of deceit from within?

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RESOURCES:

• Times Union — Porco Case Timeline (2024)
• Times Union — Peter Porco’s Death Detailed in Autopsy
• Times Union — Jonathan Porco Testifies
• Times Union — Sixteen Years Later: Porco Still Maintains Innocence
• Campus Times — Chris Porco: A Tale of Gruesome Uncertainty
• Spotlight News — Jonathan Porco Testifies: Brothers Don’t Look at Each Other
• Times Union — E-mails Reveal Porco Family Rift
• Times Union — $100 Check Impressed Porco Grand Jurors
• Vocal Media — The Porco Axe Murders
• Wikipedia — Murder of Peter Porco

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In the tranquil setting of Lake Oconee, Georgia, the peaceful existence of Russell and Shirley Dermond was violently disrupted by a sinister act that baffled investigators and sent shockwaves through the community. Picture this: a quiet lakeside home, a retired couple enjoying their golden years. But in 2014, their serene life took a dark turn when Russell was found decapitated and Shirley was nowhere to be found. Was it a targeted attack? A botched robbery? Or something even more sinister?

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In September of 2016, California tech-businessman and father of one, Greg Mulvihill, was shot after being lured to a dark, secluded California trail. The subsequent and shocking investigation into the shooting began to peel back layers of deception, exposing a sinister plot, plagued by manipulation and treachery.

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