True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History Podcast By Dan Zupansky cover art

True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History

True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History

By: Dan Zupansky
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TRUE MURDER—The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History.
Every week host Dan Zupansky will interview the true crime authors that have written about the most shocking killers of all time. From true crime history, comes the preeminent true crime authorities in America and the world today.
From infamous serial killers, mass murderers, cult leaders and mafia hitmen to family murderers, nazis and homicidal maniacs—True Murder is a veritable true crime archive featuring historic murder cases written about by American legendary prosecutors, judges, journalists, detectives, forensic pathologists and bestselling authors. Featuring books about infamous serial killers such as Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, BTK, Jeffrey Dahmer, Golden State Killer, Aileen Wournos, Charles Manson, Zodiac and Son Of Sam—the episode list includes 100's more with over 850 episodes.
Famous true criime authors interviewed include Marcia Clark, John Douglas, Katherine Ramsland, Joseph Scott Morgan, Harold Schecter, and hundreds more.
Unsolved cold cases, wrongful convictions, death row confessions, serial killer couples, psychopathic killers, DNA breakthroughs and convictions, infamous executions, cult killings—every important true crime case ever written about—is here-in this true crime archive—TRUE MURDER—The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime HistoryCopyright Dan Zupansky Biographies & Memoirs Politics & Government Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • DIG ME A GRAVE— Dick Harpootlian

    DIG ME A GRAVE— Dick Harpootlian
    Dec 15 2025
    The definitive true “Southern Gothic” account of the life, crimes, conviction, and execution of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins, the charismatic, brutal, well-liked, remorseless South Carolina serial killer who was dubbed the Charles Manson of the South—written by the prosecutor who brought him to justice.
    Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian has prosecuted, one in particular haunts him. Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins was a serial killer and rapist, a master manipulator who claimed to have killed over 100 people and is known to have murdered over a dozen, including a toddler, and his own teenage niece. Yet it was on Death Row that he pulled off his most audacious murder—killing another inmate with a military grade explosive.
    As personable as he was ruthless, Pee Wee defied easy categories. He killed to avenge minor slights as well as for pleasure, using any convenient method—including stabbing, shooting, poison, suffocation, and drowning. Evidence suggested he forced at least one victim to dig his own grave, stand in it, and be shot.
    With escalating callousness, Pee Wee murdered acquaintances, friends, family members, and strangers. Yet within his North Charleston community he was well-liked—a family man who took neighborhood kids to the beach and hosted cookouts. Ice-cold within but outwardly charming, he joked with judges, reporters, and Harpootlian himself, but didn’t hesitate to hatch a plot to kidnap the prosecutor’s daughter in order to extort an escape.
    Dig Me a Grave is a haunting look at a prolific, remorseless killer, as well as a provocative exploration of justice and the death penalty. DIG ME A GRAVE: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Who Seduced the South—Dick Harpootlian
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    59 mins
  • EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE—Craig McGuire

    EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE—Craig McGuire
    Dec 8 2025
    Empire City Under Siege shares true stories of an FBI Special Agent spanning three tumultuous decades in New York City, beginning in the gritty 1970s when law enforcement refused to let their city be consumed by corruption and violence. Starting as an undercover operative investigating Mafia hijackers in Red Hook, Anthony John Nelson offers a gripping insider’s look at the bureau’s largest field office during one of its most transformative eras.
    From international manhunts, celebrity kidnappings, and late-night surveillance of Mafia hotspots with NYPD legend Kenneth “Kenny” McCabe, Nelson recounts his involvement in some of the most impactful and infamous cases of the pre-Internet age—pulling back the curtain on the dangers, strategies, and sacrifices behind the headlines.
    Featuring first-hand accounts from agents, officers, and prosecutors, this book honors the courage and commitment of all those like Anthony John Nelson who fought to restore order, protect the innocent, and reclaim a city once on the brink. EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE Three Decades of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders, and Mafia Wars—Craig McGuire
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    1 hr
  • SISTERS IN DEATH—Who Killed The Black Dahlia?—Eli Frankel

    SISTERS IN DEATH—Who Killed The Black Dahlia?—Eli Frankel
    Dec 1 2025
    Who killed the Black Dahlia? In this eye-opening shocker, award-winning producer, true-crime researcher, and Hollywood insider Eli Frankel finally solves the greatest-and most gruesome-murder mystery of the twentieth century just before its 80th anniversary.
    In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, completely drained of blood, was discovered in an undeveloped lot in Los Angeles. Its gruesome mutilations led to a firestorm of publicity, city-wide panic, and an unprecedented number of investigative paths led by the LAPD—all dead ends. The Black Dahlia murder remained an unsolved mystery for over seventy years.
    Six years earlier and sixteen hundred miles away, another woman’s life had ended in a similarly horrific manner. Leila Welsh was an ambitious, educated, popular, and socially connected beauty. Though raised modestly on a prairie farm, she was heiress to her Kansas City family’s status and wealth. On a winter morning in 1941, Leila’s butchered body was found in her bedroom bearing the marks of unspeakable trauma.
    One victim faded into obscurity. The other became notorious. Both had in common a killer whose sadistic mind was a labyrinth of dark secrets.
    Eli Frankel reveals for the first time a key fact about the Black Dahlia crime scene, never before shared with the public, that leads inexorably to the stunning identification of a criminal who was at the same time amateurish and fiendish, skilled and lucky, sophisticated and brutish. Drawing on newly discovered documents, law enforcement files, interviews with the last surviving participants, the victims’ own letters, trial transcripts, military records, and more, this epic true-crime saga puts together the missing pieces of a legendary puzzle.
    In Sisters in Death, the Black Dahlia cold case is finally closed. SISTERS IN DEATH: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter—Eli Frankel
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    1 hr and 30 mins
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I started listing to Dan Zupanski on speaker. Through a phone change I lost track and finally found him again on Audible. I love this podcast and the different stories from people who have researched these stories but the random ads that pop up randomly throughout this podcast have me to the point where I am almost done. Especially since the ads are so much louder than the actual talking. It feels like it’s blowing out my ear drums when I have my headphones in. It’s just annoying and they will cut off in a middle of a sentence.

Great podcast ads are annoying

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