About this podcast
Criminal is the first of its kind. A show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Named a Best Podcast of 2023 by the New York Times. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 417 episodes
- Raynella, Part 1 · 32 min · Episode 388On March 13, 2003, Raynella Dossett Leath called 911. She said she had just come home to find her husband dead in their bedroom. When the police arrived, the lead investigator…
- A Prime Minister's Murder, a Cult Expert, and the Moonies · 38 min · Episode 10009Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed in 2022. Soon after, an investigative journalist named Eito Suzuki started drawing connections between his murder…
- Northernmost · 36 min · Episode 387“There are no roads that connect Utqiagvik with any other community. Nobody can get on the freeway and head for Fairbanks. That’s 500 miles of open tundra. So the killer was…
- Road Rage (Please Continue) · 55 minToday, an unlocked episode of Please Continue, in which Phoebe and Lauren discuss tense driving moments - including one encounter that still gives Phoebe chills. Plus, Phoebe’s…
- She Says Her Husband Cheated. The Law Won’t Let Her Divorce Him for a Year (with Jen Hamilton) · 26 min · Episode 10008Earlier this year, labor and delivery nurse Jen Hamilton announced to her millions of followers on social media that her marriage was ending. Now, she’s trying to change the…
- Haywire · 41 min · Episode 386Two days before New Year’s Eve in 1975, a bomb exploded at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. 75 people were injured and 11 people were killed. The bombing has never been…
- Bulldozer · 39 min · Episode 385Muffler shop owner Marvin Heemeyer bought a 45-ton Komatsu bulldozer and parked it on his lot in Granby, Colorado. When someone asked him what he was planning to do with it, he…
- He Talked About Killing Tupac for Years. Why Did It Take Three Decades to Bring Him to Trial? · 46 min · Episode 10007Phoebe interviews journalist and podcast host Joel Anderson about why it took 30 years for prosecutors to bring someone to trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur. Earlier this…
- Donor 106 · 48 min · Episode 384One night when Eve Wiley was 16, she started reading through her mother’s emails, and discovered a secret her mother had been keeping from Eve her whole life. “I always knew…
- The Midnight Slider · 36 min · Episode 383In 2013, a small boat called the Midnight Slider was found floating empty in the waters off of Isle Madame in Nova Scotia. “Murder is not something that occurs in this neck of…
- Not Criminally Responsible · 44 min · Episode 382In 1992, a young man walked into a police station and said he wanted to turn himself in for a crime. When the police asked if there was someone at home who they could call, he…
- The Boyfriend Who Never Existed: Inside The "Bed Trick" Trial · 38 min · Episode 10006Phoebe interviews author Izabella Scott about an unusual trial in England. One woman, referred to as Miss X, accused her best friend Gayle of posing as a man and tricking her…
- Family Secrets, Part 2 · 41 min · Episode 381In June of 1985, police followed in pursuit as Fritz Klenner drove through the streets of Greensboro, North Carolina, with his cousin Susie Lynch and her two sons. When the chase…
- Family Secrets, Part 1 · 31 min · Episode 380In 1985, college student Ian Perkins reconnected with a family friend, Fritz Klenner, who told him a secret. He said he was a CIA agent — and offered to let Ian come along on his…
- He Was Told It Was a Job. It Was His Kidney They Wanted. · 33 min · Episode 10005In 2021, a Nigerian man heard from a friend who offered him a job opportunity in the U.K. After he arrived he was taken to a hospital, where he found out that he wasn’t there for…
- The Informant · 1 h 4 min · Episode 379In 1978, an investigator in the Harris County DA's office in Houston got a call from an old friend. He told the investigator that he was in jail, that he wanted him to come pick…
- 911 · 40 min · Episode 378A conversation with a 911 operator about what happens on the other end of the line – and the day she heard her daughter's voice on the phone. This episode was originally…
- What Happened When 33,000 People’s Therapy Notes Were Released Onto the Internet · 46 min · Episode 10004Imagine receiving an email from a stranger that said your therapist’s notes about you would be released onto the internet for all to see — unless you paid a ransom. That’s…
- Out of the Box · 44 min · Episode 377In 1964, one of the best javelin throwers in Australia traveled to England to see if he could qualify for the Olympics. But, because of an injury, he didn’t make the team - and…
- A Bump in the Night and Unexpected Guests · 54 min · Episode 376Amber Dawn was 20 when she moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Enumclaw, Washington. On her very first night, she began to notice strange sounds. And they didn’t stop. These…
- Please Continue (Criminal+) · 47 minToday, an unlocked episode of Criminal Plus that's full of exciting updates, public service announcements, and Tom Cruise's teeth. If you enjoyed listening to today's Criminal…
- How a Volcanic Eruption Led to a Criminal Trial · 29 min · Episode 10003In 2019, a volcano erupted off the coast of New Zealand - killing 22 tourists who were on it at the time. Four years later, a criminal trial began - where prosecutors claimed…
- Mr. Apology · 51 min · Episode 375In 1980, posters appeared in subway stations and on telephone poles in New York City with a phone number to call. When you called it, you would hear a message: “This is Apology…
- The Premonitions Bureau · 49 min · Episode 374On October 21, 1966, a woman named Lorna Middleton suddenly woke up from her sleep, struggling to breathe. The day before, a man named Alan Hencher was at work in London when he…
- She Killed Three People with Poisonous Mushrooms. Did She Mean To? · 29 min · Episode 10002In 2023, a woman named Erin Patterson had her husband's family over for a lunch of beef Wellington. A week later, three people were dead. Phoebe interviews Guardian reporter Nino…
- The Comfort Kit · 40 min · Episode 373A few hours after Rachel Waters’ mother died in hospice care, police showed up at Rachel’s childhood home with a search warrant. “It had my name and the word ‘homicide’ on it.”…
- 125 Acres · 36 min · Episode 372George Dinning was emancipated in 1865, when he was 10 years old. By the time he was in his mid-thirties, he’d bought the land on which he had been enslaved. Years later, 25…
- Why Alex Murdaugh is Getting a Do-Over · 36 min · Episode 10001Earlier this year, Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 double murder conviction was overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court - due to “shocking jury interference.” Phoebe interviews Wall…
- That’s Not Me · 38 min · Episode 371Porcha Woodruff was eight months pregnant when she was arrested by police one morning at her home in Detroit. When she spoke with a detective at the police station hours later…
- What Nobody Tells You About the Morgue (with Patricia Cornwell) · 28 min · Episode 10000Phoebe interviews crime novelist Patricia Cornwell about how working in an autopsy suite inspired her to create her most famous character: forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta…
- All the Time in the World · 31 min · Episode 370The “body farm” at Texas State University is a place almost no one is allowed to see, because it’s one of very few places in the world that deliberately puts out human bodies to…
- The Caller · 43 min · Episode 369In 2008, an article in the monthly FBI bulletin argued that 911 calls could contain clues for homicide investigations. “The caller, in fact, may be the killer.” Brett Murphy…
- Riverwalk · 48 min · Episode 368In November 2019, nineteen-year-old Zac Brettler went missing. When his parents began looking for him, they discovered that Zac had been living a double life. Patrick Radden…
- A Man to Be Afraid Of · 45 min · Episode 367Sheriff Buford Pusser said he and his wife had come under gunfire early one morning on a country road - leading to her death. He told one reporter, “I'm pretty sure about who did…
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do (Criminal+) · 46 minThis episode is unlocked and available for everyone to listen to! It took some trial and error, but Phoebe finally figured out how to put on makeup. Plus, Lauren asks for advice…
- Mantrap · 39 min · Episode 366Ed and Bertha Briney’s unoccupied farmhouse was reportedly broken into 50 times over 10 years. They put up “No Trespassing” signs, repeatedly complained to sheriffs in two…
- The Mountain · 32 min · Episode 365On January 18, 2025, Thomas Plamberger and his girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner began climbing the tallest mountain in Austria. But when they were almost to the top, they got stuck…
- The Poison Squad · 43 min · Episode 364In 1902, twelve young men volunteered for a government experiment. They agreed to eat food laced with chemicals like formaldehyde, borax, and salicylic acid every day, for…
- Poisoned · 39 min · Episode 363In January 1993, a lot of children started showing up at Seattle Children’s Hospital with the same unusual symptoms. Doctors didn't know what was going on – until they realized…
- The Numbers · 51 min · Episode 362When Fannie Davis and her family moved to Detroit in the mid-1950s, they hadn’t prepared themselves for how hard it would be. They had trouble finding steady work. So, Fannie…
- Unwarranted · 39 min · Episode 361On the morning of May 20, 1957, a bomb exploded under Don King’s front porch. Police got a tip that they should search the home of someone he knew - a woman named Dollree Mapp…
- Rhinelander v. Rhinelander · 41 min · Episode 360Alice and Leonard Rhinelander had only been married for a few weeks when his family lawyer came to their house and took Leonard away with him. The next time Alice saw her husband…
- The Longline · 37 min · Episode 359For years, John Moore and Tanner Mansell ran shark diving tours off the coast of Florida. One day, they came across a fishing line in the middle of the ocean – with over a dozen…
- The Formula · 34 min · Episode 358On Christmas Eve in 1926, a man came running into Bellevue Hospital in New York screaming that Santa Claus had been chasing him for blocks with a baseball bat. Not long after…
- The Quintuplets · 54 min · Episode 357When Elzire Dionne gave birth to five identical babies, she caught the attention of reporters and doctors hundreds of miles away, the Chicago World’s Fair – and the Ontario…
- Cecilia · 35 min · Episode 356When Cecilia Gentili was growing up in Argentina, she felt so different from everyone around her that she thought she might be from another planet. “I think that we are all…
- Excited Delirium · 60 min · Episode 355When Angelo Quinto died, his family said police were responsible for his death. But a lawyer told them his official cause of death would likely be something called “excited…
- The Mug Book · 48 min · Episode 354After a gang leader was murdered in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the only witnesses who would talk with the police were tourists. They looked through so-called “mug books” filled…
- The Plot · 43 min · Episode 353In 1864, a 41-year-old woman named Mary Surratt was running a boarding house in Washington, D.C. One of the most famous actors in the country began visiting her – which led to…
- The Big Lie · 48 min · Episode 352In the early 2000s, the hip hop group Silibil N’ Brains seemed like they were on the brink of becoming very famous. They had a record deal with Sony, had been on MTV, and were…
