Bad Acts: A True Crime Podcast
Episodes
310 episodes
Ep. 286 — The Murder of Scott MacFarland
In October 2023, Richard “Scott” MacFarland invited a friend of his to live with him. Meghan Macklin had fallen on hard times, and she needed a place to crash. Scott was a widower who liked to help people, but he should never have trusted Megha...
Ep. 285 — Apt 19A: The Murder of Nadia Vitels
In 2024, Nadia Vitels was finally getting a chance to focus on herself after years of caregiving. She planned to move into a luxury NYC apartment she inherited from her mother. Unbeknownst to her, two squatters were already living in the apartm...
Ep. 284 — The First Fetal Abduction by Caesarian: The Murder of Margaret Sweeney
In 1974, 26-year-old Margaret Sweeney was expecting her fourth baby. When she met Winifred Ransom, she thought she’d made a new friend. But Ransom was a devil in disguise, whose unbelievable crime shocked everyone. Patreon: https:/...
Ep. 283 – The Bolduc Family Murders
In 2008, firefighters responded to a fire at the Bolduc home to find three family members murdered, including parents, Carol and Christopher Bolduc, and son, Josh Bolduc. When police tracked down elder son Matthew Cushing, investigators immedia...
Ep. 282 — The Murder of Mel Kernena Cotton
31-year-old Mel Cotton helped her friend escape a violent relationship. About two weeks later, her sister arrived to babysit Mel’s son to find the boy injured and Mel dead. Her murder was an escalation that anyone could see coming, and her atta...
Ep. 281 – The Red Riding Hood Murders: Female Serial Killer Piroska Jancsó-Ladányi
Unlike most female serial killers, 20-year-old Piroska Jancsó-Ladányi was a lust killer who targeted young girls. She committed five murders before anyone suspected her because no one thinks the bogey man is going to be a small young woman with...
Ep. 280 - Live From Comicpalooza! Killer Chatbot?: A.I. & The Murder of Margaux Whittemore
(Audio is pretty good!) In February 2025, 32-year-old Margaux Whittemore traveled to Maine with her husband, Samuel, to visit her mother-in-law. She wouldn’t make it back home. Investigators soon learned that Samuel Whittemore was having a stra...
Ep. 279 — “I Love You to Death:” The Worst (But Funniest) Murder Conspiracy Ever
This week, we talk about the true story of Tony & Frances Toto, whose story hit the big screen in 1990 after Frances tried to murder Tony 5 times with the help of a few hitmen, all of whom were very bad at murder. The dark comedy based on t...
Ep. 278 — Ray the Ripper: A Houston Spree Killing
Over an 8-day period in April 2002, 28-year-old Ray McArthur Freeney preyed on sex workers on Houston, TX’s infamous Bissonnet Strip. He murdered 15-year-old Kirshalynne Jones and 36-year-old Vicky Dean, but they weren’t his only victims. In fa...
Ep. 277 — The Murder of Michelle Shadbolt
On February 14, 1987, Michelle Shadbolt’s stepmother found her brutally murdered in her living room. Everyone suspected Michelle’s estranged husband, but investigators didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him. That’s because he wasn’t their ki...
Ep. 276 — Amelia & The Devil: A Diabolical Murder Case
In 2011, Amelia Espinoza was raising her son, 18-year-old Moises Meraz-Espinoza, in Los Angeles. This time, Satan really was waiting in the wings…Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/badactspodPodMoth: https://podmoth.network/
Ep. 275 — The “Satanic Cult” Murders You’ve Never Heard About, Pt. 3
In 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham murdered three people and wounded seven in a short crime spree that began at home and ended at Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi. His small Mississippi town soon found itself in the grip of the Satanic Pa...
Ep. 274 — The “Satanic Cult” Murders You’ve Never Heard About, Pt. 2
In 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham murdered three people and wounded seven in a short crime spree that began at home and ended at Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi. His small Mississippi town soon found itself in the grip of the Satanic Pa...
Ep. 273 — The “Satanic Cult” Murders You’ve Never Heard About, Pt. 1
In 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham murdered three people and wounded seven in a short crime spree that began at home and ended at Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi. His small Mississippi town soon found itself in the grip of the Satanic Pa...
Ep. 272 — The Murder of Paycin Kritlow
In July 2020, 18-year-old Paycin Kritlow was celebrating his high school graduation with his lifelong friends when he died at the hands of someone he’d never have expected.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/badactspodPodMoth: http...
Ep. 271 — The Chinese “Jack the Ripper”
Over 14 years, a depraved madman preyed on the women of Baiyin, China. After 11 murders, the killer suddenly stopped, and investigators feared that they’d never find him. But science is always advancing, and genetic genealogy would break the ca...
Ep. 270 — The Murder of Cynthia “Cindy” Capps
In October 2020, Cynthia Capps and her husband Jorge Gonzalez were renting out their extra rooms to make ends meet during the pandemic. One evening, Cindy seemingly disappeared while Jorge was in the shower. When Jorge found a blood spot on the...
Ep. 269 — The Murder of Gabrielle “Britney” Ujlaky
16-year-old Britney Ujlaky was a cowgirl with big goals for her future. She seemed unstoppable, but one of her most trusted friends was a snake in the grass. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/badactspodPodMoth: https://podm...
Ep. 268 — The Choctaw Three: A Murder that Never Happened
*The most bananas case I’ve covered* In 1999, the tiny town of Butler, Alabama, made national headlines when three intellectually disabled defendants were accused of killing a baby that never existed. What started out as a lie told by Victoria ...
Ep. 267 — Fortune Teller: The Historic Kintzler Murders
In 1877, German immigrants John and Gretchen Kintzler lived in a messy log cabin in Troxelville, Pennsylvania. On Sundays, John told fortunes at their kitchen table, so the couple had more money than their humble home suggested. Then, on Decemb...
Ep. 266 — From the Crawl Space: The Murder of Barbara Latiolais
In 2012 Barbara Latiolas hired a local teenager to mow her lawn. That decision led to a pair of killers hiding in her crawl space, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/badactspodPodMoth: ...
Ep. 265 — “I’m so lonely, guess I’ll murder and dismember you”
In November 2024, 21-year-old Phoenix Spencer-Horn was just starting what should have been a long life. She was living with her boyfriend, Ewan Methven, and working in a restaurant in Scotland. Her life seemed to be on the right track, but ther...
Ep. 264 — Chicago’s First Execution: The Murder of Lucretia Thompson
In 1840, Lucretia Thompson left for her job as a housekeeper and never returned. Two days later, searchers found her bloody body near a wooded area, partially consumed by hogs. She’d been beaten to death with a roughly made club, which remained...
Ep. 263 — The Murder of Jonathan Moyer
In March 2003, 17-year-old Jonathan “Jonnie” Moyer disappeared. Around that same time, two of his best friends, 16-year-old Steva Hagelgans and 18-year-old Felina Billetdeaux were dealing with a strangely terrible smell in the home they shared....
Ep. 262 — The West Nickel Mines School Massacre
In October 2006, a man named Charles Roberts IV invaded a one-room Amish school house and took ten female students hostage. However, he underestimated the heroics of two Amish women who ran for help before he could carry out all of his terrible...