“WTOP’s American Nightmare Series” is a podcast covering true crime stories in the Washington D.C. region. Season 3, "Unknown Subject": For 9 years, he terrorized women across the DC region. Breaking into homes and raping his victims before killing a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998. And then, it all stopped. Had he died? Was he locked up? Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject” for years. A man whose DNA linked him to multiple crime scenes but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For nearly three decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots. Season 2, “Murder in a Safe Place," investigates the vicious rape and murder of 50-year-old nurse Sherry Crandell inside the DC-area hospital where she worked. Her murder has mystified not only the police, but her family and the community for the past two decades. Police have DNA evidence and fingerprints - even a witness to the attack - but no suspect. In “Murder in a Safe Place,” veteran DC reporter Paul Wagner tells a story that, by the final episode, will have you thinking there may be a chance for justice after all.Season 1, “22 Hours: An American Nightmare,” hosted by WTOP award-winning reporters Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore was named the No. 2 Podcast of the Year by The Associated Press and was listed among Apple Podcasts’ Most Popular New Shows of 2019. “22 Hours: An American Nightmare” chronicles the case that became known nationwide as the “DC Mansion Murders” – the horrific killing of a DC power couple, their 10-year-old son, and housekeeper – in a way no one has covered it before.
Coming soon to the American Nightmares award winning podcast feed.In the early 1990s, a serial killer hunted the canals of Phoenix, Arizona. A violent...
Deep Cover is a true crime show about double lives, from our friends at Pushkin Industries. Their new season, The Family Man, is a story about how fam...
Following the story of Zion, survivors share the moments, memories, and manipulation that couldn’t be fully captured the first time. Jackie and Ron re...
What happens when you return to the place where it all began?In Episode 2 of Gardens of Evil – A Closer Look Inside The Garden, hosted by Mike King, s...
After the events of Gardens of Evil, the story doesn’t end for the survivors.In the first episode of our bonus series A Closer Look, we examine the la...
Arvin, Carla and others see their day in court, but was justice served? Most of the Zion Society children are either uncooperative or unable to testif...
The media descends on Northwood. The Zion Society children are interviewed, but many refuse to cooperate. Mike King gets a surprise call from Cedar Ci...
Seventy Ogden police officers gather in the dark and move into Northwood at dawn, hitting multiple Zion Society homes at the exact same moment. The pl...
Jeff Peterson has spent years trying to pull his kids out of the Zion Society - until the cult’s hunger for money creates an opening. When his ex-wife...
From inside the Zion Society, Erin (heard in rare archival audio) explains how predators exploit vulnerability - love-bombing, isolation, and religion...