Our True Crime Podcast

On the 12th Nightmare Before Christmas… The Genesee River flows peacefully through Rochester today, but it still holds a dark memory from the late 1980s. Back then, it became the hunting ground of Arthur Shawcross. He had already served time for murder but was let out early, even though experts warned he was still dangerous. Soon after he arrived, a terrifying pattern emerged: people disappeared near the waterfront, only to be found later along the riverbanks, each death showing the work of a disturbed mind.  Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Dark Waters: Arthur Shawcross.” Well, folks, we've finally made it to the end of our 8th Annual 12 Nightmares Before Christmas and the end of 2025. We're exhausted and definitely need therapy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for spending another year with us. We’ve talked about more murders than any “normal” human should, and you’re still here, clicking play like champions. We appreciate every one of you who listens week after week. You are what keeps us going. We'll be back on January 14th, 2026, with more true crime cases. Until then, lock your doors, and keep passing those open windows! Have a safe and spectacular New Year. Love ya! Cam & Jen Listener Discretion by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edward October ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint Sources are available on ourtruecrimepodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 11th Nightmare Before Christmas... On a sunny November morning in 1971, best friends Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, both just 15, set out for a day of surfing near Galveston, Texas. The two girls were inseparable—bonded by their shared love of the beach, the waves, and the promise of youth. Maria, a newcomer to Galveston, had already endured a turbulent childhood. After her parents split, she bounced between homes and schools before settling into Ball High School. Shy but friendly, she quickly found her place. She loved water skiing, dated a local ski jumper, and spent her weekends at the beach. Debbie, by contrast, was a lifelong islander, what locals called a BOI (“born on the island”). With one brown eye and one blue-green eye, she stood out immediately. She was bold, competitive, and passionate about water sports, often making the local news for her water skiing competitions. Surfing was her favorite pastime, and her friends remembered her as fun, magnetic, and endlessly outgoing. That Sunday, November 14, they planned a short trip to Houston, just over an hour’s drive away, to spend the day exploring. Since neither girl had a car, they decided to hitchhike, a common and almost carefree practice in the early 1970s. Witnesses later reported seeing them outside a Baskin-Robbins near Stewart Beach, laughing and chatting as they bought ice cream. A white van pulled up to the curb. The driver asked where they were headed. “Houston,” one of the girls said. It was his route, he told them. They climbed in. They were never seen alive again. Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled: The Eleven Who Went To Heaven: Edward Bell." Thank you to our incredible team: Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS. Executive Producer/Music by @theinkypawprint. Sources:  https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/tenth-court-of-appeals/1994/1036.html https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-news-journal-1979-tx-edward-ha/37438275/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37438275/1979-tx-edward-harold-bell-convicted-of/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125091/edward-bell/ https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/tv/2023/10/03/how-a-shirtless-matthew-mcconaughey-got-his-first-credit-on-unsolved-mysteries-in-1992/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5511750/the-waco-citizen/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82998028/ed-bell-69-exposure-to-13-year-old/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0737501/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125009/edward-bell/ https://archive.today/20211228093122/https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/10/18/243184/investigators-think-they-know-who-killed-eleven-girls-around-galveston-in-the-1970s-2/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harold_Bellhttps://archive.ph/20131014191511/http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Confessions-of-a-cold-blooded-killer-2187501.php#selection-4701.0-5149.1https://archive.ph/20190823045333/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-killer-s-death-leaves-unanswered-13783107.php Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 10th Nightmare Before Christmas… Palm Sunday is usually a day of hope and reflection, but in 1984,  East New York faced a horror it would never forget. Families were at home, children played, and neighbors went about their day, but inside 1080 Liberty Avenue, everything changed. Ten lives were lost in a single, shocking act of violence. The house was ordinary, the people inside were ordinary, yet by the end of the day, the community would never be the same. Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “Brookly Wept: The Palm Sunday Massacre.” Thank you to our incredible team: Listener Discretion by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edward October ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen Executive Producers/Music by @theinkypawprint   Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyf59N6MXpQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPyQkGsb4W4 https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/palm-sunday-massacre https://www.newspapers.com/image/488278617/?match=1&terms=Enrique%20Bermudez https://www.newspapers.com/image/488453267/?match=1&terms=Palm%20Sunday%20massacre   https://www.newspapers.com/image/704164853/?match=1&terms=Palm%20Sunday%20massacre  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 9th Nightmare Before Christmas... On the afternoon of March 12, 2004, a quiet Fresno street exploded with panic. Twenty-five-year-old Sofina Solorio stood outside the boarded-up home where she’d once lived, screaming for Marcus Wesson to release her children. Her cousin, Ruby Ortiz, shouted beside her. Both women had grown up under Wesson’s rule. Both had borne him children. Now they wanted them back. Relatives crowded the curb, furious and ready to force their way in. Inside, Wesson’s family gathered at the windows, shouting back with a strange, fevered devotion. “Judas! Judas!” “Bow down to your master!” When Fresno police arrived, the chaos only deepened. At the center stood Marcus Wesson, fifty-seven, nearly 300 pounds, his graying dreadlocks hanging to his knees. He was eerily calm, answering questions in a soft, measured voice. Officers believed they were dealing with a tense custody dispute. Then Wesson asked for one thing: to say goodbye to the children. He closed the door behind him. Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "Innocence Destroyed: The Wesson Family Horror." Thank you to our fantastic team: Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS. Executive Producer/Music @theinkypawprint. Sources:  https://www.crimelibrary.org/noto rious_murders/family/marcus_wesson/13.html https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-questions-in-fresno-slayings/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190827142254/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-30-me-wesson30-story.html https://abc30.com/post/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182/ https://abc7.com/archive/7540458/ https://www.amazon.com/Marcus-Wesson-Horrific-Fresnos-Murderer/dp/1703797760 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jury-gives-death-to-killer-dad/ https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/will-jerry-brown-commute-sentences-of-every-death-row-inmate-in-one-of-his-last-acts-as-california-governor https://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/justice-story-vampire-king-article-1.1621606 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dad-guilty-of-killing-his-9-kids/ http://www.daily-journal.com/life/wesson-massacre-largely-forgotten/article_389f9b7f-4237-511d-a6b7-b003bddc088a.html https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-surviving-family-speaks-abuse/story?id=11089648 https://abc30.com/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 8th Nightmare Before Christmas… Andrew Urdiales grew up in a troubled home, facing abuse that shaped a deep anger inside him. After serving in the Marines, he turned that rage outward, stalking and murdering women across California and the Midwest. For over a decade, he left a trail of victims that left police struggling to track him down. Join Cam and Jen as they discuss “A Marine Without Mercy: Andrew Urdiales.” Thank you to our incredible team: Listener Discretion by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edward October ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen Executive Producers Nico & Jesse of The Inky Pawprint Sources https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2018/11/05/two-condemned-inmates-deaths-being-investigated-as-suicides/ https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=1e8a0fba-d064-4e7e-954a-ae9607be1273 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Urdiales https://murderpedia.org/male.U/u/urdiales-andrew.htm (the court transcript from his appeal is located on this page under "opinion." https://www.newspapers.com/image/664943243/?match=1&terms=Andrew%20Urdiales https://www.newspapers.com/image/503452488/?match=1&terms=Andrew%20Urdiales https://www.aetv.com/shows/i-survived-a-serial-killer/season-1/episode-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices