Category Archives: True Crime

True Crime, Unsolved Crime, Unsolved Mystery

The Mystery of Dorothy Jane Scott

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

For months, Dorothy Jane Scott had been receiving disturbing phone calls from an obsessed and violent stalker.  This mysterious caller promised Dorothy that he would soon take her, and that she belonged to him.  On one fateful night, Dorothy dropped a wounded colleague off at a hospital, and then later walked back out into the dark parking lot.  That was the last time she was seen.

As strange as this event was, it is merely the beginning of what is one of the darkest and creepiest mysteries yet covered by Strange Matters.   Once Dorothy had vanished, her stalker did not simply disappear as well.  Instead, he turned his attention to her family, persistently tormenting them with conflicting knowledge of their loved one’s fate.

Check out this episode where the dark and downright unnerving mystery of Dorothy Jane Scott is discussed.   All  the known theories and ideas are also presented in an attempt to make sense of it all.

For more podcasts check out all the shows at Dark Myths Collective

Featured Dark Myths Podcast: The Eastern Border Podcast

Eastern Border

Conspiracy, True Crime, Unsolved Crime, Unsolved Mystery

The Family Murders

2 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia.  This case includes mysterious attacks, brutal murders, and a dark conspiracy surrounding a secret group of elites that preyed on the young in the city.

Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different areas of Adelaide in a span from the late 1970s into the 80s.  Disturbingly, after going missing their bodies would soon turn up, often horribly mutilated.  Who was behind these attacks and what their motives were was unknown to the families, police, and the entire community.

As the crimes went on, rumors began to circulate of an insidious conspiracy. Some members of the police, as well as the local media, began to talk about a group dubbed “The Family.”  This secretive group was made up of important members of society, who all shared the same sick and twisted violent desires.  This murderous collective was rumored to be responsible for kidnapping and torturing these young men, as well as shielding all of its members from police investigations.

Did the Family actually exists? Was it possible that this secret group of high profile men successfully orchestrated this brutal crimes and get away with it? Or was it all the work of one psychopathic killer? Listen to this disturbing episode and hear all about the Family Murders.

History, True Crime

Cults

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

In this episode we discuss a number of legendary and infamous cults, and the terrible atrocities they are known for.

The People’s Temple, lead by the notorious Reverend Jim Jones, was a socialist minded, tightly knit religious congregation.  Though the People’s Temple and Jones himself was initially known for striving for social equality, this cult would unfortunately go down in history for a more sinister event.  Jim Jones would lead his dedicated, or brainwashed, followers into what he called an act of ‘revolutionary suicide’ against the cruelties of the outside world. He convinced over 900 people to “drink the kool-aid,” in reality a mixed concoction of poison, resulting in the largest instance of mass suicide in modern history.

The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments was a strict religious cult that was based of the Roman Catholic church.  The Movement was what is known as a doomsday cult, known for predicting the apocalypse and preparing its members for it. When the date of the end times came and went, the leaders of the movement were forced to make a new plan to prevent their mass of members from fleeing.  Instead of admitting they were wrong, those in command would set plans in motion that would see that all of their followers would perish in a fiery trap that would claim the lives of over 300 innocent people.

Order of the Solar temple

The Order of the Solar Temple was a secret organization that traced its origins to the Knights Templar.  This group celebrated a bizarre mix of ceremonies borrowed from Christianity, UFO religions, and the Freemasons.  Just as this group was starting to unravel from the inside, a tragic series of suicides and murders would cause it to leave its mark as one of the strangest cults in history.

Scientology is a current religious group that has reached popularity over the years for its celebrity members and strange science fiction like beliefs. The darker side of this religious cult is its supposed use of brainwashing, fraud and financial means to force its members into submission and complete loyalty.

Check out all the podcasts available at Dark Myths

Dark Myths featured podcast of the Month: Pete’s Paranormal Chronicles

History, True Crime

Killers Around the World II – English Serial Killers

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

In this second installment of Strange Matters Podcast’s series highlighting killers around the world, Sean discusses a pair of  particularly cruel and cold-hearted English serial killers.

Harold Shipman, known as Dr. Death,  was a English General Practitioner and is currently the most prolific serial killer in recorded history.  Using his position as a doctor, Shipman was able to have access to an almost unlimited supply of unsuspecting victims.  His method was to give an overdose of diamorphine, or medical heroin, to his patients.  Harold Shipman was known to forge medical records as well.  Due to his position of power, Shipman was able to go undetected for years, killing hundreds of innocent patients.  Fortunately, a few people around the doctor started to recognize a pattern around his patient’s deaths.  Shipman was finally investigated, and tested done on several of his recently deceased patients proved that they had died of overdoses that he had himself administered.

Mary Ann CottonMary Ann Cotton was a killer in the 1860’s and 70’s.  Mary was a poisoner, using arsenic to kill off multiple husbands, friends, and over a dozen children.  Her usual trick was to find a suitable man and quickly marry them, often times becoming pregnant right away.  Shortly after marriage, she would convince her husband to take a life insurance policy with her as the benefactor. Mary would then poison the husband, and usually several of the children involved as well.  This sadistic woman would repeat this process several times, until she had poisoned as many as 21 people before the authorities finally caught on to her act.

You can find the first episode of this series Here

 

True Crime, Unsolved Crime, Unsolved Mystery

The Original Night Stalker – Unsolved Serial Criminal

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

In this Strange Matters Short, Sean presents the case of the Original Night Stalker, one of America’s most infamous and prolific unsolved serial criminals.  The Original Night Stalker (ONS) was a serial killer in Southern California who targeted lone women and couples, breaking into their homes at night and sexually assaulting and killing those inside.  Later DNA evidence proved that the ONS was also the East Area Rapist, a criminal responsible for over 50 rapes in Northern California.  After linking these two series of crimes, police discovered that this one man was responsible for dozens of rapes, attacks, and deaths, making him the worst unsolved criminal in California history.

The Original Night Stalker was one of the most brutal and terrifying killers in recent times.  Hundreds of police investigators and neighborhood watch patrols had no luck in finding or stopping this man, as he continued his attacks at will for several years.  The ONS was cunning and meticulous in his planning, he was known to prowl his target’s neighborhoods for weeks beforehand, and on several times even sneaked into his victims home’s and unloaded any guns, leaving them defenseless against him.

Original_Night_Stalker_Composite

Who the Original Night Stalker was is still unknown, no leads or suspects have ever been found that could be responsible for these crimes. It is not even known if the man behind these attacks is currently alive or not.  Whether the identity of this criminal will ever be found, remains a complete mystery to this day.

Conspiracy, History, True Crime, Unsolved Crime, Unsolved Mystery

The Mysterious Deaths of Elisa Lam and Edgar Allan Poe

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

What do Elisa Lam and Edgar Allan Poe have in common? Both of these artistic individuals died in extremely mysterious ways and have since become well known on account of their mysterious passing. In this episode we discuss the details that shroud the mysterious deaths of Lam and Poe.

Elisa Lam was an extremely talented and ambitious young woman who suffered from anxiety and depression. Her body was found in a water tank atop a hotel in which she had been staying.  However many accounts suggest that it would be extremely difficult for her to gain access to this water tank much less actually get in on her own. Does this indicate she may have been murdered? Perhaps… however what makes this case even more bizarre is the security camera footage that shows Lam dancing around the hotel’s elevator in a mechanical and somewhat disturbing manner. What exactly caused this strange behavior? Drugs? Alcohol? A mental breakdown of some sort?

Watch Elisa’s bizarre elevator footage here!

PoeEdgar Allan Poe was a talented man who was no stranger to death growing up. After the passing of many of his loved ones, he developed an interest in writing dark and macabre stories.   Poe is well known for his famous poem known as “The Raven”. He was found in a delirious state on the side of the street strangely dressed in someone else’s clothes and later taken to the hospital. He was delirious and uttered only a few words during his stay in the hospital. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, he died leaving us with more questions than answers. Was his death related to his erratic drinking behavior? His attending physician was quite convinced otherwise. Tune in for this episode and hear the many theories regarding the mysterious deaths of these two individuals.

iTunes | Stitcher | Facebook Page | Twitter