Shows / Shades of Murder
Shades of Murder
Shades of Murder is a true crime podcast dedicated to in-depth research and deep, thoughtful analysis of the world's most chilling and disturbing cases. Hosted and created by Alita Cauldwell, each episode meticulously explores the murders and motivations of violent criminals and delves deep into how law, culture, and society intersect. Episodes include serial killers, children who kill, female criminals, teenage killers, historical murders, indigenous cases, cold cases, marginalized victims…
Episodes
Shades of Murder83: The First Scream Murder - The Killing of Gina Castillo
Before Cassie Jo Stoddart...there was Gina Castillo. In 1998, in a suburb of Los Angeles, two teens committed a crime that became a real-life horror copycat…
Shades of Murder82: The Death Machine of Texas - The Curse of Johnny Frank Garrett
As a terrified, disabled young man pleads for mercy for a crime he swore he didn’t commit, the State of Texas remains hell-bent on carrying out an execution…
Shades of Murder81: Good vs. Evil in Amarillo - The Halloween Murder of Sister Tadea Benz
On Devil's Night in Amarillo, Texas, one of society’s most vulnerable would become a target of a sadistic predator. The investigation into their shocking death…
Shades of Murder80: Death Row Women - The Trials and Aftermath of Teenage Killer Christa Pike (part 2)
Only seven days to go until Tennessee’s planned execution of Christa Gail Pike takes place on September 30th, 2026. Part 2 of this deep dive into her case…
Shades of Murder79: Terror in Tennessee - The True Story of Colleen Slemmer and Christa Pike (part 1)
On September 30th, 2026, Tennessee is expected to execute its only woman on death row, Christa Gail Pike. This gripping two-part special of Shades of Murder is…
Shades of Murder78: The Monsters of Ecatepec - Mexico's Serial Killer Couple
When police placed a seemingly ordinary couple under active surveillance on October 4, 2018, they were hoping to discover a link to the wave of disappearances…
Shades of Murder77: Twisted Twins - Jasmiyah and Tasmiyah Whitehead of Georgia
On January 13, 2010, in Conyers, Georgia, a 16-year-old girl frantically waved down a passing patrol car. She and her twin sister had just returned from school…
Shades of Murder76: Bodies in the Garden - The Dupont de Ligonnes Family Mystery
In April 2011, an unimaginable act of horror shook the beautiful, peaceful town of Nantes, France. Investigators discovered a pattern of disturbing behavior…
Shades of Murder75 - Death at Sunset Cliffs - The Mystery of Michelle Von Emster
In mid-April, late afternoon, amidst the dimming sunlight over the Pacific Ocean, the body of a woman was discovered, and it was missing the right leg. What…
Shades of Murder74: The Dinner Party Murder - An Invitation to Death
When a group of friends comes together for a lovely autumn meal, a casual gathering escalates to murder. The events that culminated in the death of an innocent…
Shades of Murder73: Death at the Mayor's House - Jennifer Kirk and Susanna "Sue Sue" Norton, AK
In early March 2020, in a small town in Northern Alaska, the body of a young woman was discovered on the Mayor's property, and she wasn't the first. An…
Shades of Murder72: Buried in the Backyard - The Diabolical Web of Kwaneta Harris
In the Fall of 2007, when a VA Agent contacted the Garland, Texas, police department about a suspicious-looking piece of concrete on a property, what lay…
Shades of Murder71: The Dismemberment Trials of Sweden - The Coroner and The General Practitioner
Within a few weeks of one another near Stockholm, Sweden, suspicious-looking trash bags were found discarded on a motorway. Homicide detectives were stunned…
Shades of Murder70: True Horror Indonesia - The Mystery of Vina and Eky
In the summer of 2016, the bodies of two teenagers were discovered along a bridge in the port city of Cirebon. What first appeared to be a tragic motorbike…
Shades of Murder69: Making of a Monster - The Shoe Fetish Slayer part 3
What makes a monster? How does a small child one day innocently discover a pair of women’s high heels and turn into one of the most sadistic and depraved…
Shades of Murder68 : Evidence of Evil - The Shoe Fetish Slayer part 2
The investigators and crime scene analysts who searched the workshop and home of serial killer Jerome “Jerry” Brudos were shocked and horrified by the evidence…
Shades of Murder67: Hunt for a Serial Killer - The Shoe Fetish Slayer part 1
Along the Long Tom River in Oregon, the body of a missing young woman was discovered. Her disappearance and murder were a string of mysterious incidents in the…
Shades of Murder66: Evil in Ontario - The Abduction of Tori Stafford
When two depraved, twisted minds crossed one another’s paths, they would embark on a plan of true evil. Their cruel, sick desires would lead to one of the most…
Shades of Murder65: Did She or Didn't She? - The Mysterious Case of Noura Jackson
On June 5th, 2005, in Memphis, Tennessee, a woman discovered in a blood-spattered bedroom would lead homicide investigators to the most rare of suspects. This…
Shades of Murder64: Christmas Witchcraft Murder - Kristy Bamu, London, UK
On Christmas Day, 2010, in London, UK, first responders arrived at a couple’s blood-spattered flat. The discovery of a young man’s tortured body would uncover…
Shades of Murder63: Christmas Eve Massacre - The Goldmark Family Murders
In 1985, on the night before Christmas in Seattle, WA, a family’s festive plans would turn into a blood bath. The investigation into their brutal and bizarre…
Shades of Murder17: Thanksgiving Nightmare Feast - Omaima Nelson
Original Air date of 11/29/2023. Re-published for Thanksgiving-themed episodes. In 1991, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a real-life nightmare unfolded…
Shades of Murder39: Recipe for Murder - Thanksgiving at the Harpers
Original air date 11/27/2024. Re-published for Thanksgiving-themed episodes. Around 2:15 am on Thanksgiving morning, 1995, in Fairfax, Virginia, 911 operators…
Shades of Murder62: MMIWG Emily Pike - San Carlos Apache Tribe, AZ
On 02/14/2025, the gruesome discovery of a young indigenous girl’s remains was made in the Tonto National Forest near Globe, Arizona. The investigation into…
Shades of Murder61: Devil Monster of France - The Story of Lola Daviet
On October 14th, 2022, when a 12-year-old schoolgirl goes missing in Paris, France, the nightmare that unfolds would shock and enrage the entire country. This…
Shades of Murder60: Children who Kill - Obsession with a Serial Killer
In 2015, in Elkhart, IN, when a family's house goes up in flames, a mother is found stabbed to death, and a young girl goes missing, the police are on the hunt…
Shades of Murder22: Killer inside my Mind - Multiple Personalities Juanita Maxwell
On March 17th, 1979, at the Palmland Motel in Fort Myers, Florida, the body of 73-year-old Inez Kelly was discovered in her room. The old woman had been…
Shades of Murder59: A Son's Journey into the Dark - The Joseph & Mike Gatto Story
On November 13th, 2013, the body of 78-year-old Joseph Gatto was discovered in his Silver Lake, Los Angeles residence. The house was ransacked and appeared to…
Shades of Murder58: A Killer on Campus - Cold Case Jennifer Kairis, FL
In the Spring of 1998, in Winter Park, Florida, a 19-year-old co-ed was found dead inside her dorm room. The scene was bizarre and suspicious. This homicide…
Shades of Murder57: Two Graves and A Diary - Thrill Killer Alyssa Bustamante part 2
Alyssa Bustamante has been labeled a thrill killer, a psychopath, and an evil monster. Only a child of fifteen herself when she committed an act of…
Shades of Murder56: Two Graves and A Diary - Thrill Killer Alyssa Bustamante part I
In the small town of St. Martins, Missouri, when a nine-year-old girl vanishes, the entire community comes together to search for her. While investigators…
Shades of Murder55: Murders in Paradise - Cold Cases Fiji & Jamaica
Lurking behind the dreamy destinations of tropical islands lie sands of blood and secrets. Tourists and residents become victims of horrific violence, and…
Shades of Murder54: NYC Fight for Justice - Brooklyn's Leondra Foster
In January 2017, when a gruesome discovery was made at a commercial trash facility in Bronx County, New York, law enforcement investigators quickly identified…
Shades of Murder53: Bodies in Port Bolivar - Love & Betrayal in Texas
In March 2014, when two bodies were discovered behind a convenience store, Galveston County homicide detectives were stumped on who and why these victims were…
Shades of Murder52: Girl on Fire - Justice for Oksana Makar, Ukraine
In March 2012, a young woman from Ukraine was discovered lying inside the basement of an abandoned hospital. She was on fire and barely alive. Her shocking and…
Shades of Murder51: Mother Monster - Yui Inoue, Tempe, AZ
On May 16th, 2021, in Tempe, AZ, a tragic and shocking family murder occurred. This brutal and disturbing crime would horrify the community and forever…
Shades of Murder50: MMIWG Ashlynne Mike - Navajo Nation/Dine', NM
On May 2nd, 2016, on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, two young children disappeared while walking home after school. The tragedy that would…
Shades of Murder49: Candace and the Chainsaw - Mothers and Daughters
On June 2nd, 2023, in a suburb outside of D.C., patrol officers entered a basement searching for signs of a missing woman. There, they were struck with the…
Shades of Murder48: The Dismemberment Murders - Gladiator Virpi Butt
On Midsummer, 2003, in Pirkkala, Finland, the police received a call from a woman who had been told about a murder in which a man had been dismembered. It…
Shades of Murder47: MMIWG - Lost Women of the Lumbee Tribe, North Carolina
Between April and June 2017, in the small rural Southern town of Lumberton, North Carolina, whispers of a serial killer spread throughout the neighborhood. The…
Shades of Murder46: Murder Amongst the Trees - Leaf Killer Matthew Hoffman
On November 11th, 2010, in the quaint, lovely town of Apple Valley, Ohio, law enforcement officers entered a family’s residence who had been reported missing…
Shades of Murder45: America’s Youngest Convicted Murderers - Catherine and Curtis Jones
On January 6th, 1999, in Port St John, Florida, the body of 29-year-old Sonya Nicole Speights was discovered lying in a blood-drenched tub. Investigators were…
Shades of Murder44: Homicide in Hollywood - The Blackstone Sisters
When paramedics entered a garage in Studio City, CA, they discovered the body of a woman lying on a pile of blankets. A lit charcoal grill had been knocked to…
Shades of Murder43: Bodies in the Barrels - The Snowtown Murders
Disguised under their shared hatred of child predators, a group of men led by the dictatorial direction of an influential older man would embark on the most…
Shades of Murder42: Highshool Tragedy - Homecoming Prince Jaylen Fryberg
On Friday, October 24th, 2014, at 10:30 am, students gathered inside the cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. They casually chatted and ate lunch with…
Shades of Murder41: Savannah Axe Murders - The Gribble House Massacre GA
December 10th, 1909, Savannah, Georgia. On a brisk winter morning, a patrolman walking the streets of downtown heard loud moaning sounds coming from one of the…
Shades of Murder40: Sinister Christmas - Dark Holidays Wake Forest NC
Christmas is known as a time of joy, but not all tales from this season are merry. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, a sinister force invaded the small…
Shades of Murder38: The Barbarous Pilot of Greece - The Death of Caroline Crouch
On May 11th, 2021, in a town outside of Athens, Greece, law enforcement officers arrived at the residence of a young couple. When they entered the master…
Shades of Murder37: The Phantom Killer - Texarkana Moonlight Murders
February 1946, in the town of Texarkana, an unknown assailant wearing a sack with holes cut out for eyes and mouth terrorized unsuspecting residents. Once the…
Shades of Murder36: Halloween is Canceled - Murdered Girl Scout Shauna Howe
On October 30th, 1992, in Coulter’s Hole, a beautiful hiking and camping spot near Oil Station, PA, the body of a badly bruised young girl was discovered lying…
Shades of Murder35: A Nightmare in England - Slasher Daniel Gonzalez
In the early morning hours of September 15th, 2004, in Southwick, East Sussex, England, a passerby stumbled upon the body of an elderly woman found along the…
Shades of Murder34: The Internet's First Serial Killer - John Edward Robinson part 2
Part 1 of The Internet's First Serial Killer exposed the twisted and freakishly calculated modus operandi of serial killer John Edward Robinson. This next…
Shades of Murder33: The Internet's First Serial Killer - John Edward Robinson part 1
In early June 2000, law enforcement investigators performed a search warrant in connection with a missing woman on the 16-acre farm of a business owner and…
Shades of Murder32: Frozen in a Truck - The Denise Huber Story Part 2
Frozen in a Truck - The Denise Huber Story Part 1 revealed the terrifying truth behind the abduction and murder of the missing woman Denise Huber. This second…
Shades of Murder31: Frozen in a Truck - The Denise Huber Story Part 1
On July 13th, 1994 in Prescott Valley, AZ, law enforcement vice officers would search a suspected stolen moving truck with a mysterious running freezer inside…
Shades of Murder30: The Perfect Mother - Deanna Laney of Texas
On Mother’s Day weekend in 2003, in Tyler County, Texas, a mother of three small children called 911 to report that her sons had been attacked. The weapons…
Shades of Murder29: MMIWG Ashlea Aldridge - Umonhon Tribe, NE
On January 7th, 2020, on the Umonhon reservation in Macy, Nebraska, the body of tribal member Ashlea Aldridge was found lying in a snow-covered field. The…
Shades of Murder28: Boston’s Serial Killer Nurse - “Jolly Jane” Toppan
During the late 1800s into the beginning of the 20th Century, the greater area of Boston, MA was plagued by a young female serial killer. Countless murders of…
Shades of Murder27: House of Horrors - Lost Children of Nithari Village
In March 2005, a young child disappeared along a desolate road in Nithari Village, India. Then another child and another until over thirty children had…
Shades of Murder26: Body in the Bed - Mary Santina Collins, Charlotte NC
On March 28th, 2020, twenty-year-old Mary Santina Collins went missing after taking an Uber to NoDA, the art and entertainment district of Charlotte, N.C. What…