Once Upon A Crime
Once Upon a Crime is a weekly true crime podcast that tells “the story behind the story” of real life crime. Told in a storytelling style, host Esther Ludlow digs into the details of each case to bring listeners the facts and information they won’t hear anywhere else.
Recommended
Here are a few episodes you might want to start with!
Episode 213: Getting Away With Murder: Robert Durst
The wealthy son of a New York real estate family leaves town to avoid investigation in the decades-old disappearance of his wife.…
Episode 188: Body of Evidence: Sierra LaMar
A teenager goes missing in Morgan Hill, California never to be seen again. It would take meticulous detective work to prove she'd…
Episode 181: Bad Teacher: Mary Kay Letourneau
In this month's series "Bad Teacher" I'll share cases of educators who committed newsworthy crimes. First up, a 34-year-old teac…
Episode 146: Rocktober: Altamont, The Rolling Stone and The Hells Ang…
A free concert took place in northern California in December of 1969 featuring The Rolling Stones. It would descend into chaos d…
Episode 128: Bad Sports: Ten Cent Beer Night
A summer ball game descends into chaos when a promotional event goes seriously awry. This is the last chapter in the series "Bad…
Episode 106: Haunted Homicide: The Amityville Horror House and Ron De…
A house with a dark history is purchased by a young couple in 1975. They soon begin experiencing unexplained and terrifying even…
Episode 091: Infamous Locales: The Cecil Hotel - Part 1
The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles has been home to at least two serial killers, numerous tragic deaths, a sniper shooting and one my…
Episode 042: A Woman Scorned: Betty Broderick
In 1989, Betty Broderick guns down her ex-husband and his new wife. Did her cheating husband cause her to snap or did she commit …
Episode 003: Lost and Found: The Cleveland Kidnappings
Three girls go missing over as many years in a Cleveland, Ohio neighborhood. Years go by before they are ever seen again. When i…
Recent Episodes
Episode 246: Real Life Heroes: The Foiled DeAnza College Shooting
June 21, 2022
In light of the ongoing tragedies of frequent mass shootings in America, I’ve decided to make this week’s episode one of hope and heroism. In this story, a young girl becomes an unlikely hero when she acts upon a hunch dera…
Episode 245: Madman in the Woods: Life Next Door to the Unabomber with Author Jamie Gehring
June 14, 2022
In 1996, the longest and most expensive investigation in the FBI’s history was successfully solved when Theodore Kaczynski was identified as “The Unabomber” 18 years after he began building and planting bombs at various loca…
Episode 244: Picture Perfect Murder: The Beauty Queen Killer
June 7, 2022
Christopher Wilder posed as a photographer to lure beautiful young women with the promise of modeling work. Those who take him up on his offer - and even those that didn’t - found themselves victims of a serial rapist who so…
Episode 243: YouTube Mayhem: The YouTube Headquarters Shooting
May 24, 2022
A young woman who creates a YouTube channel to advocate for animal rights and veganism becomes disgruntled with the social media platform when she feels she is being targeted for discrimination. But, no one imagined that her…
Episode 242: YouTube Mayhem: Mr. Anime
May 17, 2022
In this episode, a young man who dubs himself “Mr. Anime” gains a large following as a critic and reviewer on YouTube.. But, he’ll later admit to harboring dark fantasies most of his life after he commits a shocking act of v…
Episode 241: The Minds of Mass Killers with Author Shavaun Scott
May 10, 2022
This week I have a special episode diving into the topic of the psychology of mass killers. What prompts someone to commit mass murder against random strangers? How did Columbine become a cultural touchstone that inspired ot…
About the Hosts
Esther Ludlow
Producer and Host
Esther Ludlow has been interested in true crime since she was a teen and has been podcasting since 2012. She launched her true crime podcast, Once Upon a Crime in June of 2016. In only 8 months, the podcast had over 1 million listens and the audience continues to grow. Her love for storytelling combined with her interest in true crime and her background in psychology creates a unique and compelling podcast.
Esther writes, produces and edits the podcast as a solo venture. Once Upon a Crime presents true crime stories chapter by chapter. Each episode stands alone and cases are grouped by topic. Esther has covered the kidnapping cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard, celebrity stalkers Mark David Chapman and John Hinckley, and historical cases including Kitty Genovese, Mary Bell and Charles Starkweather.
Lorena Garcia
Administrative, Research and Production Assistant
Once Upon A Crime's right hand, Lorena Garcia can be found behind the scenes. From a young age, Lorena found interest in films and literature based on true crime events. As she matured so did her passion for true crime. Aside from assisting with OUAC, Lorena is a skincare enthusiast, world traveler, and cat mom.
She says being a part of the Once Upon A Crime team is the ultimate dream job.
Crystal Durnan
Copy Editor
As a lifelong bookworm and lover of true crime and science fiction, Crystal Durnan is grateful to have turned reading into her day job. In addition to copy editing scripts for Once Upon a Crime, she also professionally edits for self-publishing novelists and a few small publishers. She lives in Florida with her husband, two feral children and grumpy old dog.
More about Crystal and her services can be found here: AnimaEditing.com
Facebook.com/AnimaEditing
Twitter.com/Anima_Editing
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