Once Upon A Crime
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.
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Episode 204: The Trailside Killer, Part 1
This month I’ll be sharing a 3-part miniseries. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Northern California was terrorized by a serie…
Episode 202: Artful Crimes, Volume 2 - Frank Lloyd Wright and the Tal…
Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright begins an affair with Martha “Mamah” Borthwick. When the scandal threatens his career and repu…
Episode 200: Chopped: Anjette Donovan Lyles
A young widow opens her own restaurant in Macon, Georgia in the 1950s. Suspicions arise when the people closest to her begin fall…
Episode 166: StepMonsters - Joshua and Jerome Ellis
An abusive stepfather gets his comeuppance when his stepsons turn on him resulting in a grisly murder. Resources: "Joshua and Je…
Episode 156: Behind the Crime: Aileen Wuornos
In this special episode I'll do an in-depth look at the infamous serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Time stamps: Early Life: 02:41 T…
Episode 148: Rocktober: Rock and Roll Haunts
In this episode I dig into my file of spooky stories to share some haunted happenings in the world of rock and roll. #themansio…
Episode 087: Last Stop: Diana the Hunter of Bus Drivers and the Murde…
A woman takes revenge for hundreds of raped and murdered women in Juarez, Mexico by targeting city bus drivers. Photo: Pink cross…
Episode 024: Holiday Homicides: The Lawson Family Murders
On Christmas Day, 1929, one of the country's worst mass murders took place in North Carolina. This is Chapter 2 of Holiday Homici…
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 207: Buried Truth: Russell Tillis and "The House of Horrors"
June 15, 2021
In this month’s series “Buried Truth” I share cases where a person goes missing never to be seen ag…
Bonus Episode - OUAC Celebrating 5 Years in True Crime
June 8, 2021
Once Upon a Crime celebrates 5 years in true crime by summarizing the show by the numbers, sharing …
Episode 206: The Trailside Killer, Part 3
May 25, 2021
This is a double episode to conclude the month-long miniseries where I detail the case of serial ki…
Episode 205: The Trailside Killer, Part 2
May 18, 2021
In Part 2 of this 3-part mini-series, I’ll continue the story about a random series of attacks that…
Episode 204: The Trailside Killer, Part 1
May 11, 2021
This month I’ll be sharing a 3-part miniseries. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Northern Califo…
Episode 203 Artful Crimes, Volume 2: The Van Gogh Museum Heist
April 27, 2021
In 2002, two paintings were stolen from The Van Gogh Museum worth $30 million dollars. The investi…
About the Hosts
Esther Ludlow
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
Aaron Goldberg
Audio Engineer
Aaron Goldberg is a multi instrumentalist and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, CA. He began writing original music in 2012 and editing podcasts in 2019. Aaron says that composing music for podcasts he personally enjoys listening to is a dream come true. You can watch Aaron create improvised music live on Twitch.
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/aarongoldberg
Bandcamp - https://aarongoldberg.bandcamp.com/