HANGED: Ruth Ellis and The Price of Passion - PART 1: Becoming Ruth.
In the final chapter of Ted Bundy for the Defense , the mask comes off. After the shocking courtroom moment in which Bundy cross-examined first responders and forced graphic testimony about the Chi Omega crime scene, the tria...
After escaping from a Colorado jail, Ted Bundy fled to Florida — and unraveled. In this episode, we follow Bundy’s path to Tallahassee, the brutal Chi Omega sorority house murders, the attack on Cheryl Thomas, the abduction o...
In the summer of 1974, Seattle was gripped by fear as young women disappeared and witnesses began describing a polite man named “Ted” and his tan Volkswagen. As newspapers cautiously reported on a possible suspect, few believ...
In Part Two of Ted Bundy for the Defense , we follow Ted Bundy from his first arrest in Utah through conviction, psychological evaluation, escalating murder charges, and the escape attempts that would ultimately unleash his m...
A recent Los Angeles Times article has reignited worldwide interest in the Black Dahlia murder, spotlighting an amateur sleuth’s theory that attempts to link the case to the Zodiac Killer—and naming Marvin Margolis as a “new”...
In Ted Bundy for the Defense: Part One , we examine the earliest confirmed crimes of Ted Bundy and the investigation that led to his first conviction. This episode follows Bundy’s documented attacks beginning in 1974, startin...
Ted Bundy is often remembered as charming, intelligent, and dangerously persuasive—a serial killer who outsmarted investigators and manipulated everyone around him. But how much of that story is myth? In this introductory epi...
In this special bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime , Esther sits down with journalist and investigator Crystal Gutierrez to discuss the missing persons case she and her team are actively investigating. The disappearance of 9-...
In this bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime , Esther revisits the horrific crimes of serial killer John Wayne Gacy , often referred to as “The Killer Clown,” and reviews the 2025 Peacock docu-drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayn...
In this special bonus episode, Esther and producer Lorena answer listener questions and share their own reflections after a six-week deep dive into the life, death, and murder of Elizabeth Short. Topics include: • Who the rea...
In the sixth and final episode of our series Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we explore the enduring cultural legacy of one of America’s most haunting unsolved crimes. For nearly eight decades, Elizabeth Short’s name, and t...
In Part Five of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we examine the discovery of Elizabeth Short’s mutilated body, the forensic evidence revealed by the autopsy, and how early investigative missteps and media sensationalism dera...
In this bonus episode, Esther takes listeners back to the earliest days of the Black Dahlia investigation — before the world even knew the victim’s name. Detectives faced a gruesome and mystifying crime scene in a quiet Los A...
In this fourth installment of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder , we trace Elizabeth Short’s final, mysterious days — the missing week between her last confirmed sightings in early January 1947 and the shocking discovery of her...
In 1946, Elizabeth Short – the young woman the world would later know as The Black Dahlia – returned to California chasing love, glamour, and a new beginning. Instead, she found herself drifting through a postwar Los Angeles ...
Before Elizabeth Short became known to the world as The Black Dahlia , she was a young woman searching for love and belonging in a world still recovering from war. In this bonus episode, Esther reads excerpts from Elizabeth’s...
Before she became The Black Dahlia , Elizabeth Short was simply Beth — a young woman with big dreams, an open heart, and a longing for something beyond the ordinary. In Part Two: Becoming Elizabeth , we step back in time to u...
In January 1947, a mother walking through a quiet Los Angeles neighborhood made a horrifying discovery — the bisected body of a young woman posed in a vacant lot. Within hours, newspapers had a headline that would echo for de...
In January 1947, Elizabeth Short’s brutal murder shocked Los Angeles — and turned her into the enduring legend known as The Black Dahlia . In this new six-part Once Upon a Crime series, host Esther Ludlow goes beyond the head...
In this special Aftershow episode, Esther and Lorena answer listener questions and reflect on the powerful story of Ruth Ellis , the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. Together, we unpack the psychology, the hea...
In this special bonus wrap-up episode of Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion, we step beyond the execution chamber and trace the ripple effects of Ruth’s final act—the shockwaves that forever altered the lives of thos...
By now you’ve probably heard that Esther is leading an exclusive group trip to Mexico Cityfrom March 27–30, 2026. If you’ve been thinking about joining us for this unforgettable four-day adventure, the time to act is RIGHT NO...
In this final installment of our seven-part series, we follow Ruth Ellis through her last days and hours at Holloway Prison. Convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, Ruth became the last woman hanged in Britain. W...
In this episode, Ruth Ellis takes the stand in her own defense during her murder trial at the Old Bailey. What unfolds is one of the most disastrous testimonies in British legal history. Ruth answers questions with little emo...