For nearly ten years, Once Upon a Crime has taken listeners deep into the world of true crime, uncovering hidden secrets, questioning official narratives, and exploring the stories behind some of history’s most fascinating criminal cases.Host Esther Ludlow has always looked beyond the headlines to reveal the human stories at the center of crime.But now, some ... Show More
Feb 2026
Ted Bundy for the Defense - Part Three: Unhinged
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 of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, and Bundy’s eventual arres ... Show More
27m 32s
Feb 2026
The Other Ted Bundy: Suspicion, Denial, and the Warnings That Came Too Early
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 believed the man they were describing could be dangerous.He l ... Show More
14m 58s
Jan 2021
Betty Lou Beets & Her Husbands’ Buried Bodies
A good looking, fun loving, hard-living mother of six is accused of murdering not one, but two husbands and attempting to murder a couple more for good measure. Was she a cold-blooded, money hungry black widow? Or an abused woman responding to a lifetime of trauma? Find out today ... Show More
1h 48m
Nov 2025
Motels, Models & Murder: The Making of the Beauty Queen Killer | The case of Linda, Dawn & Tina | UNSEEN
“He’s keeping me” - March 20th, 1984: 19-year-old Linda Grober walks into a Tallahassee, Florida mall to buy a gift for her and her boyfriend's anniversary, but doesn't come home. She is victim #4. April 4, 1984: 16-year-old Tina Risico vanishes from a mall in Southern California ... Show More
28m 14s
Jul 2024
The Murder of Julia Martha Thomas
<p>In early March 1879, fifty-five-year-old widow Julia Martha Thomas disappeared from her home in southwest London. Julia often travelled by herself on moment’s notice, so neighbors thought nothing of her absence; however, when several female body parts were discovered in the Th ... Show More
1h 5m