Nightmares

On August 4th, 2022, a quiet street in Laurel, Nebraska wakes to fire, smoke, and a woman dead inside her burning home. As the neighborhood becomes a crime scene, police begin unraveling the private world of paranoia, obsession, and loyalty that turned Elm Street into a funeral pyre.

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When friends of Jaime Feden called for a welfare check, they feared something terrible had happened to her. What police uncovered instead was a web of lies, manipulation, and a sinister plot that ended in the Nevada desert.

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February 24, 2016, in Kingston, Laura Buckingham had built what seemed like a picture-perfect life, until a bitter custody battle began to unravel it. Behind the façade, a plan took shape, one that involved a disgraced sniper, a hired killer, and a price tag on a father’s life. But as the plot moved forward, not everyone was who they seemed, and one decision changed everything. In the end, the most dangerous person in the room wasn’t the one anyone expected.

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A man named Jeffrey Freeman was found dead in his own home. The most disturbing aspect of this case isn't just the manner of his death; it's what was occurring inside the house before anyone was aware of it. There was a hidden life, a secret relationship, and nearly 18 hours passed before anyone called for help.

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On September 25, 2014, an ordinary shift at Vaughn Foods in Moore, Oklahoma exploded into chaos after a workplace dispute took a horrifying turn. As panic spread through the factory and terrified employees fled for their lives, the violence unfolding inside pointed to something personal, deliberate, and far from over. By the time the work day ended, those who survived would be left trying to understand how one man’s grievance became one of the most gruesome attacks the town had ever seen.

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A fugitive on the run takes a woman hostage. Ashley Smith is not only fighting for her life, but also trying to take back control of it. To make it through, she must force a killer to face what he has done and finally face the past she has been avoiding.

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On a quiet evening in Wichita, Kansas, flashing police lights suddenly flood a residential street. When 28-year-old Andrew Finch steps onto his front porch to see what’s happening, he’s shot by police responding to a reported emergency. In the days that follow, investigators start uncovering a strange chain of events that stretches far beyond that neighborhood and raises troubling questions about how a single moment can spiral into tragedy.

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On April 18, 2019, 57-year-old Wilfred Guzman was at home when a familiar visit turned into a savage fight for survival. By the time police forced their way inside Apartment 16, they found blood in every room and signs that the attack had unfolded with whatever was within reach: kitchen knives, forks, spoons, even a small television. Detectives quickly pieced together what happened. What they couldn’t understand was how an ordinary late-night visit had turned so vicious.

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A plot to find a million dollars in buried fortune ends in unthinkable violence. Mary was caught in the middle of it all. She shouldn’t have survived the desert, but when she did, she led the authorities to a scene of deliberate mayhem. At the center of it all is Adam Nayeri, and a plan built on a belief that was never real.

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In November 2012, freshly divorced auto shop manager Dave Kroupa thought he was navigating the casual dating scene in Omaha, Nebraska until one short relationship ended and the stalking began. For the next three years, the messages grew more violent, more personal, and more terrifying, all coming from a woman who refused to let him go. But as detectives dug into the case, they uncovered a truth that forced Dave to confront a chilling possibility: the nightmare stalking him had been much closer than he ever imagined.

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On a quiet January morning in rural Pennsylvania, Rhonda Smith went to work at her church and never came home. What started as a shocking act of violence inside a place of worship slowly unraveled into something far more personal. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered whispered jealousies, blurred boundaries, and a devotion that may have crossed a dangerous line.

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On March 12, 2000, in Spearfish, South Dakota, nineteen-year-old Chester Allan Poage agrees to a night that seems harmless… until it isn’t. In a secluded pocket of the Black Hills, it’s hard for a trusting kid like Chester to tell the difference between friends and predators.

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In October 2013, fourteen-year-old Abby Hernandez vanished on her walk home from school in rural New Hampshire. Months passed, searches faded, and a letter arrived that changed how the public understood her disappearance. When Abby finally came home, the truth forced a reckoning with certainty, judgment, and what survival actually looks like when escape is not possible.

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When an 83-year-old woman is found dead inside her quiet Old Greenwich home, investigators start piecing together the final months of her life, and the unraveling of her son, Erik Soelberg. What first appears to be a private family tragedy reveals a disturbing descent shaped by isolation, certainty, and a voice that never challenged his fears. This episode examines how belief hardens, reality fractures, and how one ordinary house became the setting for an irreversible outcome.

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It's March 2006 in Villa Park Illinois and nineteen-year-old Rose thinks she’s found an escape, until a woman vanishes and the search starts pointing somewhere darker. As detectives close in, Rose is forced to replay every late-night call, every story, every “coincidence,” realizing the truth was being rehearsed right in front of her. By the time the case breaks, Rose understands she was never just a witness…

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Thirteen-year-old Thad Phillips fell asleep on his couch—and woke up in a nightmare. Trapped in a decaying house with a smiling teen and sinister intentions, he would spend two harrowing days fighting to survive when all hope seemed lost.

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James Rackover looked like someone who had it all. He had style, status, and a last name that carried weight. But the truth behind the image was darker. When a man goes missing after a night in Manhattan, investigators start to uncover the kind of past James hoped no one would find. He wasn’t who he said he was. And he wasn’t done breaking the rules.

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A teenage girl’s discovery of a human skull on Iowa’s Greenbelt River Trail led investigators to the murder of missing 29-year-old Angela Nicole Bradbury. The case unraveled into a chilling confession by Nathan James Gilmore, whose digital trail and coded clues revealed a cold, deliberate killing. What began as a missing person report ended as one of Iowa’s most disturbing murder cases.

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When a devastating fire consumed the lives of an affluent British family, suspicions arose, pointing fingers at those who knew business tycoon Chris Foster and may have wanted him dead. As detectives sifted through the ashes and debris, they uncovered even more secrets buried within the Shropshire mansion. From hidden affairs and financial troubles to long-buried grudges and shattered dreams, investigators didn’t know which direction to look in next until the killer was revealed in the family’s own CCTV footage.

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62-year-old Kathy Hughes Anderson spent her career tending to trees, preserving beauty and order across the towns she served. In retirement, she brought that same quiet dedication to her life at home - until one December evening when a stranger walked through her front door. Kathy had no idea who he was. But Francis Wolke had been convinced he needed to kill to join the one percent.

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17-year-old Linda Bury’s home life was a mess, so she turned to social media to reinvent herself. There she met Joshua Mebane and this unassuming, wealthy monster would change her life forever.

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The town of Chickasha, Oklahoma was shaken to its core when they heard the news that two were dead, one of which was a four year old child, and another was seriously maimed. Their outrage grew when they learned the name of the culprit was Lawrence Paul Anderson, a career criminal that should have never been out of prison. But nothing prepared them for when he confessed to his crimes and revealed they were far worse than first presumed.

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Kimberly Cargill was evil personified. She abused her children for years, circumventing the system to keep them in her clutches. Finally, the state caught on and what she did to keep from trouble was worse than the abuse itself.

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In the tiny, rural village of Emerson, Nebraska, where only about 800 people live nestled in the northern, rolling hills, a series of inexplicable events begins to unfold. What seems like an ordinary morning turns into a nightmare as a young mother stumbles upon clues that hint at foul play on her boyfriend’s property. As the clues quickly mount, the truth reveals itself to be far worse than anyone could have imagined.

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In San Fernando Valley, whispers of occult dealings and the lingering legacy of Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez still cast eerie shadows. This is where the chilling tale of Ron Baker's tragic demise beckons. Two years of haunting silence shroud the truth behind his untimely death, but as a relentless detective peels back layers of deception, a malevolent web begins to unravel. In the heart of Chatsworth, where an ominous tunnel bears silent witness, the dark secrets of that fateful night converge.

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Tammy thought she met the man of her dreams when she started dating Joseph Oberhansley. He was younger than her and she found him handsome. But when he slowly became controlling and she discovered the secret of his horrible past she broke it off. Only then did Joe reveal his true self and Tammy never stood a chance.

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The report of local businessman Tom Merriman’s death may have been overstated but when officers with the Solana Beach Police Department searched for Tom and couldn’t find him they were sent into high alert. The search for Tom would reveal a long-time betrayal and a motive for his murder for the most unlikely of suspects.

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In July 2020, 33-year-old tech entrepreneur Fahim Saleh was found dismembered down to his torso in his New York City apartment. Bank statements would reveal who had the motive to commit such a heinous murder.

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When a 46-year-old woman calls 9-11 for help after a sudden home birth, suspicions are raised when she shows no signs of labor. Police would soon discover the grisly truth behind the baby’s unexpected birth.

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Cameron Kirk was a sad, depressed middle-aged man who found himself living back at home with his mother, Paula Kirk. Things had never been good between the two, but as her drinking increased, so did his resentments and it would all end in a gruesome murder. 

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A long-time dream turns into a nightmare for a Virginia man trapped in a cabin in the Oklahoma woods. Kia Aster had the highest hopes when he met a stranger at the airport. But what he thought would be a quick and painless trip landed him in the emergency room bleeding, collapsed, and unconscious.

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In December of 2014, 19-year-old Jessica Chambers was set on fire in her car on an old country road in her rural Mississippi town. Jessica survived long enough to give a few clues as to who committed this unspeakable crime, but it would prove near impossible to apprehend her killer.

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Colleen and Rob McKernan were set up by common friends and had a quick, whirlwind romance. But her controlling ways would turn fatal as she learned the hard way that you can’t change anyone, no matter how hard you try.

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When 15-year-old Joanna Dennehy first met 20-year-old John Treanor in her hometown of St. Albans, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, the romance was like something out of “Trainspotting”. It predictably descended into madness over the course of 12 years, because Joanna had been hiding a secret. It was one that jeopardized the lives of everyone in her orbit.

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A quaint township in Pennsylvania is shaken to its core when three dead bodies are discovered lying in a perfect line in their backyard. The police don’t immediately know what happened to Elizabeth Daub and her parents but it appears to be an execution-style killing. A bullet for each of them to the back of the head. But then strange documents and the discovery of chilling YouTube videos cast a different light on the God-fearing family.

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When recent college graduates Kelsey Chang and Eva Liu decided to take a celebratory trip to Europe before starting their careers, neither young woman could have prevented the horrors that awaited them when they got to Germany. It’d be a trip that would change their lives forever.

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88 elderly lives are in peril after the Quaker’s Hill Nursing Home goes up in flames. Who started the fire, and why? This is the story of one of Australia’s worst mass murderers.

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Engulfed in the horrorcore scene, 20-year-old Richard McCroskey made a name for himself, singing about satanism, suicide, murder, and rape online. After releasing songs titled “Murderous Rage,” “Infamy,” and “I Kill People for Real,” Richard made some internet friends of the same ilk. When Richard traveled halfway across the country to meet those friends in person, he learned that sometimes life imitates art.

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Pastor David Evans and his wife, Kristie, were stars in their little town of Ada, Oklahoma. They were good Christians devoted to their church and their community, but once they became empty nesters, they started dabbling in sin and it all ended in murder.

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In the idyllic town of Shakopee, where the Minnesota River winds its peaceful course, and a community finds solace, tranquility turns to terror when a horrifying crime rocks the neighborhood to its core. A young woman witnesses a night-marish scene right outside her home and shares it, sending shockwaves through the town and beyond.

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It took over four years to identify the remains of Ryan Zimmerman. Understanding how and why he was killed would force authorities to untangle a twisted knot of love, sex, and gender transitioning.

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On the bleak day following Thanksgiving in 2022, the tranquility of La Sierra South, a Riverside, California neighborhood, was shattered. Within the confines of a close-knit cul-de-sac, panic ensued. A series of frantic 911 calls echoed through the air, detailing a mysterious vehicle, an active kidnapping, and ultimately, a raging house fire. The community stood at the precipice of chaos, gripped by a chain of events that would forever alter their lives.

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How to listent to Sword and Scale Nightmares Season 2...
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In 2016, a notorious Polish librarian took flight to the island of Malta after brutally mutilating a beautiful language teacher named Katarzyna Jaroszyńska. Police were thrust onto a dark journey into the twisted mind of a brilliant and sadistic murderer. Baffled at the savage crime, detectives must uncover the truth and bring the elusive killer to justice.

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When a promising young actress is raped and murdered in her childhood bedroom, her family and the police department are stunned as to who could have done this. Two linking crimes eventually lead to the same unassuming suspect.

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During some of Romania’s toughest times under Communist control, a vampire stalked the streets after midnight seeking out prey to satisfy his urges for blood and death. While the crimes were initially ignored to spare the country’s reputation, Ion Rimaru would finally be caught and named the Butcher of Bucharest.

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18-year-old Aprina Paul was a nursing student following her dreams when she mysteriously went missing. Her mother Alice Larrue never gave up hope, even when Aprina’s killer continued to harass her.

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Mormons and entrepreneurs Tony and Katherine Butterfield were the kind of people who gave a leg up to anyone who needed it. They invited jobless citizens to work for their landscaping company and homeless ones into their home. So on the morning of April 18th, 2020 no one could believe it when screams were heard coming from their house, and the pair were discovered fatally wounded while their three small children wondered what just happened. Detectives assumed a disgruntled ex-employee came for revenge even in the quiet town of West Jordan. But the motive for this slaughter was far more insidious.

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In Tennessee in 2005 a jury was faced with a difficult question. What would you do if you were in Kim Cunningham’s place? It was a difficult question to answer. After the law failed her once Kim gunned down a man in broad daylight before turning herself in. She claimed it was all for her kids.

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In the spring of 2006, a bubbly young woman with close ties to friends and family suddenly goes missing, leaving behind all of her personal belongings and a ransacked apartment. When Christina Eubanks turns up dead, everyone wants the truth. But the truth won’t come so easily and jurors would find themselves wondering if the victim was spontaneoulsy struck or if she was slain over a dirty secret.

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Neighbors in a Santa Cruz beachside bungalow are alarmed when a strange smell starts emitting from one apartment building. No one could have imagined what happened inside.

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In 2008, something strange started happening in Omaha, Nebraska. Multiple members of Creighton University Medical Center’s pathology department were targeted in violent crimes. Five years later, it happened again. Police and people in the community were scratching their heads. How could anyone have a grudge against a group of doctors?

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Not hearing from her sister in a while Pamela Powel called the police. Upon a welfare check the police would discover her home was empty. It wasn’t just Alison Sapikowski that was missing, it was her husband James, and her high school-aged son Adam. When the police began canvassing the neighborhood asking questions they would reveal a most shocking reason the Sapikowskis were nowhere to be found.

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In June of 1977, Yale students Terri Jentz and Avra Goldman are on a cross-country biking trip when a terrifying attack changes their lives forever.

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When Kent law enforcement arrived at 67-year-old David Fuller’s home on December 3rd, 2020, they expected to put an end to a 33-year-old murder investigation. They never expected that closing this case would shatter the lives of over 100 additional families in the process.

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While police search a small Pentecostal church for kidnapped Baby Brandon, another disturbing case emerges… one involving the horrifying exorcism of Arely Proctor.

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It was May of 1998 in the small town of Romeo, Michigan and a crew of detectives found themselves knee-deep in a hoarder’s nest. The once quaint home of the Verellen Sisters now resembled the inside of a dumpster. The whole house was littered with trash: greasy paper bags, half-empty cups of soda, pest strips hanging from the ceiling collecting flies, and ketchup. There was an obscene amount of ketchup smeared over the entire home. With each step into the layers of trash on the floor, the detectives wondered what mysterious noise would pop under their feet. The squish of an old hamburger? A cat? A small dog? After all, the people living here shared this mess with seven pets. The detectives trudged through the sea of clothes, feces, trash, and children’s toys. They were looking for a woman who had gone missing and this was the last known place she had been seen alive.

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After a little boy’s body is found floating off the Oregon coastline in December of 2001, detectives are alarmed that no one in the area reports a missing child. Soon, more bodies are pulled from the water, and a narcissistic conman goes on the run.

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Happily married Joseph Parker and his wife fell on hard times after he lost his job. Their beautiful home in Tennessee was foreclosing soon, and they were equally distressed. The pressure was mounting, and they couldn’t imagine things getting any worse. Then, on their 12th anniversary, Joseph begins hearing noises coming from the garage. What he discovered would turn the family upside down.

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Amarillo, Texas is known to many as “Bomb City” because it’s home to the Pantex nuclear weapons facility. In the 90’s, Amarillo was filled with lots of country-folk and bible-belt families, but there also existed a subculture that the town worked hard to keep hidden. Just before Christmas in 1997, the veritable civil-war between the youth of these two groups came to an explosive head. This time, not everyone would be making it out alive.

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In 1997, Ricki Ellsworth, a wife, mom and daughter went missing from her night job at a Memphis hotel. Her only remains were the red stains left behind on the walls and floor where she worked. While her murder would be solved her body would never be found thanks to the years of planning by her killer.

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A shocking news headline sends minor league baseball player Blake Bivens home in a hurry. Something was happening in his hometown in Virginia and he feared the worst. A tragedy struck that affected the whole community and would change his life forever.

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In fall of 1974, a father and son bond over multiple armed robberies, sexual assaults, and brutal murders.

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Amityville, New York was the scene for a 70’s movie called Amityville Horror, but 2020 reminded residents that horror can strike at any time. Vietnam vet Dwight Powers would be the focus of this true story, and he wouldn’t live to tell it. Assaulted in his very home by a crazed and ruthless man, he learned the hard way that safety and peace are only ever temporary.

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A brilliant psychopath traps multiple women in his secret basement and begins plans to create the perfect family.

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“Artist, women’s rights activist, Japanese immigrant, renowned arts professor”. These are the words that describe Rie Hachiyanagi, a paper artist living and working in Massachusetts at Mount Holyoke College. When she discovered her friend in serious danger one night in December of 2019, Rie revealed to the world her multi-faceted personality. There was more to Rie than those around her could see.

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“If you were gorgeous and running out of money, what would you do? If you loved hurting things, what would you do?” 30-year-old Iana Kasian was a Ukrainian woman who was about to marry into a very wealthy Canadian family. She had already secured her spot with a baby on the way. Iana would soon learn the answers to those cryptic questions… though she’d learn them the hard way.

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The entire second floor of the Graham-Greenlee dormitory on the University of Arizona’s campus was suddenly awoken in the early morning hours of September 5th, 2007. It sounded like someone was moving furniture until they heard screams. A fight had broken out between roommates sending Galareka Harrison fleeing down the hall searching for help leaving a trail of blood behind her.

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Detectives fear the worst after a 9-year-old girl goes missing, and an empty grave is discovered in the nearby woods.

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From the moment Katie Fusco learned that she was an adopted child, she longed to understand where she came from and why she was put up for adoption in the first place. At age 18, just as she was about to graduate high school and head off to college, Katie decided to make contact with her biological parents. Unfortunately, this choice came with a hard lesson. Some rocks should never be turned over.

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In 1986, a young Navy Seaman went missing from Gibraltar, a British naval base, after the ship The Illustrious docked for a few days. Simon Parkes’s grief-stricken parents would search for him for more than fifteen years, until 2001 when a connection was made between Simon and two other young cadets who went missing. Their bodies would surface, but Simon’s would not. Investigators would later discover the grim reality that they may have encountered one of the worst serial killers in England’s history.

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Two men on vacation in Florida happen upon a battered and desperate woman who stumbled out of the brush on the side of a remote highway in South Florida. As the men try to help Shandelle Maycock they realize her injuries are severe but she wasn’t worried about them, she was more worried about who did this to her… and her still missing child.

The distressing tale of Kendall Maycock unfolds as a poignant narrative of a resilient young single mother grappling with the formidable challenges life has thrown her way. Her journey, marked by the trials of an unexpected early pregnancy and the daunting reality of homelessness, paints a vivid picture of her struggle against the odds.

Kendall's life, already steeped in hardship, veered into an even more perilous direction when she encountered Harold Franklin Brodie, a man whose history was tainted by criminal activities. Initially, Harold presented himself as a benevolent figure, extending an offer of assistance to the beleaguered young woman. However, his true intentions soon surfaced as he began to make unwelcome and inappropriate advances toward her.

The situation escalated tragically when Harold assaulted Kendall, a harrowing experience that left her battered and abandoned on the side of a desolate road. In this critical moment of vulnerability, her plight was witnessed by compassionate passersby who intervened, providing her with the much-needed help and ultimately saving her from further peril.

The aftermath of the assault saw the mobilization of law enforcement as a thorough police investigation was launched, meticulously piecing together the events that led to the attack. The diligent efforts of the authorities culminated in the apprehension and arrest of Harold, bringing a measure of justice to the ordeal that Kendall had endured.

Meanwhile, Harold's wife was engulfed in her own turmoil, reacting with a mix of shock, disbelief, and hysteria as the events unfolded and the grim reality of her husband's actions came to light. Her emotional turmoil added another layer to the complex narrative of betrayal and victimization that surrounded this case.

Kendall's story, while fraught with suffering and injustice, is also a testament to her indomitable spirit and the human capacity for resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity. It serves as a stark reminder of the challenges that many face in silence and the profound impact that a single act of kindness—or cruelty—can have on a person's life.

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The report of what appeared to be a body on the front porch of a home in small-town St. Johns, Arizona triggered an investigation that would be quick, but not without a myriad of twists and turns.

In this gripping episode of Sword and Scale Nightmares, listeners are taken deep into the chilling true crime story of Christian Romero, an eight-year-old boy from the small town of Saint John's, Arizona, who became entangled in a gruesome double homicide. The episode meticulously recounts the tragic events that led to the deaths of Christian's father, Vincent Romero, and Vincent's friend, Timothy Romans.

As the story unfolds, listeners are introduced to Detective Debbie Nickel, a seasoned investigator who arrives at the crime scene to unravel the mystery behind the brutal killings. Amidst the chaos, she discovers young Christian at the scene, a boy who should be playing with friends, not witnessing such horrors. In a shocking turn of events, Christian confesses to the murders, stating that he took the lives of the two men in a bid to put an end to their suffering, which he claims was caused by an initial attack from an unidentified assailant.

The episode delves into Christian's background, exploring the environment in which he was raised and the possible influences that may have led to his unthinkable actions. It also scrutinizes the legal ramifications of the case, discussing the complexities of prosecuting someone so young and the judicial system's struggle to balance justice with the welfare of a child.

As the community of Saint John's grapples with the shock and grief of losing two of their own to such a young killer, the episode paints a vivid picture of the town's collective heartache and disbelief. The narrative probes the societal implications of the crime, the psychological factors at play, and the challenging questions it raises about nature versus nurture, childhood innocence, and the capacity for violence in the young.

Throughout the episode, Sword and Scale Nightmares invites listeners to consider the broader implications of Christian's actions, the impact on all those involved, and the haunting uncertainty surrounding the boy's future. It's a tale that not only documents the facts of the case but also invites a deeper conversation about the darkest corners of human behavior and the enigmatic workings of a child's mind.


Get commercial free access to over a decade of Sword and Scale's true crime podcasts at http://swordandscale.com

Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares! True Crime for Bedtime. Your nightmare begins now...The first three episodes will drop on 3.2.23 at 3:23pm EDT. In the meantime, please take a moment to subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform...

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Get commercial free access to over a decade of Sword and Scale's true crime podcasts at http://swordandscale.com