Casefile True Crime

*** Content warnings: Animal cruelty, gun violence ***

43-year-old Graham Backhouse lived a peaceful life with his wife and children on Widden Hill Farm in Horton, England. But in 1984, a campaign of harassment directed at Graham left him fearing for his safety. 

When his wife Margaret Backhouse becomes the victim of a targeted attack, investigators consider who could have a motive to hurt the loving couple...

When Dutch friends Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon set out for a six-week adventure in Panama in 2014, they were ready for the trip of a lifetime. But after failing to show up for a planned tour in the mountain town of Boquete, search parties sprung into action...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault ***

In 2004, several young girls around Fort Wayne, Indiana received handwritten letters threatening that they would be the next victim of a child killer.
Authorities were immediately concerned. DNA from the letters matched samples they had stored from an unsolved crime that was committed more than a decade earlier – the murder of eight-year-old April Tinsley...

*** Content warnings: Racial violence, sexual assault ***

In June of 2020, London social worker Bibaa Henry decided to celebrate her 46th birthday with a picnic at scenic Fryent Country Park. Celebrations continued late into the night, until Bibaa and her younger sister Nicole Smallman were the only partygoers remaining. When both failed to return home the following day, their family was quick to raise the alarm...

*** Content warnings: Animal cruelty ***

On a hot summer’s day in 1989, a father and son travelling through Stockton, California, discover a VHS tape left by the side of a road. When they take it home and decide to watch it, they make a disturbing discovery. The tape contains footage of a house burning to the ground and was apparently filmed by the arsonist who lit the fire...

In early January 2000, residents of Asheville, North Carolina were told to be on the lookout for 18-year-old Zebb Quinn after he failed to return home after finishing his shift at Wal-Mart. A co-worker of Zebb’s, Robert Jason Owens, claimed that Zebb had sped off after receiving a mysterious message on his pager. 

Two weeks later, an unexpected breakthrough in the case presents some bizarre clues...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault ***

[Part 2 of 2]
Colin Ross maintained his innocence for the murder of Alma Tirtschke right up until his execution. Could he have been telling the truth?

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Narration – Anonymous Host
Research & writing – Milly Raso
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Production and music – Mike Migas
Music – Andrew D.B...

*** Content warnings: Child victim, sexual assault ***

[Part 1 of 2]
When 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke failed to return home after running an errand for her family, they were immediately concerned. Alma was a dutiful child who did what she was told and respected her elders.

Alma’s final movements were retraced to an infamous saloon in the heart of Melbourne and its problematic owner, a man named Colin Ross...

*** Content warnings: Sexual assault, domestic violence ***

Jeff and Tim Slaten woke on the morning of Friday, September 4 1981, to find their home teeming with police. Their mother, Linda, had been raped and murdered during the night. Neither brother heard a thing, and despite the killer having left pivotal evidence behind, it quickly became clear that this wasn’t an open-and-shut case...

May 3 1991, was a typical Friday for 58-year-old Margaret Penny. In the afternoon, she visited the Old London Coiffure in the heart of Portland, Victoria, for her weekly hair appointment with 49-year-old Claire Acocks. But when the two women are found stabbed to death in the salon’s shampoo room, the Portland rumour mill goes into overdrive...