Top 5 'Fox True Crime' podcasts of 2023
Alex Murdaugh, Colombo crime family, the Collar Bomb bank robbery, the Connecticut River Valley Killer among this year's hottest podcast subjects
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mystery-lovers turned to podcasts in 2023 for new perspectives on vexing criminal investigations with reporters, legal experts and law enforcement authorities weighing in on cases that gripped the nation.
The "Fox True Crime Podcast" profiled tales of survival, investigative breakthroughs and still-unsolved cases in 2023.
Drugs, Deceit and Death: The Murdaugh Double-Murder Trial
Former South Carolina 7th Circuit Solicitor and former U.S. Assistant Attorney Trey Gowdy and FOX News Atlanta-based correspondent Jonathan Serrie shared their insights on Alex Murdaugh's criminal case a month before he was convicted for the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The disgraced South Carolina legal scion's family was known for their centuries-old origins in the state's Lowcountry region before his wife and son were found shot dead in their hunting lodge in 2021. Just over a year later, after attempting to stage his own death, he would be put on trial in their deaths. Under increased public scrutiny, the web of deaths and financial crimes associated with the family were revealed.
Alex Murdaugh listens to the jury charges during his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on March 2, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
After listening, true crime aficionados can follow up with episodes exploring Murdaugh's conviction on 22 of the 100 charges against him – ranging from money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and forgery – and recalling the dramatic scene from the courtroom in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Breaking Omertà: The Son of a Mob Underboss Tells All
Former Colombo caporegime Michael Franzese shares the details of his life in the Mafia, the impact it had on his family, and why he ultimately chose to walk away from his life of crime.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Franzese broke omertà – a sacred vow of silence taken by the family's new recruits to prove their loyalty – with his tell-all book, "I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse."
Michael Franzese, pictured at left in 1985, discusses his infamous crime-boss father, John "Sonny" Franzese, right, in a "Fox True Crime Podcast" released in 2023. (Getty Images)
In this podcast, the son of notorious Sonny Franzese relives his father's career as one of the most formidable mobsters in America before he was sentenced to 50 years behind bars.
Deadly Delivery: Inside the Collar Bomb Case
Retired FBI Special Agent Jerry Clark, the lead investigator in the case after Brian Douglas Wells robbed a Pennsylvania bank with a collar bomb strapped to his neck and a special-made cane gun, details the many twists and turns of the bizarre case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pizza delivery driver Wells, 46, walked out of the local PNC Bank with $8,000 on Aug. 28, 2003, after slipping the teller a note that said a bomb would go off if she didn't hand over the money. He was quickly apprehended by police, who managed to clear the area before the device detonated.
Wells told police that three strangers had strapped the device to his neck and ordered him to carry out the robbery. Police later recovered several pages of detailed, handwritten instructions for the "Bomb Hostage," People reported. Later, they discovered that it never would have been possible for the bomb to be safely removed. It was also not realistically possible for Wells to complete his captor's demands in the time allotted without the bomb going off.
This view shows the device that locked a collar bomb onto pizza delivery driver Brian Douglas Wells' neck. Although instructions to rob a bank in exchange for having the device removed were found in his car, investigators would later learn that its safe removal was impossible. (Getty Images)
Over the subsequent investigation, police learned that co-conspirators Marjorie Eleanor Diehl-Armstrong, Kenneth Barnes and William Ansel Rothstein had masterminded the elaborate plan. Whether Wells was involved beforehand or was duped in the planning process is uncertain to this day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clark worked in law enforcement at local and federal levels for 27 years, serving as an agent with the NCIS and the DEA before joining the FBI. Currently, he is an associate professor and chair of the Criminal Justice Department at Gannon University, where he detailed one of the oddest cases of his career in his book titled "Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America's Most Shocking Bank Robbery."
The Lone Survivor of the Connecticut River Valley Killer Speaks Out
Jane Boroski, the only living survivor of the infamous Connecticut River Valley killer, tells her story of how she and her unborn baby survived the terrifying 1988 attack.
The so-called Connecticut River Valley Killer, who has never been identified, stabbed seven women to death and is suspected in five more murders between 1977 and 1988.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At seven months pregnant and 22 years old in 1988, Boroski stopped at a New Hampshire convenience store on her way back from a county fair on Aug. 6, 1988. After realizing the store was closed, she saw the driver of the car parked beside her circle around to her open driver's side window.
Jane Boroski, center, was 22 years old and seven months pregnant with her daughter, left, in 1988 when a man believed to be the Connecticut River Valley serial killer stabbed her 27 times in a dark New Hampshire parking lot. Both survived, but the suspect has never been captured. (Jane Boroski)
The man asked whether the payphone was working before pulling her from her vehicle and stabbing her 27 times. He left her to die, but the woman managed to get back into her car and drive to a friend's house for help.
Idaho Murders
On Nov. 13, 2022, University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed and murdered in a home near the campus in Moscow. Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, has been charged in that attack.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This episode discusses significant legal developments in the case, the role that DNA evidence will play in Kohberger's trial, and how the possibility of the death penalty could extend the timeline of the legal process.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on Aug. 18, 2023. (August Frank/ Lewiston Tribune)
The now-infamous house is scheduled to be demolished before trial, a decision that the victims' family members and legal representatives say could be a mistake.
In November, the FBI returned to the scene of the crime, constructing a physical model of the house that they say could be used at trial.
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