Morbid: A True Crime Podcast stands out among similar true crime podcasts for its attention to detail and engaging story style, and the best Morbid podcast episodes offer intriguing new insights about well-known crimes or illustrate a previously unremarked upon story. True crime has been a major popular genre since before film, TV, and podcasts took an interest in them with dozens of true crime books lining shelves in every bookstore. It’s an immensely engrossing kind of storytelling and podcasts, in particular, have made excellent use of the phenomenon using a medium best for this procedural storytelling.

There are plenty of excellent podcasts about true crime and, in some ways, it comes down to personal preference for which podcast to listen to. Morbid: A True Crime Podcast is a great choice for those who want to hear classic true crime cases from a pair of hosts who, while not experts, are extremely interested in the topics at hand. Ash Kelley, a hairdresser, and her aunt Alaina Urquhart, a writer and former autopsy technician, break down some horrendous cases in a way that’s easy for anyone unfamiliar with the subjects to understand.

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Episodes 156 And 158: The Irish Vanishing Triangle

A Suspenseful And Chilling Story Of Disappearances In Ireland

Episodes 156 and 158: “The Irish Vanishing Triangle” tells the story of three women, Annie McCarrick, Jojo Dollard, and Fiona Pender, who all disappeared in Ireland between the late 1980s and late 1990s. It’s never been discovered what happened to these women, and Ash and Alaina present the popular theory that these three women were victims of one serial killer who was believed to be operating at the time. All three women, and the others considered possible victims, disappeared near Dublin and their remains have yet to be found.

Part 2 of the story introduces three more possible victims of the killer, Ciara Breen, Fiona Sinnott, and Deirdre Jacob and instead of just listing off these women, Ash and Alaina dig deep into who each one was, providing a more meaningful and sad narrative when listeners remember what happened. Larry Murphy is a convicted Irish murderer who has since been released from jail and the hosts present a compelling narrative of how he could have been involved with the disappearances.

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Episode 200: The Weepy Voiced Killer

Ash And Alaina Listen To The Murderer’s Real Voicemails

The title of episode 200 alone is enough to send chills down one’s spine and “The Weepy Voiced Killer” is a strange and frightening tale about the eponymous serial killer, named for the phone calls he left for police where he anonymously admitted to his crimes in an apologetic and high-pitched voice. Paul Michael Stephani killed three women — Kimberly Compton, Kathleen Greening, and Barbara Simons — in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area in the early ’80s, and Ash and Alaina unpack his identity and history, trying to uncover if any hints from his past can explain his actions.

In the episode, the police calls and confessions are played, and hearing the actual voice of the murderer is spine-tingling. Then, once he’s arrested, Stephani continues to change his story, sometimes pleading innocent and other times guilty. It’s a harrowing podcast and the calls with Stephani’s actual voice bring incredible realism to the story.

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Episodes 114 And 116: The Amazing Survival Tale Of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry And Gina DeJesus

A Grisly But Powerful Story Of Capture And Escape

This two-part episode follows the kidnapping of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus, an event collectively known as the Ariel Castro kidnappings, so named for the man who abducted these three women between 2002 and 2004. He kept them prisoner until 2013 when Berry miraculously managed to get the attention of neighbors and free herself, Knight, DeJesus, and Berry’s six-year-old daughter, the result of Castro raping her while she was imprisoned.

Ash and Alaina provide grim details of how Berry’s sexual assault was just one of the brutalities the women suffered at the hands of their kidnapper over the years. While it’s a horrific story, the resolve and strength of the three women is astounding. Ash and Alaina spend as much time on the escape as the actual crime and the day of Berry’s flight from the home is almost like a scene in a movie with the suspense and uplifting ending.

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Episode 20: David Parker Ray, AKA “The Toy Box Killer”

A Mass Killer Never Gets the Sentence He Deserves

This is the type of true crime story that could cause some listeners to nope out, but Ash and Alaina manage to explain how David Parkey Ray could torture victims in his soundproof semi-trailer, the “Toy Box”, and still retain their signature compassion for those affected by the crimes. Ray operated from 1957 to 1999 and is assumed to have murdered at least 60 women in the New Mexico and Arizona area, and possibly more.

He ended up only being convicted for kidnapping and torture as the murders could not be tied to him, though he died in prison shortly after trial. It’s podcast episodes like these that show why Ash and Alaina can be so fascinating to listen to. The details of the crimes and the injustices surrounding Ray’s trial are horrific, but the women’s back-and-forths never stop being engaging, even when the subject turns grim.

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Episodes 197-198: The Oklahoma Girl Scouts Murders

A Suspect Walks Free After A Horrific Triple-Homicide

The Morbid: A True Crime Podcast‘s two-part series on the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders is a riveting exploration of a haunting crime from 1977. In Part 1, Alaina and Ash explain in detail Lori Lee Farmer, Michelle Heather Guse, and Doris Denise Milner’s excitement for their summer away at camp. The description of the night the three girls were murdered is terrifying and also sets up a part 2 that has to be listened to right away. Part 2 goes deeper into the investigation, uncovering police errors and raising questions about the trial.

Part 2 of “The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders” focuses on the extensive manhunt that resulted in the arrest of Gene Leroy Hart. However, Hart was acquitted two years later by a jury’s unanimous decision that saw him walk free. The two-part series ends with an unnerving revelation that DNA evidence strongly suggests Hart was the perpetrator, making the trial’s results even more perplexing than they already were.

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Episode 27: The Survival Story Of Mary Vincent, Patron Saint Of Badssery

A Riveting Tale Of Resilience And Bravery

Episode 27: “The Survival Story Of Mary Vincent, Patron Saint Of Badassery” is Morbid: A True Crime Podcast‘s look into the notorious case of Mary Vincent. In 1978, while hitchhiking from her grandfather’s home in Berkely, California to her parent’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada, Vincent was picked up by Lawrence Singleton who knocked her unconscious, sexually assaulted Vincent, severed her forearms with an axe and left her for dead.

Ash and Alaina’s explanation of Vincent’s resilience after the attack is incredible and almost rousing. Vincent climbed back up the embankment she was tossed off, dipping the stumps of her arms in mud and keeping them raised above her head as she searched for aid, helping to stem the blood flow. The admiration and respect the two hosts have for Vincent is audible and their celebration of Vincent’s life as an advocate and artist after the ordeal makes this one of the podcast’s more uplifting episodes.

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Episodes 447-448: Burke & Hare

Graverobbers Become Something Worse In The Name Of Scientific Advancement

Not every Morbid: The True Crime Podcast episode is focused on contemporary crime. Some of their best series focus on historical events. The “Burke & Hare” episodes, for instance, discuss the grisly killing spree by two British men, William Burke and William Hare, who operated in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1828. The profitable business of selling corpses became a cottage industry in Scotland in the 19th century and Burke and Hare (and probably their wives) got into the game by murdering lodgers in the home they lived in.

It wasn’t until the pair murdered 16 people that they were found out and Hare turned witness against his partner, ensuring Burke hung and Hare walked away a free man. Much of the podcast’s Part 2 episode sees Alaina and Ash contending with the complex legacy of the murders and how poverty and scientific demand for corpses were pushed to the logical conclusion: instead of graverobbing, people ended up killing to have a body to sell.

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Episode 122-123, 125-126: The West Memphis Three

Satanic Panic Leads To The Probable Wrongful Conviction Of Three Men

Some may recognize the story from these two episodes of “The West Memphis Three”, from the film Devil’s Knot, a forgotten true crime movie starring Reese Witherspoon. For others, this thought-provoking and captivating tale may be brand new. In 1993, the “Satanic Panic” era came to a head when Jessie Misskelley, Jr. (17), Jason Baldwin (16), and Damien Echols (18), were convicted of the murder of three 8-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers.

Detectives quickly pinned the crime on the trio of young men and the public was happy to go along with the decision considering the nature of the murders. It appeared that the three young boys were killed for some sort of satanic ritual and West Memphis, Arkansas, wanted to see someone punished for the atrocity. Ash and Alaina shed light on the many flaws with the justice system and how the mood of the town ensured the young men were sentenced without much evidence. They were eventually released in 2011.

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Episodes 85, 87-88: Dennis Rader “BTK” Dennis Rader

An Epic Recounting Of One Of America’s Most Notorious Killers

The three-episode-long saga of the BTK killer is a comprehensive, fascinating, and disturbing look at one of America’s most notorious serial killers. Ash and Alaina go through Dennis Rader’s entire life, leading up to his crimes and his eventual conviction. The hosts’ look into Rader’s life offers an unusually humanizing aspect to the story and makes for a gripping narrative as the stories of the mild-mannered Rader become more gruesome.

The hosts spend a significant amount of time on what they see as Rader’s pathological need for attention, which would explain his bold messages to the police, teasing them with his identity and his plans for the future. In the final episode of the trilogy, the hosts seem both relieved at seeing the killer captured and at getting through a significant podcasting series that required a tremendous effort to research and explain to the audience.

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Episode 151: The Mysterious Death Of Tamla Horsford

A Strange Death With Some Unexpected Details Found In The Research

Episode 151 of Morbid: A True Crime Podcast is the perfect example of what makes the podcast so fascinating. It features an incredible story, engrossing research by the hosts, and plenty of humor that keeps the episode from feeling too dark and depressing. This episode regards the mysterious death of Tamla Horsford who was found dead on the lawn after a night of partying. It’s a tragic passing, but what can’t help but be humorous is Alaina’s word-for-word reading of other party-goers’ statements, which are available to the public.

The events surrounding her death are confusing and no one present seems to have a clear picture of what happened that night. Horsford’s death was ruled accidental, caused by a fall due to intoxication, but many, including celebrities like T.I. and 50 Cent, wanted the 2018 case reopened after the 2020 George Floyd anti-police brutality protests. Ash and Alaina strike the perfect balance of sympathy for the departed and her family while also acknowledging the wild aspects of the event.

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