5 True Crime Podcasts Worth Listening To

#1

Missing Debbie: Bed of Lies, Series 4

Cara McGoogan8/10

I'm drawn to stories where the lie is the whole point, and this is one. The fourth series of the Telegraph's Bed of Lies, reported by the paper's investigative journalist Cara McGoogan, begins with a woman called Debbie who, according to the show, was 40 when she fell for a man called Jamie Starbuck. They marry after about ten months, the show says, and her friends are told the couple have set off on a round-the-world honeymoon. Emails arrive "from all corners of the globe", but there are no photos and no phone calls. Her friends start to ask questions. This is a closed case, and it ended in a murder conviction. Jamie Starbuck admitted murdering his wife and was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 30 years at Nottingham Crown Court on 10 May 2013. The BBC reported at the time that he had sent emails in her name for nearly three years, pretending they were travelling together, and that he spent about £70,000 of her money. He was arrested at Heathrow in January 2013 after her friends contacted police. So the question isn't who did it. It's how a lie like that held for so long, and what it asks of the people who refused to accept it. I'd suggest it to listeners who like British investigative series. As of 2 November it's only four episodes in, so it's easy to catch up. Format: Narrative investigative series · listen in order · As of 2 November, episodes 1 to 4 are out, from Friday 23 October (about 33 to 42 min each) · more episodes to follow, check the Telegraph for the schedule Content warnings: The murder of a woman by her husband; dismemberment; financial abuse; deception. Please take care. Legal note: A closed case. We stick to the court record: Jamie Starbuck admitted murder and was sentenced in 2013. The "honeymoon" was the story he told her friends, not a real trip. We don't add claims beyond the record. Start here: Episode 1 (about 36 min), out Friday 23 October. Listen: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/missing-debbie-bed-of-lies/id1537575625 · RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/65804e231585de00125defe6 · The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/23/missing-debbie-bed-of-lies-podcast/ LTC review: Bed of Lies: https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/bed-of-lies-telegraph

#2

Ada

If you want one thing to finish this weekend, I'd start here. Ada is a Casefile Presents series from the makers of Casefile, and it arrives in the same feed as The Bakersfield Three, which our site rates 8.0. All seven episodes came out on Monday 26 October. Six of them run about 16 to 23 minutes each, which makes it easy to dip in and out. The case begins in a vineyard. A woman's body was found at a vineyard in Arvin, California, on 29 March 2011. She was known as a Jane Doe for more than a decade, until the Kern County Sheriff's Office identified her as Ada Beth Kaplan, 64, of Canyon Country. The identification came through genetic genealogy, in partnership with the DNA Doe Project. The sheriff's office classes her death as a homicide. The show asks why someone would "seemingly try to erase her identity", and draws on the newspaper columns and personal writings Ada left behind. I like that it treats her as a person first and a mystery second. I haven't rated Ada yet, because I haven't heard the first episode. Its feed-mate, The Bakersfield Three, is rated 8.0 on our site, which is why it's on my list, but that's a reason to listen rather than a verdict. I'll tell you what I make of it once I have. Format: Seven-part investigative series · complete · listen in order · all seven episodes out Monday 26 October · about 2 hr 49 min in total, with the final episode about 46 min Content warnings: Murder; graphic description of a mutilated body. Please take care. Legal note: The case is unsolved. The series' final episode promises "new information and unexpected connections", and anything it suggests about who was responsible is theory or allegation. We don't name or point to anyone, and we don't say what happened beyond what the sheriff's office has stated. Start here: Episode 1, The Mystery Woman in the Vineyard (about 21 min). Listen: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ada/id1713527997 · RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/65381572bc6f900012280fbf LTC review: The Bakersfield Three: https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/the-bakersfield-three (the earlier series from the same feed); Ada: https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/casefile-presents-ada

#3

Unsolved

Barry Cummins and Katja Mia7/10

It's rare to find an Irish cold-case show from a public broadcaster that sounds this unhurried. Unsolved is made by RTÉ and presented by Barry Cummins, a crime journalist with three decades in radio, television and print, and Katja Mia of 2FM. It began with an introduction on 27 July, followed on Wednesday 29 July by two episodes on Arlene Arkinson, who was 15 when she went missing after a disco in Bundoran in August 1994, and whose body has never been found. New episodes arrive on Wednesdays. The latest episode as of 2 November is The Family of Trevor Deely, released on 28 October, about 49 minutes. The episode before it, released on 21 October, is about Trevor Deely, a 22-year-old Bank of Ireland worker who never made it home from his Christmas party in Dublin in December 2000. That one is about 37 minutes and is a good way in. Earlier ones cover Philip Cairns, who was 13 when he disappeared, across two parts. In RTÉ's words, Cummins says there are hundreds of unsolved murders in Ireland and that many killers are still getting away with their crimes, and I appreciate that the show seems to take that seriously rather than treating it as entertainment. Format: Weekly cold-case series · any order, though some cases run over two parts · about 20 to 50 min · new episodes usually on Wednesdays · all episodes out so far available now Content warnings: Missing children and teenagers; possible murder; distressing for families of the missing. Please take care. Legal note: We describe Trevor Deely and Philip Cairns as missing people, not as murder victims, because that isn't established. We don't name anyone as responsible in any case. Some episodes discuss allegations from witnesses, and we don't repeat them here. Start here: Trevor Deely (released Wednesday 21 October, about 37 min). Listen: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/unsolved/id6795121500 · RSS: https://www.omnycontent.com/d/playlist/c7d3b33c-f943-4afb-8665-b0b200e579f7/f70fa6c4-2f85-4093-b37b-b491008d087d/3f859df9-6b23-49fd-bf7b-b491008d0cff/podcast.rss · RTÉ launch announcement: https://about.rte.ie/2026/07/29/new-rte-true-crime-podcast-launches-today/ LTC review: Unsolved (RTÉ): https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/unsolved-rte

#4

Gangster: The Story of The Milkman

Livvy Haydock7/10

After two cold cases, I wanted something with an ending. Gangster: The Story of The Milkman is a BBC Radio 5 Live series presented by Livvy Haydock, and it ran weekly on BBC Sounds from 7 August to 10 September, so all six parts are there to binge now. It's the story of Brian Brendan Wright, nicknamed the Milkman, whom the BBC describes as one of the UK's most significant cocaine traffickers of the 1990s, running an operation that linked Colombian suppliers to Britain by sailboat. The BBC says the investigation, led by Customs, the DEA and police in several countries, took 11 years. The first episode, The Sea Mist, opens with a storm in Cork, a fishing boat and 600 kilos of cocaine, and the final episode deals with extradition and the reckoning that followed. Wright was jailed for 30 years in April 2007. It's a clean, closed British story, and the six-part length makes it easy to finish across a week. Format: Narrative series · complete · six parts · listen in order · weekly from Friday 7 August to Thursday 10 September, so all six are out · about 31 to 34 min each · on BBC Sounds Content warnings: Strong language; drug trafficking; violence. Legal note: Brian Wright was convicted and sentenced in 2007. We stick to the conviction and the BBC's description of the case. We don't name or characterise anyone else who appears in the series. Start here: Episode 1, The Sea Mist. Listen: BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p0p2dytt · BBC programme page: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0p2dytt · Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gangster/id1562843329 (the listing covers the wider Gangster strand, so look for The Story of The Milkman) LTC review: Gangster: The Story of The Milkman: https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/gangster-the-story-of-the-milkman

#5

Park Predators

Delia D'Ambra7/10

I wanted one reliable weekly show to round off the five, and Park Predators is it. Delia D'Ambra, an investigative journalist, takes one case per episode, and a new one lands every Tuesday. It's the most mainstream pick this week, and it works well after a longer series because you can listen to one episode and stop. The latest episode as of 2 November is The Sniper, released on 27 October, about 37 minutes. The one before it, The Group, was released on 20 October and runs about 27 minutes. It follows the case of Tamara "Tammie" Seay, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who was found shot in the Deep Creek area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on 15 January 2006. Three men were charged. The week before that, The Decades looked at a couple shot dead while camping in a Wisconsin state park in July 1976, in a case the show says was solved decades later. Audiochuck says the show is also now on Tubi and, weekly, on YouTube. Format: Weekly, one case per episode · any order · about 27 to 38 min · new episodes usually on Tuesdays · also on video, on YouTube and Tubi Content warnings: Murder; violence; some episodes deal with suicide. Please check each episode's description. Legal note: The cases in the episodes we mention are closed and we stick to the details as the show gives them. We haven't heard the whole feed, so please don't read this as a recommendation of every episode. We don't preview next week's case. Start here: The Group (Tuesday 20 October, about 27 min). Listen: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/park-predators/id1517651197 · RSS: https://feeds.simplecast.com/T0BOyX6l · parkpredators.com: https://parkpredators.com LTC review: Park Predators: https://www.listentruecrime.com/podcasts/park-predators