The Best New True Crime Podcasts of May & June 2025
I am way behind with my true crime podcast blogs so this blog is a real “bumper edition” - May and June recommendations on the one list! I have been so busy listening, I didn’t leave any time for blogging (and I was away on holidays). If you have any true crime podcast recommendations be sure to let me know here.
1. Stolen Sister - Hosted By Rozanna Purcell - RTE.
Kicking off this list with another excellent Irish true crime podcast from the RTE team - they never fail to deliver. In this true crime podcast, we hear the about the 1976 disappearance and murder of 23 year old Elizabeth Plunkett:
“On the last weekend of the summer in 1976, a young woman went away for a night with friends to Brittas Bay in Wicklow and never returned home. The untold story of 23 year old Elizabeth Plunkett - the first victim of Ireland’s first serial killers.” (Source here).
We hear from Elizabeth’s family and friends, as well as neighbours and other eye-witnesses. These heart breaking accounts are made all the worse when you realise that the two Englishmen responsible for Elizabeth’s kidnap and murder have never served any time for these crimes. Of course, there is a lot more to this story but its best that you hear it directly by listening to the podcast!
The good news that there are already seven episodes available making this the ideal true crime podcast to download and binge.
If you like the Stolen Sister true crime podcast then be sure to check out some other previously featured RTE true crime podcasts. Here they are:
2. Uncover: Calls From a Killer: The Olsen Tapes (Season 33) - Hosted By Arlene Bynon & Nathaniel Frum - Uncover & CBC.
How would you feel about communicating with a convicted serial killer? In this true crime podcast Calls From a Killer, host/journalist Arlene Bynon reveals that she did just that. Bynon took “forbidden jailhouse calls” from convicted serial killer Clifford Olson for many years and in this true crime podcast we get to hear these calls for the very first time.
“Alongside legendary journalist Peter Worthington, Arlene spent hundreds of hours on the phone with Olson. It was kept secret from his prison guards; he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media.” (Source here).
Canadian Clifford Olson confessed to murdering eleven children (aged between 9 and 18 years) in the early 1980s. For these crimes, Olsen was sentenced to eleven life sentences. However, the more Bynon communicated with Olsen, the more she became certain that he is guilty of far more murders, but can she get him to confess to them?
“Calls from a Killer unearths secrets that have been buried for decades.” (Source here).
This gripping true crime podcast will suck you in and demand your full attention. All seven episodes are available now.
3 Missing in the Amazon - Hosted By Michael Safi - The Guardian.
In this six-part investigative true crime podcast we are transported to “one of the most remote corners of the Amazon jungle”, for it is there, in June 2022, that British journalist Dom Phillips and a Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a boat trip near Brazil’s Javari valley. Phillips and Pereira were in the area to conduct interviews with some of the local indigenous people. These interviews would be the final components of a book that Phillips had been working on for years.
“In 2022, Dom set off on a reporting trip with Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on uncontacted tribes, into the Javari valley, to investigate the criminal gangs threatening this region. And then they vanished.” (Source here).
In this podcast we hear from The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips, who was one of a team of searchers looking for Phillips and Pereira when they went missing. Tom Phillips gives us great insights into how this whole terrible crime unfolded. They followed the clues, found those responsible and eventually were led to the bodies of the two missing and murdered men, Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. A really gripping tragic story that is certain to keep you hooked right up until the very end.
All six episodes are already available.
4. Pipeline - Hosted By Isabelle Stanley - Daily Mail.
Pipeline tells the absolutely shocking story of five professional divers who were sucked into a 30 inch wide oil pipe that they were working on, deep beneath the Caribbean sea, off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago. The lack of efforts/attempts to rescue the trapped men, even after one of the divers managed to free himself and alert rescuers that more of the men were still alive and their exact location in the pipe was absolutely abhorrent behaviour. Instead they were left to die where they lay.
“This is their story. The story of how their ordinary day at work turned into an unimaginable horror. Following their story has led us to lucrative contracts, failing safety standards and secretive political relationships… And to a question: why were those divers left to die?.” (Source here).
In this podcast, we hear from the sole survivor of this tragedy, Christopher Boodram as he tells us how this terrifying accident unfolded; the events leading up to, during and after the divers found themselves trapped in the oil pipe. Christopher lost four great friends that day, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr and Yusuf Henry. As I am sure you can imagine, even now, three years later, Christopher is still haunted by what happened. This is a really shocking true crime story and there is so much more to it, far more than what I have touched upon here.
All six episodes are available now.
5. American Scandal: The Woman Who Sold Babies (Season 63) - Hosted By Lindsay Graham - Wondery.
Another great season from the long running true crime podcast, American Scandal: The Woman Who Sold Babies takes us back to the Memphis, USA in the early 20th century when:
” … a young woman named Georgia Tann begins her career in social work and becomes determined to change adoption in America — even if it means destroying lives and tearing families apart.” (Source here).
While Georgia Tann’s initial intentions were probably good, it wasn’t long until she had established an illegal adoption ring and turned it into a lucrative business and as you might have guessed, things only got much worse from there. These are stories of broken promises, children taken from loving families and how greed can cause such evil deeds.
All five episodes of this true crime podcast are already available.
6. Deep Cover: The Truth About Sarah (Season 6) - Hosted By Jake Halpern & Jess McHugh - Pushkin Industries.
It wouldn’t be a complete true crime podcast list of recommendations if I didn’t have at least one con-artist/scammer story in here somewhere, so with that in mind - let me introduce you to Sarah. In Deep Cover: The Truth About Sarah we have a prolific liar/con-artist on our hands.
Sarah Cavanaugh was “everything people wanted her to be—until she wasn’t” and her web of lies began to unravel. Sarah Cavanaugh was many things to many people but who is Sarah really?
Over the course of eight episodes we get to know Sarah and her various personas and of course, we hear all about many of the lies she told, from being a veteran to having cancer, she really embraced her role as a liar!
Honestly, this story is so appalling and outrageous (although how she managed to pull off her wedding without getting found out is pretty impressive).
You can listen to all eight episodes of this true crime podcast now. This might be another true crime podcast that you will want to binge, so clear your diary!
7. Devil in the Desert - Hosted By Matt Gutman - ABC News.
In this six-part true crime podcast we go back to California in 2012, when:
“… a sheriff’s deputy found a woman with her hands bound, wandering in the Mojave Desert. She led authorities to a grisly crime scene where a barbaric attack had taken place on her roommate. This moment marked the beginning of an international manhunt for the suspected mastermind behind the attack: Hossein Nayeri, a charming man who had ties to the emerging medical marijuana industry in California.” (Source here).
I’ve listened to the first four available episodes and so much has happened already, so many twists and turns! Get listening now and caught up before the last two episodes drop!
8. What Happened to Holly Bobo? - Hosted By Eva Pilgrim - ABC News.
Holly Bobo disappeared from her family home in Darden, Tennessee (USA) on the 13th of April 2011. Despite extensive search efforts, no trace of Holly Bobo, a young nursing student, could be found. Until, three years later, in September 2014, Holly Bobo’s partial remains were discovered in northern Darden County, not far from where she went missing. It was then that Holly Bobo’s kidnapping was upgraded to a murder; Holly had a gunshot wound at the back of her head. This case quickly becomes:
“… one of the biggest cases in Tennessee history, culminating in a bizarre legal battle after a key witness admits to lying on the stand. Even after suspects go to prison for her death, the question remains for some: What happened to Holly Bobo?.” (Source here).
The investigation into Holly Bobo’s murder is the opposite of straightforward, it is plagued with countless issues, such as, changing witness statements, changes to the prosecutorial team and a lot of finger-pointing. Will we ever know what really happened to Holly Bobo? Will the person(s) responsible be caught and punished for their crimes?
All six episodes of this true crime podcast are available now.
9. The Missing Matter - Hosted By Sally Leydon & Joni Condos- Podshape.
If you followed the previously featured true crime podcast The Lady Vanishes that I featured way back in July 2019 well then you have to check out this new true crime podcast. In The Missing Matter podcast Sally Leydon continues her pursuit for justice for her adored mother Marion Barter. Marion Barter disappeared in 1997 and her daughter Sally has never stopped looking for her, even when no one else was.
This true crime podcast is the next chapter in the search for Marion Barter. It begins with the findings of the coronial inquest into Marion’s disappearance which took place in March 2024:
“On 29 February 2024, the coroner delivered her findings into the disappearance of Marion Barter, Sally’s mum. After almost 27 years, Sally was left with more questions than answers—questions she was determined to resolve.” (Source here).
This podcast is a:
“… journey across multiple countries, retracing her footsteps prior to her disappearance, the discoveries, the victims and the shortcomings of the investigations.” (Source here).
There are nine episodes available and so much information packed into them. If you have followed this case since 2019 (or longer) then you will be captivated by what you hear in these episodes!
10. Camp Shame - Hosted By Kelsey Snelling - iHeartPodcasts.
Camp Shane was a weight loss camp for kids (most camps accepted children (boys and girls) from the age of 7 to 17 years old) that was founded in 1968. The original Camp Shane location was in New York’s Catskill Mountains. However, over the years this family business expanded and developed multiple “camp” locations in the United States, including in Florida, Wisconsin, California, Arizona, Georgia and Texas.
“Camp Shane - one of America’s longest running weight loss camps for kids—promised extraordinary results. Campers who began the summer in heavy bodies were often unrecognizable when they left. In a society obsessed with being thin, it seemed like a miracle solution.” (Source here).
As you might have already surmised from the title of this podcast, being “Camp ShaMe” and not “Camp ShaNe” - there was a lot more going on at these camps then what they advertised. Ironically, much of what was advertised and promised in the way of services to be provided to the campers, such as trained councillors for the campers, nutritional experts, go-karting and horse riding, did not actually exist at most of these camps.
In this eight-part investigative series, host Kelsey Snelling interviews many past staff members and campers to get the real story of Camp Shane. The host also deep-dives into the family feud that was one of the causes of Camp Shane’s demise:
“There were some dark truths behind Camp Shane’s facade of happy, transformed children. Kids were being pushed to their physical and emotional limits as the family that owned Shane turned a blind eye. More than 50 years after its founding, host Kelsey Snelling is bringing the real story of Camp Shane to light. In this eight-episode series, she unpacks and investigates stories of mistreatment and reexamines the culture of fatphobia that enabled a flawed system to continue for so long. Along the way, she reveals and weighs the heavy price of shame.” (Source here).
The first seven episodes are out now.
11. What Happened To Talina Zar? - Hosted By Melissa Jeltsen - iHeartPodcasts.
In the true crime podcast What Happened To Talina Zar? host Melissa Jeltsen is reporting on an investigation into the disappearance of Talina Zar. Talina Zar vanished during a COVID-19 lockdown. What is unusual about this case is that internet sleuths, who had never met Talina Zar, are the ones to follow her trail in an attempt to solve this mysterious missing persons case:
“Jess Trevino lived a quiet life of true crime fandom - until she stumbled upon Talina Zar’s cryptic Facebook post. Isolated because of COVID, Jess assembles an online team of amateur sleuths determined to find out where Talina went. As they get wrapped up in the lives of total strangers, the sleuths discover that the question of What Happened to Talina Zar?.” (Source here).
The biggest downfall of this true crime podcast are the MANY adverts that are repeated in EVERY episode and will nearly push you to committing a crime yourself! But besides that, I was enthralled with this true crime mystery and how it unfolded.
All eight episodes are already available.
12. The Binge Cases: Catch Me If You Ken - Hosted By Natalie Robehmed - Sony Music Entertainment & Campside Media.
Catch Me If You Ken is the tale of a strategic scammer! Meet “Ken” or Ken Chew Wen Long, to give him his full name. Ken scammed people out of millions and host Natalie Robehmed is on a mission to untangle his intricate web of lies. From the fake personas/characters/multiple identities invented by Ken to trick people, to the fake companies he created and the complicated way in which he used cryptocurrencies to move his stolen money around - its all here!
“He charmed his way into the lives of regular people and became a crucial character in their stories only to leave them questioning who they let into their circle. Was he the son of the billionaire who founded Uniqlo? The founder of a real estate startup backed by LeBron James? A weed farm mogul? Or a crypto wunderkind? Leaving listeners to question, who really is Ken Chew Wen Long and how did he do this?.” (Source here).
Another great true crime podcast that had me hooked (a pity about all the advertising though). The first six episodes are already available.
13. Betrayal: Karoline Borega (Season 4) - iHeartPodcasts & Glass Podcasts.
Karoline Borega lived a “normal” life with her loving husband and their children in Colorado Springs until the day she didn’t, until the day everything she thought she knew about her husband and their marriage was revealed as a sham.
“Karoline Borega married a man of honor – a respected Colorado Springs Police officer. She knew there would be sacrifices to accommodate her husband’s career. But she had no idea that he was using his badge to fool everyone. This season, we expose a man who swore two sacred oaths—one to his badge, one to his bride and broke them both. We follow Karoline as she questions everything she thought she knew about her partner of over 20 years.” (Source here).
Karoline’s husband betrayed everyone in his life and even after his many lies are uncovered, he continues to blame others, tell even more lies and shock those around him with even more revelations.
Over eight episodes we hear Karoline’s story. We also hear from her children and how the actions of their father have had long lasting adverse affects on their lives.
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