Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson
Welcome to Tenfold More Wicked Presents: Wicked Words, Kate Winkler Dawson's true crime talk show. On each new episode of Wicked Words, Kate interviews journalists, podcasters and authors about their fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from their investigations in the world of true crime, many of which have never been shared before. Kate interviews Patricia Cornwell, the prolific true crime author about her book Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper – Case Closed, she heads to Texas with veteran journalist Rena Pederson to discuss her coverage of an uncatchable jewel thief during the swinging sixties, chats with podcaster and journalist Mandy Matney from the Mu...
Episodes
Megan Abbott: El Dorado Drive
New York Times’ best-selling author Megan Abbott often uses true crime stories as a jumping off point for her wildly popular novels. Now she has a new book out called El Dorado Drive. It’s about three sisters who become entangled in a pyram…
Caroline Fraser: Murderland
This week’s author grew up in the Pacific Northwest with the memories of notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer, who also lived there. But the region wasn’t just home to those two murderers: there were many more.…
Matthew McGough + Rick Jackson: Black Tunnel White Magic
In 1990, a UCLA student was found murdered in a tunnel in LA. Detective Rick Jackson and his partner were assigned to the complicated case. Who had a motive to stab Ronald Baker? Was the pentagram pendant around his neck a clue? Author Matt…
Elon Green: The Man Nobody Killed
We’ve had journalist Elon Green on before to talk about his fantastic book Last Call. His new book is about an inspiring young Black artist in 1980s New York. Michael Stewart ended up dead after encountering a Transit Authority police offic…
Jonquilyn Hill: Through the Cracks
When an 8-year-old disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. in 2014, nobody noticed for 18 days, even her family. Seven years later, Relisha Rudd has never been found. The Through the Cracks podcast investigates gaps in our s…
Mary Kay McBrayer: Madame Queen
This week on Wicked Words we’re traveling back to 1923 Harlem and its seedy world of gambling and racketeering. Author Mary Kay McBrayer tells me about Stephanie St. Clair. She was one of the only female crime bosses in the city. Madame Que…
Duncan McCue: Kuper Island
Kuper Island is a remarkable podcast, an investigation into one of Canada’s most notorious so called Indian residential schools. Journalist Duncan McCue explores the unsolved death of a student, a tragedy that sheds light on rampant abuse a…
Thomas Maier: The Invisible Spy
I love a good spy story. We’ve talked about spies embedded with the American government. We’ve discussed librarians and academics researching in the basement of the Library of Congress during World War II. And now we’re talking with Thomas …
Virginia Feito: Victorian Psycho
Occasionally we interview fiction authors who use true crime stories as jumping off points for their novels. Virginia Feito wrote a book called “Victorian Psycho.” And it’s based on several cases you’ve likely heard of. There’s a lecherous …
Claire St. Amant: Killer Story
I’m so excited about this interview. It’s with Claire St. Amant. She’s a journalist and an author. And she was a TV producer for 48 Hours and 60 Minutes. Now she’s pulling back the curtain on true crime television. I learned a lot from her.…
Gilbert King: Bone Valley
We might have our first Pulitzer Prize winner on our show. Author Gilbert King digs into cases of wrongful conviction. Today, we’re talking about his outstanding podcast, Bone Valley Season 2. Gilbert explores the 1987 murder of Michelle Sc…
Christopher Goffard: Crimes of the Times
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard was the voice behind the hit podcast “Dirty John.” And now he has a new podcast that covers crimes in Los Angeles that made headlines, stories like the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer at the hands o…
Pagan Kennedy: The Secret History of the Rape Kit
This week on Wicked Words, years ago author Pagan Kennedy wondered about the history of the rape kit, a crucial tool for investigators today. Who designed it? She found out that it was Martha Goddard, a pioneer who wanted to help police cat…
Brendan Koerner: The Skies Belong to Us
Plane hijackings aren’t very common anymore. But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, armed criminals were forcing commercial airliners to divert their flights, oftentimes demanding ransom. Author Brendan Koerner tells the story of an America…
Hallie Lieberman: The Devil Went Down to Georgia
For years, a predator preyed on gay men in Atlanta. He was known as the Handcuff Man. He attacked male sex workers, disfigured them, and then left them for dead. Journalist Hallie Lieberman wrote a fantastic piece for The Atavist Magazine c…
Joseph Cox: Dark Wire
In 2018, the FBI discovered that high level criminals around the world were using encrypted devices to plot intricate crimes. When a powerful, secure new app began courting these syndicates, members of the underworld flocked to it. One prob…
Avril Speaks: Uprooted
In 1986, 17-year-old Keith Warren was found hanging from a tree in Silver Spring, Maryland. His sister wanted answers—how did he die? It was ruled a suicide, but there were so many suspicious things about Keith’s death. I talked to filmmake…
Lana Hall: The Incel Terrorist
This is a story about a landmark case in Canada from just a few years ago. A teenager attacked two women in a massage parlor in Toronto in 2020. He killed one and seriously injured the other. When he told investigators why he did it, they s…
Lise Olsen: The Scientist and the Serial Killer
Dean Corll was a serial killer in Houston in the early 1970s. He kidnapped and murdered more than two dozen missing teenage boys before he was murdered by one of his accomplices. Decades later, a forensic anthropologist discovered a box of …
Marcia Clark: Trial by Ambush
It’s been 30 years since the infamous OJ Simpson trial, and the lead prosecutor Marcia Clark has had quite a career since then. She writes fiction and nonfiction books, including the one we’ll talk about today. It’s called Trial by Ambush a…
Elyse Graham: Book and Dagger
Did you know that some of the most effective American spies during World War II were librarians and archivists and history professors? Some were locked in the basement of the Library of Congress, analyzing documents. Those documents were be…
Craig A. Monson: The Black Widows of the Eternal City
We don’t talk a lot on this show about female killers, but author Craig Monson has brought me a fascinating story right out of a Hollywood film. His book, The Black Widows of the Eternal City, centers on a web of women poisoners in 17th cen…
Thomas Morris: The Dublin Railway Murder
This week on Wicked Words, we’re traveling to 1856 Ireland for a locked-door mystery. A cashier for a Dublin railway station is found dead, savagely beaten. Nothing appears to have been stolen. Can an experienced detective crack this case? …
Rick Jervis: The Devil Behind the Badge
On this week’s episode of Wicked Words, we’re traveling to the Texas border town of Laredo. When four vulnerable women are murdered, police suspect that a well-respected U.S. Border Patrol agent has turned into a serial killer. Author Rick …
Rollo Romig: I Am on the Hit List
When an outspoken journalist in India was assassinated in September of 2017, it shocked the world. The conspiracy that was uncovered by journalists and investigators was disturbing. Author Rollo Romig tells me the story at the center of his…
Simon Read: Scotland Yard
Some of my most favorite true crime stories in history come from the UK, specifically London. So I was very excited to talk to author Simon Read about his book: Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force's Most Infamous Murder Case…
Michael Arntfield: Monster City
Police cold-case units have broken some of the country’s most notorious murder cases. Today we're talking to writer Michael Arntfield about Nashville’s cold case Murder Squad and how its lead investigator tracked down the serial killers who…
Carol Dawson: The Unforgotten
I know this sounds like an old story: a woman goes missing and it seems like a cover-up. But when Shelley Watkins’ body was discovered in 1993, floating in a Texas river, her murder really upended the town of Corsicana. Journalist Carol Daw…
Ron Smith: No One is Perfect
Thirty years before the OJ Simpson trial, a different murder case captured the attention of the country. When a successful Florida businessman is brutally killed in the 1960s, his wife and her nephew become suspects. Their disturbing relati…
Katy Vine: The Problem with Erik
For this week’s episode, we travel to my hometown of Austin, Texas. An iconic local business is embroiled in a murder for hire case that attracts national attention. Why did Erik Maund hire someone to kill two people? Katy Vine from Texas M…
Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close
Author Becky Cooper was a student at Harvard University when she heard a curious rumor about a murdered student in the late 1960s. Cooper was told that the killer was likely a professor…but her investigation uncovered clues that had been bu…
Radley Balko + Tucker Carrington: The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist
After two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, two innocent men were convicted and were in prison for decades. Meanwhile the real killer remained free. Today I’m talking to Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington ab…
Dr. Katherine Ramsland + Tracy Ullman: The Serial Killer’s Apprentice
Acclaimed forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland was one of my first guests on this show. She detailed her time with serial killer Dennis Rader. She’s back, along with co-author Tracy Ullman, to tell me about their book The Serial Killer’…
Ethan Brown: Murder in the Bayou
Who killed eight women in a small Louisiana town between 2005 and 2009? And were their murders the work of a serial killer or people connected to a corrupt sheriff’s department? This is a true-life southern gothic mystery. Author Ethan Brow…
Ellen McGarrahan: Two Truths and a Lie
In 1990, a young journalist witnessed a botched execution and it changed her life. Author Ellen McGarrahan found herself haunted by the question of whether she had witnessed the execution of an innocent man. She tells me the story at the ce…
Dean Jobb: A Gentlemen and a Thief
We’ve had this author on before when he talked about his book on serial poisoner Dr. Thomas Neill Cream. Today, Dean Jobb tells us about a different kind of criminal, a man known as the “prince of thieves.” Arthur Barry stole from the rich …
Ellen J. Green: Murder in the Neighborhood
I talk a lot about how history repeats itself. This story, unfortunately, feels like it can happen today even though it’s actually 75 years old. Author Ellen Green wrote a book called: Murder in the Neighborhood: The true story of America’s…
Ron Stodghill: Redbone
Self-made millionaire Lance Herndon was one of Atlanta’s elite in 1996 when he was murdered in his home. Police had a host of suspects, and they soon realized how complicated Lance’s life was. Author Ron Stodghill unravels the story in his …
Hal Higdon: Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century
One of the most famous crimes in American history was the murder of 14-year-old Bobby Frank. Two young men, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, wanted to plan the perfect murder. And they didn’t. Author Hal Higdon wrote THE book on this case, …
Karen Jacobs and Rob D'Amico: Shane and Sally
Here's our story this week: in the summer of 1988, 16-year-old Shane Stewart and 18-year-old Sally McNelly went missing in the West Texas town of San Angelo. After their remains were found, the mystery began. Texas Monthly reporters Karen J…