Crime To Burn
We focus on the dark and sooty landscape where true crime intersects with arson and criminal negligence in fire cases. Created and hosted by April and some guy that’s seen Backdraft at least twice.
Episodes
France's Disco Inferno: The Club Cinq-Sept Fire
Episode 86 In the early hours of November 1st, 1970, celebration turned to catastrophe when a fire tore through the Club Cinq-Sept near Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France. Within minutes, 146 young people were dead — trapped behind padlocked exi…
Devil's Night: Detroit's Arson Reckoning
Episode 85 Each October, the city of Detroit braced for three nights of chaos known as Devil’s Night—a grim tradition of arson and destruction that peaked in the 1980s with hundreds of fires set across the city. But behind the headlines and…
Bonus Episode: Interview with Arnie Bernstein (Author of Bath Massacre: America’s First School Bombing)
Episode 84: In this week’s bonus episode of Crime to Burn, April sits down with author Arnie Bernstein to discuss the 1927 Bath School disaster, the investigation that followed, and what it takes to responsibly tell true stories of mass vio…
Her Own Witness: The Judy Malinowski Story
Episode 83 This week on Crime to Burn, we’re doing something a little different. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this episode honors the extraordinary courage of Judy Malinowski — a woman whose strength changed the law and…
Texas Justice: Revisiting Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - The Conclusion
Episode 82 In this episode, we follow the fallout of the Cameron Todd Willingham case — a story that didn’t end at the execution chamber. When fire scientist Dr. Gerald Hurst sounded the alarm that the arson evidence used to convict Willing…
Texas Justice: Revisiting Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution
Episode 81 A fire, a flawed science, and a state that still hasn’t learned. In 1991, Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of setting the house fire that killed his three young children. Despite a mountain of later evidence debunking the “a…
Permission to Burn: The Ballantynes Fire of Christchurch, NZ
Episode 80 On November 18, 1947, a fire tore through Ballantynes department store in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 41 people and changing the nation forever. It remains New Zealand’s deadliest fire disaster — and one that exposed shock…
Bath School Massacre: The Making of America's First School Bomber - The Conclusion
Episode 79 In Part 2 of our Bath School Massacre series, we step back from the timeline to ask the harder questions: what drives an otherwise rational man to the brink of ruin—and what finally pushes him over the edge? We’ll uncover just ho…
Bath School Massacre: The Making of America's First School Bomber
Episode 78 On May 18, 1927, the quiet farming town of Bath, Michigan, was shattered by the deadliest school massacre in U.S. history. Long before Columbine, Sandy Hook, or Parkland, one man wired an entire school with explosives — and chang…
Elusive Evidence: Florida's Botched Arson Case Against Randal Wagoner
Episode 77 In this episode of Crime to Burn, we revisit the devastating fire at Greybeard’s Tavern in Jacksonville, Florida, and the deeply flawed arson case that followed. Randal Wagoner, a local truck driver, was arrested and charged with…
The Flora Four: Between Rumors and Reality - The Finale
Episode 76 In the finale of The Flora Four: Between Rumors and Reality, we bring the story full circle. Nearly a decade after the fire that claimed the lives of four young sisters in Flora, Indiana, we examine why this case remains unsolved…
The Flora Four: Between Rumors and Reality - Part 2
Episode 75 In Part 2 of The Flora Four: Between Rumors and Reality, we dig into the tangled web of suspects, motives, and unanswered questions surrounding the fire that claimed the lives of four young sisters in Flora, Indiana. From Gaylin …
The Flora Four: Between Rumors and Reality - Part 1
Episode 74 On November 21, 2016, a fire tore through a home in Flora, Indiana, claiming the lives of four young sisters: Keyana, Keyara, Kerriele, Kionnie. Nearly nine years later, the case remains unsolved, mired in contradictions, unanswe…
Pizza, Powder & Pyrotechnics: The Boy that Bombed the Feds
Episode 73 In the late 1980s, Florida’s Gulf Coast was a powder keg of cocaine, cash, and violence. In this episode, we dive into the wild case of Jeff Matthews — a drug kingpin whose ego was as big as his rap sheet, and whose grudges were……
Built to Burn: The Untold Conspiracy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club - The Finale
Episode 72 Was it arson—or was it a tragic accident? In the final installment of our five-part series, we walk through the evidence from the perspective of a fire protection engineer. We’ll dissect the fire’s behavior, ignition theories, th…
Emergency Bonus Episode - The Murder of Paul Clifford and the Fight for Justice
Episode 72 (Emergency Bonus Episode) This is not a regular episode. This is a plea for action. In 2024, Paul Clifford was brutally murdered—his body set on fire in an act of unspeakable violence. Now, the Pima County Attorney’s Office is pr…
Built to Burn: The Untold Conspiracy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club - Part 4
Episode 71 What if the official story is a lie? In this episode, you’ll hear from someone who was there that night—an employee who worked the wedding reception in the Zebra Room just hours before it ignited. For decades, she stayed silent. …
Built to Burn: The Untold Conspiracy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club - Part 3
Episode 70 As smoke begins to creep into the Cabaret Room, the audience still doesn’t realize the nightmare unfolding just beyond the doors. In this episode, we follow the chilling timeline from the moment busboy Walter Bailey issues his wa…
Built to Burn: The Untold Conspiracy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club - Part 2
Episode 69 The Beverly Hills Supper Club wasn’t built to burn—but it sure wasn’t built to last either. In Part 2, we peel back the velvet curtain to reveal a firetrap disguised as Kentucky’s swankiest hotspot: no sprinklers, no fire alarms,…
Built to Burn: The Untold Conspiracy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club - Part 1
Episode 68 On May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky went up in flames, claiming the lives of 165 people. The official ruling? Accidental fire. But decades later, that conclusion is still under scrutiny. In Part …
Culture on Trial: The Wrongful Conviction of Han Tak Lee
Episode 67 In 1989, a fire at a religious camp in Pennsylvania claimed the life of 20-year-old Ji Yun Lee. Her father, Han Tak Lee, a Korean immigrant with no criminal record, was swiftly arrested, tried, and sentenced to life in prison. Bu…
Obedience to Ashes: Cults, Chaos and Criminal Fires - The Finale
Episode 66 The story of the Lords of Chaos comes to a close in this final installment. After the murder of Mark Schwebes, the cracks begin to show. Confessions spill. Arrests are made. And the twisted empire Kevin Foster built starts to col…
Obedience to Ashes: Cults, Chaos and Criminal Fires - Part 2
Episode 65 In Part 2, the Lords of Chaos escalate from chaos to carnage. What began as vandalism and firebombs takes a darker turn when Kevin Foster declares war—not just on authority, but on anyone who stands in his way. As their plans spi…
Obedience to Ashes: Cults, Chaos and Criminal Fires - Part 1
Episode 64 Obedience to Ashes, Part 1 It started with friendship. With a promise of belonging. With a charismatic—yet deeply flawed—leader. But beneath the surface of this group of misfit boys, something much darker was brewing. In Part 1 o…
Exploding Pants: A Chemical Criminal Saga
Episode 63 The Pants, the Plot, and the Pickle Rain: Sodium Chlorate's Wild Ride This week on Crime to Burn, we celebrate our one-year podiversary with an explosive tale—literally. From flaming trousers and banned weedkillers to accidental …
The Girls are Gone - The Case of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible - The Finale
Episode 62 The Finale. For over two decades, Lorene Bible has chased whispers through rural Oklahoma—across backroads, into burned-out houses, and deep into the shadows of fear and corruption. In this final chapter, we follow her relentless…
The Girls are Gone - The Case of Ashely Freeman and Lauria Bible - Part 2
Episode 61 Whispers. The town of Welch, Oklahoma was full of whispers after the bodies of Danny and Kathy Freeman were located in the burned out Freeman home. Whispers about drugs, wrongful deaths, police involvement, intentionally botched …
The Girls are Gone - The Case of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible
Episode 60 In the early hours of December 30, 1999, a mobile home in Welch, Oklahoma went up in flames. Inside, the bodies of Kathy and Danny Freeman were discovered—but their daughter Ashley and her best friend Lauria Bible were gone. In t…
Behind the Byline: An Interview with Liliana Segura
Episode 59 In this special episode of Crime to Burn, we go beyond the headlines with investigative journalist Liliana Segura of The Intercept, one of the first reporters to dig into the troubling details of the Michelle Taylor arson case. F…
Science Fiction - The Forensics that Framed Michelle Taylor
Episode 58 When Michelle Taylor lost her son in a tragic house fire, she thought the nightmare couldn’t get worse. She was wrong. Fueled by junk science, broken forensics, and a crime lab running on expired credibility, the prosecutors turn…
The Happy Land Social Club Fire - New York City
Episode 57 An illegal nightclub in the Bronx was the scene of the largest mass murder in US HIstory at the time it occurred in 1990. A scorned lover went to the club to persuade his ex-girlfriend to take him back and when his attempts were …
The Ghost Train Fire at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia - THE FINALE
Episode 56 This is the finale of our coverage of the Sydney Ghost Train fire that took 7 innocent lives. Was the fire accidental as the original inquest determined or was it arson and murder orchestrated to allow a greedy man to get control…
The Ghost Train Fire at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia - Part 2
Episode 55 This week we continue our coverage of the Ghost Train fire that occurred in July of 1979 at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia. The fire ultimately claimed 7 lives and investigators initially told the public it was an accidental elec…
The Ghost Train Fire at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia
Episode 54 In July of 1979, seven people would walk through the iconic clown face gates at the Luna Park amusement park in Sydney, Australia but they would not walk out. That July night, a horrific fire occurred in the Ghost Train ride that…
The Deadliest Fire in Iowa History - St. Elizabeth Hospital - THE CONCLUSION
Episode 53 This is the conclusion of our coverage of the horrific fire that claimed 41 lives at the St. Elizabeth Hospital and Davenport, Iowa in January 1950. The fire, wtill the deadliest fire in state history, was set by a patient at the…
The Deadliest Fire in Iowa History - St. Elizabeth Hospital
Episode 52 Today we are revisiting the deadliest fire in Iowa's history. On January 7, 1950, a fire occurred at a mental health facility called St. Elizabeth Hospital on the Mercy Hospital campus in Davenport, Iowa. When a diagnosed schizop…
Dark Plea - The Wrongful Arson Conviction of Angela Garcia - The Finale
Episode 51: In this episode we conclude our coverage of Angela Garcia's case on Crime to Burn. Angela was faced with an impossible decision, risk another trial or accept what is known as a Dark Plea from prosecutors to secure her freedom. …
Dark Plea - The Wrongful Arson Conviction of Angela Garcia - Part 2
Episode 50. Angela Garcia was a 22 year old mother of two when her house caught fire claiming the lives of her two toddler daughters. After her first trial ended in a hung jury, prosecutors tried Angela a second time. However, this time the…
Dark Plea - The Wrongful Arson Conviction of Angela Garcia
Episode 49. Angela Garcia was a 22 year old mother of two when her house caught fire claiming the lives of her two toddler daughters. Angela soon found herself standing in a courtroom accused of arson, murder, and insurance fraud. What evid…
Crime, Cover-up, or Conspiracy in Centralia, Pennsylvania - THE FINALE
This is the finale of our series on the mine fire that destroyed an entire community. From the government missteps to the toxic attitudes that drove division in the town, so many factors compounded and the residents of Centralia paid the pr…