The Knife: A True Crime Podcast
The Knife: A True Crime Podcast is a weekly true crime podcast from journalist/producers Hannah Smith and Patia Eaton. It's a show about people who’ve been dropped into a story they didn't start, but are left to finish. In-depth interviews take the listener behind the punchy headlines to hear what really happened from the people who lived it. The Knife reveals the ripple effect of crime. Through empathetic, solution-oriented journalism, Hannah and Patia find the untold stories of people who’ve been touched by crime. They’re not breaking news or solving cases, they’re cutting to the heart of...
Episodes
The Night Ellen Was Kidnapped
When Ellen was in college, she was kidnapped after leaving her shift at Applebee’s. She recounts the terrifying hour that followed as she was driven around the city, unsure if she would make it out alive. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr…
The Knife: Off Record – 126
This week Hannah answers a listener’s question about a man named Tommy Lee Buckley and his “Treasury Gate” scheme— a web of corruption, secret bank accounts, government conspiracy, and a billion dollar payday that was always just around th…
Decades in the Dark
Burt Rosen searched for his missing son, Matthew, for over twenty years. Matthew had been struggling with mental illness when he vanished in 2001. Burt spent day-after-day making phone calls, scouring the internet, searching for any sign of…
The Knife: Off Record – 124
Patia shares a story she’s followed for years and has a personal connection to: the disappearance of Samantha Sayers, who vanished after hiking Vesper Peak in August 2018. Patia grew close with Samantha’s mother, who has never stopped searc…
Queen of the Con: Johnathan Walton’s Story
This week we speak with Johnathan Walton, creator of Queen of the Con and author of Anatomy of a Con Artist. Johnathan shares how he met “Mair Smyth,” grew to love her as a sister, and then was brutally betrayed when she conned him out of $…
The Knife: Off Record – 122
This week we’re talking scams. Hannah shares the story of a man whose photo was used to con thousands of women, and Patia takes us inside an unsettling case of identity theft. Alex Couros’ Website: https://educationaltechnology.ca/informat…
Denton Family Murder
Beth Denton has always wondered what really happened to her cousin Patricia, who was murdered in 1970 in her home in Oklahoma City. Decades later, she decided to find out. This week, we speak with Beth as she unravels this family tragedy a…
The Knife: Off Record – 120
This week, Patia and Hannah dig into listener emails, covering a rental scam, a case of digital dating abuse (yes, it’s real), and a cold case: the 2013 disappearance of Brookelyn Farthing. Recommendations: Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax…
My Body Is The Crime Scene
Patia and Hannah speak with Cassie, who attended a Halloween party at an Oregon State University fraternity in 2008. The night started with costumes, loud music and a crowded basement full of college students. By the end of the night, Cass…
The Knife: Off Record – 118
This week we bring you two crime stories in collaboration with Mandy and Melissa from Moms and Mysteries. Hannah and Patia discuss the killing of Richard Challen by his wife, Sally Challen. Then, Mandy and Melissa share the wild true story …
Rent-A-Hitman: Murder, Interrupted
Bob Innes never set out to stop murders. But when his satirical website, RentAHitman.com, started attracting real requests for contract killings, he found himself in an unusual predicament. What, if anything, should he do about it? Now, he …
The Knife: Off Record – 116
Hannah and Patia sit down with Anna Sinfield, the producer and writer behind the first two hit seasons of The Girlfriends, to talk about why the world needs more stories of women winning. Stepping into the host seat for The Girlfriends: Spo…
The Mother’s Day Attack
Tennyson and Kyle felt safe in their quiet, rural community—until their lives were shaken by not one, but two violent home invasions. It wasn’t random. The attacks were targeted, and Tennyson was the focus. Even more chilling: it all happen…
The Knife: Off Record – 114
Patia shares a conversation she had with Shileshia and Eric Milligan, a couple who became victims of adoption fraud in 2019 after self-matching through a Facebook group. What began with hope quickly turned to fear when the teen birth mother…
Hijacked
On November 23, 1985, Jackie Pflug took her seat aboard EgyptAir Flight 648. When the plane reached flying altitude, several men forcefully took control of the plane. Jackie’s flight was being hijacked. Jackie miraculously survived, but man…
The Knife: Off Record – 112
A listener sends in a tip about an international conman, Chadwick Hauser – who is still on the run. Through an interview with his ex-wife, Hannah tells Patia the story of a man whose scams have ruined lives across the world and whose victim…
The Kill List
Susan was going about a normal day at work when an FBI Agent showed up with terrifying news. She was on a hit list. A notorious terrorist organization wanted her dead. Susan tries to find out why she of all people would be targeted. As she …
The Knife: Off Record – 110
Hannah and Patia discuss the 1996 murder at Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy, where 16-year-old William Futrelle—new to the school—was killed by fellow students. They unpack the trial of Joseph Burris, who was charged with Futrelle’s …
Mountain Park
Meg Richter was branded a “troubled teen” and sent by her parents to Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy. But the rural Missouri facility wasn’t focused on education—it was more like a juvenile detention center masquerading as a Christia…
The Knife: Off Record – 108
Patia shares the story of a string of bizarre robberies in Edwardsville, Illinois—cracked not by cops, but by the sharp-eyed owner of a local spa. One of the weirdest discoveries? A Walmart-style basement packed with stolen “trophies.” Then…
On the Side of Truth
In 1991, Yolanda Thomas’ sister Jacquetta was murdered. A trial followed—conviction, life sentence—all without Yolanda or her family even knowing it happened. Sixteen years later, Yolanda finds herself in an unexpected battle: fighting to f…
The Knife: Off Record – 106
Hannah unpacks the wild true story of Osama El-Atari—a flashy con man- turned-jailhouse informant, who ultimately helps take down a serial killer. Also, Patia and Hannah discuss There Is No Ethan, Anna Akbari’s gripping account of a catfish…
The Wrongful Conviction
Jennifer Thompson was a college student when a man broke into her home and sexually assaulted her. Jennifer did her best to help law enforcement capture her assailant, but years later would learn the wrong person had been held responsible. …
The Knife: Off Record – 104
From pop culture to the FBI, the perception of polygraphs varies wildly depending on who you ask. So, Hannah and Patia speak to an expert polygraph examiner whose work led to a bombshell confession in a half-decade old missing persons case,…
Escape from Colorado
Newly married and just a month into her pregnancy, Toni’s husband becomes physically abusive. Thousands of miles from her family, Toni carefully plans to escape with her children as her estranged husband’s harassment only escalates. Today, …
The Knife: Off Record – 102
On the very first episode of The Knife: Off Record, hosts Hannah Smith and Patia Eaton bring you a behind-the-scenes conversation about making a true crime podcast. Plus, Patia tells Hannah about a missing persons case in Tennessee. Show N…
A Morning Run
In their premiere episode, hosts Hannah and Patia speak with Darun Henry. While on a morning run through her neighborhood park, Darun is attacked by a stranger and makes a split-second decision that will lead to her assailant’s capture. S…
Introducing The Knife: A True Crime Podcast
The Knife is the true crime podcast that goes beyond the headlines to reveal the lasting impact of crime. From the celebrated podcast, The Opportunist, producers and hosts Patia Eaton and Hannah Smith bring you raw, first-hand accounts from…