Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

The Laverne Pavlinac story is a bizarre case of a false confession that derailed a murder investigation and allowed a serial killer to remain free. In 1990, following the murder of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett in Portland, Oregon, 57-year-old Pavlinac concocted a detailed lie to frame her abusive boyfriend, John Sosnovske, as a desperate way to get him out of her life. She eventually implicated herself as an accomplice, leading to both of them being convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1991, despite Pavlinac recanting her story at trial. Because police closed the case based on her fabrications, the real perpetrator—the notorious "Happy Face Killer" Keith Hunter Jesperson- went undetected and murdered at least seven more women over the next several years.

The 2004 Transylvania University book heist was an audacious, movie-inspired plot orchestrated by four affluent Kentucky college students- Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk, and Chas Allen- who attempted to steal over $5 million worth of rare books from the university's Special Collections Library.

Hamish McLaren (born Hamish Watson) is a notorious Australian serial fraudster and con artist often dubbed the "Bondi Swindler" or "Australia's King Con". Over a deceptive career spanning three decades and four continents, he is estimated to have scammed between $60 million and $70 million globally from victims in Australia, the US, Canada, Britain, and Hong Kong.

Brittany Norwood is a former Lululemon employee convicted of the brutal 2011 murder of her coworker, Jayna Murray, inside a Bethesda, Maryland retail store.

Christa Pike is an American convicted murderer who became one of the youngest women in modern U.S. history to be sentenced to death. In 1995, Pike, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, and an accomplice lured their classmate Colleen Slemmer into a secluded wooded area in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they murdered her.

Caleb Flynn, a 40-year-old former American Idol contestant and Ohio worship pastor, was sentenced to life in prison on October 5, 2026, for the aggravated murder of his 37-year-old wife, Ashley Flynn.

A True Story Compilation of entitled teens who think they can get away with murder

Joel Guy Jr. committed the gruesome premeditated murders of his parents, Joel Guy Sr. and Lisa Guy, at their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Motivated by financial greed after his parents planned to cut off his lifelong financial support

Sabrina Limon and her firefighter lover, Jonathan Hearn, conspired to murder her husband, railroad worker Robert Limon. Although Sabrina and Robert had been in an open marriage, Sabrina kept her intense relationship with the younger Hearn a secret.

Carl Gugasian is known as "The Friday Night Bank Robber" and is widely considered the most prolific bank robber in U.S. history. Over a 30-year criminal career, he meticulously planned and executed more than 50 bank robberies, stealing more than $2 million.

In 2018, Jake Thomas Patterson committed a highly publicized double murder and abduction when he broke into a home in Barron, Wisconsin, and fatally shot James and Denise Closs. And then kidnapped Jayme Closs.

Anthony David Flores, a former Fresno hair salon owner and grifter, orchestrating a malicious fraud scheme alongside his then-girlfriend, actress Anna Rene Moore, that targeted Dr. Mark Sawusch, a wealthy Malibu ophthalmologist suffering from severe bipolar disorder.

In 2010, debt-ridden California community theater actor Daniel Wozniak executed a gruesome double-murder plot to steal $62,000 in combat savings from his neighbor, 26-year-old Army veteran Samuel Herr, to finance his own upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

A Compilation of the creepiest true stories we've covered

Diane Staudte is a Springfield, Missouri woman who was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally poisoning her husband and son with antifreeze. Alongside her favorite daughter, Rachel Staudte, she orchestrated what became widely known as the "Antifreeze Murders," a series of planned family poisonings carried out between 2012 and 2013.

Ghyslain Raza, famously known as the Star Wars Kid, became one of the internet's very first viral phenomena after a private video he recorded in 2002 was leaked online without his consent.

Joyce McKinney is a former Miss Wyoming who became an international media sensation in 1977 after allegedly abducting Kirk Anderson, an American Mormon missionary, in England.

In 1972, American novelist Clifford Irving orchestrated one of the most audacious literary frauds of the 20th century by concocting a completely fabricated autobiography of the notoriously reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime personal interpreter and close friend of Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, was at the center of a massive sports gambling and theft scandal.

In 2022, 23-year-old Juan Baron strangled his 73-year-old lover, Gary Ruby, inside Ruby's multimillion-dollar mansion in Honolulu's exclusive Hawaii Loa Ridge neighborhood.

A Ray William Johnson True Story compilation of people who went viral getting in trouble with the law.

In 1994, part-time handyman Darryl Kuehl shot and killed 53-year-old retired schoolteacher Paul Gruber at his home near Muskrat Lake in Sandpoint, Idaho.

In 2007, former NFL star O.J. Simpson led a group of armed men into a room at the Palace Station hotel-casino in Las Vegas to confront sports memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong. Simpson claimed he was merely reclaiming personal mementos, family photos, and sports artifacts that had been stolen from him years prior. However, because members of his group carried firearms and used force to take the items, Simpson was arrested and later convicted in 2008 of multiple felonies.

John Arthur Getreu was an American serial killer whose decades-long evasion of justice finally ended through modern investigative genetic genealogy.

Tyler Barriss is a California man who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after orchestrating a deadly December 2017 swatting hoax that resulted in police killing an innocent man.

Monica Sementilli masterminded the 2017 murder of her husband, Fabio Sementilli, a prominent Los Angeles celebrity hairstylist and beauty company executive. Monica conspired with her secret lover, Robert Louis Baker, to kill her husband in order to collect on a life insurance policy.

Hossein Nayeri and Kyle Handley orchestrated a 2012 plot to abduct and extort a Newport Beach medical marijuana dispensary owner, mistakenly believing the victim had buried 1 million dollars in cash in the Mojave Desert.

A Ray William Johnson True Story compilation of people committing murder for petty and ridiculous reasons

Fetty Wap rocketed to global superstardom in 2015 when his breakout melodic hip-hop anthem "Trap Queen" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved diamond certification. Despite pioneering a distinct, chart-topping sound in the mid-2010s, his career faced a severe derailment following a 2021 arrest for federal drug conspiracy charges.

Mary Anne Oliver-Snow, a popular TikTok cosplay influencer known online as "Yandere Freak," accidentally shot and killed her friend Helen Hastings on in 2021, in Houston, Texas.

Grant Hardin is former police officer and convicted felon whose criminal history spans multiple decades. He was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2017 broad-daylight shooting murder of city worker James Appleton. After his conviction, his DNA entered into the federal database linked him to a cold case from 1997 involving the assault of a schoolteacher.

Erik Maund is a wealthy former Texas auto dealer executive who orchestrated a brutal double murder-for-hire plot after becoming the target of an extortion scheme. In early 2020, Maund traveled to Nashville and had an extramarital affair with a woman named Holly Williams. When Williams' estranged boyfriend, William Lanway, discovered the affair and threatened to expose it to Maund's wife unless he paid him a sum of money, Maund chose to hire private security operatives and former military personnel instead of going to the police.

Lisa McVey was abducted by serial killer Bobby Joe Long in Tampa, Florida, in 1984. She outwitted him to escape.

Larry Rudolph, a wealthy and prominent Pennsylvania dentist, was convicted of murdering his wife of 34 years, Bianca Rudolph, during a 2016 big-game hunting safari in Zambia.

A True Story Compilation of Pro Athletes turning to crime

In 2011, Tyler Hadley murdered his parents, Blake and Mary Jo Hadley, inside their Port St. Lucie, Florida home. After spending hours cleaning up the crime scene and locking their bodies in the master bedroom, Hadley posted an invitation on FB hosting a massive, house party that same night.

The story of Dr. Anthony Garcia is a tragic case of a disgraced medical resident who launched a deadly, years-long revenge campaign against those he blamed for ruining his career.

Eric Rudolph is an American criminal who carried out a series of bombings across the American South between 1996 and 1998.

In the early morning hours of September 14, 2019, a bizarre art heist took place at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, when a gang of thieves stole a fully functional, 18-karat solid gold toilet worth millions. Titled America, the 216-pound sculpture was created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan as a satirical commentary on excessive wealth and had only been on display for two days. Armed with sledgehammers and crowbars, the burglars rammed through the palace gates, smashed a window, and ripped the toilet directly out of the floorboards in just over five minutes.

John Birges Sr. was a landscaping contractor who masterminded the 1980 Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing in Stateline, Nevada, after racking up massive debts from a severe gambling addiction.

Jocelyn Kirsch was a Drexel University student who, alongside her University of Pennsylvania graduate boyfriend Edward Anderton, became infamously dubbed Philadelphia's "Bonnie and Clyde" of identity theft. From 2006 to 2007, the attractive, jet-setting couple executed a sophisticated fraud operation by using computer spyware, fake IDs, and stolen keys to burglarize the apartments and intercept the mail of their friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

A Ray William Johnson True Story compilation of crimes so shocking they became world famous.

In 1988, 24-year-old David Jackson vanished from Pembroke Pines, Florida, amidst a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, Barbara Britton. The case remained a cold case for nearly two decades until Jackson's remains were discovered buried under a hotel parking lot, leading investigators to uncover a deadly plot orchestrated by Britton and her second husband, Michael Wolfe.

Ashpia Natasha posted viral dashcam footage in October 2024 exposing a staged insurance fraud scheme on the Belt Parkway in Queens, where a vehicle intentionally reversed into her car after cutting her off. The widely shared video prompted law enforcement investigations that ultimately resulted in prison sentences for the orchestrators of the crash-for-cash ring.

Roberto Succo was an infamous Italian serial killer who terrorized France and Italy during the 1980s.

In 2016, media personality Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint inside her luxury residence at the Hôtel de Pourtalès in Paris, France. The heist was masterminded by Aomar Aït Khedache. Five thieves disguised as police officers bound and gagged her, ultimately stealing roughly $10 million worth of jewelry, including her 20-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring. The masterminds behind the heist, known as the "grandpa gangsters" due to their older ages, tracked her movements through her social media posts to coordinate the attack.

Serhat Gumrukcu is a California-based biotech executive who was sentenced to life in prison in November 2025 for orchestrating a cross-country murder-for-hire plot. Gumrukcu, a Turkish national who co-founded Enochian Biosciences and falsely claimed to have discovered a cure for HIV, was finalizing a multi-million-dollar biotech merger when a former business partner, Gregory Davis, threatened to expose his prior fraudulent activities related to a failed oil commodities deal.

Olivia Henderson, a 23-year-old former DoorDash driver known online as the DoorDash girl is facing criminal charges after recording and posting a viral TikTok video of an incapacitated customer inside his Oswego, New York home.

A Ray William Johnson Compilation of actors committing crimes

In 2009, CBS News producer Robert "Joe" Halderman attempted to extort $2 million from late-night talk show host David Letterman by threatening to expose Letterman’s extramarital affairs with female staff members, information Halderman discovered in the diary of his live-in girlfriend (and Letterman's assistant), Stephanie Birkitt.