PODCAST · tv
Dark Origins
by Gabriela Ralph and Rob Reem
*We suggest starting with our most recent episodes!* This podcast delves into the stories that inspired all mediums of art, with a focus on the darker aspects of it all! We’ll talk about the real-life events that influenced popular movies, books, and other pieces of art. Occasionally we’ll cover the opposite, and talk about times that art influenced life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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The Boomtown Rats "I Don't Like Mondays" and Brenda Spencer
On a quiet Monday morning in January 1979, shots rang out from a house across the street from Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego. The shooter was 16-year-old Brenda Spencer, armed with a rifle her father had given her for Christmas. By the time the chaos ended, the principal and a...
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Murderess: The Winnie Ruth Judd Story
As a train traveled from Phoenix to Los Angeles, staff grew uneasy. A foul smell was coming from two trunks belonging to a young female passenger. That unease turned to horror when they noticed blood seeping from the cracks. Hoping it was something as simple as spoiled meat, they alerted police…
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The Frog Boys and Children (2011)
In this episode, we delve into one of South Korea’s most infamous unsolved mysteries: the Frog Boys Murders. What began as a simple day of adventure for five young boys on March 26, 1991, turned into a decades-long nightmare filled with unanswered questions, police missteps, and lingering grief....
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Na'Ziyah Harris
In January 2024, 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris vanished after stepping off her school bus in Detroit, Michigan. What started as a desperate search for a missing child soon unraveled into a chilling tale of grooming, betrayal, and heartbreak. Na'Ziyah should be living the last precious years of her...
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Oakey Albert "Al" Kite
In May 2004 Oakey Albert “Al” Kite was found hog-tied and tortured to death in his basement after he didn’t show up for work. Al’s murder is one of the most mysterious we have covered because investigators still don’t know who perpetrated the crime, and there is no discernible motive other than a...
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The Lake Bodom Murders
Four Finnish teenagers, Maila Irmeli Björklund, Anja Tuulikki, Seppo Antero Boisman, and Nils Wilhelm Gustaffson set out to have a fun night camping on the shores of Lake Bodom. It was like a double date since Maila was dating Nils and Anja was dating Seppo. They fished, drank, and swam in the…
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Gary Heidnik and Silence of the Lambs
Silence of the Lambs is arguably one of the best psychological thrillers of all time and sadly many aspects of the movie are inspired by real people and events. Buffalo Bill in particular is based on a few different serial killers including Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Gary Heidnik. Most people...
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The Disappearance of Marshall Iwaasa and Daniel Reoch
A group of hikers was traveling down a logging road on their way to a rentable hut, located in the remote Canadian wilderness, when they stumbled upon a burnt truck with personal belongings scattered around it. Feeling as though they had discovered a crime scene, the hikers decided to take…
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Olympic Crime: The Murder of Keishla Rogriguez Ortiz by Felix Verdejo
Keishla Rodriguez Ortiz met Felix Verdejo when the two of them were very young, because they attended the same school growing up. Their friendship blossomed into a romantic relationship when they were in high school. Keishla loyally supported Félix as he chased his dreams to become a professional...
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Olympic Crime: Gold Medalist Marksman, Dr. James Snook, Killed Medical Student Theora Hix
Dr. James Snook had accomplished a lot in his life. He not only carved out his presence as a well-respected veterinarian and professor of veterinary science, even creating a tool called the Snook Hook that vets still use today, but he also competed and won two gold medals in the 1920 Olympics as…
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Current Events: Wade Wilson
On July 23, 2024 Wade Wilson, known for his white supremacist and joker face tattoos, will face a judge as they decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Wilson was convicted of murdering Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz back in 2019. Both murders...
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Yoo Young Chul and The Chaser
Yoo Young Chul grew up in a poor family with little stability. The economic hardships that his family faced caused him to develop a deep-seeded hatred for wealthy individuals and he also developed an ever-growing resentment towards women. Yoo was driven by these emotions, and he couldn't seem to...
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The Murder of Elyse Pahler and Slayer
When Elyse Pahler, a teenager from Arroyo Grande, went missing, her parents reached out to the police for help. Unfortunately, they weren't able to make much headway over the course of several months until they got a tip from an unlikely source. A clergyman from a local church called in to tell...
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Kendrick Lamar's Euphoria and The Case of YNW Melly
Many of the diss tracks that have been released by Kendrick Lamar over the past week contain lines that clearly have dark origins. In this episode we focus on one line from Euphoria that took inspiration from the case of YNW Melly AKA Jamell Demons. We cover the allegations that Jamell shot and...
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Eclipse Murders: Danielle Johnson and Taylon Celestine
Most violence isn’t related to the moon or the sun, but the violence that took place on April 8, 2024 might have been. The 8th was the day of the total solar eclipse and two different women committed murder/attempted murder that may have been connected to the phenomena. Danielle Johnson, an...
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Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation
TW: eating disorders, suicide, and child abuse. Everything we say is alleged, with the exception of the individuals found guilty of crimes. Gwen Shamblin had a Master's Degree in Food and Nutrition, yet she still fell down the pipeline of food and wellness guru to religious cult leader pipeline....
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Joe Rogan Guest Allegedly Killed Acquaintance
Sheldon Johnson was released from prison last year, after serving 25 years behind bars. Intent on turning his life around, he started working as a youth counselor and advocate for clients of the public defenders office. Successful civil rights attorney, Josh Dubin, befriended Sheldon and was...
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Dateline Episode: Egypt Covington
Egypt Covington was a 27 year old woman with so much potential. She lived a life full of love, friendship, and art. Many people knew her since she was a talented singer and a friendly bartender in Ann Arbor, MI. But her life was cut short. She was found in her home with a gunshot wound to the…
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Two Michigan Cold Cases
Mary Alice Ellicott and Theral Carl Heldt were murdered within a week of one another and their remains found in the country of a small Michigan town. Seemingly unrelated, both murders were investigated but found themselves going cold as time passed. Mary's case was reopened a few years ago, and...
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True Detective Season 4 and The Mary Celeste
In this episode we talk about the second inspiration behind True Detective Season. 4, which is the mysterious case of the Mary Celeste Crew. When the Del Gratia came upon a ship that appeared to be sailing haphazardly, the captain put out a signal but heard nothing back. He told two of his men to...
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Current Events: Ruby Franke & Jodi Hildebrandt, Audrii Cunningham, and Reesa Teesa
This is a bonus episode that covers current events. In it we cover the sentencing of 8 Passenger's Ruby Franke and her "mentor" jodi Hildebrandt, the murder of Audrii Cunningham, and the series "Who TF Did I Marry?" by Reesa Teesa on TikTok. Sources: Audrey Conklin, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten. “Texas…
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True Detective Season 4 and The Dyatlov Pass Incident
True Detective Season 4's show runner, Issa Lopez, said that this season was inspired by some real-life mysteries- the Dyatlov Pass incident and the Mary Celeste are the two that she named directly. In this episode we dive into the 1959 Dyatlov Pass incident, an expedition that ended with the...
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The Sexton Family Part 2
This is part 2 on the case of the Sexton family. Headed by Eddie Lee Sexton and Stella Sexton, the twelve children were forced to live like a violent cult. They had to follow their father's every command, and they were routinely abused - physically, mentally, and sexually. We covered the lead-up…
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Sun Kil Moon Song and The Sexton Family
Sun Kil Moon wrote the song Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes. While the song repeatedly mentions Richard Ramirez and his crimes, it also mentions many other cases. One of them being the case of the Sexton family. The patriarch of the family was a man named Eddie Lee Sexton. He ran his...
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Black Christmas and The Lipstick Killer
The movie Black Christmas, a cult classic, was inspired in part by a murderer dubbed The Lipstick Killer (because of a message the killer wrote in lipstick on a wall at the crime scene). The Lipstick Killer ended up being blamed for three murders, one of which was very different than the others....
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Headlines of 2023: Shakahola Forest Massacre, Eyedrop Killer, and Nancy Ng
On this episode we talk about three cases that made headlines over the past year. This includes deaths of over 400 people in the Shakahola Forest Massacre in Kenya, the completion of the trial for a woman who killed her friend with eye drops in order to steal more money from her, and the tragic...
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The Murder of Lindsay Hawker
Lindsay Hawker was a beautiful, ambitious young woman working as an English teacher in Tokyo when she caught the eye of a deranged individual who lived in the area. He asked her to give him an English lesson, which she apprehensively agreed to. After telling her roommates she was leaving to meet...
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The Crimmins Children and Little Deaths by Emma Flint
When Alice Crimmins children went missing from their hoe in NYC, she thought her husband may have kidnapped them to spite her. He denied taking the children and offered to come help her find them, before the pair called police. Unfortunately a lack of leads and a lot of misogyny made the police...
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The Murder of Tynisha Ysais by Big Lurch
Alisha Allen rushed over to her friend, Tynisha Ysais’, house after hearing she may have been assaulted earlier in the day. As she approached the complex she noticed a man walking around completely naked and covered in blood. Thankfully she was able to flag down a passing police officer to alert...
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Ruthie Mae McCoy and Candyman
The movie Candyman had many inspirations. It’s believed that one of them was the murder of a woman named Ruthie Mae McCoy - a middle aged lady who lived alone in a unit in Grace Abbott Apartments, the most dangerous building within the dilapidated ABLA housing projects. Ruthie Mae was very close…
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The Bizarre Disappearance of Devin Williams
Thank you so much for being patient with us! I'm so sorry for our unintentional break. We have been moving, and it has taken up all of our time. We should be able to get back on our regular schedule now! Long-haul trucker, Devin Williams, left for his route from Kansas to California like usual.…
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The Knorr Family and The Afflicted
On this episode we discuss the inspiration behind the movie “The Afflicted." Theresa Knorr was a newly single mother of six children who began severely abusing the five children who still lived with her. She isolated her kids and refused to let them go to school, allowing her horrendous abuse to…
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Headlines: Rubi Franke of 8 Passengers and Lucy Letby Sentenced
We've decided to do bonus episodes where we talk about current true crime news in a more informal/conversational style. In this episode we talk about the arrests Rubi Franke of 8 Passengers and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt for child abuse. We also talk about the sentencing of Lucy Letby,...
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Cindy James
Cindy James, a recently-divorced nurse from British Columbia, begins living alone for the first time in her adult life. About a month into her new living situation she begins receiving terrifying calls. The caller starts leaving notes for Cindy, on her car or at her house and his behavior…
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The Murder of Dariusz Janiszewski and The Book That Was Written About It
In 2000 a Polish man named Dariusz Janiszewski was kidnapped, starved, tortured, and murdered. The case quickly went cold and the murderer, Kristin Bala, almost got away with it... until he published a book about it, titled Amok. Bala changed many details in the book, but the similarities seemed...
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Michelina Lewandowska and Regan Jolley
Sometimes life imitates dark art, leading to dire consequences. We discuss two cases of men who perpetrated crimes that imitated scenes from movies and tv shows. The first story is about a case that resembled a scene from Kill Bill Vol. II and the second is about a man who became obsessed with...
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The Rulo Cult
This week we discuss a lesser known cult that brutally tortured, sexually assaulted, and killed some of it's own members. Lead by a man named Michael Ryan, the group was a white supremacist doomsday cult that stockpiled tons of property that they stole from farms throughout the midwest. Michael...
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Folie à Deux and Incantation
Folie à deux, french for "madness of two," is a condition where two or more people share the same delusions. The phenomenon usually occurs between people who are very close to one another, like tight-knit families or siblings. The Taiwanese movie Incantation is supposedly inspired by a family…
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Donald Harvey
After John Powell's death in Drake Hospital, they send his body off for an autopsy. The law in Ohio at the time mandated autopsies for anyone who died from an accident. They thought that John had died from complications related to a motorcycle accident, but the medical examiner realized that was...
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Murder of the Cookes and The Matrix
Tiffany Cooke was on the phone with her father when all of a sudden she heard several popping noises. She stayed on the line hoping her father would come back to the phone, but she was eventually greeted by her brother instead. He told her he had to make another call before abruptly hanging up on...
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Urgent: Carlethia Russell and Bring Chanel Home
This is not a regular episode of Dark Origins. We want to use our platform to help whenever possible, and we know our listeners would care about these cases. You've likely seen the breaking news about the disappearance of Carlethia Russell, which we briefly cover in the beginning. There isn't…
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1972 Andes Plane Crash and Yellowjackets
In 1972 a plane filled with an amateur Rugby team, their friends and family, a woman on her way to her daughter’s wedding, and the flight crew got in a crash in the Andes Mountains. Some passengers passed away in the crash, but others were forced to survive for the next 72 days in the wilderness…
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The Murder of Jodi Jones and Where is She? (The Killers)
On June 30, 2003, fourteen year old Jodi Jones left her house to meet up with her boyfriend, Luke. When Jodi missed her curfew, her mom figured she was still with Luke. After calling him, she found out that Jodi never showed up. They all met up to look for her, and it didn't take long before they...
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Last Call Killer and AHS Season 11
This episode discusses the real inspiration behind the Mai Tai Killer from American Horror Story Season 11. The Last Call Killer, Richard Rogers, is thought to be responsible for the murders of at least four men in NYC, but he was only convicted of two (and he likely committed more than four)....
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The Murder of Suzanne Capper and Child's Play
When Suzanne, a kind and caring sixteen-year-old girl, befriends her old babysitter, things turn dark quickly. The babysitter introduced Suzanne to her friends, who all began bullying her. They took advantage of Suzanne's kindness and her desire for connection. After a big fight, Suzanne left to...
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The Murder of Mary Rogers and Edgar Allen Poe
In this episode, we talk about the murder of Mary Rogers and how it inspired Edgar Allen Poe. Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is widely considered to be the first modern detective novel, spawning a hugely popular genre that still stands strong today. He wrote a sequel called "The Mystery of...
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Alferd Packer, Cannibal! The Musical, and More
*I'm so sorry but we had to reupload due to technical issues. This is the new upload!* In this episode, we dive into the story of Alferd Packer and the five men he killed and cannibalized on an expedition to find gold. We discuss his crimes, capture, and multiple confessions. We also explain the...
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My Experience With Larry Nassar and Law and Order SVU: Chasing Demons
In this episode, we cover the case and trial of Larry Nassar from my perspective as a survivor. There are hundreds of survivors of Nassar, so I am only one of many. Nassar's trial was the inspiration for S19E14 of Law and Order SVU, so we briefly talk about that episode. Hosted on Acast. See...
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Bonus Episode: The Murders of Margarette Eby and Nancy Ludwig
Since this is a bonus episode, we did something a little different than usual. Instead of diving into the inspiration behind a movie, book, etc. we talk about the brutal murders of two beautiful women. One of the women, Margarette Eby, was a music professor who started a city-wide music festival…
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The Murder of Gregory Biggs and Stuck
In this episode, we discuss the horrific murder of a devoted father down on his luck. Gregory Biggs was walking near the road when Chante Mallard was driving while intoxicated. Chante hit Gregory, and instead of getting him medical attention, she made a series of terrible decisions that…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
*We suggest starting with our most recent episodes!*
This podcast delves into the stories that inspired all mediums of art, with a focus on the darker aspects of it all! We’ll talk about the real-life events that influenced popular movies, books, and other pieces of art. Occasionally we’ll cover the opposite, and talk about times that art influenced life.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Gabriela Ralph and Rob Reem
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Dark Origins have?
Dark Origins currently has 55 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Dark Origins about?
*We suggest starting with our most recent episodes!* This podcast delves into the stories that inspired all mediums of art, with a focus on the darker aspects of it all! We’ll talk about the real-life events that influenced popular movies, books, and other pieces of art. Occasionally we’ll cover...
How often does Dark Origins release new episodes?
Dark Origins has 55 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Dark Origins?
You can listen to Dark Origins on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Dark Origins?
Dark Origins is created and hosted by Gabriela Ralph and Rob Reem.
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