Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

Maximilian Schmidt is a German cybercriminal who, at age 18, single-handedly ran a multi-million-euro international drug empire named "Shiny Flakes" from his childhood bedroom. Over 14 months, he sold roughly one ton of illegal narcotics worldwide using his website and standard postal services.

Suzane von Richthofen is the mastermind behind the murder of her wealthy parents on October 31, 2002. Then an 18-year-old law student, Suzane conspired with her boyfriend, Daniel Cravinhos, and his brother, Christian, to bludgeon Manfred and Marísia von Richthofen to death in their São Paulo home while they slept.

Joe Conforte operated several illicit brothels before successfully lobbying for the state's first legal brothel license at his famous Mustang Ranch in 1971. His career was defined by high-stakes battles with the government, including a stint in prison for extortion and a scandalous association with the shooting death of boxer Oscar Bonavena on his property. Facing mounting federal indictments for tax evasion and racketeering, Conforte fled to Brazil in 1991, where he lived as a fugitive until his death in 2019, successfully avoiding extradition for nearly three decades.

The eBay stalking scandal was a bizarre and criminal harassment campaign orchestrated in 2019 by company employees against Ina and David Steiner, authors of the newsletter EcommerceBytes, in retaliation for their critical reporting. Led by eBay’s security team, the harassment included sending terrifying packages—such as a bloody pig mask, live insects, and a funeral wreath—to the couple’s home, alongside physical surveillance and public Craigslist posts inviting strangers to their property.

Juliana Peres Magalhães, a Brazilian former au pair, was a central figure in a sensational 2023 double-murder case in Northern Virginia, where she participated in a plot with her employer and lover, Brendan Banfield, to kill his wife, Christine Banfield. The pair orchestrated an elaborate scheme using a fetish website to lure a stranger, Joseph Ryan, to the family's home, where they fatally shot and stabbed him and Christine while attempting to stage the scene as a home invasion.