Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast

Charles Van Doren was a brilliant, charismatic Columbia University instructor who became a national celebrity in 1956 by winning on the popular television quiz show Twenty-One. His clean-cut, intellectual charm captivated millions of Americans, landing him on the cover of Time magazine and earning him a lucrative regular commentary spot on NBC’s Today show. However, the triumph turned to scandal in 1959 when a congressional investigation revealed that the show’s producers had systematically rigged the program, providing Van Doren with the answers and scripts in advance to boost viewer ratings.

Collier Landry began a lifelong pursuit of justice following the December 1989 murder of his mother, Noreen Boyle, in Mansfield, Ohio. At just eleven years old, Collier heard the murder take place and later provided the crucial, dramatic courtroom testimony that led to the conviction of his father, Dr. John Boyle

In 2011, Elliot Turner murdered his girlfriend, aspiring New Zealand model Emily Longley, by smothering and strangling her at his parents' home in Bournemouth, England. Driven by an obsessive, controlling need to monitor her social activities, Turner flipped out after falsely suspecting she was seeing other men. Following the murder, his affluent parents, Leigh and Anita Turner, attempted to cover up the crime by destroying their son's written confession letter and removing vital evidence from the scene.

Carlos Rafael, known as "The Codfather," built a massive, vertically integrated commercial fishing empire in New Bedford, Massachusetts, eventually controlling over 25 percent of the region’s groundfish revenue. For decades, Rafael circumvented strict federal overfishing regulations through a prolific fraud scheme known as "painting fish," where his business intentionally misreported hundreds of thousands of pounds of restricted, high-value species like cod and sole as abundant, low-value haddock.

In 2022, Julie Harding, a veteran California Highway Patrol captain, orchestrated a multi-state murder-for-hire plot against her estranged husband, Michael Harding, amidst a bitter divorce. Prosecutors revealed that after uncharacteristically draining money from their shared bank accounts, she hired her romantic partner, Thomas O'Donnell, to assassinate Michael.