WTOP’s American Nightmare Series
True Crime
“WTOP’s American Nightmare Series” is a podcast covering true crime stories in the Washington D.C. region. Season 3, "Unknown Subject": For 9 years, he terrorized women across the DC region. Breaking into homes and raping his victims before killing a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998. And then, it all stopped. Had he died? Was he locked up? Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject” for years. A man whose DNA linked him to multiple crime scenes but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For nearly three decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots. Season 2, “Murder in a Safe Place," investigates the vicious rape and murder of 50-year-old nurse Sherry Crandell inside the DC-area hospital where she worked. Her murder has mystified not only the police, but her family and the community for the past two decades. Police have DNA evidence and fingerprints - even a witness to the attack - but no suspect. In “Murder in a Safe Place,” veteran DC reporter Paul Wagner tells a story that, by the final episode, will have you thinking there may be a chance for justice after all. Season 1, “22 Hours: An American Nightmare,” hosted by WTOP award-winning reporters Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore was named the No. 2 Podcast of the Year by The Associated Press and was listed among Apple Podcasts’ Most Popular New Shows of 2019. “22 Hours: An American Nightmare” chronicles the case that became known nationwide as the “DC Mansion Murders” – the horrific killing of a DC power couple, their 10-year-old son, and housekeeper – in a way no one has covered it before.
Location:
United States
Genres:
True Crime
Description:
“WTOP’s American Nightmare Series” is a podcast covering true crime stories in the Washington D.C. region. Season 3, "Unknown Subject": For 9 years, he terrorized women across the DC region. Breaking into homes and raping his victims before killing a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998. And then, it all stopped. Had he died? Was he locked up? Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject” for years. A man whose DNA linked him to multiple crime scenes but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For nearly three decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots. Season 2, “Murder in a Safe Place," investigates the vicious rape and murder of 50-year-old nurse Sherry Crandell inside the DC-area hospital where she worked. Her murder has mystified not only the police, but her family and the community for the past two decades. Police have DNA evidence and fingerprints - even a witness to the attack - but no suspect. In “Murder in a Safe Place,” veteran DC reporter Paul Wagner tells a story that, by the final episode, will have you thinking there may be a chance for justice after all. Season 1, “22 Hours: An American Nightmare,” hosted by WTOP award-winning reporters Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore was named the No. 2 Podcast of the Year by The Associated Press and was listed among Apple Podcasts’ Most Popular New Shows of 2019. “22 Hours: An American Nightmare” chronicles the case that became known nationwide as the “DC Mansion Murders” – the horrific killing of a DC power couple, their 10-year-old son, and housekeeper – in a way no one has covered it before.
Language:
English
Episodes
S3 EP9 - Final Chapter
12/20/2022
31 years after the Potomac River Rapist attacked his first victim, the detectives who solved the case are telling their story exclusively to WTOP American Nightmare Series Host Paul Wagner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:52:20
S1 E14: Appeal Denied
12/19/2022
The D.C. Court of Appeals has denied Daron Wint a retrial in his quadruple murder conviction. Hosts Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore sit down to talk about the three-judge panel's decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:14:11
S3 EP8 - Breaking News
11/22/2022
Host Paul Wagner brings listeners a huge update about Giles Warrick that changes the course of...everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:04:01
S3 EP 7 - Consciousness of Guilt
11/15/2022
When Giles Warrick is questioned by police in the hours after his arrest, the 60-year-old tells them he doesn't know how his DNA turned up at 10 different crime scenes in DC and Maryland. But, what will police find when they search his South Carolina home? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:01:01:00
S3 EP6 - Unmasked
11/8/2022
In November 2019, detectives from Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., make their way to Conway, South Carolina, where investigators are certain they will find their "unknown subject." They head to a ranch house on a rural country road where a 60-year-old man is living with his girlfriend. But, what will they find when they knock on the door? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:45:36
S3 EP 5 - Going Down the Rabbit Hole
11/1/2022
By 2018, investigators had tired of waiting for another DNA cold hit and decided to hand the case to a cop named 'Smugs.' A young Montgomery County police officer who had already used genealogy to solve several high profile rape and murder cases. Crimes that had stumped detectives for years. Could 'Smugs' be the one to finally give a name to the Unknown Subject? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:51:03
S3 EP4 - A Cold Hit
10/25/2022
As the nineties turned into Y2K Detectives Dean Combee and Joe Mudano were still trying to solve their cases. Years of investigating had gotten them nowhere until the FBI called with stunning news. DNA from all of the attacks had been linked to one man. A fact that floored the veteran investigators who never saw it coming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:52:34
Presenting Gone South Season 2: The Dixie Mafia
10/24/2022
Welcome to Season Two of Gone South, the Edward R. Murrow-Award winning documentary podcast from C13Originals. Starting in the early sixties, a rag-tag confederation of traveling criminals known as The Dixie Mafia terrorized every state from Georgia to Oklahoma. Its hundreds of members, unofficially headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi, specialized in scams, heists and murder. Their ringleader — the estranged son of a prominent Oklahoma politician — was a skilled and charismatic outlaw named Kirksey Nix. When Nix was sentenced to life in prison at Angola for a murder he committed in New Orleans, The Dixie Mafia was thought to be extinct. But fifteen years later, a sitting criminal court judge named Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret, a mayoral candidate for the city of Biloxi, were assassinated. As the case ran cold, authorities were forced to confront a disturbing reality: the reign of Kirksey Nix and The Dixie Mafia was far from over. Gone South is a creation and production of Peabody-nominated C13Originals, a Cadence13 studio, in association with Jed and Tom Lipinski.
Duration:00:03:21
S3 EP 3 - The Case That Wouldn't Break
10/18/2022
In the early to mid nineties, Montgomery County Police Detective Joe Mudano knew he had a ruthless rapist preying on women but he had no idea who he was. DNA linked a number of cases, but a clear description remained elusive. More maddening for Mudano was the fact the Unknown Subject seemed to have inside information. But how? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:47:24
S3 - E2 - Kelly's Story
10/11/2022
Seven years before Christine Mirzayan was murdered in Georgetown, a man cut the phone lines to a house miles outside the city and raped a teenage baby sitter. The first in a string of similar attacks spread out over several years. Kelly survived that awful night and in this episode tells her harrowing story. A crime that was nothing like the murder in Georgetown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:41:14
S3 EP1 - A Murder In Georgetown
10/4/2022
In the summer of 1998, a brilliant scientist walking home from a party is grabbed off the street and killed. Her body is found the next day in a wooded area just steps from the Georgetown University campus. It was a gruesome scene. DC Police had no witnesses and no suspects, but they did have a valuable clue: a key piece of evidence the killer left behind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 EP 6 - The Link
9/27/2022
Ten months after Prince George's County Police Detective Bernie Nelson began using genealogy to track Sherry Crandell's killer through his relatives - the research continues on a promising family tree. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:58:19
Trailer: Season 3- Unknown Subject
9/20/2022
For 9 years, he terrorized women across the DC region. Breaking into homes and raping his victims before killing a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998. And then, it all stopped. Was he dead? Locked up? Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject” for years. A man whose DNA linked him to multiple crime scenes, but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:01:33
S2 EP5 - A Break in the Case
9/20/2022
Prince George's County Police Detective Bernie Nelson turns to genealogy after seeing another Maryland cold case solved after 28 years. Can the murder of Sherry Crandell be solved the same way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:55:37
S2-E4 The War Room
9/13/2022
In the days after Sherry Crandell was viciously raped and murdered in January 1998, the police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, set up what they called a ‘war room’ to manage a complex and intense investigation. A probe that uncovered shocking details about security on the 40-acre hospital campus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:50:50
S2 EP3 - The Dragnet
9/6/2022
With no one in custody and no prime suspects, Prince George's County police devise a plan to get DNA from the hundreds of men working at Prince George's Hospital Center. A tactic that would turn highly controversial and put the police on the defensive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:58:24
S2 E2 - The Investigation
8/30/2022
As Prince George's County Police detectives investigate the murder of nurse Sherry Crandell, they learn of a witness to the attack. A fact police kept deep in their files for 23 years and are revealing for the first time on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:01:02:49
S2 E1 - The Murder
8/23/2022
In 1998, a nurse was found brutally raped and strangled in the Maryland hospital where she worked. Despite DNA evidence and a fingerprint of the killer left behind at the scene, the case remains unsolved 23 years later. But, could newly uncovered information finally bring justice for Sherry Crandell? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:54:28
Bonus: The Party
4/27/2021
Liking Final Days on Earth? Head over to the show page to hear the rest of this episode and to subscribe so you don't miss another! It’s Saturday night and dozens of students are partying at the unofficial wrestler’s house off campus. Around 11 p.m., wrestler Dammion Heard starts a fight with cross country runner Anthony Rios. It’s revealed that Anthony had recently started dating Dammion’s ex-girlfriend. When wrestling captain Kyle Piatt hears about the fight, he gets physical with Dammion...
Duration:00:14:41
Bonus: Who Is Dammion Heard?
4/20/2021
Bonus Final Days on Earth Episode: Dammion Heard is a 20-year-old college freshman on a wrestling scholarship at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado. After a party at a friend’s house on Saturday, March 29, 2014, Dammion goes missing. Who is Dammion Heard and what was he doing in the final days of his life?
Duration:00:29:02