July 8, 2025
105. North Carolina's First Serial Killer: The Chilling Confession of Asbury Respus
Recent Episodes
June 25, 2025
104. Burned Alive: The Martyrdom of Graham Staines and His Sons in India
In this gripping true crime episode, we explore the harrowing and heartbreaking story of Graham Staines, an Australian missionary who was burned alive along with his two young sons by a radical mob in Odisha, India, in 1999. Even in the face of horrific violence, forgiveness and faith can speak louder than hate.
May 13, 2025
101. Boy in the Walls: The Daniel LaPlante Horror Story
Show Notes: In 1986, Tina and Karen Bowen were just teenage girls when their mother passed away from cancer. Not long after, strange things started happening in their home. Knocking from inside the walls. Furniture moved. Objects disappeared. Messages scrawled in red across the bedroom walls: 💬 “I’m in your room. Come and find me.” The girls thought maybe—just maybe—it was their mother trying to reach them from beyond. But what they were dealing with wasn’t a ghost. It was a monster. Daniel L...
April 15, 2025
99. A Deadly Obsession: The Murder Of Olga Duncan
📍 Episode Summary: In 1958, 30-year-old nurse Olga Duncan vanished from her Santa Barbara apartment. She was newly married, seven months pregnant, and full of hope for the future. But what no one could’ve imagined was that the person behind her disappearance wasn’t a stranger… it was someone much closer to home. This week on Hard Times & True Crimes, we tell the heartbreaking story of Olga Duncan — and the chilling, manipulative woman who plotted her murder: her mother-in-law, Elizabeth...
March 26, 2025
97. Blood in the Quarter: The 1927 Louisiana Trunk Murders
🎙️ Hard Times & True Crimes Show Notes: In the fall of 1927, New Orleans was buzzin’ with jazz, bootleg liquor, and secrets behind every shuttered window. But nothing prepared the city for what was found inside a quiet little apartment at 715 Ursulines Street. Two women—Theresa Moity and her sister, Leonide Dwyer—were brutally murdered, dismembered, and stuffed into a steamer trunk. Their killer? A jealous, unraveling husband with a butcher’s knife in one hand and a Bible in the oth...
Recent Blog Posts
Aug. 14, 2024
The Tragedy of The Donner Party
On our latest episode we tell about a tragic event in the history of westward expansion. The Donner Party, named for brothers George and Jacob Donner, and included the James Reed family, made some vital mistakes as they took their families across th…
About the Hosts
Melody Gwyn
Melody, married to Tim for over three decades, has spent the bulk of her parenting years homeschooling her five children, while simultaneously working a side hustle or two. She became interested in true crime as a teen after discovering a local author's books at the library. Her love of reading, writing, and murder mysteries converged when she met Darlene and they discovered their mutual desire to produce a podcast telling true crime stories. Since she is the "Type-A" personality in the partnership, she takes care of the filing, back-ups, and techie stuff. This also involves trying to keep Darlene organized and on track while they try out her rather creative and impressive ideas.
Darlene Hildreth
Darlene loves Southern culture, history and a good story! For her fifteenth birthday, her G-pa gifted her an Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. She owes her fascination of psychology, true crime and fear of the dark to him.
Darlene has been married to her husband ( the narrator) for twenty-five years. They have four children together. They've spent the majority of the past twenty-six years homeschooling and learning how to parent. Just as they were getting the parenting thing figured out, three of the four grew up. This year Curtis and Darlene were blessed with two daughters-in-law and their first grand baby.
Darlene is a true-crime podcast fan as well. As much as she loves to hear good stories, she loves to tell them! Hosting and creating this podcast is a dream come true for her.
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