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True Crime Couple

True Crime Couple

By: True Crime Couple
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Join married couple Kay and John as they cover some of the lesser known true crime cases. In this bi-weekly podcast, Kay presents the case to both the audience and John at the same time, so they can react together. We pride ourselves on the research we conduct and the respect we show to victims. We hope you enjoy! Biographies & Memoirs Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • Episode 227: Joel Kirkpatrick | Screams in the Night
    Mar 22 2026

    Two screams pierced the silent, unseasonably warm and windy night of October 13, 1997 in Lawrenceville, Illinois. The first, was that of 10 year old Joel Kirkpatrick as he desperately sought help against the person who had entered his room in the black of night and had attacked him with a knife. The second scream was that of his mother’s as she ran to her neighbors house and pounded on their door desperately seeking help. She begged for them to open up. “They’ve got Joel”, she bellowed into the closed door, “They took Joel.”

    Once the shock of what had happened settled, and the years went on the question that lingered was whether or not the person that hurt Joel was the least likeliest suspect or the dangerous stranger that had rolled into town with that warm wind.

    Trigger warning: violence against a child

    Sources:
    https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/news/bloodstain-pattern-analysis-another-subjective-science-convicting-innocent-people/
    https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/2004/06/26/court-overturns-rea-convictio/118184118/
    https://www.uis.edu/illinoisinnocenceproject/julie-rea
    https://nationalpublicdata.com/people/r/julie-rea/tn/martin/pd06p1qslq5zi0nmlilw2zf05nyb8p17/
    https://www.illinoistimes.com/news/who-killed-joel-11440266/
    https://www.propublica.org/article/bloodstain-pattern-analysis-jury-wrongful-conviction-acquitted-exonerated
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/84706396/?terms=Joel%20Kirkpatrick
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/84742918/?match=1&terms=Joel%20Kirkpatrick
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/84769767/?match=1&terms=Joel%20Kirkpatrick
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/84769827/?terms=Joel%20Kirkpatrick
    https://www.illinoistimes.com/news/who-killed-joel-11440266/
    https://www.facebook.com/ABC2020/videos/julie-rea-recalls-what-happened-night-her-son-was-killed-2020-goodnight-mother/854470515223652/
    https://wwws.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/documents/nulawreporterwparticle.pdf
    Through the Window: The Terrifying True Story of Cross-Country Killer Tommy Lynn Sells by Diane Fanning

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    1 hr and 48 mins
  • Episode 226: The Shakespearean Tragedy of the Robards Family
    Mar 9 2026

    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, guilt does not stay buried. It festers beneath crowns and costumes, slipping through rehearsed smiles and whispered prayers. A kingdom rots from the inside, not because of the murder alone, but because of the secret that follows it, heavy and impossible to silence. “O, my offence is rank,” King Claudius confesses, discovering that even a throne cannot shield a poisoned conscience. In the bedroom of a teenager, centuries later, those same words would land a little too close to home.

    In this case we will explore a modern tragedy shaped by Shakespearean shadows: ambition without a crown, desperation without a dagger, and a confession that would echo far beyond the pages of a play. Because sometimes the most dangerous poison isn’t poured into a cup, it’s carried in the heart, waiting for its moment to speak.

    Sources
    https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/poisoning-daddy/
    https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/hamlet/read/3/3/
    https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/sigald/243671
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/644815133/?terms=Marie%20Robards
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/823666883/?match=1&terms=Marie%20Robards
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/644815129/?match=1&terms=Marie%20Robards
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/646308983/?match=1&terms=Marie%20Robards

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    1 hr and 45 mins
  • Episode 225: The Murder of Seath Jackson
    Feb 23 2026

    In today’s case a similar situation to the one we covered in Episode 224 arose in central Florida in the Spring of 2011, but this time with a 21st century twist. The teens exhibited the same type of behavior we saw in 1965 in Tucson but this time social media was present to fan the flames of an all too familiar fire caused by jealous, and hierarchical, high-conformity behavior…and just like last time someone would lose their life. Join me as I tell John the case of Seath Jackson.

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    Sources:
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1557636/#:~:text=Rather%20than%20a%20sense%20of,Steinberg%20&%20Silverberg%2C%201986).
    https://psychcentral.com/lib/click-or-clique-positive-and-negative-teen-social-groups#:~:text=Members%20are%20discouraged%20from%20being,are%20valued%20for%20their%20individuality.&text=Natural%20leaders%20may%20emerge%20but,t%20find%20mutually%20trusting%20relationships.
    https://www.marionschools.net/parents__students__and_community/parents/Student_Enrollment/your_zoned_school
    https://www.circuit5.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/soto-sentencing-5-30-12.pdf
    https://www.ocala.com/story/news/crime/2012/09/05/man-charged-as-accessory-in-seath-murder-case-ruled-incompetent/64312725007/
    https://pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/offenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=U46099&TypeSearch=AI
    https://www.ocala.com/story/news/crime/2018/03/20/guilty-plea-to-accessory-in-murder-of-seath-jackson/12948232007/
    https://www.ocala.com/story/news/crime/2020/06/17/charlie-ely-wins-freedom/42153993/
    https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2011/04/21/facebook-posts-show-troubled-relationship-before-murder/64298523007/
    https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/state/2016/02/23/amber-wright-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-a-second-time-for-summerfield-murder/31892000007/
    https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1866390.html#footnote_ref_2
    "Seath Jackson - Sleeping With a Killer (Season 1, Episode 12)". Apple TV. 2021. Retrieved February, 2026.

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    1 hr and 44 mins
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Great podcast! I enjoy listening to the story and the thinking through the case as you go through the case.

Great podcast!

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Love listening to these guys just be a normal married couple. Very similar to my husband and myself. Feel like we all know each other!! 🥰🥰🥰

Great

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love this podcast. listening to you guys is so entertaining. I've shared your podcast with all my friends. ❤️

best true crime podcast (in my opinion)

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I love listening to this podcast. I started last April when I started working 3rd shift. The crazy good stories get me through the night. I’ve now listened so much that I have to wait for a new episode each week. I don’t mind the wait though!

I look forward to your stories

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I listen to several true crime podcasts and true crime. couple is by far my favorite. I love kay's voice and accent and the way that she tells the stories- always respectful of the victims but keeps things interesting all the way through.

fun couple!

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