COLDEST CASES

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY - PART ONE

1567 Scotland: an explosion rocks a church campus near the heart of Edinburgh. The King of Scotland was sleeping inside. The "investigation", the trial, and the aftermath leave more questions than answers.

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY - PART TWO

A young widow, Mary Queen of Scots sets out to find her second husband - and it nearly causes a war in Europe. A murder that happened 11 months before Darnley's sets off a chain reaction of conspiracies.

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY -PART THREE

Mary gives birth. A plot to get rid of the King of Scotland is put in motion. Darnley decides to make a run for it.

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY - PART FOUR

A hopeless Mary Queen of Scots heads into her third wedding, then makes a daring escape. A conference is put together to look into her guilt in the murder of her second husband, Lord Darnley. Some of the characters in this story meet a violent end.

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY - PART FIVE

The final episode on Lord Darnley’s murder. Queen Elizabeth wrestles with what to do with her Scottish cousin. Mary has some ideas of her own. How her story ends, plus a look at all the theories surrounding the murder of Lord Darnley.

THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY - DISCUSSION

Hear feedback from listeners on the murder of Lord Darnley. Jack & Lar join Lauren in this episode to discuss the case & hear a preview of what’s next on Coldest Cases.

THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE

20 years before Jamestown and John Smith became known as the first English settlement in the New World, a different group of English men, women and children tried to set roots in present-day North Carolina… twice. Both attempts ended in disaster, with one settlement disappearing completely.

THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF THELMA TODD

December 16, 1935. Hollywood actress Thelma Todd is found dead in her 1932 Lincoln Phaeton in a garage outside of Los Angeles. Although it seems to be a clear-cut case of carbon monoxide poisoning, some threatening letters sent to people who saw Thelma the day before her death opens the door to a fresh investigation. However, no clear answers would come, and today the actress’ cause of death is still listed as “unknown”.

GRIGORI RASPUTIN - PART ONE

December 16, 1916. A self-proclaimed holy man.. & devoted, dear friend to Russia’s Tsar & Tsarina is lured to a palace cellar in St Petersburg. It was there Rasputin was murdered… but how he died has been up for debate for decades.

GRIGORI RASPUTIN - PART TWO

Rasputin met Russia’s Tsar & Tsarina in late 1905, after a tumultuous year for the country. Despite protests from the government, the church & the people, Nicholas & Alexandra continued to give this Siberian peasant more access to the Royal Palace & Court. Part Two looks into why & how Rasputin’s influence was able to stretch as far as it did… & why Nicholas & Alexandra continued to ignore the warnings that no good would come from the situation.

GRIGORI RASPUTIN - PART THREE

Just weeks after Rasputin’s murder, Russia’s Tsar Nicholas abdicated and his family ended up under house arrest. 18 months later, the entire family was murdered in the basement of Ipatiev House in cold blood. So… is there any truth to Alexandra’s claims that Rasputin was a Holy Man sent to protect her family? Lauren explores fact and fiction in Part Three on Grigori Rasputin.

GRIGORI RASPUTIN - PART FOUR

Felix Yusupov comes up with a plan to murder Rasputin and enlists the help of several others. However, even today we don’t know how exactly Rasputin’s death came about. Lauren dives into the dramatic finish to Rasputin’s story. The dramatic end to Rasputin’s story, plus why a mysterious situation in Berlin in 1920 led to decades of rumors about some of the Romanovs surviving their grisly demise.

THE PARIS POISON AFFAIR - PART ONE

July 17th, 1676. A noblewoman named Madame de Brinvilliers is executed after confessing to poisoning her father and brothers, as well as attempting to poison her husband. However, her death at the guillotine marks just the beginning of a decade-long investigation involving accusations of poison, witchcraft, devil worshipping, and murder against hundreds of Paris’ nobility.

THE PARIS POISON AFFAIR - PART TWO

Three years after the case of Madame de Brinvilliers, a noblewoman named Madame de Poulallion is accused of poisoning her husband so she could be with her lover. While investigating the case, Paris’ lieutenant general of police Nicolas de la Reynie uncovers two suspects who may have helped Poulallion… and at least three other women… take purposeful steps towards widowhood. From arsenic-laced frogs to “love potions,” Part Two on the Paris Poison Affair is not an episode you want to miss.

THE PARIS POISON AFFAIR - PART THREE

The web of poison plots in Paris grows. At least four noblewomen are accused of poisoning or attempting to poison their husbands. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General of Police Nicolas de la Reynie uncovers an unsettling plot against the King as part of the investigation.

THE PARIS POISON AFFAIR - PART FOUR

At least of two Louis the Fourteenth’s mistresses, Madame de Montespan, are implicated in the Paris Poison Affair. The King orders his Lieutenant General of Police to keep the investigation quiet. But soon, the list of suspects grows to more than 400 people, leaving Nicolas de la Reynie with some very tough choices.

THE PARIS POISON AFFAIR - PART FIVE

Louis XIV takes dramatic steps to end the Paris Poison Affair.. and burns some of the evidence. More than a century later, though, the scandalous secret of Louis’ nobility was rediscovered by chance. Part Five includes the dramatic end to this investigation, plus Lauren sifts through fact & fiction.

THE OSAGE REIGN OF TERROR - PART ONE

The suspicious deaths started cropping up slowly in Osage County, Oklahoma around 1921. Members of the Osage Native American tribe were dying of “wasting diseases” or “drink”... while their loved ones weren’t convinced. Soon, the deaths became more brazen, with people being shoved off moving trains or thrown in front of cars. Although it took years for anyone in power to believe them, the Osage tribe knew exactly what was going on. There could be no denying it or chalking it up to coincidence: They were being purposefully targeted… and it seemed like no government official. police officer or lawyer was willing or able to help.

THE OSAGE REIGN OF TERROR - PART TWO

As the federal investigation into the Osage murders grows, FBI agent Tom White is able to find a motive. Plus, a new suspect emerges in the murder of Anna Brown… one the entire community was not expecting.

THE OSAGE REIGN OF TERROR - PART THREE

In the dramatic conclusion to the Osage Reign of Terror, Lauren dives in to the trials against William Hale and others accused of taking part in a disturbing “Osage murder for hire” plot. However, despite the year-long FBI investigation, many cases still remain unsolved today.

WAS KING TUTAKAMEN MURDERED?

Join Lauren and dive into the oldest case ever done on Coldest Cases! Was Ancient Egypt’s most famous pharaoh murdered? King Tutenkamen died when he was around 18 years old. The tomb, the circumstances, a letter, a ring & an X-ray all suggest something sinister might have befallen the young pharaoh.

IVAN THE TERRIBLE - PART ONE

November 15, 1581. Russia’s first Tsar, Ivan IV Vasileyvich, snaps suddenly and murders his own son, the 27-year-old heir to the throne. Well before this violent & random crime, Ivan was already becoming known by his nickname: Ivan the Terrible. Today the question remains: was he just a violent man or was he truly mad? Lauren explores the mystery in Part One of Three on Ivan the Terrible.

IVAN THE TERRIBLE - PART TWO

On Part Two of Ivan the Terrible on Coldest Cases, Lauren dives into Ivan’s childhood, as well as the events that led up to his brutal, violent behavior as Russia’s first Tsar. Plus, find out how Ivan’s conspiring boyars reacted when Ivan decided to abdicate the throne in 1564.

IVAN THE TERRIBLE - PART THREE

Ivan’s paranoia reaches a breaking point, and he decides to slaughter an entire city for “treason”. Plus, the Tsar goes through more than five marriages, while the Russian Orthodox Church refuses to get involved out of fear. Listen to Part Three now to hear the dramatic end to the life of Ivan the Terrible, plus why some historians believe there’s more we don’t know about Russia’s mysterious first Tsar.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AGATHA CHRISTIE - PART ONE

December 4, 1926: Guildford, Surrey, England. A car is found abandoned in treacherous terrain. The driver, a 36-year-old woman, is now missing. Police soon learn this isn’t your typical investigation as the missing woman is a well-known crime and mystery writer. Join Lauren for Part One of Two on the Disappearance of Agatha Christie!

THE BURNED LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA - PART ONE

In 1905, the new King of England, Edward the Seventh, was blackmailed. If he didn’t pay an undisclosed amount of money, 300 letters from his late mother Queen Victoria would be released to the public. After paying up, Edward promptly lit the documents on fire. And surprisingly, this was not the first (or last) time one of Victoria’s children destroyed documents belonging to their mother. What in the world was the family trying to hide?

THE BURNED LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA - PART TWO

After the death of her husband, Queen Victoria disappeared from the public spotlight for YEARS. Rumors of insanity and abdication started to grow. When she finally made a reappearance, the public was incensed to learn that the Queen had been spending a lot of her time away with a mysterious Scotsman named John Brown.

THE BURNED LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA - PART THREE

From 1840 to 1882, Queen Victoria managed to survive SEVEN assassination attempts. Lauren dives into these crazy stories, plus another brush with death the Queen had as a teenager, in our final chapter on the Burned Letters of Queen Victoria.

THE YUBA COUNTY FIVE

February 24, 1978. Five young men disappear after attending a basketball game at California State University Chico. In this Coldest Cases listener suggestion, Lauren dives into the tragic case and mystery of the Yuba County Five.