On August 10th 1991, Danny Casolaro was found dead in a hotel bathtub. A journalist, he had been investigating a series of scandals that stemmed, he believed, from the alleged theft by the US Justice Department of a piece of software called PROMIS that could be used to create spyware. Danny was found with his wrists slashed. Did he kill himself or was he murdered? Factual America catches up with Zachary Treitz and Christian Hansen, director and co-executive producer respectively of a new Netflix docu-series, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, to discuss how they retraced Danny’s footsteps in an attempt to uncover the truth of what happened to him.

In 2015, Denise Huskins was kidnapped and sexually assaulted before being freed two days later. Until her return, her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, was accused of her murder. Afterwards, the couple were accused of committing a hoax, in what the media dubbed the “Gone Girl” case. In this episode of Factual America, Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris, co-directors of American Nightmare, a new Netflix docu-series about Denise and Aaron’s experience, discuss what happened both on the night and when the police refused to believe the couple. They reflect on the making of the series, explore the opportunity for change it provides, and make an unexpected connection with another very/not so different documentary.

The Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force was created to fight crime. Instead its officers became criminals. In I Got A Monster, director Kevin Abrams explores how their reign of terror was finally ended by the FBI and a defence attorney named Ivan Bates. In his discussion with Matthew Sherwood, Abrams explores what happened, his interviews with the officers’ victims, and what it was like filming with minimal resources. Kevin also pays tribute to Baltimore’s beauty and brings an unexpected guest onto the podcast!

Winter 1957-58. America is gripped by news of a killing spree taking place in the Midwestern states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The killers are 19 year old Charlie Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. After being captured, both are put on trial. Charlie is executed and Caril sent to prison. The 12th Victim, a new docu-series from Showtime, investigates Caril’s role in the murders. As director Nicola Marsh tells Matthew Sherwood, it finds that she had none. Not only was she not even Charlie’s girlfriend, but he forced her to accompany him as he killed the victims. Caril is therefore the 12th victim. Convicted unjustly in the past, and searching for justice in the present.

In the four-part docu-series, Spector, Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott examine what happened on the night in 2003 when musical icon Phil Spector murdered Lana Clarkson. They explore both Spector’s and Clarkson’s lives, bringing to life two people many would be tempted to dismiss as merely a monster and victim.

Bernie Madoff was ‘a financial serial killer’. For years he ploughed investors’ money into a huge Ponzi scheme for the benefit only of himself and his allies. When it collapsed in 2008, Madoff lost billions and lives were ruined. In the new Netflix docu-series, Bernie Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street, director Joe Berlinger shows how it all happened. The series is a drama, an indictment, and a warning to investors: Don’t ignore red flags. Protect your money.

Netflix's true crime documentary 'Girl in the Picture' tells the tragic tale of Sharon Marshall's mysterious life and death.

'Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey' tells the story of FLDS, an extremist religious cult led by Warren Jeffs, convicted of crimes against children.

'The Invisible Pilot' (2022) is an HBO Max 3-part docuseries about an Arkansas pilot whose mysterious death turns into a stranger-than-fiction tale.

The Phantom (2021) by Patrick Forbes, shines a new light on the case of Carlos DeLuna, executed by The State of Texas in 1989.

White Boy (2017) covers the tragic circumstances surrounding Richard Wershe Jr's over 30-year incarceration for a nonviolent offence.

Netflx true-crime docuseries 'Murder Among the Mormons' (2021) looks at how a forger turned into a killer in the Mormon community.