Is Joran van der Sloot a psychopath—and could Natalee Holloway and Stephany Flores be only two of his victims?
In 2023, eighteen years after Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba, Joran van der Sloot finally confessed to her murder. But what does his confession reveal about the psychology of a killer?
In this episode of UNMARKED, journalist and filmmaker James Buddy Day examines Joran van der Sloot's own words, breaking down his confession to uncover patterns of manipulation, sexual entitlement, deception, and violence.
From his privileged childhood in Aruba and allegations of drug-facilitated sexual assault to his international travels, suspected involvement in sex trafficking in Thailand, and the murder of Stephany Flores in Peru, we trace the disturbing trajectory of a man who evaded prosecution for years.
Featuring archival interviews with private investigator TJ Ward, who worked on the Natalee Holloway investigation, we examine the evidence, the allegations of corruption surrounding the case, and troubling reports of other possible victims.
Was Joran van der Sloot simply an impulsive, privileged young man whose violence escalated? Or does his behaviour reveal the calculated psychology of a predatory killer whose full history remains unknown?
#truecrime #netflix #nataleeholloway #unmarked #podcast

Research in This Episode:

Abbey A, Jacques-Tiura AJ. Sexual assault perpetrators' tactics: associations with their personal characteristics and aspects of the incident. J Interpers Violence. 2011 Sep;26(14):2866-89.

Show Notes:

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If you want to go deeper into the Charles Manson case, my book Charles Manson: The Last Words documents years researching the story and speaking directly with members of the Manson Family — including Charles Manson himself.

Read it here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7

If you want to follow the cases as I’m working on them, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbuddyday/
For those who want to examine the evidence directly, complete phone calls and documents are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files, our research portal, along with ad-free episodes.
Join here:
https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcast

UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

Was the man at the centre of the Philadelphia serial killer investigation secretly cooperating with federal authorities? And what did investigators know about R.C. Horsch years before seven missing women were linked to his home?

In a stunning development in the Philadelphia serial killer case, newly unsealed federal court records reveal that Raymond "R.C." Horsch provided information to federal prosecutors about child sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and fraud in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.

In 2009, Horsch was arrested twice. First, he was accused of attempting to lure a nine-year-old girl into his vehicle in Kensington, Philadelphia. Just four months later, police raided his home in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, discovering 455 marijuana plants, illegal firearms, and disturbing photographs and videos involving women.

Horsch initially faced a lengthy federal prison sentence. But in 2012, prosecutors negotiated a deal after he supplied information about criminal activity, including crimes against children. Ultimately, he received just four and a half years.

Now, as Philadelphia police and the FBI investigate the disappearances of seven women connected to Horsch's former home on Chew Avenue in Olney, these newly disclosed records raise troubling questions.

What did federal authorities know about Horsch's activities? Why was his information considered valuable? Did anyone connect the evidence recovered in 2009 with the allegations involving vulnerable women in Kensington? And could opportunities to investigate his activities have been missed?

Every Monday, I bring you inside my ongoing investigation of the Philadelphia serial killer case—what I've discovered, what's changed, and what I'm still trying to figure out.

#PhiladelphiaSerialKiller #RCHorsch #Philadelphia #TrueCrime #UNMARKED

What really happens inside the mind of a serial killer? What drives sexual sadism, violent fantasies, and the desire to inflict suffering on another human being?

In this episode of UNMARKED: Case Notes, I'm joined by Matt Murphy, a former Orange County homicide prosecutor who spent nearly three decades prosecuting some of California's most violent offenders.

Together, we take a deep dive into the psychology of serial killers, psychopathy, and sexual sadism, exploring more than a century of research into the darkest aspects of human behaviour.

From Richard von Krafft-Ebing's groundbreaking 1886 work Psychopathia Sexualis to modern theories of psychopathy and sexual homicide, we examine how violent sexual fantasies develop, why some offenders derive pleasure from suffering, and what separates sadistic killers from other violent criminals.

Drawing on Matt's firsthand experience prosecuting murder cases, we explore the relationship between psychology and criminal behaviour—and confront one of the most disturbing questions in forensic psychology: Can we ever truly understand what motivates a sadistic serial killer?

#SerialKillers #Psychopathy #MattMurphy #TrueCrime #ForensicPsychology #UNMARKED

Why did Richard Speck murder eight student nurses in a single night—and what turned an apparently ordinary child into one of America's most notorious mass murderers?

On July 13, 1966, Richard Speck enters a Chicago townhouse occupied by nine young women. Over the next several hours, he murders eight of them. The Richard Speck murders shock America. But the story of what happened that night is only part of the mystery.

In this episode of UNMARKED, I speak with investigative journalist Dennis Breo, co-author of The Crime of the Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation, written alongside Speck's prosecutor, William Martin. Together, we investigate Speck's childhood, the death of his father, allegations of abuse by his stepfather, his escalating violence against women, and the psychological forces that may have shaped his crimes.

We also explore the research of neuroscientist Dr. Kent Kiehl and psychiatrist Benjamin Karpman's theory of two pathways to psychopathy: one associated more strongly with biological vulnerabilities, the other with childhood trauma and environmental influences.

#RichardSpeck #TrueCrime #TedBundy #BryanKohberger #Psychopathy #UNMARKED

Research in This Episode:

Anderson, N. E., & Kiehl, K. A. (2014). Psychopathy: Developmental perspectives and their implications for treatment. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 32(1), 103–117.

Show Notes:

If you want to go deeper into the Charles Manson case, my book Charles Manson: The Last Words documents years researching the story and speaking directly with members of the Manson Family — including Charles Manson himself.

Read it here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ6QRVQ7

If you want to follow the cases as I’m working on them, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbuddyday/

For those who want to examine the evidence directly, complete phone calls and documents are available inside UNMARKED: Case Files, our research portal, along with ad-free episodes.

Join here:
https://www.patreon.com/Unmarked_TrueCrimePodcast

UNMARKED: A True Crime Podcast is hosted by Audioboom.

What connects suspected Philadelphia serial killer R.C. Horsch to a Kensington funeral home involved in the illegal sale of hundreds of human bodies?

This week, my investigation into the Philadelphia serial killer case takes an extraordinary turn. I've been digging into the history of the Garzone Funeral Home, a Philadelphia mortuary connected to one of the most disturbing body-parts trafficking scandals in American history.

In 2004, the Garzone operation began supplying human remains to Biomedical Tissue Services, a company that harvested and sold bones and tissue for medical use. According to court records, at least 244 bodies were supplied without the knowledge or consent of their families, generating more than $245,000 for the funeral-home operators.

And here's where the story takes an unexpected turn.

R.C. Horsch reportedly had access to a crematorium associated with the Garzone operation, allegedly paying an employee with drugs and cash so he could photograph and film human remains. Horsch was never charged in the body-parts scandal, but the connection raises new questions about his activities in Kensington.

Every Monday, I bring you inside my ongoing investigation of the Philadelphia serial killer case—what I've discovered, what has changed, and what I'm still trying to figure out.