Latest news with #truecrime
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
My serial killer dad stopped horrific sex attack to call & wish me happy birthday…then sent me X-rated letters from jail
EVERY family has a secret, but none so dark as Donna Carr's. For almost 50 years she has tried to hide the fact that her dad was a serial killer, rapist and paedophile. 15 15 15 Robert Frederick Carr III was arrested in 1976 for raping a hitchhiker - and then shocked detectives by confessing to four rapes and murders, and six further rapes. He'd kept his first victim, a 16-year-old girl, captive in a forest for 10 days, raping her throughout before finally strangling her. He also picked up two 11-year-old boys who were hitchhiking, raped them, strangled one and killed the other four days later. During one of his sickening sex attacks, evil Carr told his victim that he had to stop so he could find a payphone to call Donna to wish her a happy birthday. Donna was just 12 years old when his twisted crimes - nearly all of which involved children under the age of 18 - were exposed, and along with her mother and younger brother, she was vilified in her local community. They were forced to live their lives in the shadow of their father's horrifying crimes, bearing the stigma of being the children of a sadistic killer. When teenage Donna refused to go and see her father in prison, sickeningly this led Carr to send sexually explicit letters to his own daughter from his cell. He died in prison of prostate cancer, aged 63, and after years of hiding her family's devastating secret, Donna decided to bring it out into the open in the hope of making peace with her heritage. Donna, from West Virginia, says: 'That is the secret I have been keeping my entire life and it has affected every aspect of my life. "I honestly feel like it is time for me to move past this. It happened when I was 12 and I am now 60 and I am tired of it hanging over my head. 'I honestly think that there are some mental illnesses that you are born with. I honestly do believe that some people are just born evil -and I think my father was one of those people.' The Dull Truth About Serial Killers In the years before he was caught, Carr - a TV repairman and car salesman - was constantly on the move, trying to out-run his evil crimes. For most of Donna's childhood she lived out of her father's car as he moved the family from state to state. He kept them under tight control, subjecting her mother to horrific abuse and making sure they never stayed in one place long enough to put down roots. 'The memories with my father, there are very few that are good,' she recalls. 'They were mostly bad. He always had an underlying anger about him... when I was 12 my dad was actually caught in the process of a rape and he was arrested, and that was when he decided to tell them that he had murdered four people, raped and murdered them. 'When he had one of his victims he told her he had to stop and find a payphone to call me for my birthday, and I remember that phone call. I honestly think that there are some mental illnesses that you are born with. I honestly do believe that some people are just born evil - and I think my father was one of those people Donna Carr 'I've always felt horrible for what he did. It bothered me for a very long time, when this came out I was no more than 13 years old and it had been all over the national news. 'For years I was afraid of sharing my story and that is because my father was still alive in prison. He is dead now. "One of the reasons this became such a family secret is because every time I shared the information, immediately I no longer mattered. It became about what he had done, and so I stopped talking about it.' 'Long line of bad men' 15 15 15 15 Thirty years ago Donna decided to begin searching her family history in the hope she would find someone good from her ancestry to help her put to bed the horrors of her father. Donna, who is married to husband Jim and has a 27-year-old daughter, Hailey, says: 'Family means everything to me. "I started doing family history research because I wanted to find somebody in my family who was good, who was a little bit better along the Carr family line, because my father is a serial killer.' She adds: 'I just think that to know that not everybody in that line of family was bad... that at some point in time there was somebody I could've looked up to.' But Donna had her work cut out, coming from a "long line of not very good men". Her grandfather spent time in prison for a grand-theft auto charge. But her 10-year search also led her to a man she suspected was her great-great-grandfather, Nicholas Carr. Donna hoped that he would be the kind, family man she longed for in her family's history. I started doing family history research because I wanted to find somebody in my family who was good, who was a little bit better along the Carr family line, because my father is a serial killer Donna Carr But there were two Nicholas Carrs - so a new documentary for Acorn TV, called Relative Secrets with Jane Seymour, sent British archaeologist Natasha Billson to the US to help Donna uncover her family's past. Natasha explains: 'I think Donna found comfort in looking at the genealogy, trying to find someone who was relatively good in all the other male figures of her family line. She had been doing it for 30 years. "She had folders and folders of all the information she had collated over that time. She was just trying to find an answer. "It took her 10 years to find Nicholas Carr, but there were two of them and she couldn't find which one was her ancestor, which is where we came in. 'She was carrying that surname and it was tainted by all these abusive men.' 15 Natasha's team of experts uncovered that the Nicholas Carr who matched her family tree had travelled alone from Ireland, where he was born, to New York by ship in 1853, just after the end of the potato famine. As Donna's DNA revealed she had very few ancestors left, they believed Nicholas fled Ireland after losing his entire family to the famine. But that wasn't the end of his tragedy, In 1866 he had an altercation with a neighbour that ended in bloodshed and Nicholas Carr spent a year in prison in 1867 for manslaughter. Donna says: 'Hearing that is a little gut-wrenching. The last thing I wanted to find in my family history was another person that was a murderer.' Reformed character But unlike many prisoners at that time, Nicholas didn't attempt a prison escape, even when his young daughter died. He stayed and served his sentence - and tried to atone for his crime in the most unusual way. Natasha says: 'He stopped the other prisoners trying to escape. And he made a record of all the prisoners which he gave to the police. Prison records were not well-kept at the time.' A letter from the local sheriff was published in the local newspaper declaring: 'We are indebted to Mr Nicholas Carr for a list of prisoners confined in the county jail since last 24 October with the nature of their crimes.' Natasha says: 'Courage and honour. Like Donna, Nicholas was brave enough to confront his past.' Despite his conviction for manslaughter, he became Detective Carr and opened up his own detective agency, the first of its kind in Wilmington where he lived. And Natasha's team found more than 100 newspaper articles detailing how Nicholas Carr went on to help people. Natasha says: 'There are so many - a child went missing, within two weeks he found her. A young lad who wanted to go to Ireland to meet his family. He went to buy a ticket and was scammed of his money. "What did Nicholas Carr do? He went and found who scammed the young man and got the money back and got him on the ship to go to Ireland. He has gone above and beyond for his community. 'There is respect associated with his name, and we see it built up over a decade. We can see his determination and perseverance for justice, wanting to help his community.' Robert Frederick Carr III's crimes ON May 30, 1976, Carr was caught by police while he was raping a hitchhiker at knifepoint. On his arrest he shocked detectives by confessing to four murders, explaining the crimes in detail. Tammy Ruth Huntley, 16, vanished while waiting for her mother to pick her up. Carr drove her from Miami to Mississippi. On April 7, 1972, after raping her over the 10 days he kept her captive in the woods, he strangled her, saying, "I killed her because she looked like she was getting despondent.' In late 1972 Carr visited Florida, and on November 13 that year he picked up 11-year-old friends Todd Payton and Mark Wilson, who were hitchhiking from North Miami Beach. The inside back doors in the car were disabled and the boot was filled with food, jars of petroleum jelly, and a shovel. Carr raped the boys and strangled Payton. Four days later he strangled Wilson. In 1973, Carr was convicted of rape in Connecticut and sentenced to four to eight years in prison, but was paroled in 1976, after serving less than three years. Upon his release in Connecticut, he would kill his fourth and final victim, 21-year-old Rhonda Holloway, before burying her body in a rural area. Carr confessed that after Tammy Huntley's murder he raped an additional four girls and two boys. Only four were reported, for which he was charged and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison for the rapes and murders. He died of prostate cancer in prison in 2006. David Simmons, the detective who arrested Carr, said: "In my 33-year career in law enforcement, Carr ranks as the most dangerous child sexual predator-murderer I ever investigated." A tearful Donna says: 'A developing city needed him. Not bad for a hungry boy from Ireland. "I needed this. I do have a father and what he did is horrific. But I didn't do it. 'I have had to out-run this my entire life, so learning about Nicholas and finding out what kind of person he was is just amazing to me. "I know he is the good one in the family line. He was a human and he was part of the community and loved. 'I believe I am drawing closer, learning to deal with emotions. Letting it out for the first time in my life has been therapeutic and difficult, but good.' Natasha adds: 'It is hard enough to read about it, let alone speak to someone who is the daughter of a serial killer, and that being her defining phrase that has always gone with her, she can't escape it. 'I just had so much respect for Donna, that she was able to live through that, overcome it, and also see that it was not normal, and break the cycle, make her own path - and also to tell others that if you have been through trauma, you can get through it.' Relative Secrets with Jane Seymour is streaming now on Acorn TV. 15 15 15
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why the Karen Read murder trial caused such a frenzy
Hundreds of people wearing pink outfits waited with bated breath outside a Massachusetts court on Wednesday to hear the verdict in the Karen Read trial. As Ms Read was found not guilty of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe in January 2022, they erupted in cheers. A fervent TikTok following and multiple documentaries fuelled the obsession with the true-crime cause celebre. Some saw the case as the result of a flawed criminal justice system. Other trial-watchers, especially women, said they saw themselves in the accused. Outside court, Ms Read's supporters were often conspicuous by their pink attire - her favourite colour. Each time she came in and out of the building, her adoring fans would extend their index, little finger and thumb - American Sign Language for "I love you". Ms Read and her attorneys would do the same. Beyond the call to "Free Karen Read" - a slogan many supporters pressed into T-shirts or daubed on signs - those in the crowd seemed to relate to her. "It could be me," Patti Lima, who decided to start coming to court last week, told CBS, the BBC's US news partner. "I would have done everything she did. Exact same thing." Robin Burns, another woman in the crowd, told CBS she brought both her daughters for parts of the two trials. Ms Burns said: "I really believe there's a lot of corruption here and I believe it runs deep. And I've got three girls, and this could be one of my kids." The first proceedings against Ms Read collapsed in July 2024 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The prosecution said Ms Read ran over Mr O'Keefe and left him to die in a snowbank outside his colleague's house following a night of drinking. Ms Read argued she was framed by the police for murder. The frenzy stems from Ms Read's circumstances, Shira Diner, a Boston University law lecturer, told the BBC. "The public doesn't have a lot of opportunity to see white women of means being charged with serious crimes and be put through the criminal legal process," she said. Statistically, as few as 10% of homicide offenders in the US are female, according to FBI data. But Prof Diner said there is a more important reason why people are fascinated with the case - because Ms Read has "created a narrative and a story around herself and around her experience that is really impactful and really effective". Unlike many who face murder charges in the US, Ms Read - a financial analyst - was able to post $50,000 (£37,000) bail to stay out of custody while her trial proceeded. "Most people who are charged with second-degree murder are held on a very high bail, and so while their trial is pending, they can't do 60 Minutes [a CBS show] interviews and they can't talk to their fans," Prof Diner said. "They can't engage with a narrative in the way she has been able to do, because she was able to post her bail." Eric Schiffer, a public relations expert and CEO of Reputation Management Consultants, told the BBC that Ms Read's story "blends every dopamine trigger - small-town cops, alleged cover-up, influencer sleuths". He noted that her father had thanked "content providers" after her not-guilty verdict, underlining the role that social media, as well as documentarians and podcast hosts, have had on how his daughter was perceived in the public eye. "This case proves crisis messaging today isn't about press releases - it's about Reddit flair mods and who controls the subreddit sidebar narrative," said Mr Schiffer, referring to the popular social media forum where a subreddit named JusticeforKarenRead amassed nearly 20,000 members. As the verdict in the second trial was read on Tuesday, screams from the crowd outside could be heard in court. And when Ms Read walked out a free woman, she thanked the cheering throng for their years of support. "I just want to say two things," she said. "Number one is I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially, and more importantly emotionally for almost four years. "The second thing I want to say is no-one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have, than I have and my team." The O'Keefe family left court without comment. Karen Read found not guilty of murder of her police officer boyfriend What to know about Karen Read's second murder trial
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Mortician review – so queasy it will stay with you for ever
The smart thing about comparing something to The Jinx is that you're essentially daring viewers to stick with you until the very end. After all, as good as The Jinx was, it didn't reach legendary status until its final few moments, when notorious murder suspect Robert Durst paused an interview with his microphone still on, and muttered a confession while using the toilet. The Mortician, it has to be said, is pound for pound more staggering than The Jinx. Joshua Rofé's three-part documentary about California cremator David Sconce is a feat of construction, patiently doling out larger and larger transgressions until the whole thing becomes swamped in unimaginable horror. It's the kind of documentary where, when the credits roll, you realise that you haven't drawn breath for several minutes. As with most true crime documentaries, Sconce's case is a known one. Perhaps you watched it unfold at the time, or perhaps you like to spend your time trawling the darker corners of Wikipedia. This is the downfall of many products of this ilk; they're flashy retellings that add very little of value. The Mortician is not that. The Lamb Funeral Home scandal made enough of a splash to have inspired more than one novel, and yet The Mortician deserves to go down as the definitive version. On some level, it's the story of a very efficient businessman. As the figure in charge of Pasadena crematorium Lamb Funeral Home, David Sconce was determined to undercut his rivals. He would perform long round-trips around mortuaries in his rundown van, collecting bodies, burning them and returning them for the low, low price of $55. But cremations are slow. It takes from two to three hours to burn a body and let the remains cool enough to safely gather them. So Sconce started burning a few at a time. And then more and more, breaking bones to cram as many as he could into his incinerator. In barely any time at all the business went from performing 194 cremations a year to 8,173, handing bereaved relatives urns scooped from bins brimming with the mixed ashes of countless different people. Incredibly, it only gets worse from there. To reveal too much would be to spoil the cascade of monstrosities that follow, but it makes for extremely queasy viewing. The thefts, the desecration, the complete detachment between the human life that ended and the wholesale scavenging that followed. It is unbelievably dark. At the centre of it all is Sconce himself. Met by the documentary crew outside jail, where he had just finished serving a 10-year sentence, Sconce is a weirdly charismatic presence. Described by one talking head as 'Richie Cunningham' from Happy Days, he has a big, open, all-American face, and golly-gees his way through much of his interviews despite the atrocities laid at his feet. At best, he defends his actions with a cold logic – 'People have got to be more in control of their emotions,' he says at one point of the appalled bereaved; 'That's not your loved one any more' – but at worst there's a showboating bravado, as if he can't get enough of his own performance. And this is ultimately what gets him. The Mortician has received so many comparisons to The Jinx because of how it ends. During an unguarded moment when he believes the camera is no longer running, Sconce appears to admit to something awful. It's left vague, since there's nothing as concrete as Durst muttering that he 'killed them all', but it's still enough for Rofé to publicly encourage renewed investigation. However, while the climax will grab all the headlines, the journey is just as important. The Mortician isn't only about one grim individual who did horrendous things to thousands of corpses; it's about the dehumanising effects of unfettered capitalism and our own relationship to death. In the cold light of day, how should we treat the people we love once they are gone? Is the dignity we afford their bodies purely ceremonial? Do they simply become matter to be disposed of by whatever means necessary? It is a harrowing journey to get to the end of the programme – the faint of heart should be warned that the series includes talk of concentration camps, infants, organ harvesting and something nefariously referred to as 'popping chops' – but it's worth it. The Mortician is so much more than a gussied-up Wikipedia page. It's something that is unlikely to ever leave you. The Mortician is on Sky and Now in the UK. In the US, it airs on HBO and Max. In Australia, it airs on Max
Fox News
3 days ago
- Fox News
ICE director responds to NYC mayoral candidate arrest: ‘We can't have anyone interfering with our ICE operations'
All times eastern The Evening Edit with Elizabeth Macdonald FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Awaiting verdict in Karen Read's murder retrial as jury deliberates
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PodcastOne (PODC) Renews Existing Exclusive Rights and Distribution Agreement with A+E Networks, Partnership Launched in 2017
Podcasts Renewed Are Cold Case Files, I Survived, American Justice, City Confidential and Ancient Aliens Total Combined Downloads Across All Five Podcasts Tops 160 Million LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PodcastOne (NASDAQ: PODC), a leading publisher and podcast sales network, announced today that it has extended its agreement with A+E Networks for the exclusive sales and distribution rights to five popular true crime podcasts; Cold Case Files, I Survived, American Justice, City Confidential and Ancient Aliens. Through PodcastOne's PodcastOne Pro division, the company is able to transform podcast ideas into thriving on-air productions. PodcastOne Pro's ability to market and promote podcasts across PodcastOne's existing network programming gives built-in tools for key growth within the medium. With support from PodcastOne, traditional linear television productions can be adapted into full-fledged standalone podcast episodes to complement television broadcasts and become a vital tool for content and audience awareness. 'Whether it is a limited series or a weekly production, we provide premiere podcasting services for companies and networks who have been hesitant or lack the internal resources to adapt existing programming into a podcast. By leveraging our strong infrastructure and expert technology within the medium, we can offer tailored services to bridge the gap between television and the world's fastest growing media platform, podcasting,' said Kit Gray, President and Co-Founder of PodcastOne. Since launching the relationship with A+E in 2017 with one podcast, PodcastOne has grown the roster of partnered shows to five, for 160 million combined downloads. Each podcast augments A+E Networks' linear broadcasts of the origin television shows. Show descriptions: Cold Case Files Based on the iconic, Emmy-nominated series on A&E, this show explores some of the most difficult-to-solve murders, which stymied investigators and went cold, sometimes for decades. In fact, one-third of all murders in America remain open. But thanks to dogged investigators and breakthroughs in forensic technology, these cases become part of the rare 1% of cold cases that are ever solved. Cold Case Files is hosted by Paula Barros. I Survived What is it like to face death and make it out alive? Based on the groundbreaking A&E television series, I Survived documents harrowing stories of human endurance. In their own words, survivors recall how they overcame unbelievable circumstances that changed their lives forever. American Justice A look at groundbreaking criminal cases, presenting viewers with an inside look at the case through the eyes of those directly involved, ranging from law enforcement officers to the victims. City Confidential City Confidential features real life stories in a wide variety of American cities. While many of these stories deal with murder, some also deal with attempted murder, and public officials caught in compromising situations, among other things. The cities featured vary widely in size, from the smallest village to the largest urban areas. Ancient Aliens Taken from the television show of the same name, The History Channel's Ancient Aliens explores the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years. From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode in this hit series gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age-old debate. 'PodcastOne is proud of our decade long relationship with A+E Networks and that we've been able to grow one podcast, Cold Case Files which is now celebrating its 8th year in production, into a partnership that now includes five podcasts across the networks' top programming. Our listeners and advertising partners know that A+E's podcasts are trusted, top notch entertainment and we're looking forward to many years of having these podcasts on our network,' said Gray. PodcastOne's full roster of top ranked podcasts includes programming across top genres such as news, comedy, true crime, sports and society and culture and includes shows such as The Jordan Harbinger Show, Karma and Chaos, The Adam Carolla Show, Stassi, Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe, LadyGang, Gals on the Go, The Prosecutors, Court Junkie, Pop Apologists and Varnamtown. PodcastOne shows are available through PodcastOne, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Amazon and wherever podcasts are heard. About PodcastOnePodcastOne (NASDAQ: PODC) is a leading podcast platform that provides creators and advertisers with a comprehensive 360-degree solution in sales, marketing, public relations, production, and distribution. PodcastOne has surpassed 3.9 billion total downloads with a community of 200 top podcasters, including Adam Carolla, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Jordan Harbinger, LadyGang, A&E's Cold Case Files, and Varnamtown. PodcastOne has built a distribution network reaching over 1 billion monthly impressions across all channels, including YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio. PodcastOne is also the parent company of PodcastOne Pro which offers fully customizable production packages for brands, professionals, or hobbyists. For more information, visit and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X at @podcastone. Forward-Looking StatementsAll statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are 'forward-looking statements,' which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'will likely result,' 'would,' 'should,' 'estimate,' 'plan,' 'project,' 'forecast,' 'intend,' 'expect,' 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'seek,' 'continue,' 'target' or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: LiveOne's reliance on its largest OEM customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; LiveOne's and PodcastOne's ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, merger, distribution or other transaction, the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; PodcastOne's ability to continue as a going concern; PodcastOne's ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its listeners; PodcastOne identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; LiveOne's intent to repurchase shares of its and/or PodcastOne's common stock from time to time under LiveOne's announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; LiveOne's ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; PodcastOne successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management's relationships with industry stakeholders; LiveOne's ability to extend and/or refinance its indebtedness and/or repay its indebtedness when due; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings and/or PodcastOne's and/or LiveOne's ability to pay any amounts due in connection with any such legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of PodcastOne, LiveOne and/or LiveOne's other subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in PodcastOne's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on July 1, 2024, PodcastOne's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 14, 2025, and in PodcastOne's other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and PodcastOne disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. PodcastOne intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Press Contacts: 310.246.4600Susan@ in to access your portfolio
