Claim OwnershipRay William Johnson: True Story Podcast
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The Official Podcast of Ray William Johnson, storyteller and comedian. Tune in for the best stories of True Crime and Pop Culture.
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The Costa Concordia disaster occurred on January 13, 2012, when the Italian cruise ship struck a rock off the coast of Isola del Giglio and partially capsized, resulting in the deaths of 32 people. The ship, carrying over 4,200 passengers and crew, deviated from its planned course in a maneuver known as a “salute,” allegedly to impress people onshore. Captain Francesco Schettino was heavily criticized for abandoning ship during the evacuation and was later convicted of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his post, receiving a 16-year prison sentence.
Nathaniel Walter Radimak, infamously dubbed the “Tesla road rage guy,” launched a series of violent attacks across Southern California between 2022 and 2023—smashing cars with a metal pipe, stalking drivers, making criminal threats, and assaulting vulnerable targets including an elderly woman and multiple motorists
Robert Downey Jr.’s career is one of Hollywood’s most dramatic redemption arcs. Bursting onto the scene in the 1980s as a gifted and charismatic actor, he gained critical acclaim for roles in films like Chaplin, even earning an Oscar nomination. But behind the scenes, his life spiraled out of control due to a well-documented battle with drug addiction, leading to arrests, rehab stints, and being uninsurable by studios. For a time, it seemed his career was over. But against the odds, Downey rebuilt his life and reputation, culminating in a triumphant return when he was cast as Tony Stark in Iron Man . That role not only reignited his career but helped launch the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, cementing him as one of the most beloved and bankable stars in the world.
The true story of how Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction led to the creation of Youtube
20-year-old British model Chloe Ayling traveled to Milan for what she believed was a legitimate photoshoot, only to be shoved into a duffle bag, and transported 120 miles to a secluded farmhouse near Turin Italy. Her abductor, Lukasz Herba—claiming to work for a fictitious dark web syndicate called "Black Death"—threatened to auction her as a slave unless a ransom was paid
Former Army counterintelligence officer Larry Bill Elliott of Hanover, Maryland, carried out a brutal double homicide at a Woodbridge townhouse—fatally shooting 30-year-old Robert Finch and 25-year-old Dana Thrall, the latter capital-murdered after being pistol-whipped—with police and prosecutors asserting that Elliott’s obsessive jealousy over Finch’s ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Gragg, drove the crime.
Brian “Liver King” Johnson rose to prominence in the early 2020s as a social media fitness influencer who promoted an extreme “ancestral lifestyle”—emphasizing raw organ meats like liver, rugged workouts, and rejecting modern conveniences, amassing millions of followers and building a supplement empire . In late 2022, leaked emails revealed Johnson secretly spent over $11,000 monthly on performance-enhancing drugs, contradicting his decades of claims that his physique was all-natural . He later threatened podcast host Joe Rogan.
Stella Nickell, a former airport screener from Washington state, was convicted in May 1988 of deliberately tampering with Excedrin capsules by lacing them with cyanide, causing the deaths of her husband, Bruce, and an unsuspecting woman, Sue Snow.
In the early morning of July 31, 2022, 17‑year‑old Mackenzie Shirilla drove her Toyota Camry at approximately 100 mph into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, killing her 20‑year‑old boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and a 19‑year‑old friend, Davion Flanagan. Prosecutors argued that Shirilla accelerated deliberately—evidenced by event‑data‑recorder data showing full pedal depression and no attempt to stop—and had threatened to crash previously amid a tumultuous relationship
Chinese real-estate developer Tan Youhui hired a hitman named Xi Guangan to murder his business rival, Wei, offering him 2 million yuan following a lawsuit against Tan’s company . Xi subcontracted the job to Mo Tianxiang, who further passed it to Yang Kangsheng, and then to Yang Guangsheng, finally ending up with Ling Xiansi—each reducing the fee, until Ling agreed for just 100,000 yuan but balked at killing Wei and instead staged the hit with Wei’s cooperation.
In May 1995, a disgruntled and mentally unstable Army veteran named Shawn Nelson stole a 57-ton M60A3 Patton tank from a National Guard armory in San Diego, California, and went on a 23-minute destructive rampage through city streets. Nelson, a 35-year-old unemployed plumber battling personal and financial troubles, used the tank to crush cars, fire hydrants, traffic lights, and utility poles—causing widespread panic and blackouts.
Project X Haren unfolded on September 21, 2012, in Haren, a small town in northern Netherlands, when a 16‑year‑old girl accidentally set her birthday party invitation to "public" on Facebook—sparking viral spread to over 24,000 invited and 6,000 RSVPs within days
Goo Hara was a South Korean singer and actress who rose to fame as a member of the K-pop girl group Kara in 2008, later embarking on a successful solo career in Japan . Despite professional success, she endured relentless online harassment, a traumatic breakup in which her ex-boyfriend assaulted her and threatened to release intimate videos, and battled mental health struggles.
Hunter Moore—infamously dubbed “the most hated man on the Internet”—founded IsAnyoneUp dot com in 2010, a notorious revenge porn site where he posted explicit images of individuals in intimate situations without their consent, often alongside personal details, calling himself a “professional life ruiner”. He even paid hackers to break into victims’ email accounts to obtain private photos. After a high-profile battle led by targets like Charlotte Laws—whose daughter’s photo appeared on the site—the FBI closed in, the site was sold in April 2012, and Moore was eventually indicted
In December 1970, Roy Spencer—father of NHL player Brian “Spinner” Spencer—drove 135 kilometers from Fort St. James to a CBC-affiliate station in Prince George, British Columbia, furious that the station had switched from airing his son’s hockey game to a Vancouver Canucks match. Armed with a 9 mm pistol, Spencer stormed the building, holding staff and on-air talent hostage for over an hour. Demanding the Maple Leafs broadcast be restored or the station silenced, he even disabled phone and studio lines.
Anne Perry—born Juliet Hulme—became infamous in 1954 at just 15 when, alongside her close friend Pauline Parker, she brutally murdered Parker’s mother, Honorah, in Christchurch, New Zealand, bludgeoning her with a brick wrapped in a stocking as part of a plan to avoid being separated from her friend. Convicted in August of that year, the teens each served five years in prison. After her release, Hulme reinvented herself as Anne Perry, moving to the UK and becoming a bestselling author of historical crime fiction under her new identity. Her secret past remained hidden until the 1994 release of Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures
In late 2011, San Diego mother Kathy Rowe became consumed by resentment after losing a bidding war for a “dream home” in Carmel Valley, California, to a younger couple—Jerry Rice and Janice Ruhter. In reaction, Rowe launched a disturbing harassment campaign.
Terry Martin, a 76-year-old former criminal from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, confessed in 2023 to breaking into the Judy Garland Museum in 2005, smashing a display case with a hammer, and stealing an authentic pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Believing the items were real rubies, he intended to sell them through a criminal fence—but soon discovered the gems were merely glass and sequins and abandoned the shoes days later.
In August 2022, Ohio sheriff’s deputies carried out a forceful and destructive raid on rapper Afroman’s home in Adams County—though no charges were filed after finding no substantial evidence of drugs or kidnapping. In response, Afroman—real name Joseph Foreman—churned the raid footage into music tracks and videos, including “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door,” using the visuals as commentary on his experience.
Dane Cook’s half-brother, Darryl McCauley—who had also been serving as his business manager—admitted to embezzling millions from Cook’s company between 2004 and 2008, siphoning off funds into his personal accounts, including writing a $3 million check to himself
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