- Betrayed: The Murder of Jared Whaley
On October 26, 2003, a 911 call led police to a dry lakebed near Boulder City, Nevada – roughly 25 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. There, they discovered the unearthed remains of a brutalized human body.
Disturbing aspects of the crime scene immediately led investigators to conclude that the victim had not been the target of random violence. This had been a well-planned execution.
It would be over 4 months before the remains would be identified as those of Jared Whaley, a Las Vegas high school student who’d been reported missing just 10 days before he was found in a shallow grave in the desert.
For this special episode of the podcast, series creators Jeff Walker and Meagan & Anthony Smith sit down for a conversation about the murder of Jared Whaley as well as the investigation into the killing, and the trial of the group of Jared's friends who were accused of the murder. Meagan also describes her experience of having to testify at the preliminary hearing leading up to the trial and her involvement in the case.
To learn about the murder of Jared Whaley and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E10 - 1h 2m - Dec 24, 2024 - Big Top: The Circus Circus Heist - Part 2
To this day, the 1993 Circus Circus Casino heist in Las Vegas remains one of the most remarkable criminal escapades in U.S. History.
Over $3 million was stolen from an armoured truck in broad daylight, and the heist was carried out so smoothly that it took hours for anyone to realize a crime had even occurred. And while the planning and execution of the robbery itself was impressive, what happened AFTER the heist is equally as impressive.
To learn about the robbery at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E9 - 26m - Nov 26, 2024 - Big Top: The Circus Circus Heist - Part 1
In the early hours of October 1, 1993, a quiet but daring heist unfolded on the Las Vegas Strip.
What began as an ordinary day at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino turned into a high-stakes mystery that would take years to unravel, forever changing the way casinos approached their security.
In a heist that seemed straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, over $3 million in cash was stolen from an armoured truck without a single alarm being raised or a single shot being fired. It wasn’t until hours later that anyone realized the money was gone—and so were the culprits.
To learn about the robbery at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E8 - 19m - Nov 19, 2024 - From Dream To Drama: The Story of the Fabulous Flamingo
The Las Vegas Strip has its fair share of iconic hotels & resorts, perhaps none of which are more steeped in history & folklore than The Flamingo.
Part of the Vegas landscape since the mid-1940’s…it was the brainchild of a Los Angeles-based night club owner, restaurant owner and entertainment news publisher who wanted to build one of the most luxurious hotels & casinos Las Vegas had ever seen.
But that’s not what legend & pop culture would have you believe...
To learn more about the history of the Flamingo, the murder of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E7 - 36m - Nov 12, 2024 - Ransom: The Kidnapping of Kevyn Wynn
It was the summer of 1993 when Las Vegas casino mogul, Steve Wynn, was thrust into a nightmare that few people could ever imagine.
In a brazen late-night plot that seemed to come straight out of a Hollywood thriller, Wynn’s daughter had been kidnapped…abducted from her own home and held hostage by two men, who were now demanding that wynn hand over a huge ransom.
But this wasn’t just a simple ransom demand. The kidnappers were watching – or so they claimed. Every move was carefully calculated, every phone call laced with threats.
To learn about the kidnapping of Kevyn Wynn and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E5 - 22m - Nov 5, 2024 - An Urge To Kill: The Zane Floyd Massacre
It’s June 3, 1999…early morning, sometime around 5 am in a quiet neighborhood roughly a mile from the Las Vegas Strip.
Walking through this serene scene is a young man in his early twenties, draped in a camouflage shirt, sporting black pants and boots. In his hands, a pump-action shotgun loaded to maximum capacity. In his pockets are more shells…ready to be used. A total of nineteen shells in all.
The man’s name is Zane Floyd, and on this early summer morning, he plans to use those ninteen shells to kill the first nineteen people he encounters.
And as a resident of this neighbourhood, he already knows exactly where his first stop will be.
To learn about the story of Zane Floyd and other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2E5 - 23m - Oct 29, 2024 - Cold War Murder: The Russians Are Coming
As the early 1980’s rolled around, the cold war between the United States and Russia was well into its third decade and tensions between these global superpowers were steadily mounting.
As newly elected U.S. President Ronald Reagan promised to take an aggressive stance against the Soviets, Russian troops secretly invaded Afghanistan and the USSR faced an international backlash over their human rights violations.
It was amidst this backdrop, that an elderly las vegas couple known for their outspoken views against the soviet union were found murdered in their home under circumstances straight out of a spy thriller…
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy17m - Oct 22, 2024 - ICU: Death Angels and Dead Pools
In the spring of 1980, headlines across the united states screamed out, “ANGEL OF DEATH!”
These sensational stories centered around 32-year-old Jani Adams, a nurse working the graveyard shift in a Las Vegas Intensive Care Unit. These articles about the so-called “Death Angel” carried a distinctly Vegas twist – word was, this nurse was running a hospital “dead pool”, placing wagers on when patients would die.
But how did a mild-mannered nurse - who described herself being “shy as a mouse” - end up in the national spotlight for allegedly murdering her patients?
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy20m - Oct 15, 2024 - Final Act: A Jazz Man's Last Tune
On a late-spring night in 1955, the Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas was coming alive with the promise of breaking down racial barriers. But as the city revelled in the excitement, a dark mystery was unfolding.
On May 25, 1955, renowned jazz saxophonist, Wardell Gray, who had been scheduled to be a part of the opening night entertainment at the Moulin Rouge, was found dead…his body discarded in the desert, his death shrouded in mystery.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy18m - Oct 8, 2024 - 10.1.17: Terror on the Las Vegas Strip
October 1st, 2017…it’s a date burned into the memories of Las Vegas locals and people around the world.
It was on that day that from his high suite in a nearby hotel, a lone gunman focused his rage on a crowd of country music concert-goers. This turned the normally-festive Las Vegas Strip into a scene of unimaginable terror, and the site of the worst mass-shooting in modern U.S. history.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS2 - 39m - Oct 1, 2024 - Bootleggers and Bandits: The Wild Side of Prohibition in Vegas
BONUS EPISODE
With the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Federal Volstead Act, liquor was, by and large, made illegal across the United States starting in 1920 – including in the tiny newly-formed desert town of Las Vegas.
This immediately created a lucrative black market for the illicit sale of alcohol, and along with it came an explosion of violent crime as competing rackets fought for control of this new underground market.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy22m - Sep 1, 2024 - Boom Town: Blowing Up Las Vegas
BONUS EPISODE
Thousands of bombs have gone off across the United States over the course of the 20th & 21st centuries for every reason…from the personal, to the political, to the financial.
And through its short history, the city of Las Vegas has not been spared from the threat of criminal bombings.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy26m - Aug 1, 2024 - Chasing the Darkness: The Serial Killers of Las Vegas
BONUS EPISODE
The term "serial killer" originated in the 1970s and was coined to describe individuals who commit a series of murders, typically with a cooling-off period between each crime.
The FBI formally defined "serial murder" in the 1980s, highlighting the repetitive nature of the killings and the psychological motivation behind them.
The term has since become widely used in criminology and pop culture to categorize and understand this specific type of criminal behavior…
…a criminal behavior from which Las Vegas has not been spared.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy34m - Jul 1, 2024 - Shattered Vows - A War Bride's Revenge
Las Vegas resident, Frank Waters survived his service with the U.S. military in Europe during World War II.
But only a year after the war's end, the consequences of Frank's actions overseas followed him thousands of miles back to the middle of the Mojave Desert, ultimately leading to a series of events that would end with Frank's murder and a trial that made international headlines.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E10 - 25m - Mar 4, 2024 - Disposable Lives - Trafficking and Murder Under The Desert Sun
In the spring of 1996, a trio of bodies were discovered in the desert just outside of Las Vegas. Initially believed to be victims of sex trafficking, the case remained unsolved for over a decade, demonstrating a troubling proposition:
Three people can be murdered in a major American city, with little more than a passing mention in the local press and zero potential suspects.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E9 - 34m - Feb 26, 2024 - Til Death Do Us Part - Murder In The Divorce Capital Of The World
Nevada offers the same lax residency requirements to obtain divorce today as it did nearly 100 years ago; a person only has to live in the state for six weeks before being eligible to for a divorce.
But not too long after Nevada gained a reputation as the place to go for a quickie divorce, Las Vegas was the scene of a brutal public murder on the steps of a law office in a tale involving domestic violence, the death of a child, and a desperate insanity plea to avoid the gas chamber.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E8 - 26m - Feb 19, 2024 - Deadly Negotiations - The Explosive Murder of Bill Coulthard
It's one of the most high-profile murders in the history of Las Vegas.
On a scorching hot 115 degree summer day, a former FBI agent & prominent attorney left his office in downtown Las Vegas and made his way to the third floor parking garage.
Bill Coulthard climbing into the car, cracked the window, started the ignition, and THAT'S when it happened...
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E7 - 21m - Feb 12, 2024 - Standing Up For Free Speech - McCarthy vs. Greenspun
In 1950's Las Vegas, the most powerful newspaper owner in the city went on trial for publishing an editorial that Federal Prosecutors alleged was intended to incite the assassination of an extremely controversial U.S. Senator.
The resulting court case was a national sensation, involving intrigue at the highest levels of the government and a concerted effort to defeat the destructive political involvement in the ruthless pursuit of "the Red Menace".
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E6 - 19m - Feb 5, 2024 - Restaurant Wars - The Murder of Al Bramlet
In the 1970's Las Vegas was the site of bombings & murders...but not ALL of this mayhem was linked to the mafia.
In the fall of 1975, a labor dispute between the Culinary Union and several off-strip restaurants escalated into violence. This ultimately resulted in the head of the Culinary Union, Al Bramlet, learning a very valuable lesson:
No matter what, ALWAYS pay your hitman.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E5 - 22m - Jan 29, 2024 - Kidnapping A Gangster's Son - The Attempted Abduction of Ted Binion
The trial surrounding the 1998 alleged murder of a casino heir was one of the most sensational cases in Las Vegas history, garnering national attention.
But decades before tales of jilted lovers, underground vaults in the desert, and a man rapidly squandering his wealth on a wild lifestyle, Ted Binion was at the center of another Las Vegas crime plot.
To learn about other true crime tales from the darker side of Las Vegas history, visit Mayhem In The Desert.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS1E4 - 25m - Jan 22, 2024
