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For several weeks, 56-year-old Wilhelmina Kruger was unable to shake the feeling she was being watched. Her anxiety became so strong that on the night of January 29 1966, she had her partner drive her to her shift at the Piccadilly Centre in Wollongong, where she worked as a cleaner. It turned out Wilhelmina’s suspicions were right. The following morning, her mutilated body was found at the bottom of the basement stairs in what was considered one of the most brutal attacks in New South Wales history.

On September 15 1878, three teenage boys were tending to cattle in the woods near Silver Lake in Staten Island when they discovered a wooden barrel sticking out of the mud. Excited about the potential treasure that lay within, they frantically dug at the barrel with sticks.

On the morning of January 24 1987, nine-year-old Eric Coy hopped on his bike to make the one-mile journey to his cousin Eddrick’s house in the Northern Californian town of Martinez. The two boys were best friends and it was a trip Eric had made countless times before. Eager to get there as quick as he could, Eric took a shortcut.

On June 1 1960, Sydney resident Bazil Thorne received a phone call informing that he’d just won one hundred thousand pounds in a Sydney Opera House Lottery. Bazil couldn’t believe his ears – he’d never won anything of significance before.

[Part 1 of 3] Pennsylvania State University student Ross Ulbricht had been fascinated with mathematics and science from a young age. During his college years, he developed a new fascination with libertarianism, a political philosophy that values individual freedom above all else. For Ross, this became more of an interest – it became a way of life.

[Part 2 of 3] As The Silk Road continued to expand, problems started piling up for Ross Ulbricht, AKA The Dread Pirate Roberts. With business booming and concerns that law enforcement were lurking on the site, Ulbricht created an emergency ‘To Do List’ in case he ever came under real danger of getting caught. It read: ‘Encrypt and backup important files on laptop to memory stick; destroy laptop’s hard drive and hide/dispose; destroy phone and hide/dispose; find place to live on Craigslist for cash and create new identity.’

[Part 3 of 3] The investigation into The Silk Road and Ross Ulbricht heats to boiling point as Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI hone in on their suspect. Will Ulbricht’s attempts to create a new identity pay off and will his emergency plans succeed?

The evening of July 6, 1993, was a typical one for Mia Zapata. The 27-year-old was a staple of Seattle’s music scene, having fronted punk rock band The Gits since the group’s inception in Ohio in 1986. She spent the night at a live music venue, The Comet Tavern, before visiting a friend at their apartment. --- Opening poem titled; ‘Slaughter of Bruce’, written by Mia Zapata.

During the Iraq War, four members of the Janabi Family were found brutally massacred in their farmhouse in the rural village of Yusufiyah. 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi had been violently raped and the family’s home had been set on fire.

16-year-old Rayna Rison was a devoted animal lover who dreamed of one day becoming a veterinarian. On March 26 1993, she arranged to meet her ex-boyfriend Matt Elser at the animal hospital where she worked part-time in the small Northern Indiana city of LaPorte. But when Matt arrived to pick Rayna up, the lights were off in the building and she was nowhere to be seen.

Bonus interview with Vikki Petraitis – author of the book "The Phillip Island Murder"

Around midday on August 28 2003, 46-year-old delivery driver Brian Wells clocked in for his usual lunchtime shift at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria in Erie, Pennsylvania. At 1:30 PM, he was called to deliver two pizzas at an address at the end of a dirt road on Peach Street.

50-year-old Maria Korp was a devoted mother of two, so when she went missing from her Mickleham home in Melbourne’s north in February of 2009, it was clear that she hadn’t left on her own accord.

This is an update on the Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman case in Case 03 (23.04.18).

This is an important update on the EAR-ONS/Golden State Killer case in Case 53 (25.04.18).

In 2007, 28-year-old Chantelle McDougall told her family she was moving to Brazil for spiritual purposes, along with her daughter Leela, partner Simon Kadwell, and friend Tony Popic. The group packed up their farmhouse in the small Western Australian town of Nannup and vanished, but there was no evidence to confirm they ever left the country.

[Part 1 of 2] On October 5 1975, April Molseed sent her 11-year-old daughter Lesley Molseed to the nearby corner store in Rochdale to buy a loaf of bread. Hours later, she still hadn’t returned. Fears quickly escalated when it was discovered that Lesley never made it to the shop at all.

[Part 2 of 2] With Stefan Kiszko behind bars for the murder of Lesley Molseed, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester police were commended for their exceptional work in bringing the child killer to justice. The people of Rochdale once again felt safe knowing that the monster had been locked away… or so it seemed.

When 18-year-old Canadian High School student Tom Brown failed to return home by his midnight curfew on Thanksgiving of 2016, his mother Penny immediately knew something was wrong. It wasn’t like Tom to stay out late or not respond to text messages.

When FBI agents received word that online hackers had cracked their way into the dark web and uncovered an Albanian murder-for-hire organisation known as the Besa Mafia, they never expected their investigations would lead them to the quiet suburbs of Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

When Irish childcare worker Elaine O’Hara went missing in 2012, her family and friends feared she may have taken her own life. Although she’d recently spoken about an abusive affair she was having with a married man, Elaine struggled with mental illness and was prone to telling tales. Her stories were therefore written off as fictional.

Most people who try skydiving do it just once – it’s something to tick off the bucket list. But for a small minority, skydiving becomes an obsession, a way of life. While accidents are expected, skydiving deaths are uncommon. On the rare occasion that a jumper loses their life, a universal toast is given: “Blue skies, black death.”

In September 2012, former Countdown champion Richard Britton walked into a pub and was served by a 21-year-old bartender, whom he nicknamed “Ella Tundra”. From that moment on, Britton developed a fixation with Ella that filled the typically outgoing and confident young woman with paranoia and anxiety.

19-year-old Julian Knight was obsessed with war and combat from a young age. He enrolled in the Royal Military Academy of Duntroon with dreams of one day defending his country, but there was one problem – he didn’t like authority.

Throughout June and July of 2007, residents of the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk were gripped by fear after a spate of murders occurred seemingly at random. Victims were brutally beaten using hammers and steel pipes, while some were tortured, with children, the elderly and homeless most vulnerable to the attacks.

When 40-year-old bank manager Susan Snow collapsed in her shower after complaining of a headache, the cause of her sudden death wasn’t clear. In a bid for answers, an autopsy was conducted, during which the medical examiner notices a distinct smell that immediately alerts her to the possibility that Susan was poisoned.

On the morning of March 3 1993, Vivian Rice pulled up outside the Silver Spring home of her sister, Millie Horn, and immediately noticed that something was wrong. The garage door was wide open and Millie’s minivan was nowhere to be seen. After cautiously entering the house, Vivian discovered the slain bodies of Millie, her eight-year-old quadriplegic son Trevor, and Trevor’s nurse Janice Saunders.

In 2006, Myspace was the biggest social media platform in the world, surpassing Google as the most visited website. Like many teenagers, 14-year-old Carly Ryan turned to the internet to interact with friends and meet new people. It wasn’t long before she struck up a friendship with 18-year-old Brandon Kane, who went by the username ‘KuruptKoala.’

In 1964, an unknown offender took to the streets of Krakow to stab elderly women in what appeared to be a string of senseless, unprovoked attacks. The victims had no connection to one another, nor were they robbed or sexually assaulted, leaving police with no obvious motive to go by.

[Part 1 of 3] On March 22 1999, Sierra County police were dispatched to conduct a welfare check at a property in Hot Springs Landing, a small suburban community in the New Mexico town of Elephant Butte. Along the way, they ran into a visibly shaken witness who reported seeing a naked woman covered in blood running down the road with a chain clearly visible around her neck.

[Part 2 of 3] As the investigation into David Parker Ray’s alleged crimes continued, an officer recalled a past encounter with a hitchhiker that he believed could be connected. When the woman finally comes forward to report her story, the true extent of Parker Ray’s crimes becomes clear. What’s more, it becomes apparent that he didn’t act alone.

[Part 3 of 3] While viewing a video of one of David Parker Ray’s assaults, investigators successfully identify yet another victim. The cases go to trial, but will it be the outcome his survivors and the public are hoping for?

When aspiring actress Rebecca Schaffer secured the second lead in a new Hollywood sitcom, My Sister Sam, it felt like all her dreams were finally coming true. As she was thrust into stardom, she learned the truth the hard way – that fame comes with a dark side.

On the night of October 10 1984, a fire broke out at Ole’s Home Centre in South Pasadena that claimed the lives of four victims – Ada Deal, Matthew Troidl, Carolyn Kraus and Jimmy Cetina. Glendale arson investigator John Orr suspected the blaze had been deliberately lit, but his theory was dismissed and the fire was ruled a tragic accident.

When Bristol teenager Becky Watts failed to show up for a planned lunch date with her boyfriend and then stopped responding to text messages from her friends, they immediately suspected that something was wrong. Although it wasn’t like Becky to be out of contact for so long, there was nothing to indicate she had run away from home or met with foul play.

On January 26 1966, siblings Jane, Arna and Grant Beaumont joined the hundreds of Adelaide residents who flocked to Glenelg beach to find respite from the scorching summer heat. It was a trip they’d made on their own many times before, and as usual, their mother Nancy sent them off with just enough money to buy bus fare and lunch from the bakery.

12-year-old Sunshine Coast schoolgirl Sian Kingi was looking forward to her friend’s upcoming birthday party. She joined her mother at the shops in Noosa Heads to buy fabric for a new outfit and then rode her usual bike route home.

21-year-old Britt Lapthone developed a passion for travel at a young age, so it came as no surprise to her friends and family when she announced her plans to backpack solo through Europe. In mid-2008, Britt took off in search of adventure, lapping up many unforgettable experiences before eventually arriving in the Croatian town of Dubrovnik.

On 10 July 2001, New South Wales police received a frantic phone call from 21-year-old Sef Gonzales. He’d just returned home to discover that his mother Loiva, father Teddy, and younger sister Clodine had been the victims of a brutal murder.

In the early 2000s, the internet became increasingly affordable and readily available, which led to online chat rooms soaring in popularity. Logging into the local Manchester Teens chat room became a regular occurrence for 16-year-old Stockport student, “Mark”, who longed to find a girlfriend online.

Hi, everyone! Case 104: Mark & John was our last case this year. The next episode will be out on the 26th of January 2019; however, we have a surprise for you – a bonus Q&A episode with the host...