A local schoolteacher is found murdered by her bed, inside the Burlington, Vermont, apartment she shares with three others. Investigators are stumped—for over five decades. Then a cigarette butts leads to a break and an infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy—as a resolution seems possible.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

A child runs away from home and into the arms of a sociopath--a real scumbag. Her ordeal is shaped by a culture of judging and blaming victims. A case that defines a journey of loss, abuse, and hope, but also how victim-shaming in true crime has not changed in 20 years.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Welcome to a bonus feature here on the Crossing the Line feed. I come across all sorts of stories while researching books, TV series, and my iHeartMedia podcast, Paper Ghosts, in addition to the ideas you send to me. A lot of them grab hold of me emotionally—especially the victims stories and the ordeal their families go through. My empathetic nature is to want to cover them all. Yet a good number of the cases, for myriad reasons, don’t fit into the model for a more complete CTL episode. So I wanted to create a sub platform to showcase some those stories, as well.

That said, thank you for supporting Crossing the Line, which has allowed me to produce this expansion of the brand … Once or twice per month, maybe more, I’ll present a 15-to-20-minute episode, covering murder and missing person cases, and other interesting crimes I think you’ll want to hear about—but maybe more importantly, cases that give us a deeper understanding of the crimes and the people who commit them.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

A Baltimore woman fails to show up for work. Her family is concerned and reports her missing. Meanwhile, a slew of other women in the same county are found dead, one after the other. A police officer’s son living in Reno, Nevada, is brought in and asked questions about a stolen credit card. Fifty years later, the answers everyone has been waiting for finally come.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

Sandra Pagniano has decided enough is enough. She is divorcing her husband, David. But when Sandra turns up missing, leaving two notes behind, indicating she won’t be returning, Prescott, Arizona, investigators wonder if they are looking at a cliched "the-husband-did-it" episode of “Dateline,” or something far more evil?

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

Concluding my interview with Dr. Peter Vronsky, noted expert on the life of the Times Square Ripper/Torso Killer, serial murderer Richard Cottingham, we discuss how many women Cottingham murdered, and if he is responsible for the unsolved Nanuet (New York) Mall murder of Lisa Thomas.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

An elevator opens and out walks one of the most notorious serial killers of our time, Richard “Torso Killer” Cottingham. You cross paths with him and get up to your floor, only to realize there’s a fire. In the first of a two-part special, I speak to Dr. Peter Vronsky, who tries to convince me that Cottingham murdered a young girl, Lisa Thomas, I profiled on a previous episode of the show, and claimed there’s not a chance Cottingham killed her.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

Robert Haggart meets Garnetta Post in 1981—and her life is never the same again. Soon after marrying Haggart, Garnetta realizes the guy is lazy, vulgar, and abusive. And within six months of the marriage, the true nature of just how violent this guy is presents itself—and the outcome is one of Michigan’s most violent and deadly crimes ever.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

Email: mwilliamphelps@comcast.net

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**

Two cases out of Gary, Indiana—young women missing from the same general neighborhood a few months apart, one of whom we know for certain was 9 months pregnant. With help, these cases can be solved.

Anyone with information on Ja’Niyah’s or Emma's disappearances, please contact the Gary Police Department at (219) 881-1209.

Welcome to a bonus feature here on the Crossing the Line feed. I come across all sorts of stories while researching books, TV series, and my iHeartMedia podcast, Paper Ghosts, in addition to the ideas you send me. A lot of them grab hold of me emotionally—especially the victims' stories and the ordeal their families go through. A good number of the cases, for myriad reasons, don’t fit into the model for a more complete CTL episode. So I wanted to create a sub platform to showcase some of those stories, as well.

That said, thank you for supporting Crossing the Line, which has allowed me to produce this new expansion of the brand … Once or twice per month, maybe more, I’ll present a 15 to 20 minute episode, covering murder and missing person cases, and other interesting crimes I think you’ll want to hear about—but maybe more importantly, cases that give us a deeper understanding of the crimes and scumbags who commit them.

Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else.

Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more.

And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows.

M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics.

Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

**For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org**