The Coldest Case In Laramie

By: Serial Productions & The New York Times
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  • Summary

  • Kim Barker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times, revisits an unsolved murder that took place while she was in high school in Laramie, Wyoming, nearly 40 years ago. She confronts the conflicting stories people have told themselves about the crime because of an unexpected development: the arrest of a former Laramie police officer accused in the murder. To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts. To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter. Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com
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Politics & Government Social Sciences True Crime
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Episodes
  • Trailer

    Trailer
    Feb 16 2023

    Kim Barker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times, revisits an unsolved murder that took place while she was in high school in Laramie, Wyoming, nearly 40 years ago. She confronts the conflicting stories people have told themselves about the crime because of an unexpected development: the arrest of a former Laramie police officer accused in the murder. All eight episodes of "The Coldest Case in Laramie," a new show from Serial Productions and The New York Times, are available on Thursday, February 23rd wherever you get your podcasts.

    To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.

    To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.

    Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com

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    4 mins
  • Episode 1

    Episode 1
    Feb 23 2023

    A Times investigative reporter, Kim Barker, revisits the murder of Shelli Wiley — a long-unsolved case from Kim’s time in high school. She reaches out to Shelli’s family to understand why the police arrested a man named Fred Lamb for Shelli’s murder in 2016, and why prosecutors abruptly dropped the charges against him.

    To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.

    To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.

    Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com

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    24 mins
  • Episode 2

    Episode 2
    Feb 23 2023

    Kim talks to Shelli’s former roommate, who connects Kim with a man who was at the crime scene and has troubling memories about Fred Lamb and the police.

    To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.

    To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.

    Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com

    Show more Show less
    25 mins

Featured Article: The Best Unsolved Mystery Podcasts to Uncover Your Inner Investigator


There are so many unsolved mysteries in the world, from murders that have stumped investigators for decades to the enigma of extraterrestrials, supernatural phenomena, and the afterlife. Such seemingly eclectic subjects all stimulate our capacity to wonder and have fascinated humans for as long as we've been telling stories. No wonder that some of our favorite podcasts seek to shed light on such mysteries, both big and small.

Featured Article The Best Unsolved Mystery Podcasts to Uncover Your Inner Investigator

What listeners say about The Coldest Case In Laramie

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Profile Image for Rebecca

Not very good

Didn’t get much out of this after the first couple of chapters nothing much happened

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Profile Image for Michael Odlyzko

Good research and storytelling, but emptyish story

Not to spoil too much but: Kim Barker compellingly picks up a worthwhile cold case saga, but then we all get lost (following her as she follows it to seemingly nowhere). Subtly sad and cynical. Maybe humble too, in an enlightened secular liberal way at any rate.

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Profile Image for Leslie

Who did it?

After two episodes, I thought I knew who committed the crime. After listening to the entire podcast, I am left wondering. Good podcast and well investigated. I would recommend.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Profile Image for krista

Meh

Not really all that exciting. After listening to the whole season I was left wondering ‘what was so revelatory?’

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Profile Image for Donald Craig

and then......

Enjoyed listening to the podcast, strong hook as t the start, but then began to feel like we were being led towards the authors conclusions. I did enjoy hearing her alternate theory, however, as she pointed out, the evidence could be used to support whatever theory you wanted to point it towards. The final interview with the Lamm's felt scripted. overall still a worthwhile listen

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Profile Image for Jerri

like a time machine to the 80s

Sure took me back to the old days.... We didn't necessarily even see it at the time because it's how things were : misogyny, classism, racism, lack of regard or understanding of mental health issues, etc. I was 18 in 1985. No one in power thought they were the "bad guy" by operating in these "good ol' boys" ways, but the truth suffered. The truth matters and we'll probably never know it now.

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Profile Image for JP

Saddest Story from my home town

Shelli was a friend and classmate. She was the first one in our graduating class to die. Her tragic death was horrific, and the fact that no one has been held accountable for her death disgusts me. I also knew many of the people mentioned in this story; including Fred, Pat, Angelo, Jake, and I met Kim in 2021 in Laramie. She and I discussed Shelli and her murder for over an hour. When she summarizes the story, she goes pretty easy on Fred and Laramie Law Enforcement and pretty hard on Michelle, Pat and Lieutenant Graham. Why does she completely dismiss the recollections of three people who, prior to her questioning their story, were very confident in their memory? Fred was caught in several lies in his interview, never wavering from his line of BS. Pat and Michelle were dumbstruck by their recollections being questioned. If Kim thinks she exonerated Fred and Laramie Law Enforcement, in my mind, she did just the opposite.

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Profile Image for MAtkinson

Blah…

Poor presentation of material or story. Not a well-written story but an interesting one.

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Profile Image for robvan

Awful and boring a good cold case presented poorly

To anyone who wants to hear this, save your time please. It is awful and boring and for the money I pay monthly there shouldn't be commercials about Audible in the middle of listening even to such an awfully written and poorly presented sad murder and cold case. The Author also interjects snide comments about politics in regards to certain social issues in her personal life that have zero importance in investigating such a tragic and sad cold case such as this that deals with potential corruption. I will continue to listen cold cases and true crime on Spotify; Spotify is awesome and has everything for a person who listens to such cases and even some have psychology based presentations and very good analysis. Much better than here on Audible.

Audible; if your team ever reads these reviews then do your company and yourselves a favor and dump the podcasts you are not aware of how to present them, stick with what you know very well which is Audio Books - that is your niche and you are good at it. As it is said "if it aint broke don't fix it!" Audible was fine until you began with the podcast garbage, stick what you do very great and best; Audio Books. Take this paragraph to heart it is the truth.

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