Sword and Scale

Thirty-three-year-old Jason Schaefer was delivering mail on a quiet afternoon in Longmont, Colorado, when bullets assaulted him. Witnesses saw a figure run from the mailboxes, covered in a hoodie and mask, and at first, the case seemed to point in one direction. But as detectives traced Jason’s final day, they uncovered a tangled web of jealousy, custody fights, family betrayal, and secrets hiding in plain sight, all surrounding a young father who never made it home from work. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Jennifer Dulos, an upper-class mom of five, vanished from Connecticut on a spring morning in 2019. Two women, both from privilege, both connected to the same man, would find themselves on opposite sides of what came next. One walked away. The other stayed. As the investigation unfolded, a story emerged - one shaped by money, control, and the quiet ways power is used and abused. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

When 33-year-old Lashaun Keith’s body is discovered in a remote Michigan hay field, detectives have almost nothing to go on. There are no eyewitnesses and no clear suspects. All they find is a single glove. Sixteen months later, that glove points them to three men, each telling a different story about the same deadly night. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In April of 2024, 25-year-old Megan Bodiford went missing. The search for answers would uncover a violent crime hidden in plain sight and reveal how the signs of danger were there all along. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

The British Club was a close circle of English expats in Fleming Island, Florida. They were friends who looked out for one another like family. So when 65-year-old Sue Mauldin suddenly vanished, they knew something was wrong. What followed was a desperate race by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to track down a man hiding in plain sight and uncover what really happened to Sue. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In Delray Beach, Florida, a routine traffic stop led police to a young man covered in blood. By the next morning, a body had been discovered. What followed was a tense interrogation — and a motive that felt disturbingly small compared to the violence it produced. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

13-year-old Madeline Soto vanishes on what should have been an ordinary school morning in Kissimmee, Florida. She’s dropped off just a block away, and nothing about it feels unusual. She walks off, heading toward school… and disappears. By the afternoon, panic sets in. Calls to 911 reveal a family scrambling for answers: rechecking routes, calling friends, waiting for help that isn’t coming fast enough. She never made it to class. No one saw her arrive. Beneath the family’s lies, it’s a race against the clock to find Maddie. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

When 25-year-old biomedical engineer Jonathan Amerault disappeared, it felt like another one of his hiking trips had gone horribly wrong. But the scene in the woods, and the female co-worker found beside his brutalized body, told a much more sinister story of love and blind rage. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In 2008, University of Wisconsin–Madison student Brittany Zimmermann was murdered in her apartment in the middle of the day, and then the trail went cold. An unlikely informant leads the police to search for two mystery men, a theory that would steer the investigation for years. As time passed and leads fell apart, the case slowly faded from view. Twelve years later, detectives discovered the truth wasn’t buried; it had been right in front of them all along. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In 2022, when 57-year-old Harold Allen was found dead in his Indiana home, the case was ruled natural. Nearly a year later, a brazen burglary and a string of buried messages bring detectives back to the same address and to Marsha Allen, the woman who said she loved him. What starts as a property crime becomes a chilling reexamination of Harold’s final days, as small-town routines, late-night deliveries, and a quiet house of secrets point to something far darker. No one is ready for where the evidence leads or what it costs. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Beloved father and prominent attorney, Gary Farris, should have been safe on his own land. But in July 2018, he vanished from his family’s rural dream property, and a smoldering burn pile would unravel everything they thought they knew about their home, their marriage, and each other. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In 2016, 22-year-old Cati Blauvelt was found stabbed to death in the basement of an abandoned house. The search for her killer would uncover a story of control, deception, and betrayal — and reveal how one man turned trust into a weapon. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

When 43-year-old Diane Holik was found dead inside her Austin home, homicide investigators were left with more questions than answers. Diane had no enemies. There was no apparent reason for anyone to want her dead. But as detectives dug deeper, they uncovered a web of obsession, deceit, and darkness that defied understanding and revealed a killer hiding in plain sight. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Seventeen-year-old Collin Griffith called 911 in a panic, begging for help. Minutes later, deputies arrived to find his mother bleeding in the kitchen and Collin calm, almost detached. His story of self-defense unraveled quickly, leading investigators back to Oklahoma and exposing dark family secrets and a shocking history of violence. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

On a cold March evening in 2023, police in Englewood, Colorado responded to a 911 call from 81-year-old Reginald Maclaren. Inside his upscale apartment, they uncovered a scene so brutal, it would briefly dominate headlines before vanishing just as quickly. The victims were Reginald’s wife and daughter. They were two women who lived quietly, knew no one, and left behind almost nothing. It was their bodies, and the way they were found, that told the horrifying story of their deaths. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In a quiet Ohio suburb where families mow their lawns and kids ride bikes on the sidewalks, police uncover a bloody scene: two decomposing bodies, Regina Capobianco and her friend John Mann, buried beneath trash inside a modest home. As investigators peel back the layers, they don’t just find evidence of murder; they find broken families, desperate choices, and a trail of secrets that stretches from prison cells to nail salons. In a quiet, family-friendly town, someone let a killer through the front door. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

When Sean Lannon arrived at his uncle Mike’s house in March 2021, it appeared to be the start of a family tragedy. But, as investigators investigated further, a much darker story started to come to light - one that spanned across states and years, prompting everyone to question how well they truly knew him. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In the quiet backroads of Dallas County, Missouri, investigators uncovered a nightmare hidden in plain sight. Cassidy Rainwater, a young woman whose search for stability led her to a remote cabin. What seemed at first like an isolated disappearance soon unraveled into something far darker. Disturbing digital evidence, cryptic messages, and chilling interviews revealed just how calculated and sinister the truth really was. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

In East Cleveland, Ohio, Diane Madison - a mother and grandmother - was also a woman remembered fondly by her neighbors. In 2019, she woke to a knife at her throat, and the assailant was her very own grandson, Jalen Plummer. Years earlier, another tragedy had unfolded just steps from her home involving a man who killed three women, ranging in age from 18 to 38. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Rebekah Gould was young, beautiful, and murdered in a quiet Arkansas town. Her case haunted the internet for years—until a confession surfaced. But instead of answers, it raised a far darker question: what if the truth is still being hidden? Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

A young couple seemed to be building a quiet life together in a small Texas town. But everything changed when 21-year-old Anggy Diaz was found brutally murdered. What followed was a maze of grief, confusion, and unanswered questions, leaving two families searching for answers. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Introducing Sword and Scale Nightmares! True Crime for Bedtime. Your nightmare begins now...The first three episodes will drop on 3.2.23 at 3:23pm EDT. In the meantime, please take a moment to subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform... SUBSCRIBE NOW: https://link.chtbl.com/sasnightmaresApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sword-and-scale-nightmares/id1657802345Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08GhRV98AIgR0st3oUQRpaiHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-sword-and-scale-nightmares-109465564/Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3N3b3JkLWFuZC1zY2FsZS1uaWdodG1hcmVzAmazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/094b065e-48ef-48ff-ba18-02c6d106d403/sword-and-scale-nightmaresAudible: https://www.audible.com/pd/ITEM_NAME-Podcast/B0BWP1PC94Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id5326540Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/sword-and-scale-nightmares/PC:1001058998Stitcher:…