Cup of Coffee and Crime

Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were nine years old and best friends, living just three doors apart.One afternoon, they went out to play...but they never came home.When they were found the next day, police quickly focused on a man who had been seen nearby. He was arrested, charged, and brought to trial.But… he was found not guilty.Three years later, he would attack another child.It would take more than three decades, advances in forensic science, and a change in the law before the truth could finally be proven in court.

Megan Barroso was 20 years old, living in a quiet California community, and spending the Fourth of July with friends at the beach.Hours later, she set off on the short drive home.She never made it.Her car was found abandoned beneath a highway overpass, engine still running, her belongings left behind. Inside, there were signs of violence that immediately told investigators something was very wrong, but no sign of Megan.What followed would uncover a predator who had been hiding in plain sight for years… and a case built on one tiny piece of evidence that would catch a killer.

Sixteen-year-old Claire Tiltman left home one evening in Greenhithe to visit a friend just minutes away.It was a short walk along streets she had known her whole life.Except,she never arrived.What followed was a huge investigation, witnesses who reported hearing screams, and a case that would haunt the community for more than two decades… until detectives uncovered the disturbing truth about a man who had been terrorising the local area for years.

Twenty-three-year-old Marine Todd Sommer was young, healthy, and just living life with his wife and their children in San Diego, California. So when he suddenly became violently ill and died in the early hours of the morning, the explanation seemed tragic but simple. A sudden cardiac event. A devastating loss for a young family. But months later, new testing would raise a chilling possibility: Poisoning. As investigators began looking closer at Todd’s final days, attention quickly turned to his wife, Cynthia. What followed was an investigation built on toxicology results, circumstantial evidence, and a controversial picture of grief, money, and motive. In this episode, I explore a case that went from certainty to doubt and back again… leaving one haunting question behind. What really happened to Todd Sommer?

Brittany Stykes was 22 years old, pregnant, and driving along a familiar stretch of road in Brown County, Ohio, with her young daughter in the car beside her.She was heading to see her family. Except she never arrived.Somewhere along U.S. Route 68, someone opened fire on her vehicle in what investigators later described as a targeted attack. Brittany was killed. Her unborn child died. And her 14-month-old daughter survived a gunshot wound to the head.More than a decade later, no one has been arrested.This episode explores the timeline, the investigation, the theories, and the unanswered questions that still surround the murder of Brittany Stykes, an unsolved Ohio case that continues to haunt her family and the community she left behind.Someone knows what happened that night.To support Brittany's family: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AjDZE94Xg/?mibextid=wwXIfrTo contact the Brown County Sheriffs dept:Sergeant Terry EshmanBrown County Sheriff's Office750 Mt. Orab PikeGeorgetown, OH 45121teshman@bcoso.us937.378.4435 EXT 127

Amber Gibson had survived a childhood shaped by instability, trauma, and years in care. Despite that, she was a kind, creative teenager who was still trying to build a “normal” life.So when, aged sixteen, she went out one evening in Hamilton, Scotland, to meet someone she trusted, there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t come home.But she never did.What followed would uncover a devastating betrayal, a murder investigation that shocked the community, and a second crime that added another layer of horror to an already tragic case.

Mary Stauffer was a schoolteacher and mother living a quiet life in Saint Paul, Minnesota. So when she and her eight-year-old daughter Beth disappeared in May 1980, it made no sense.What followed was a fifty-three-day ordeal of captivity at the hands of a man whose obsession had been building for years. But why?As police searched for answers, another family was facing an unthinkable loss, unaware their tragedy was connected to the same man.This episode explores the kidnapping, the stalled missing persons investigation, a child’s murder, and the rare story of survival that followed.A true crime case about control, endurance, and a mother who never stopped fighting to bring her child home.

Helen McCourt was twenty-two years old, known for her routines and her reliability.Living at home in Merseyside, England, she worked full time, stayed close to her family, and was looking forward to a night out with a new boyfriend.When Helen stepped off a bus just a few hundred yards from her front door and never made it home, panic set in quickly. This wasn’t a disappearance that made sense.The investigation that followed would hinge on evidence alone, becoming one of the UK’s most significant murder cases without a body, and leaving one question unanswered forever.