Amity Bitzel was a teenager when her parents decided to adopt a 27-year-old man. And that wasn't the strange part. The man they adopted was an ex-con who had killed his previous adoptive parents. Amity tells the story of this time in her life, and producer Brian Reed speaks with Amity's father to find out why he decided to call the man his son. Amity published a version of this story on XOJane. (26 minutes)
More in Crime
Act One
When Lissa’s niece, Carla Yellow Bird, went missing in 2016, Lissa threw everything she had into figuring out what happened to her—including talking for hours on the phone with someone she suspected was involved.
Act Two: Conning The Con Men
The story of a con man, one of the most successful salesmen in a long-running multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam, who finally got caught when he was conned himself.
Act One: Grime Scene
Reporter Nancy Updike spends two days with Neal Smither, who cleans up crime scenes for a living, and comes away wanting to open his Los Angeles franchise, despite the gore — or maybe because of it.
Staff Recommendations
Harper High School - Part One
We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.
Harper High School - Part Two
Part two of our program on Harper High School in Chicago, where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.