RedHanded

Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taber...

How does a “true British gentleman”, complete with love of cricket and handlebar moustache, end up dead at the bottom of a waterfall in New Zealand with his limbs bound and lashes to his buttocks? This is the question that faced police in 1989, when a tourist boat found the body of 51-year-old cricket umpire Peter Plumley-Walker floating at the bottom of Huka Falls.

To find out the answers you need to come with us on a jour...

As far as the people of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, knew, Davy Tweed was a sporting hero, dedicated public servant, and good Protestant family man. But his stepdaughter Amanda Brown knew what this public façade masked: a volatile, unstoppable juggernaut of physical and sexual abuse, who made her family’s life a living hell.

In a very special episode, we directly hear from Amanda herself – who tells us exactly what it’s...

Bleeding from the eyes, foaming at the mouth, and bashing themselves to death against the rocks. That was the fate of six skilled hikers in the Russian mountain range Khamar-Daban – at least according to the single survivor Valentina Utochenko. Yet if the Russian authorities are to be believed, it was just a simple case of hypothermia.

With speculation over what happened still rife, this mystery has been chalked up to every...

On 19 May 2024, Ebrahim Raisi – “The Butcher of Tehran” and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran – died in a helicopter crash. Immediately, theories of who had killed him and why, swept the worlds’ media.But while his passing inspired this episode, we’re also going to look at his many thousands of victims – and in particular how his actions led to the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. It was a single death wh...

The world’s most infamous nuclear disaster officially killed just thirty-one people, but in reality it’s death toll is incalculable. Raining radioactive debris over a city, and melting the skin off the on-site workers, the explosion and subsequent meltdown at Chernobyl reactor 4 is one of the most devastating man-made accidents in history. 

This is the story of how fear, bureaucracy, and lies first brought down a n...

Imagine finding out that your partner of six years – the love of your life, the father of your children – had never existed. That during all of your most intimate moments, they’d been spying on you, taking notes to report back to their superiors. That’s what happened to dozens of innocent British women in 2011, when they uncovered the SDS – a super-secretive unit of London’s Met Police.

To infiltrate groups of (mostly harml...

Kidnapping might seem like an odd solution to low levels of education, but for The Democratic People's Republic of Korea it seemed like a perfect plan. Whisk away international intelligentsia to your hermit kingdom and reprogram them to become perfect North Korean citizens, capable of pushing forward your scientific endeavours – or more importantly, directing a cult classic knock-off Godzilla movie. 

Unfortunately, it ...

When Christine Mackinday and her boyfriend were interrupted in bed by her ex-fiancé – a 200-pound ex-MMA fighter who had legally changed his name to War Machine – she had every reason to fear for her life.

This is the wild true story of Jonathan Koppenhaver: self-proclaimed “Alpha Male”, failed UFC fighter, wannabe pornstar and reality-show embarrassment – and his inevitable, tragic, violent revenge.

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Get your tour tickets at redhandedpodcast.com!

In 2001 on a remote stretch of highway in Australia’s Northern Territory, British backpacker Peter Falconio vanished. His girlfriend, Joanne Lees, told police that they had been attacked by a strange man. The subsequent investigation saw local drug runner Bradley Murdoch jailed for life - but questions still linger, especially around the truthfulness of the story that Joanne to...

The state of Pamela Werner’s body alone would have been enough to send 1930s Peking into a frenzy. She’d been frantically stabbed, her chest cut wide open, and four of her internal organs had been precisely removed...

But Pamela was the daughter of a high-ranking British diplomat. And the death of a white girl in the ancient Chinese capital, in 1939 – when anti-foreigner revolts were bubbling and the entire country was unde...

Between September 1992 and November 1993 the remains of seven backpackers were found dotted around Australia’s Belanglo State Forest. The long-putrefied bodies had all been shot multiple times by the same .22 calibre rifle. Some had snapped spines; others had been used as target practice. Despite all signs pointing to the Milat family, the real challenge for police was finding which of the ten Milat brothers to point the f...

Shot dead in broad daylight outside her house in West London – the killing of Jill Dando is one of Britain’s most high-profile murders. As one of the BBC’s best-known TV presenters through the 90s, Jill was in the living rooms of the British public every night, presenting the news, travel shows, and most famously, Crimewatch – in which she publicly campaigned to bring real criminals to justice. 

Yet despite enormou...

To celebrate and get everyone in the mood for our soon to be iconic Antipodean Tour, we are digging up some of the craziest cases from down under that we've ever covered!

Patrons can access tour tickets on Monday the 13th (TODAY!) via their Patreon feed, and general release is Wednesday the 15th, links below!

NZ: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=REDHAND24

AUS: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?s...

When a 13-year-old boy, out shopping for Christmas presents, disappeared from a bus stop in Australia’s Sunshine Coast, police were initially slow to suspect foul play. They had no idea what this investigation would become.

The revelations that would come over the next decade would spark one of the country’s largest ever police operations. And in its dramatic climax, it ended in one of the most controversial investigative t...

If you thought Part 1 was bad – just you wait. Last week we talked about the origins of one of the world’s biggest cults. And this time, we look at how that influence and control bedded down – and seduced so many of the most famous people in the world.

We’re talking about sex magic, incest, chid abuse, demonic possession, and Fleetwood Mac. It’s time to close the book on the Children of God.

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Communes, propaganda and child abuse are not uncommon in the world of cults. But what made David Berg and his “Children of God” so unique was the effectiveness of their implementation.

In this first of two episodes on one of the biggest and darkest cases we’ve ever covered, we talk about the rise of arguably the world's most “successful” cult, and what made the man who made the monster.

Exclusive bonus content:

Wondery -...

Note: The video version of this podcast can be watched in full on our YouTube channel! Available from the 18th of April.

Join RedHanded and Help I Sexted My Boss for an extra-special crossover, where true crime meets modern-day dilemmas, all over a glass of Gin & Dubonnet at the Sexted studio!

First, Hannah and Suruthi regale William and Jordan about all things cults, before diving into the increasingly bonkers world of ...

Social media is swarming with fresh takes on the Jennifer Pan story, after a new documentary became the third-most watched show on Netflix this weekend. So we wanted to re-release this classic RedHanded episode from summer 2022 – let us know your thoughts on our socials!

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When three masked men entered the Pan family home, it seemed like an opportunistic home break-in. But on closer inspection, things just didn't add up.&nb...