Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime Chronicles

There’s a house in Kaimuki that still hums beneath the silence. Hawaii’s most infamous haunted home—where screams pierced the night, furniture moved on its own, and even police felt something they couldn’t explain. This isn’t just a ghost story.

It’s the story of Glen Grant—the folklorist, professor, and late-night radio host who gave Hawaii’s spirits a voice. The man behind The Obake Files and Chicken Skin Tales.

In this special epi...

On a humid October morning in 2013, a woman’s body was found inside a dumpster behind the Hawaiian Colony apartments in Waikiki.

Her name was Janine Ululani Caldeira Meyer.
And she had tried—again and again—to warn us.

This episode unpacks the heartbreaking series of events that led to Janine’s death—and the failures that followed:

• Who Janine was, and the life she built in the heart of Waikiki

• Her repeated efforts to seek help, incl...

On a quiet January afternoon in 1972, nineteen-year-old Nancy Anderson was found brutally murdered in her Waikiki apartment. More than sixty stab wounds. No forced entry. No witnesses. No answers.

For five decades, her case haunted Hawaii.

Until one name finally surfaced.

This episode unravels the tragic timeline—from Nancy’s arrival in paradise to the moment police knocked on the door of a frail man in Nevada with a past he couldn’t ...

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we uncover the tragic disappearance of Jonathan Fraser—a 23-year-old local kid whose life was quietly erased in the summer of 2016. He wasn’t part of a gang. He didn’t run with the wrong crowd. His only mistake? Surviving a car crash that killed his best friend, Caleb Miske—the son of one of Hawaii's most powerful and feared men.

Jonathan’s story isn’t a mystery. It’s a documented, proven, a...

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we explore one of Hawaii's most chilling and obscure spiritual battles—the Honolulu Exorcism Case of the 1970s. A young woman’s life became the center of a terrifying clash between Catholicism and ancient Hawaiian beliefs.

Inside a small home in Kalihi on the island of Oʻahu, a family watched helplessly as their daughter descended into darkness. Unexplainable events. Voices in forgotten language...

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we revisit a devastating case that shattered the quiet, close-knit community of Mānoa Valley. The Oda family—Paris, Naoko, and their three children—were beloved neighbors, a family who embodied the peaceful rhythms of life in Mānoa.

But beneath the surface, hidden struggles were mounting. Financial pressures. Emotional isolation. A father quietly unraveling.

On a tragic morning in March 2024, eve...

On March 10, 2006, 31-year-old Jason Nam was shot and killed while washing his car in the parking garage of his apartment building on South Beretania Street, across from Central Union Church.

No signs of robbery. No immediate witnesses. Nearly 20 years later—still no answers.

Who wanted Jason dead? Was it a targeted execution? A personal vendetta? Or something even more chilling—murder in broad daylight, with no one willing to talk?

I...

On February 6, 1996, Honolulu was rocked by one of the most intense hostage crises in Hawaii’s history. Former Seal Masters of Hawaii employee John Nahale Miranda stormed his old workplace on Sand Island, taking five hostages at gunpoint and demanding $20,000 in cash. As tensions escalated, Miranda shot his former supervisor, made chilling threats live on the radio, and forced SWAT into a high-stakes standoff.

But this wasn’t just a...

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we dive deep into the true story of Michael J. Miske Jr., Hawaii’s most notorious crime boss, who built a powerful criminal syndicate in Honolulu’s underworld.

From operating legitimate businesses to orchestrating a criminal empire involving drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and murder, Miske’s influence spanned decades—until a massive FBI investigation brought him down.

We’ll break down:

Between 1985 and 1986, five women were hunted and murdered across Oʻahu. Hawaii’s first known serial killer, the Honolulu Strangler, left behind a chilling pattern—and vanished. In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we follow the full case timeline, explore the suspect who slipped through law enforcement’s fingers, and ask if modern forensic science could still crack this decades-old mystery.

🎙️ Featuring exclusive research from po...

In 1977, 16-year-old Dawn Momohara walked out of her Honolulu home, expecting a normal night with friends. She never came back. By morning, her body was discovered inside McKinley High School—sexually assaulted, strangled, and abandoned in a crime that shattered the community. Despite intense investigations, there were no arrests, no leads, and no answers for nearly 48 years. But science had other plans.

In this episode of Beneath t...

On February 11, 1979, five friends from Hana, Maui—Benjamin "Ben" Kalama, Scott Moorman, Patrick Woessner, Peter Hanchett, and Ralph Malaiakini—set out on a fishing trip aboard the Sarah Joe.
They never came back.
No mayday call. No wreckage. No trace.

For nearly a decade, the ocean kept its secret—until a shocking discovery 2,000 miles away raised even deeper questions:
Who buried Scott Moorman’s body on a desert...

On July 6, 1985, 19-year-old Diane Yayoe Suzuki vanished without a trace from the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy in Aiea, Hawaii.
Her purse was still there. Her car was still there.
But Diane was gone.

Despite intensive searches, forensic advances, and a key suspect, her case remains one of Hawaii’s most heartbreaking unsolved mysteries.

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we explore:

• Diane’s life, passion for dance, and th...

On August 1, 1978, 44-year-old Leilani Castro Kim was found murdered in her hotel room at the Kona Hilton Hotel (now the Royal Kona Resort) in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. A respected businesswoman, mother of three, and newly hired assistant front desk manager in training, Leilani’s life was tragically cut short under mysterious circumstances. Despite an intensive police investigation, her murder remains unsolved over four decades later.

In...

In January 1982, 19-year-old Lisa Au vanished after leaving her boyfriend’s sister’s apartment in Makiki, Honolulu. The next day, her car was found abandoned on the Kahekili Highway, keys and purse still inside—but Lisa was missing. Ten days later, her decomposed body was discovered off Tantalus Drive, sending shockwaves through Hawaii.

Rumors spread of a police impersonator involved in her abduction, fueling public fear. Despite ex...