Break in the Case

Season 4, "Stories from the Emergency Service Unit," introduces the most highly-trained officers in the NYPD. Learn why ESU are known as the buffs of the police department and how they prepare both mentally and physically for the most stressful jobs. The season also features a white-knuckle narrative by the officers who stopped a suicide bomb plot from taking place on Brooklyn’s subways in 1997. Break in the Case is a true crime podcast from the New York City Police Department. Each episode features officers – in their own voices –as they revisit cases to offer invaluable insights and colorful recollections. The unique, long-form stories portray the work of the women and men of the NYPD and their interactions with the people and communities they serve. This podcast is supported by the independent nonprofit New York City Police Foundation, and is written and produced by Jill Bauerle and Kenzie De Laine II. The podcast’s narrator, retired Detective Sergeant Wally Zeins, served at the NYPD from 1973 to 2003.

Episodes

S1 Trailer | Break in the Case

October 16, 2019 • 1 min

Welcome to Season One of Break in the Case: True Stories by NYPD Detectives. Starting October 29, 2019.

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S1 E1: Baby Hope: Into the Woods

October 29, 2019 • 28 mins

A gruesome discovery by a road crew in Washington Heights sends the 34th Precinct Detective Squad on a hunt for a little girl's identity.

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S1 E2: Baby Hope: We Are Them

November 5, 2019 • 35 mins

Two years into the investigation, detectives are no closer to knowing Baby Hope's real name.

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S1 E3: Baby Hope: A Colder Case

November 13, 2019 • 52 mins

For two decades, detectives struggled with the Baby Hope case. One day, a tip was called in that changed everything.

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S1 E4: Baby Hope: The Girl in the White Dress

November 19, 2019 • 57 mins

For 22 years, detectives searched for the true name of the little girl they called "Baby Hope." Once they found it, it was eight days before they were face to face with her killer.

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S1 E5: Baby Hope: In the Box

December 3, 2019 • 47 mins

After hours of interrogation, the truth about what happened to Baby Hope is revealed.

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S1 E6: Who is Monique?

December 10, 2019 • 41 mins

Police find the severed body parts of a woman in South Brooklyn, and struggle to identify her. UPDATE: In 2022, the NYPD used familial DNA to identify the victim as Jennifer McAllister, from Gravesend, Brooklyn.

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Coming Soon: Season 2

August 31, 2021 • 1 min

Welcome back to Season 2 of Break in the Case! Listen as we follow the world’s greatest detectives to crime scenes—some which you may know, some which you certainly don’t. Episodes begin on September 9th and appear every other Thursday.

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S2 E1: Who Killed Henryk? The Unsolved Homicide of 9/11

September 9, 2021 • 25 mins

Just before midnight, on September 11, 2001, a man was gunned down on a street in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. His name was Henryk Siwiak. Despite the best efforts of a police department spread thin by a large-scale terrorist attack, the killer was never apprehended, and the case remains open to this day.

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S2 E2: Dark Web Undercover

September 23, 2021 • 15 mins

The dark web comprises a fraction of the internet. But illegal activity there is increasing. Threatening savings. Damaging peace of mind. In this episode, we’ll meet a detective who fights crime on the dark side, and find out how he moved from online to real life to nab a credit card fraudster.

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S2 E3: The Man in the Baseball Hat

October 7, 2021 • 21 mins

It’s a race against the clock as detectives in the 6th Precinct investigate a series of assault and robbery cases with elderly victims. Here’s how they collared the man that was behind the crime spree.

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S2 E4: Ming the Harlem Tiger

October 21, 2021 • 31 mins

In 2003, the Emergency Service Unit met their match when they discovered a 250-pound Bengal tiger in a man’s Harlem apartment. This is the story of Ming the Harlem Tiger, and the officers who responded.

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S2 E5: Two Homicides, One Gun, and a Pink Bag

November 4, 2021 • 18 mins

In the early hours of December 11, 2012, Shalema Gaskin was on her way to visit her daughter at Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was four blocks away from her home, but she never made it there. She was found behind the hospital with a gunshot wound to the back of the neck. A couple of days later, Steven Evans was killed a mile away with the same gun. To this day, no tips have been called in for either case. Detective...

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S2 E6: Queens Sniper (Part 1)

December 16, 2021 • 26 mins

The night of August 26, 2006, a driver went on a six-hour shooting spree that left one person dead, four injured, and a trail of shattered glass and bullet-scarred vehicles across Queens. He shot at pedestrians and cars, and showed a preference for the color red in his targets. The Queens detectives, bosses, and cops who were working that night tell the harrowing story.

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S2 E7: Queens Sniper (Part 2)

February 10, 2022 • 43 mins

Season 2 concludes with the second and last episode of the Queens Sniper story. In Part 2, a suspect is in custody, and the case is upgraded to a homicide. The real work begins for the detectives and the Queens prosecutor as they collect evidence and build a counter-narrative to a potential insanity defense.

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SPECIAL EPISODE: The Real Crimes of the Fake German Heiress

April 15, 2022 • 32 mins

Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, came to New York City from Germany in 2014 and quickly became a fixture in the downtown social scene. She claimed to be an heiress with a vast fortune. But she wasn’t quite what she said she was. In August 2017, she was indicted on an array of financial and fraud-based crimes, including Attempted Grand Larceny. In this special episode, the NYPD detective who led the investigation into Soroki...

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Introducing Season 3: The New York Zodiac Copycat

April 19, 2023 • 58 secs

Season 3 of Break in the Case goes behind the scenes of one of New York City's notorious cases from the 90s, The New York Zodiac Copycat. Look for new episodes every Tuesday beginning April 25, 2023.

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S3 E1: New York Zodiac Copycat: Kid, You've Got the Case

April 25, 2023 • 22 mins

It’s the summer of 1990, and crime in New York City is at an all-time high. Daily headlines bring fresh stories of random violence and stranger-on-stranger crime. Then, one day in June, someone calling himself “Zodiac” writes a disturbing letter to the New York Post. He claims to have killed three people in Brooklyn according to their astrological signs, and he promises to kill nine more. When the shootings check out, the NYPD form...

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S3 E2: New York Zodiac Copycat: We Need to Put This Fire Out

May 2, 2023 • 24 mins

At Zodiac Task Force headquarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, tips pour in from across the city. Even the psychics get in on the action. After one of the victims dies from his wounds in the hospital, the case becomes a homicide.

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S3 E3: New York Zodiac Copycat: Return of the Zodiac

May 9, 2023 • 30 mins

In August, 1994, a new letter from the Zodiac lands on the front page of the New York Post. The Zodiac claims to have shot five more victims in 1992 and 1993, in the same geographic area as his first three shootings. A second Zodiac Task Force is formed. Detective Sergeant Joseph Herbert from the 75 Detective Squad focuses on the hard evidence: fingerprints, ballistics, and the Zodiac's letters.

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Break in the Case

Episodes

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}S1 E1: Baby Hope: Into the Woods

S1 E2: Baby Hope: We Are Them

S1 E3: Baby Hope: A Colder Case

S1 E4: Baby Hope: The Girl in the White Dress

S1 E5: Baby Hope: In the Box

S1 E6: Who is Monique?

Coming Soon: Season 2

S2 E1: Who Killed Henryk? The Unsolved Homicide of 9/11

S2 E2: Dark Web Undercover

S2 E3: The Man in the Baseball Hat

S2 E4: Ming the Harlem Tiger

S2 E5: Two Homicides, One Gun, and a Pink Bag

S2 E6: Queens Sniper (Part 1)

S2 E7: Queens Sniper (Part 2)

SPECIAL EPISODE: The Real Crimes of the Fake German Heiress

Introducing Season 3: The New York Zodiac Copycat

S3 E1: New York Zodiac Copycat: Kid, You've Got the Case

S3 E2: New York Zodiac Copycat: We Need to Put This Fire Out

S3 E3: New York Zodiac Copycat: Return of the Zodiac

Popular Podcasts

S1 Trailer | Break in the Case

S1 E1: Baby Hope: Into the Woods