Obscura: A True Crime Podcast

Listener,

On a quiet May evening, a white stretch limousine glides across the San Mateo Bridge — nine women inside, celebrating a new chapter in life. But before the night can unfold, flames consume the vehicle, trapping five passengers inside as desperate 911 calls flood dispatch. What begins as confusion on the highway becomes a horrifying tragedy burned into California’s memory.

In this episode, Obscura host Justin Drown takes you...

In the conclusion of this two-part series, Obscura turns from the formative years of Kelsey A. to her final, devastating night.

On April 1st, 2025, calls began flooding into dispatch: a wrong-way driver on Interstate 275. Officers pursued a gray Ford Escape, ultimately forcing it to a stop. What unfolded in the following minutes was chaos, fear, and tragedy—ending with gunfire that would claim Kelsey’s life.

Part 2 captures the raw a...

In this first part of a two-part series, Obscura takes you inside the complicated and often tragic life of Kelsey A., a young woman whose story weaves together resilience, trauma, and the weight of circumstance.

From her early struggles with brain surgery and a near-fatal car accident to her years in a bootcamp and boarding school, Kelsey’s life was shaped by events that altered her path in profound ways. Despite it all, she rose as...

Today we cover a strange case. An unusual case. The case of Joe Winko. But who is Joe Winko? Well, pinning him down is a challenge in itself. I’ll try my best. I warn you this episode is going to be unlike any Obscura episode you’ve heard before. But I promise you it will be worth it.

Hello Listener.

Today we cover a strange case. An unusual case. The case of Joe Winko. But who is Joe Winko? Well, pinning him down is a challenge in itself. I’ll try my best. I warn you this episode is going to be unlike any Obscura episode you’ve heard before. But I promise you it will be worth it.

In December 1984, a man walked into a karate dojo in Dumfries, Virginia. Minutes later, he was dragged out the back door, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Decades later, the grainy footage of his brutal beating would reemerge on YouTube, igniting a firestorm of outrage, speculation—and questions that remain unanswered to this day.

In this Black Label episode of Obscura, Justin Drown unpacks the haunting story behind what came t...

Anchorage wakes to the knock that ends the hunt: October 27, 1983, troopers arrive at Hansen’s bakery, and an interrogation room papered with maps and faces waits for him. Search warrants turn his life inside out—an aerial map etched with 24 Xs, hidden firearms, and jewelry that speaks for the dead. Ballistics tell the rest: shell casings match the Ruger Mini-14, and those Xs resolve into graves in the wild.

From a 12-hour confessi...

Anchorage’s pipeline boom promised prosperity, but under the neon and snow, someone was hunting. In this episode, we revisit the disappearances of young women—Megan Emerick, Mary Phil, Roxanne Eastland, and more—whose lives were too easily dismissed as the city looked the other way. Through survivor testimony, including Cindy Paulson’s harrowing escape, we chart the failures that let a predator thrive and the dogged investigators w...

Anchorage during the oil boom promised quick money and fresh starts—but the wilderness kept its own secrets. In this episode, we trace the disappearances of young women drawn north by opportunity, and the investigators who fought isolation, scarce resources, and a chilling pattern surfacing in the tundra. At the center stands Robert Hansen, the seemingly ordinary baker whose long shadow fell over a city in rapid transformation. Thr...

Not long after 9 PM on that Sunday night, in the sleepy new-build development of Dragon Rise, the back door security light of Jennifer and Stephen Chapple’s home flicked on. Their two boys aged 5 and 6 years old had been put to bed hours before and were sleeping soundly upstairs.

36-year-old Stephen was a well-loved IT teacher at West Somerset College. It was a secondary school in Minehead in Somerset, 23 miles away from his home in...

Not long after 9 PM on that Sunday night, in the sleepy new-build development of Dragon Rise, the back door security light of Jennifer and Stephen Chapple’s home flicked on. Their two boys aged 5 and 6 years old had been put to bed hours before and were sleeping soundly upstairs.

36-year-old Stephen was a well-loved IT teacher at West Somerset College. It was a secondary school in Minehead in Somerset, 23 miles away from his home in...

Listener, the story I am about to tell you is about greed, power and control exerted in the coldest way imaginable. On a normal day in July 2015 in Escambia County, Florida, three members of the same family got up in the morning and set about their daily routine. They didn’t know the brutality that was going to be rained on them, snatching away their lives before the day was done.

Listener, the story I am about to tell you is about greed, power and control exerted in the coldest way imaginable. On a normal day in July 2015 in Escambia County, Florida, three members of the same family got up in the morning and set about their daily routine. They didn’t know the brutality that was going to be rained on them, snatching away their lives before the day was done.

Join me on Black Label at https://www.patreon.com/ob...

Listener, the story I am about to tell you is about greed, power and control exerted in the coldest way imaginable. On a normal day in July 2015 in Escambia County, Florida, three members of the same family got up in the morning and set about their daily routine. They didn’t know the brutality that was going to be rained on them, snatching away their lives before the day was done.

Join Black Label at Patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast

Since the late 90s Khan Tusion has held the crown as the boogie man of the adult industry. He showed up in 1999 and immediately made a stamp as being particularly cruel. It was the dot com boom and adult websites were created in the thousands. Khan specialized in pushing limits and avoiding consent. Women showed up to shoots only to leave crying and traumatized. Khan Tusion would punch, kick, slap, and strangle.

Join Black Label at ...

Reddit user CarlH is distinguished as Redditor of the day. A title reserved for quasi celebrity reddit users. CarlH enjoyed spending his free time teaching reddit users programming. Regarded as one of the most beloved users on the site. These days his name rarely, if ever comes up… Why is that?

Listener, today's story is a study in consequences—the kind that sneak up on you in the silence after a mistake. We begin with a personal tale: a moment of breaking, a walk into the night, and the cold realization of what it costs to leave something behind. But it’s in the second half where things truly darken. In Vancouver, Washington, CDL driver Mark Fogel crashes his vehicle after drinking and spirals into a mental and emoti...

Listener, In this episode, you will hear the tragic story of Sha 'Shabi' Aslam, an internet personality who struggled with depression and dark fantasies. Known for his activity on 4chan's R9K board and his 'incel' identity, Shabi shared disturbing posts about his personal life and suicidal thoughts.

Join Black Label for more premium darker episodes on Apple Podcasts or at https://www.pa...

Listener, this episode takes a sharp look into the fatal police encounter with 26-year-old Ocean McClintock, a man caught between chronic physical pain and spiraling mental health issues. You’ll hear the tense escalation from a single 911 call to the moment a vulnerable suspect is shot inside a patrol car, and the host questions whether this tragedy was truly inevitable. We explore conflicting perspectives—both pro-police and anti-...