The Misery Machine

The Misery Machine

There’s a problem with True Crime. Creators idolize perpetrators, shame victims, or are completely checked out on cases while they focus on other things. However, we can’t forget there are victims who lost their lives and families who are still grieving to this day. Furthermore, many True Crime outlets spend their time focusing on themselves or rambling, instead of getting right to the facts of the case. We hear you, this is frustrating. The Misery Machine focuses on cases the media fails to give proper attention to. We want to help give those a voice that never got to have one, to begin with. We also cover aspects of cases that other podcasts might look the other way on, and the way that these cases impact their communities for generations. It’s not enough to simply cover a case, our platform must be used to make a difference.

Episodes

June 4, 2026 36 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy stay in our home state of Maine to discuss the case of 3-year-old Maddox Williams of Stockton Springs, whose tragic death drew widespread public attention and prompted severe scrutiny of Maine’s child welfare system. Maddox died on June 20th, 2021, after being brought to Waldo County General Hospital completely unresponsive. The state medical examiner determined that his death was a homicide caused...

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This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Wisconsin to discuss the case of a 14-year-old girl, whom we'll be referring using the pseudonym, "Emma." Emma was subjected to severe child abuse and neglect, and was hospitalized in November of 2025 after weighing only 35lbs.

The teen was discovered by police after her father called 911 when she became severely ill. She was admitted to the hospital with extreme malnourishment and multi-organ dy...

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This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Bensalem, PA, to discuss the case of Cosmo DiNardo, a convicted mass murderer and nepo baby who is currently serving four consecutive life sentences. Cosmo admitted to luring four young men to his family's sprawling 90-acre farm in Solebury Township in July of 2017. There, all four were shot. When the fourth man, Mark Sturgis, didn't die immediately, Cosmo plowed over him with a backhoe while he ...

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This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Henderson, Nevada, to discuss the case of 46-year-old Johnathan Willette, who became the victim of a high profile murder investigation in Augusta of 2023. His ex-girlfriend, adult film actress Devyn Michaels, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 28-years to life in prison. Johnathan's own mother discovered his decapitated, chemical-soaked body in his Henderson home. According to ...

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This week, Drewby and Yergy head down to the Sunshine State as part of a continuation of our discussion about predators having access to children at Disney - This time, we're discussion the many employees that have been uncovered during various sting operations conducted between 1995 and 2026. These were not employees that were contracted from other countries where they could have been hiding a criminal history. These were US citiz...

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May 18, 2026 30 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head down to Louisville, Kentucky, not for the Kentucky Derby, but to discuss the case of 37-year-old hairdresser and drag performer, Jamie Carroll. Jamie went missing in December of 2009, but was never officially reported missing as he was scheduled to report to prison on drug charges. Prior to his disappearance, he met up with two men, Joey Banis and Jeffrey Mundt. While visiting Mundt's Old Louisville...

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On April 23rd, 2026, a woman and her family spent four days aboard the Disney Magic, only to see one of their favorite crew members get hauled away by US Customs and Boarder Protection upon arrival. Disney said nothing. Assuming the worst, the woman took action. Where was this man taken? The truth about what had happened, and what was going on inside the Disney fleet of ships, finally came out on May 7th, 2026. What really happened...

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May 11, 2026 20 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head over to Tangerang, Indonesia, to discuss the case of 18-year-old Eno Farihah, a factory worker who was found murdered in her dormitory room at PT Polyta Global Mandiri on March 13, 2016. Her boyfriend Rahmat Alim, who was 15 or 16 years old at the time of the assault, murdered her alonside accomplices Rahmat Arafin, and Imam Hapriadi - both 24. All three men took issues with Eno after she rejected t...

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This week, Drewby and Yergy head to the Mojave Desert to discuss the case of 2-year-old Pharaoh Lance Van Vactor, the boy who was a little king. Pharaoh was the son of Douglas "Rick" Van Vactor and Adrianna Brown. You might remember Rick from his recent appearance on Season 8 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days. But this episode isn't about that... It's about how Adrianna's new boyfriend, Mathew Kenneth Berry, decided to beat poor...

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May 4, 2026 28 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head over to Japan, not for cherry blossom season, but to discuss the case of Airi Sato, also known as Ai Mogami. Airi was a 22-year-old hostess and streamer who was fatally stabbed to death near Takadanobaba Station in Shinjuku by a deranged fan. Airi was livestreaming when the attack occurred, and her fans witnesses her final moments on screen. Police arrested 42-year-old Kenji Takano, who was still at...

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April 30, 2026 21 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Mother Russia to discuss the case of Dmitry Baksheev and Natalia Baksheeva, a couple known as the "Krasnodar Cannibals" who were convicted of murder in 2019. The couple’s crimes came to light in September of 2017 after road workers in Krasnodar found a lost cell phone. The device contained graphic images of Dmitry posing with dismembered human body parts, including one photo showing him wit...

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April 27, 2026 26 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head back up to Wisconsin to discuss the case of 5-week-old Alisa Eleanor Rosenbrook, who was the daughter of of 90 Day Fiancé stars Leida Margaretha and Eric Rosenbrook, who died on July 9th, 2025. Just days prior, on July 4th, Eric was arrested for domestic battery after allegedly slapping Leida while she held the infant. Alisa was found unresponsive later that day and placed on life support for five d...

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April 23, 2026 35 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head back to Sin City to discuss the case of Herleen Kaur Dulai, a 29-year-old certified personal trainer and energy healer who was tragically murdered in Las Vegas. Originally from Northern California, she was described by family and friends as a peaceful and kind person who enjoyed playing sports and leading community youth groups. Herleen was was killed on July 16th, 2020, at the home of Akshaya Kubia...

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April 20, 2026 24 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head back to the UK to discuss the tragic case of Angela Wrightson - a disabled woman with a a drinking problem who was just looking for one thing - friendship. Sadly, that "friendship" came in the form of two teenage girls in the foster care system to took advantage of Angela willingness to buy them alcohol and cigarettes. On one of those evenings, the two girls, known as Olivia and Yasmine in court doc...

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April 16, 2026 25 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to California to discuss the case of Danielle Ayoka, a prominent astrology influencer and "divine healer" who gained notoriety following a double murder/s*icide in Los Angeles on April 8th, 2024, the same day as the recent solar eclipse. On the days leading up to the events of today's story, Danielle posted increasingly cryptic and alarming messages on Twitter, calling the eclipse the "epitome of sp...

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April 13, 2026 23 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Keokuk, Iowa, to discuss the case of CaLove Lynn Sackman , a 27-year-old mother of 4 who was tragically murdered on February 5, 2019. Her ex-boyfriend, Adam McCain, stabbed her once inside his vehicle, ran her over with the car as she tried to escape, and then got out to stab her multiple more times. Despite her severe injuries, CaLove was able to identify her attacker to a witness and a 911 oper...

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This week, Yergy and Drewby head back over to Malaysia to discuss a case that needs more discussion, and that is the case of Zara Qairina binti Mahatir. We first learned of Zara's case while recently on vacation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after seeing a #JusticeForZara bumper sticker. Zara was a 13-year-old girl from Sabah who was found clinging to life in a drainage ditch outside of her private boarding school. It was quickly assu...

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April 6, 2026 44 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Hayward, California, to discuss the case of 26-year-old nursing student, Michelle Hoang Thi Le. Michelle was last seen at around 7:00 p.m. at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, where she was completing a clinical rotation for Samuel Merritt University. She disappeared during a break while walking to her car. Her locked SUV was found abandoned nearby the next morning with bloodstains...

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April 2, 2026 29 mins

This week, Drewby and Yergy head over to Westminster, Colorado to discuss the case of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. Jessica vanished on October 5th, 2012, while walking a short distance to meet friends for school. Her backpack, containing her glasses, was discovered two days later in a neighborhood roughly seven miles away. Her torso was found on October 10th in a park in Arvada, Colorado. Austin Sigg, then 17 years old, was identi...

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I'm sure you all know who the Duggars are, so we don't need to go too deep into that... Just when you thought that their family drama couldn't get any worse (I'm looking at you, Josh, you disgusting creep), Joseph comes waltzing in with new CSA allegations (that he admitted to). It makes you really wonder what other skeletons are lurking that have yet to be revealed... And what about Kendra?

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