Threat to Society: The Making of a Case
Threat to Society: The Making of a Case is a behind-the-scenes true crime podcast that follows the real-time process of researching and writing a book about a death penalty case that refuses to stay in the past. Hosted by a forensic mental health clinician, the show documents what it actually looks like to uncover a case from the inside out—digging through appellate records, tracking down witnesses, navigating court archives, and confronting the gaps between official narratives and lived reality.Each episode pulls back the curtain on the process: the breakthroughs, the dead ends, the ethical questions, and the moments where the story shifts in unexpected ways. Rather than retelling a finished narrative, the podcast invites listeners into the uncertainty of building one—where facts are incomplete, perspectives conflict, and the truth is something you have to fight to see clearly.At the center is a single question: how does a person become defined as a “threat to society”? But the podcast...
Episodes
After a murder, the victim often becomes a footnote in his own death. Thomas Millar McWaters Jr. died at 64, yet three decades later, almost nothing is known about him. In this episode, we try to find out who he was.
From a small museum in Bedford, Virginia, to census records, church archives, and the people who briefly crossed his path, we trace Tom’s life from his birth in 1924 through his decades ...
It's been more than two months since Episode 1, and this short update explains why. New interviews have changed how I understand parts of this story. I also re-recorded Episode 1 to make it more of a story and less of a reading of old articles. Here's where the season stands and what's coming next.
Episode 2, "Finding Thos," is on its way. If you'd like to help, follow the show, share it with someone who'd...
Thirty years ago today, on July 17th, 1996, Joseph John Savino Jr. was executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the murder of Thomas McWaters Jr., a wealthy farm owner in Bedford County.
Two years ago, host Austyn Castelli, a forensic mental health clinician and distant relative of Joseph Savino, found his name buried in a facility records system where she works inside the Virginia prison system. She first learned about t...
What would you do if you discovered that a relative had been executed for murder?
When forensic mental health clinician Austyn Castelli received a text message about an executed family member, she expected to find a straightforward true crime story. Instead, she uncovered a tangled history and a death penalty case that raised more questions than answers.
Threat to Society follows one woman's attempt to understand the life, crime, a...
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