Crime Beat

Crime Beat

The Crime Beat podcast digs deep into fascinating true crime stories, exploring new twists along the way with award-winning Southern California News Group reporter Keith Sharon’s fresh interviews of criminal masterminds, some of their victims and the detectives trying to piece together what really happened. Each season explores a different crime, beginning with the biggest bank heist in American history.

Episodes

January 21, 2019 2 mins

Find out the real story behind the biggest bank heist in American history, the burglary at the heart of the new movie “Finding Steve McQueen.”

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Bank heist master Amil Dinsio and his crew were the best around and proved it regularly. Then they were told Richard Nixon had $30 million in dirty money stashed in Southern California and they set out to rip off the President.

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February 7, 2019 35 mins

Meet the team of thieves that flew from Youngstown to Los Angeles. They might have pulled it off without a hitch if they had stuck to the plan. But one of them got another idea.

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February 14, 2019 32 mins

All that stands between Amil Dinsio’s crew and the President’s secret stash are an alarm system, reinforced concrete and 500 locked safe deposit boxes.

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February 21, 2019 30 mins

With the bank breached, and the FBI scrambling to find clues, the boys from Youngstown tried to slip away … and one of them got farther than he ever dreamed.

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On Feb. 19, 2019, police made an arrest in the cold-case killing of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe, who was strangled in Orange County in 1973. Southern California News Group reporter Keith Sharon tells the true crime story of the pursuit of her killer. Our regular podcast, "Crime Beat," Season One: "Stealing Nixon's Millions" will continue as scheduled with Episode 5.

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February 28, 2019 33 mins

Getaway driver Harry Barber starts a new life and tries to live without attracting attention to himself. Everywhere he goes, he is surrounded by cops.

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March 7, 2019 34 mins

The story appears in 2003, and producers from film companies begin to call. You’ll hear the ups and downs of writing a screenplay, and how it took more than 15 years for the movie “Finding Steve McQueen” to get made.

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March 14, 2019 53 mins

Master thief Amil Dinsio loses his edge late in his career ... and his freedom. One of the stars of the movie based on the heist, Rachael Taylor, chokes up about the real story. And “Crime Beat” becomes the podcast the Nixon people don’t want you to hear.

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March 21, 2019 54 mins

A former getaway driver and the writer who captured his story have a big week. And find out what a master thief thinks of the movie about the biggest bank heist in U.S. history.

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September 18, 2019 1 min

The body of 20-year-old honor student Cathy Torrez was found in the trunk of her car. For more than 20 years, her mother fought for justice. And for most of that time, the suspected murderer lived across the street. Would justice ever be served?

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After Cathy Torrez was murdered in 1994, Girl Scouts planted a tree to honor her. To Cathy's mother, Mary Bennett, that tree only served one purpose.

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October 10, 2019 36 mins

We meet Cathy Torrez, Mary Bennett and the people in their neighborhood. The last person we meet is Sam Lopez, who lives across the street.

About Season 2:

On Feb. 12, 1994, Cal State Fullerton honor student Cathy Torrez didn't come home after working the evening shift in the photo department at Sav-On. A week later, her body was discovered stabbed to death in t...

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October 17, 2019 29 mins

We reveal the content of 18 letters between Cathy and Sam. The letters were discovered after Cathy died.

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October 24, 2019 27 mins

Sam Lopez takes Cathy on a date, and she comes home drugged with slashed tires and no panties.

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October 31, 2019 32 mins

In the months before she died, Cathy was dating Albert Rangel, who wanted more from the relationship than Cathy could give him.

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November 7, 2019 33 mins

Cathy doesn't come home after working a shift at Sav-On. People from her family and the community send out search parties trying to find her.

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November 14, 2019 44 mins
WARNING: This episode includes details from Cathy Torrez's autopsy report that might disturb some listeners. Skip to 9:40 to avoid those details.

Police believe Sam Lopez is lying about his movements on the night Cathy disappeared. But they can't arrest him because they don't have probable cause.

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November 21, 2019 36 mins

Police finally find a fingerprint and some DNA evidence, but neither belongs to Sam Lopez.

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Rebecca Lavoie, host of "Crime Writers On," talks with Crime Beat host Keith Sharon about podcasting, journalism and some of the best true crime podcasts of all time.

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