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Pretty Wicked

Pretty Wicked

By: Pretty Wicked | Southern Gothic Media
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Summary

 If you've ever gone down a rabbit hole at 2am and couldn't find your way back out, you're right at home! Pretty Wicked shares the stories you can't stop thinking about: murder, scandal, obsession, cults, and the cases that are just too wild to let go of. New episodes every Wednesday. 🖤 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. 📩 prettywickedthepodcast@gmail.com ✨ Instagram @prettywickedthepodcast If you're enjoying Pretty Wicked, consider leaving a rating and review. It makes a huge difference and helps other people find the show. It genuinely means the world!Copyright Pretty Wicked Podcast Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: The Hollywood Ripper

    Hidden in Plain Sight: The Hollywood Ripper
    May 13 2026
    In February 2001, Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher drove to a woman's house to pick her up for a date. She didn't answer the door. He looked through the window, saw what he thought was a red wine stain on the carpet, assumed she had gone out without him, and left. The next morning her roommate came home and found her body. She had been stabbed 47 times. The man who killed her had been living a block away, watching her, for months. He had introduced himself as a helpful guy who could fix her furnace. He was friendly at parties. He was, by every account, completely ordinary. He had done this before. He would do it again. And he would not be caught for another seven years. 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you liked this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING If this story got under your skin, here is everything we used to research this episode. 🔗 WEB SOURCES CBS News / 48 Hours - The Hollywood Ripper: How 48 Hours Helped Crack the Case https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-hollywood-ripper-how-48-hours-helped-crack-the-case-of-convicted-serial-killer-michael-gargiulo/ E! Online - The Chilling Details of the Murder of Ashley Ellerin and the Hollywood Ripper Trial https://www.eonline.com/news/1045255/a-murder-trial-years-in-the-making-3-deaths-an-alleged-serial-killer-and-the-chilling-reason-ashton-kutcher-s-knock-went-unanswered NBC News - Ashton Kutcher Testified He Was Freaking Out When Police Told Him Woman Had Been Killed https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ashton-kutcher-testified-he-was-freaking-out-when-police-told-n1011656 The Daily Beast - Hollywood Ripper Sexual-Thrill Killer Survivor Breaks Her Silence https://www.thedailybeast.com/hollywood-ripper-sexual-thrill-killer-survivor-breaks-her-silence-i-woke-up-with-someone-on-top-of-me/ The Daily Beast - Hollywood Ripper Michael Thomas Gargiulo Sentenced to Death https://www.thedailybeast.com/hollywood-ripper-michael-thomas-gargiulo-sentenced-to-death-for-slaying-2-women/ KTLA - LA Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Convicted in Murders of Young Women https://ktla.com/news/local-news/trial-begins-in-l-a-for-alleged-serial-sexual-thrill-killer-michael-gargiulo/ Investigation Discovery - How Serial Psychosexual Thrill Killer Michael Gargiulo Got Caught https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/serial-killer/how-serial-psychosexual-thrill-killer-michael-gargiulo-got-caught/ Fox News - Hollywood Ripper Michael Gargiulo Liked to Watch Death https://www.foxnews.com/us/hollywood-ripper-michael-gargiulo-liked-watch-death-inflicting-pain-victims Chicago Sun-Times - Michael Gargiulo Trial: Prosecutor Links Illinois, California Attacks https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2019/8/7/20758568/michael-gargiulo-trial-california-illinous-murders CBS Chicago - Convicted Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Extradited to Illinois for 1993 Murder of Tricia Pacaccio https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/serial-killer-michael-gargiulo-extradited-murder-tricia-pacaccio/ Fox 32 Chicago - Hollywood Ripper Faces Charges in 1993 Glenview Murder of Tricia Pacaccio https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/michael-gargiulo-1993-glenview-murder-tricia-pacaccio Criminal Discourse Podcast - Michael Gargiulo https://criminaldiscoursepodcast.com/michael-gargiulo/ 🎬 DOCUMENTARY & TV 48 Hours - The Boy Next Door (2011) / The Hollywood Ripper (CBS) The CBS News program that first connected Gargiulo's California murders to the 1993 killing of Tricia Pacaccio in Illinois, and whose broadcast directly prompted witnesses to come forward with information that led to new charges. Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood - Season 2 (2023/2024) Features new interviews with LAPD Homicide Detective Tom Small, the lead investigator on the Ashley Ellerin case, and other key figures. Available to stream. People Magazine Investigates - The Hollywood Ripper (Max/Discovery) In-depth documentary on the full arc of the case from the 1993 Illinois killing through the California murders and the 2019 trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Poison in the Pocky Aisle

    Poison in the Pocky Aisle
    May 6 2026
    In 1984, something really unsettling started happening across Japan. Boxes of children’s candy were showing up on store shelves laced with cyanide, and it didn’t feel random or hidden. It felt intentional, like someone wanted people to notice. The group behind it called themselves The Monster with 21 Faces, and for 17 months they turned the whole thing into a kind of performance with kidnappings, arson, poisoned sweets, and dozens of letters sent to police and the media, openly mocking them. And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. No arrests, no answers, and now too much time has passed for anyone to be held accountable. 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you liked this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING If this story got under your skin and you want to go deeper, here is everything we used to research this episode. 🔗 WEB SOURCES CrimeReads - Japan's Most Notorious Kidnapping Is Still Unsolved https://crimereads.com/japans-most-notorious-kidnapping-is-still-unsolved/ All That's Interesting - full case profile https://allthatsinteresting.com/monster-with-21-faces The Ghost in My Machine - deep dive narrative https://theghostinmymachine.com/2019/08/12/unresolved-the-monster-with-21-faces-the-glico-morinaga-case-and-the-candy-poisoning-incident-of-1984-kidnapping-katsuhisa-ezaki-extortion-unsolved-fox-eyed-man-video-man/ Unresolved - Monster with 21 Faces case file https://unresolved.me/the-monster-with-21-faces Historic Mysteries - full case timeline https://www.historicmysteries.com/major-crimes/monster-21-faces/1240/ Monster with 21 Faces - dedicated case archive https://www.monsterwith21faces.com/ Who was the Fox-Eyed Man - case archive https://www.monsterwith21faces.com/who-was-the-foxeyed-man Marilyn Ivy - "Tracking the Mystery Man with the 21 Faces" Critical Inquiry, Vol. 23, No. 1, Autumn 1996. The only serious English-language academic analysis of the Monster's letters and their cultural significance. Available via JSTOR or university library access. 📚 BOOKS MENTIONED Lady Joker, Volumes 1 & 2 - Kaoru Takamura The closest thing to a definitive literary treatment of this case. A 1997 Japanese epic, only translated into English in 2021–2022, by the author often called the Queen of Japanese crime fiction. It's a fictional reimagining - the candy company becomes a beer company, the Monster becomes "Lady Joker" - but it's directly inspired by the real events and goes deep into the social wounds of postwar Japan that made this case possible. Made TIME magazine's 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Devastating and extraordinary. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/598484/lady-joker-volume-1-by-kaoru-takamura-translated-by-allison-markin-powell-and-marie-iida/ Toppamono - Manabu Miyazaki The autobiography of the prime suspect. Deals with his experience of being publicly named as the only person of interest in Japan's most notorious unsolved case. Currently available in English and Japanese. 🎬 FILM & TV The Voice of Sin (Tsumi no Koe) - 2020 A Japanese thriller film based on Takeshi Shiota's 2016 novel of the same name, which uses the Glico Morinaga case as its backdrop. Stars Shun Oguri and Gen Hoshino. Japanese-language with subtitles. A rare piece of fiction that engages directly with the actual events rather than fictionalizing them. Lady Joker - Film & TV Adaptations Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker novel has been adapted into both a film and a television series in Japan. Japanese-language productions. Worth seeking out for anyone who reads the books and wants more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • The Price of a Lie: When the Con Turns Deadly

    The Price of a Lie: When the Con Turns Deadly
    Apr 29 2026
    For thirty years, a man called himself Clark Rockefeller, claimed to be an heir to one of the most powerful families in American history, and the world believed him. He moved through the most elite circles in the country, he married a Harvard educated millionaire, and charmed everyone he ever met. The only problem? He didn't exist. And somewhere in a California backyard, there were bones that told a very different story. This is Pretty Wicked's very first episode and we are starting with one of the craziest cons ever pulled and the murder hiding underneath it. Welcome to the show! 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you loved this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING If this story got under your skin here is everything we used to research this episode. 🔗 WEB SOURCES History.com overview - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rockefeller-imposter-and-convicted-felon-born All That's Interesting full profile - https://allthatsinteresting.com/clark-rockefeller ABC News - murder conviction, April 2013 https://abcnews.go.com/US/clark-rockefeller-impostor-found-guilty-1985-murder/story?id=18924924 ABC News - kidnapping trial opening day https://abcnews.go.com/News/story?id=7672617 CNN - Sandra Boss trial testimony https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/02/massachusetts.rockefeller.trial/index.html CNN - murder sentencing, August 2013 https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/justice/rockefeller-impersonator-sentence San Diego Union-Tribune - Sandra Boss cross-examination https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-us-rockefeller-mystery-060209-2009jun02-story.html Boston Herald - Sandra Boss on the stand https://www.bostonherald.com/2009/06/02/rockefeller-lawyer-grills-sandra-boss-on-stand/ Fox News - first wife Amy Jersild-Duhnke testimony https://www.foxnews.com/story/first-wife-of-clark-rockefeller-to-testify-at-kidnap-trial NPR interview with journalist Mark Seal https://www.npr.org/2011/07/10/137624164/30-year-con-from-german-kid-to-rockefeller-scion CBS News 48 Hours - full case profile with jailhouse interview https://www.cbsnews.com/news/unmasking-con-man-and-rockefeller-imposter-christian-gerhartsreiter/ CBS News 48 Hours - did he almost commit the perfect crime? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rockefeller-impostor-murder-case-did-a-con-man-almost-commit-the-perfect-crime/ Walter Kirn - Pedigree, The New Yorker, June 2013 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/10/pedigree-personal-history-walter-kirn RealClearInvestigations - deep dive on the original Vanity Fair investigationhttps://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/05/30/investigative_classics_the_con_man_in_the_rockefeller_suit.html Oxygen - full Sohus case breakdown https://www.oxygen.com/blood-money/crime-news/what-happened-to-john-linda-sohus-christian-gerhartsreiter Oxygen - murder conviction details https://www.oxygen.com/a-wedding-and-a-murder/crime-news/christian-gerhartsreiter-convicted-murder-john-sohus Oxygen/Dateline - investigation narrative https://www.oxygen.com/dateline-secrets-uncovered/crime-news/christian-gerhartsreiter-convicted-of-john-sohus-murder Unsolved Mysteries Wiki - John and Linda Sohus case filehttps://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/John_and_Linda_Sohus Boston Globe - interview with Alexander Gerhartsreiter in Bergen, Bavaria https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2008/08/08/the-little-town-and-life-rockefeller-left-for-fame/l20Zs5ZzVbgic07Sf0MB6M/story.html Boston Herald - You found my brother https://www.bostonherald.com/2008/08/09/you-found-my-brother/ WildAboutTrial - murder trial coverage https://wildabouttrial.com/trial-coverage/clark-rockefeller/ 📚 BOOKS MENTIONED The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal (Viking, 2011) The definitive book on the case. Seal's original Vanity Fair investigation is what blew the lid off the story. Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn (Liveright, 2014) Kirn's personal account of his fifteen year friendship with Gerhartsreiter. One of the most unsettling memoirs you'll ever read. 🎬 DOCUMENTARY My Friend Rockefeller (2015), directed by Bernhard von Büttner Features interviews with Gerhartsreiter's Bavarian family and the Americans who knew him. Available on documentary streaming platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    55 mins
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