Welcome to "Murder on Silk Road," a true crime podcast hosted by childhood friends Julia and Lina, joined occasionally by their friend Angela as a special guest. Every other week, they take turns sharing a captivating case from Asia or Europe, drawing on their cultural backgrounds and experience living on both continents.
With a perfect blend of research and storytelling, the hosts take listeners on a haunting journey (or at least they try to), unraveling the mysteries, motives, and investigations behind some of the most intriguing criminal acts in Eurasia. Between these more intense episodes, they offer a refreshing "in-between" segment, discussing related topics that arise from the cases or providing a much-needed palette cleanser from the darker aspects of true crime. Tune in to "Murder on Silk Road" for an enthralling and thought-provoking exploration of humanity's darkest deeds.
Be sure to check out their instagram where they post pictures associated with each case they cover!
(Credits: the map used in our cover art is created by Dorothe from Pixabay)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to "Murder on Silk Road," a true crime podcast hosted by childhood friends Julia and Lina, joined occasionally by their friend Angela as a special guest. Every other week, they take turns sharing a captivating case from Asia or Europe, drawing on their cultural backgrounds and experience living on both continents.
With a perfect blend of research and storytelling, the hosts take listeners on a haunting journey (or at least they try to), unraveling the mysteries, motives, and investigations behind some of the most intriguing criminal acts in Eurasia. Between these more intense episodes, they offer a refreshing "in-between" segment, discussing related topics that arise from the cases or providing a much-needed palette cleanser from the darker aspects of true crime. Tune in to "Murder on Silk Road" for an enthralling and thought-provoking exploration of humanity's darkest deeds.
Be sure to check out their instagram where they post pictures associated with each case they cover!
(Credits: the map used in our cover art is created by Dorothe from Pixabay)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
First of all, our sincerest apologies for the delay. If you follow our instagram (nudge nudge wink wink), you might have seen that Lina’s laptop decided to die on us and it took a few days to get everything up and running again. But here it is, finally: part two of the Olga Hepnarová case where we discuss the actual crime, trial and sentencing.
Story starts at 10:56.
INFO ON BREAK: We mentioned in the last episode that we are going on a two-week break, but we realized it will be much longer before we can record again so we should be back with a new episode on Monday, June 3. Check out our instagram @murderonsilkroad to stay up to date and who knows, we might even post some travel photos?
Sources used for today's story:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're back with another two-parter, this time with Lina sharing the tragic story of Olga Hepnarová, whose struggle with mental health would culminate in a heartbreaking decision in 1973, Czechoslovakia.
Story starts at 05:48.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
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We came for more Buttrose, we stayed for the prison riot.
Sources used for today's story:
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Welcome back to another episode. In this one we tackle the sad disappearance/murder of Jenny Cheok Cheng Kid by her failed teacher/race car driver/lawyer boyfriend Sunny Ang... Thankfully, circumstantial evidence saves the day! Take-away from today's story: if someone wants to make you write a will and leave everything to a person you've never met - RUN.
Story starts at 02:39.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To complement our first cult case, Lina gives some definitions and advice on cults from experts before retelling experiences of ex-members who survived the Huaxing Spiritual Training Center. We also come to find out that Julia knows a suspicious amount about cults... TW: recap of last week's case contain brief mentions of suicide and sexual assault.
Sources used for today's episode:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today's episode is one day late, not because Lina procrastinated with editing but because it was April Fool's day yesterday (very convenient indeed)! Strap in for our very first cult story on the podcast about Shaolong, the young dragon of Taiwan, and his cult of 40 years. Brace yourself for some questionable musical numbers and the more sinister sides of this doomsday cult. TW: sexual assault and suicide.
Story starts at 08:30.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Shaolong's music:
Extracted from the following videos, which both source the inactive YouTube channel "少龙歌声闢天下":
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Dive back into the story of the 1976 Oetker Kidnapping. This time Julia gives us more on our perpetrator and what he did with the ransom money... Hint: there's some fire involved (ouch). If you ever meet a man with the name in the episode title, remember: it ain't slander if it's true! :)
Sources:
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Have you asked yourself how many CEOs of multi-million dollar companies have been kidnapped? Well, the answer is at least two... In this episode, we unravel the abduction of Richard Oetker in 1976. Dive into the tale of a young man snatched and shoved into a box, the then highest ransom payment in German history, and the search for the kidnapper.
Story starts at 05:01.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Reading / Recommendations:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As promised last week, today's Inbetween is about the legendary Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries and his unwavering pursuit for justice. This is the YouTube video Julia watches in the episode, showing snippets of the talkshow "Pauw & Witteman," where Peter R. de Vries and Joran van der Sloot appear as guests.
For those who want to skip out on us reminiscing about the past as we look over Lina's Freundebuch (friendship book) - story starts at 15:30.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Reading/Recommendations:
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For a slight change of pace this week, Lina covers the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur Ab Doderer in 1983 Amsterdam. Responsible for the kidnapping was a group of young men led by Cor van Hout and Wim Holleeder, whose dramatic lives are also explored in today's episode about money, pride, and family.
Story starts at 03:12.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Reading / Recommendations:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Have you ever yearned for an occasion to cut off someone's tie or storm your local city hall? Despair no more! Find out how (and why) and more about the history of Karneval (or Fasching) in Germany in this week's Inbetween.
Sources for this week's Inbetween:
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In 2006, two men in Nithari, India, were arrested on suspicion of the assault and murder of multiple children and young adults. There were investigations, bodies and evidence, even a confession. In 2023, these two men were acquitted of their death sentences and let go.
Not gonna lie, it's another heavy one... But come join us anyway, for a discussion about systemic failures in law enforcement, lack of protection for and exploitation of marginalised communities, and a did-they-didn't-they for the ages.
Story starts at 11:14.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As mentioned in the previous episode, this week's Inbetween goes over the suspicious death of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini under police custody and the ensuing Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. Story starts at 04:45.
TW: brief mention of sexual violence and rape at 29:00-30:30.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Reading / Recommendations:
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Lina takes us to Iran in the early 2000s, where serial killer Saeed Hanaei haunted the streets of Mashhad and targeted society's most vulnerable demographic - illegal sex workers. Beyond recounting the grim details of the case, we delve into the environment that tolerated, and at times celebrated, these heinous acts.
TW: Brief mention of sexual assault.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Reading / Recommendations:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to episode 16, where we take you to London in 1978... Here Bulgarian BBC-broadcaster Georgi Markov died an innocent, natural death (... it was totally an assassination...). Spies? Secret Services? We have it all! Sit back and enjoy another case about what is clearly Julia's favourite murder weapon to talk about: poison!
Story starts at 02:20.
Sources used for today's story:
Further Recommendations:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Relive January 1, 2024 with us as we talk a bit about our holidays, unbox packages we sent each other, and announce our resolutions for the year.
Warning #1: This is a very casual Inbetween where we don't talk about true crime.
Warning #2: Unboxing starts at 12:38 and contains a decent amount of wrapping noises. To avoid, skip to 22:55.
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Happy New Year and welcome back! Going back to our shallow roots, Lina takes us to Japan again for the mysterious case of Kanno Naoyuki. Join us as we delve into the many theories surrounding the 'Man in the Toilet Mystery' and why Naoyuki might have ended up in the baffling position where he was found.
Story starts at 04:27.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We think Julia has a type, because this week she covers the horrible murders committed by yet another female serial killer. This is the story of Lê Thanh Vân, Vietnam’s Cyanide Witch. Excuse the sickness and the bad pronunciations this week - neither are contagious!
Story starts at 02:47.
Sources used for today's story:
Intro music:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech – Music and also Graph Paper)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.