A rising young sitcom star with a bright future ahead of her is gunned down at her own front door, sending shockwaves through Hollywood and beyond. What began as harmless fan mail slowly spiraled into a terrifying obsession that exposed just how vulnerable celebrities could be behind the scenes. In this episode, we unravel the tragic story of Rebecca Schaeffer, the warning signs that were missed, and the case that would forever change stalking laws in America.

Sources:

Silverman, Leah, “Inside Rebecca Schaeffer’s Murder At The Hands Of Her Stalker”, All Thats Interesting, December 29, 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/rebecca-schaeffer, Accessed May 28, 2026

Gurley, Alex, “Rebecca Schaeffer Was Preparing to Audition for Francis Ford Coppola When an Obsessed Fan Killed Her. Inside the Chilling Crime”, People, July 18, 2025, https://people.com/rebecca-schaeffer-death-everything-to-know-11766223, Accessed May 28, 2026

Mehrotra, Kriti, “Rebecca Schaeffer Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?”, The Cinemaholic, August 20, 2021, https://thecinemaholic.com/rebecca-schaeffer-murder-how-did-she-die-who-killed-her/, Accessed May 28, 2026

We're back with our twenty seventh Leave the Light On episode where we recap the cases covered in the previous month, discuss true crime headlines from the month, and give you a sneak peak at what is coming up in the next month. If we know!

References:

Russo, Christine; “"Dom and Davion's Law" - Victims Before Influencers: Modernize Son of Sam Laws”; Change.ord; https://www.change.org/p/dom-and-davion-s-law-victims-before-influencers-modernize-son-of-sam-laws; accessed May 30, 2026.

Sederstrom, Jill; “Mackenzie Shirilla’s Dad Placed on Administrative Leave From School After Speaking Out”; Oxygen True Crime; May 19, 2026; https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/mackenzie-shirillas-dad-steve-shirilla-put-on-administrative-leave; accessed May 31, 2026.

Osborne, Mark; “Alex Murdaugh murder convictions overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court, new trial ordered”; CBS News; May 13, 2026; https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-murdaugh-murder-convictions-overturned-south-carolina-new-trial/; accessed May 30, 2026

Vaidyanathan, Vaishnavi; “Stabbing at NBHA Las Vegas show? Multiple horses reportedly injured in shocking incident”; Hindustan Times; May 30, 2026; https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/news/stabbing-at-nbha-las-vegas-show-multiple-horses-reportedly-injured-in-shocking-incident/ar-AA24rqqH?ocid=BingNewsSerp; accessed May 30, 2026.

5 friends. One basketball game. And a late-night drive that ended with their car abandoned deep in the snowy mountains of Northern California. In this episode, we unravel the haunting mystery of the Yuba County 5 , a case filled with baffling decisions, missed opportunities, eerie sightings, and questions that have remained unanswered for decades.

Sources

Gorney, Cynthia; “5 'Boys' Who Never Come Back”; The Washington Post; July 5, 1978; https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/; accessed May 24, 2026.

Dillon, Lauren; “What Happened to the Yuba County Five?”; Historic Mysteries; Nov 15, 2022; https://www.historicmysteries.com/unexplained-mysteries/yuba-county-five/28692/; accessed May 24, 2026.

“When the System Breaks – The Yuba County Five Investigation”; Veriarch; Aug 13, 2025; https://veriarch.com/jurisdictional-chaos-yuba-county-five-investigation; accessed May 24, 2026.

“The mysterious case of the Yuba County Five”; Strange Outdoors; June 2024; https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2017/12/7/mathias-group-from-yuba-city; accessed May 24, 2026.

Morgan, Amber; “Inside The Bewildering Case Of The Yuba County Five And Their Unsolved Disappearance”; All That’s Interesting; April 25, 2023; https://allthatsinteresting.com/yuba-county-five; accessed May 24, 2026.

On a quiet October afternoon in 1961, 31-year-old Joan Risch vanished from her home in Lincoln, leaving behind a scene that investigators still can’t fully explain. Blood was found smeared across the kitchen, the phone had been ripped from the wall, and strange sightings of a disoriented woman nearby only deepened the mystery. More than 60 years later, the disappearance of Joan Risch remains one of the most chilling unsolved cases in Massachusetts history.

Sources:

Kabra, Prathamesh, “What Really Happened to Joan Risch, the Massachusetts Housewife Who Vanished Without a Trace in 1961?”, Thar Tribune, August 15th, 2025, https://thartribune.com/what-really-happened-to-joan-risch-the-massachusetts-housewife-who-vanished-without-a-trace-in-1961/, Accessed May 18th, 2026

“Joan Carolyn Risch” The Charlie Project, Last updated December 5, 2018, https://charleyproject.org/case/joan-carolyn-risch, Accessed May 18th, 2026

City Towner, “The Disappearance of Joan Risch in Lincoln Massachusetts” City Towner, September 26, 2024, https://citytowner.com/lincoln-ma-joan-risch-disappearance/, Accessed May 18th, 2026

In September 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol capsules, sparking one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases in American history. The victims ranged from a 12-year-old girl to parents and working professionals, all unknowingly poisoned after using a trusted over-the-counter medication. As panic spread, Johnson & Johnson issued a nationwide recall and introduced tamper-proof packaging that permanently changed the pharmaceutical industry. Investigators pursued multiple suspects over the years, but no one has ever been charged with the murders. In this episode, we examine the victims, the investigation, the leading theories, and the lasting impact of the Tylenol murders.

Sources:

Ganger, Brigitte; “Remembering the Victims of the Chicago Tylenol Murders”; Beyond the Dash; Sept 29, 2021; https://beyondthedash.com/blog/remembering/remembering-the-victims-chicago-tylenol-murders/7360; accessed May 9, 2026.

Petros, Michael; “People, politics and poison: the Tylenol® murders revisited forty years later”; The University of Illinois Chicago; May 31, 2022; https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/people-politics-and-poison-the-tylenol-murders-revisited-forty-years-later/; accessed May 9, 2026.

Simpson, Michael Lee; “POISONED PILL My cop dad’s deathbed confession to the 7 unsolved Tylenol murders tore me apart – he left key evidence for me to find”; The U.S. Sun; Sept 28, 2025; https://www.the-sun.com/news/15253060/tylenol-murders-chicago-cops-deathbed-confession/; accessed May 9, 2026.

Waxman, Olivia B.; Netflix's Tylenol Murders Doc Dives Into a Chilling Unsolved Crime; Time; May 26, 2025; https://time.com/7287680/tylenol-murders-documentary-netflix/; accessed May 10, 2026.

“Who Committed the Tylenol Murders? After More Than 40 Years, the Case Remains Unsolved.”; WTTW; https://www.wttw.com/chicago-stories/inside-the-tylenol-murders/who-committed-the-tylenol-murders; accessed May 10, 2026.

Clark, Josh; Dove, Laurie L.; “10 Notable Copycat Killers”; How Stuff Works; June 7, 2024; https://people.howstuffworks.com/5-copycat-killers.htm; accessed May 10, 2026.

“Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol Crisis: A Lesson in Ethical Crisis Management”; Journalism.University; Jan 24, 2026; https://journalism.university/media-ethics-and-laws/tylenol-crisis-ethical-management-lessons/; accessed May 10, 2026.

We're back with our twenty sixth Leave the Light On episode where we recap the cases covered in the previous month, discuss true crime headlines from the month, and give you a sneak peak at what is coming up in the next month. If we know!

References:

Acevedo, Nicole; “DNA testing confirms Ted Bundy killed Utah teen in 1974 cold case”; NBC News; April 1, 2026; https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dna-testing-confirms-utah-teen-was-killed-ted-bundy-1974-rcna266279; access April 28, 2026.

Sheehan, Kevin; Cruz, Brandon; Propper, David; Fitz-Gibbon, Jorge; “Smirking Gilgo serial killer reveals how he murdered 8 victims as their horrified relatives gasp in court during guilty plea”; New York Post; April 8, 2026; https://nypost.com/2026/04/08/us-news/gilgo-beach-slayings-expected-to-end-with-accused-serial-killer-rex-heuermanns-guilty-plea/; accessed April 28, 2026.

After taking a coworker to the hospital one night in 1980, Dorothy Jane Scott stepped into a parking lot and vanished without a trace. In the weeks before she disappeared, she had been receiving unsettling calls from someone who seemed to know her every move, calls that didn’t stop after she was gone. As the mystery deepens, one question lingers: who was watching Dorothy, and why did they never let her go?

Sources:

Vanapalli, Viswa “Dorothy Scott Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?”, The Cinemaholic, October 17, 2021, https://thecinemaholic.com/dorothy-scott-murder-how-did-she-die-who-killed-her/, Accessed April 23, 2026

Kettler, Sara, “A Single Mom Was Captured from a Hospital Parking Lot After Receiving Calls from a Stalker”, A&E, January 27, 2026, https://www.aetv.com/articles/dorothy-jane-scott-killed-stalker-cold-case, Accessed April 23, 2026

Nucleus, “#0220 Dorothy Scott Orange County Murder Mystery”, True Crime Database, November 7,2020, https://www.thetruecrimedatabase.com/case_file/dorothy-scott/, Accessed April 23,2026