Richie Buck finally has the evidence he has been waiting for. After Sheriff Bradley Dewberry repairs Richie’s ancient VCR, Richie plays the 1985 Christmas tape Ruthie Barker Guest recorded in her living room. What he discovers is explosive. Ruthie rants about Santa, threatens revenge, and whispers a strange clue that rewrites everything Richie thought he knew. She mentions the Easter Bunny. And the Tooth Fairy.

With this revelation echoing in his head, Richie retreats to his garage headquarters. Fishing line replaces yarn as he connects every clue from the crime scene. The missing mitten. The owl blood. The suspicious Easter-themed sponsors. The tunnels. The burrow. The grass green Kia Soul with a smashed headlight. Every detail begins to point in one direction.

Richie follows the trail to the home of the Easter Bunny, AKA - EB Cooper. Inside a mound-like dwelling that smells like carrots and damp earth, Richie finds jars of preserves, stacks of baskets, and a mitten identical to the one found near the crime scene. The Easter Bunny brags about Santa’s downfall, complains about holiday politics, and slips up. He admits he set a trap for Ruthie Barker Guest. He admits he wanted her gone. And he admits Santa reached the scene before he could finish the job.

Richie leaves shaken and triumphant. For the first time, he has a fully formed theory of Christmas Eve. The Easter Bunny hit Ruthie Barker Guest with his Kia Soul. The owls followed his scent. Santa crashed into the panicked birds. And the sheriff arrived moments later to arrest the wrong mythical figure.

Richie is ready to take everything he has learned to Detective Samantha Strong. But before he can, a package appears on his porch. Inside are files, photos, and dental x-rays. The sender warns him about another danger lurking in Santa’s circle. A woman named Wanda Van Bratton. Richie knows her by a different name.

The Tooth Fairy.

Santa’s story may be ending, but Richie’s new investigation is just beginning.

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Sheriff Bradley Dewberry - Kevin Grogan Ruthie Barker Guest - Kristi Chandler Grogan Detective Samantha Strong - Shiloh Catanese The Easter Bunny - The Easter Bunny

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

The world is talking about Santa Claus. True crime podcasters are weighing in, conspiracy shows are spinning theories, and Richie Buck finds himself caught in the crossfire as the story explodes far beyond his small podcast. Richie pushes the chatter aside and throws himself back into the investigation, beginning with a meeting he both needs and fears. Dr. Peter Vimsickle has completed Santa’s psychological evaluation, and the results are not what Richie hoped for.

According to the doctor, Santa shows signs of narcissistic and histrionic disorders, obsessive tendencies, and a level of paranoia that has only intensified since his arrest. Even worse, Dr. Vimsickle plans to testify for the prosecution. The assessment forces Richie to confront a truth he has been avoiding. His faith in Santa might be less about evidence and more about the comfort the holiday has always given him.

Looking for a wider perspective, the doctor sends Richie to meet cult and ritual expert Dr. Princess Jesper. Their encounter takes place in a cemetery by a lazy river, where Richie discovers a hidden shrine and a voodoo-style Santa doll complete with a shaved-off beard and the scent of hunch punch. Dr. Jesper raises a chilling possibility. Someone may have cursed Santa long before Christmas Eve.

Over pancakes and bacon at The Bacon Shack, Dr. Jesper and Richie discuss the elves, the factions at the North Pole, and whether Santa’s continued absence could destabilize the entire operation. Richie leaves with more questions than answers and a growing fear that Santa’s world might be more divided than he realized.

Back home, Richie sorts through his mail and finds a package containing old VHS tapes labeled Barker Christmas. When he loads the first tape into his ancient VCR, it jams immediately. But Richie has a guy who can fix it, and he knows the contents of those tapes might finally reveal the truth about Ruthie Barker Guest.

Next episode, those tapes will speak from beyond the grave. And Richie will follow the evidence straight to the person he believes framed Santa Claus.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Dr. Peter Whimsickle - Scott Musgrove Dr. Prentice Jesper - Rebekah Sebastian

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

Richie Buck wakes up on his final morning at the North Pole with a pounding headache, a mysterious gift in his pocket, and Mrs. Karen Claus standing in his bedroom.

Karen drops every bombshell on him at once: her affair with Cam D. Kane, Santa’s own affair with Ruthie Barker Guest, and her belief that Santa may have run RBG down “like a dog in the street.” And she wants Richie to be the messenger.

But she also gives Richie one question to take back to Santa - one that makes Richie’s breath catch: Why didn’t you run?

As Richie prepares to leave the North Pole for good, Ellie the Elf bids him farewell with a wink, and Richie boards the long, cold journey back to his quiet southern hometown. He barely steps off the plane before Detective Samantha Strong and half the sheriff’s department close in, escorting him straight from the airport to an interrogation room. Strong has new information: Ruthie Barker Guest hasn’t received a gift from Santa since 1985. She was on the permanent naughty list.

And then, the twist Richie has been guarding, Santa’s sleigh wasn’t covered in Ruthie’s blood at all.

It was from an owl.

Still, nothing prepares Richie for the conversation that follows when he finally sits across from Santa again. As Richie reveals Karen’s affair, the forgotten gifts, and the locket he salvaged, Santa crumbles under the weight of decades-old secrets. But when Richie asks why he didn’t flee the night of the arrest, Santa’s answer stops him cold:

“Because only the guilty run.”

Now Richie is home with more questions than ever, and a voicemail waiting on his machine. Dr. Whimsickle has finished his psychological assessment of Santa.

And his news is disturbing.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Karen Claus - Laura Anderson Ellie the Elf - Sydney Catanese Detective Samantha Strong - Shiloh Catanese Dr. Peter Whimsickle - Scott Musgrove

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators, and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

Richie Buck’s time at the North Pole is running out, but the deeper he digs, the stranger - and darker - everything becomes. At the urging of Cam D. Kain, the head of the ELF-BI, Richie is taken to a fenced-in wasteland known as the Blandfill, a desolate dumping ground where old toys, forgotten gifts, and waddling penguins replace the seagulls and garbage of a normal landfill.

There, Richie discovers something that rocks his understanding of both Santa and Ruthie Barker Guest: decades’ worth of Christmas presents that Santa never delivered to her. Every year since 1985, her gifts wound up abandoned in the Blandfill instead of under her tree. Each box is tagged, wrapped, and rejected. But why? And what did Santa know?

More unsettling truths emerge as Richie visits the Claus compound, where Mrs. Claus - Karen - is far younger than expected, brutally honest, and surprisingly fed up. She walks Richie through Santa’s actual workshop: a joyless, industrial factory where conveyor belts replace carols and overworked elves churn out toys like machinery. Then, over mistletoe malt beers, she drops the biggest bombshell yet: Ruthie Barker Guest wasn’t just some disgruntled grandma… she and Santa had a history. The kind you don’t write in Christmas cards.

With every revelation, the story lurches further away from the innocent holiday tale Richie thought he was living, and closer to something messy, human, and dangerous. If Santa was set up, someone wanted him buried. But if he wasn’t…

Richie picks up the mysterious gift he smuggled out of the Blandfill and finally answers the question he’s been avoiding:

What’s inside Ruthie Barker Guest’s final present?

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Cameron D. Kane - Tim Pilleri Mayor P.P. Patenaude - Lance Reenstierna Mrs. Karen Claus - Laura Anderson

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

The Eighth Day of Christmas - Intercontinental Ballistic Mistletoe

Richie Buck’s journey through the North Pole takes a sharp, disorienting turn as he finds himself deep inside the abandoned institution where elves once labored until their final cuckoo clock. There, amid smoke, shadows, and the lingering scent of some "elfin tobacco,” Richie meets the elusive Todd O. Tannenbaum - better known as The Toddfather.

At first, Richie thinks he’s finally reached the North Pole official who can help him prove Santa’s innocence. But the longer he sits in that haze, the clearer it becomes: Todd didn’t bring him here to save Santa… he brought him here to bury him. When Richie refuses to bend, Todd flips a radio knob, and Richie collapses into a drug-induced sleep.

He wakes in a strange room with Ellie, the world’s most impatient elf - who informs him they’re late for a meeting with the mayor. Nothing at the North Pole looks the way Richie imagined. No lights, no candy-cane cottages. Just industrial gray, weary elves, and simmering unrest.

Mayor P.P. Patenaude greets Richie with eggnog, charm, and a political request that makes Richie’s head spin: an endorsement from Santa Claus himself. And later, at the North Pole’s exclusive “NOPO Cabana,” Todd and the mayor ply Richie with Liquid Christmas and dense political riddles, turning the evening into a blur of smoke, neon, and escalating tension.

But the night isn’t over. Outside, an elf in a heavy coat stops Richie and ushers him into a black sleigh. The elf flashes a badge.

Cameron D. Kane Head of the ELF-BI.

According to him, Santa’s arrest has created an international hostage crisis. Power is shifting. Alliances are forming.

If Richie wants to straighten the mess out, he’ll need to meet someone who knows Santa better than anyone.

Mrs. Claus.

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Todd O'Tannenbaum AKA: The Toddfather - Chris Helton Ellie the Elf - Sydney Catanese Mayor P.P. Patenaude - Lance Reenstierna of Crawlspace and Missing Cameron (Cam) D. Kane, head of the Elf B I - Tim Pillieri of Crawlspace and Missing Special drink of the podcast created by Nina of The Already Gone podcast.

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

Richie Buck is all in, and now it’s permanent. After uncovering new evidence, hiring a flashy new defense attorney, and learning that the blood on Santa’s sleigh wasn’t human at all, Richie takes the ultimate leap of loyalty: getting a full-on Santa tattoo. As the needle buzzes, he doubles down on his mission to prove the big man’s innocence and restore Christmas for everyone.

But with his departure for the North Pole imminent, the world around him seems to wobble. Detective Samantha Strong is torn between ridicule and concern. Richie’s travel plans span more modes of transportation than any human should reasonably take in a single day. And when he finally arrives at the “NoPo,” nothing is as he imagined - no twinkling lights, no toy-filled wonderland. Instead, he finds a bleak industrial sprawl, eerie neon bars, and a cold so sharp it cuts.

His guide is Ellie, a 156-year-old elf with zero patience, a wicked sense of humor, and a deep disdain for being mistaken for a fairy. She leads Richie through back alleys, old institutions, and finally into a smoke-filled room where a mysterious figure waits in the shadows.

Todd O'Tannenbaum. The Toddfather.

And he’s been expecting Richie.

Richie’s quest for the truth has finally brought him to the top of the world—but what he finds here might be even stranger than what he left behind.

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Jenny the Tattoo Artist - Kelli - Berens Brink Detective Samantha Strong - Shiloh Catanese Chris Helton - Todd O'Tannenbaum

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

The Sixth Cay of Christmas - The Case For

Richie Buck returns to the correctional facility, only to discover that Santa’s arrest has turned the mailroom into a 24/7 operation, overwhelmed with letters from children who still believe. When he finally sits across from Santa, the jolly man drops the “ho, ho, ho” act and speaks like a regular person, revealing cracks of doubt, frustration, and fear beneath the persona the world expects him to uphold.

But Santa has bigger worries: his court-appointed attorney is a disaster. After a hilarious and deeply concerning encounter, Richie fires the public defender himself and replaces him with someone bold enough to take on the world’s most mythic client - a flashy, fearless, red-nosed (literally) defense attorney named Derek Rudolph. Equal parts showman and legal bulldog, Derek promises Santa will walk out “guilty free”… guaranteed.

Just as hope starts to rise, a mysterious caller summons Richie to a late-night meeting behind The Bacon Shack. There, a disguised informant delivers a bombshell: the blood on Santa’s sleigh wasn’t human at all. It belonged to a bird—an owl. If true, the entire case could unravel.

And then, as Richie’s mind reels, another message arrives. A green envelope. Block letters. No postage. Inside, a summons to travel north. Far north. Someone at the top of the world wants to see him.

With a new defense team, a shocking twist in the evidence, and a summons from the North Pole itself, Richie’s investigation is about to cross a line he can’t uncross.

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Jenny the Tattoo Artist - Kelli Berens-Brink Detective Samantha Strong - Shiloh Catanese Trip Trippley - Kyle Burnsed Derek Rudolf - Bob Motta Ellie the Elf - Sydney Catanese Todd O'Tannenbaum - Chris Helton

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE

The Fifth Day of Christmas - The Case Against

Richie Buck heads straight into the lion’s den - the prosecutor’s office. There, he hopes to understand exactly what Santa Claus is up against. But what he finds isn’t a quiet room of legal briefs… It’s a true-crime trophy hall, every wall plastered with mugshots of past convictions like hunting mounts. And the prosecutors, Chet and Sally, treat justice like a competitive sport. Or worse, a hobby.

Between high-fives, Top Gun references, and a surprising admission that they nickname Santa “Iceman,” the duo walks Richie through the massive charging document: vehicular manslaughter, breaking and entering, reckless endangerment, unlawful surveillance, cruelty to animals, violating airspace, and even “kissing without consent.” It’s a mountain of accusations, and the prosecutors seem a little too eager to plant a flag at the summit.

Overwhelmed, Richie turns to Detective Samantha Strong for clarity, reading each charge aloud over donuts at The Bacon Shack. But every explanation she gives feels more like a nail in Santa’s coffin, especially when the evidence doesn’t look nearly as shaky as Richie hoped.

With prosecutors circling, the community whispering, and Santa’s mugshot already hanging on their wall as if the verdict were a done deal, Richie faces his most brutal realization yet: the case against Santa is massive… and belief alone might not be enough to save him.

It's like Santa Claus. As a suspect. On Dateline. In the South.

Cast: Richie Buck - Jason Usry Santa Claus - Pat Picone Chet - Brett, from The Prosecutors Podcast Sally - Alice, from The Prosecutors Podcast Detective Samantha Strong - Shiloh Catanese

Head Elf, Jason Usry Co-Executive Elves: Rebekah Sebastian, Dr. Shiloh Catanese, Dr. Scott Musgrove, and Michelle Kaz. Santa Maybe, a Criminal is written and produced by Jason Usry Music and Sound FX sourced through Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe, Audiio, Universal Music for Creators and more. Additional music and atmospheres provided by Captain Fathands. Follow the show on social media: X - @santamaybe Facebook - @SantaMaybePodcast Web - santamaybe.com

Until next time: BE NICE