Épisodes

  • "The Wrap Sheet: FIFA Scandal - Cats, Cash, and Corruption"
    Jan 23 2026

    Welcome back to Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, my little crime crew...it’s your favorite host, Steve, and this week’s Wrap Sheet is going fully unhinged.

    We’re breaking down the FIFA scandal, and not the polite, press-conference version. This is the loud, sarcastic, laugh-through-the-pain deep dive into how soccer’s governing body turned the world’s most popular sport into a global crime syndicate.

    We start in the early days of soccer - low scores, chaotic rules, questionable officiating, and fans who treated ties like moral victories. From there, we dig into how FIFA began as a small good-ol’-boys club before João Havelange flipped the table, bribed ignored countries for votes, and turned FIFA into a global juggernaut with unlimited power and very limited oversight.

    That power quickly became money - a lot of it - thanks to sponsorships, TV rights, and corporate partnerships that funneled billions through Swiss banks, shell companies, and “development programs” that somehow turned into beach houses.

    We unpack the role of Adidas power broker Horst Dassler and the creation of ISL - the marketing company that doubled as FIFA’s kickback vending machine - and how corruption went from accidental to industrial.

    Then comes Sepp Blatter, the ultimate bureaucratic survivor, who didn’t invent the corruption but perfected it. Under his watch, bribery became institutionalized, scandals were quietly settled, and FIFA learned it didn’t need to change - it just needed better lawyers.

    We break down the absurd decisions to award World Cups to Russia and Qatar, the mysteriously “destroyed” computers, and why playing soccer in desert-oven temperatures was somehow less important than who was wiring money to whom.

    Things escalate when Ireland gets robbed in one of the worst officiating disasters in World Cup history - and FIFA responds by paying $7.1 million in what can only be described as international hush money.

    That’s when the FBI enters the story - treating FIFA not like a sports organization, but like organized crime with shin guards. RICO charges, wire fraud, money laundering - the kind of legal heat you don’t attract unless you’re running an actual criminal enterprise.

    And finally, we meet Chuck Blazer - the man, the myth, the walking deli counter - who lived large, flipped fast, wore a wire disguised as a keychain, and famously rented a $6,000-a-month Trump Tower apartment… for his cats.

    The arrests that followed were surreal: FIFA executives dragged out of luxury hotels wrapped in white sheets like confused bathrobe fugitives - and FIFA pretending the whole thing came as a complete shock.

    This isn’t just a scandal.

    It’s a case study in how corruption works when everyone at the top benefits.

    And as always, we end with a teaser for next week’s episode - Operation Oxy Alley, where Florida Man energy meets prescription-pill chaos.

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    18 min
  • "The FIFA Scandal: How World Soccer Became a Criminal Enterprise"
    Jan 16 2026

    For decades, FIFA presented itself as the guardian of the world’s game - the final authority on fairness, competition, and global unity through soccer. But behind closed doors, that image quietly collapsed.

    In this episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, we peel back more than a century of history to expose how FIFA evolved from a modest governing body into one of the most corrupt institutions in sports history. What began as a mission to standardize rules became a sprawling criminal enterprise fueled by bribery, patronage, and unchecked power.

    This is not a story about bad referees or controversial calls.

    It’s a story about systems - how money, loyalty, and silence reshaped world soccer from the inside out.

    What You’ll Hear in This Episode
    1. How FIFA was founded in 1904 - and why its structure made corruption almost inevitable
    2. The moment money entered the game and changed everything
    3. How development funds became political leverage
    4. The rise of Sepp Blatter and the culture of entitlement
    5. Brown-envelope bribes, destroyed evidence, and quiet “loans” that made scandals disappear
    6. How U.S. prosecutors used Mafia-era laws to bring FIFA down
    7. Why critics say the system is still vulnerable today

    About This Episode

    This is a story-mode, documentary-style episode, designed to feel like you’re watching a true-crime series - not a recap, not a debate, and not a highlight reel. It’s a deep dive into how power corrupts when no one is watching.

    Questions from the Crime Crew

    I’m launching a new segment on upcoming Wrap Sheet episodes called Questions from the Crime Crew.

    If you have:

    1. Questions about this case
    2. Theories you want explored
    3. Or another story you want me to dig into

    Send them to:

    heistshustleshomicide@gmail.com

    I’ll start reading listener questions on air and breaking them down in future Wrap Sheet episodes.

    Support the Show

    If you enjoyed this episode:

    1. Share it with a friend
    2. A co-worker
    3. A family member
    4. Or that one crazy guy on the corner who already thinks everything’s rigged

    Every share helps this show grow and keeps these stories alive.

    Next week, we head to Florida for Operation Oxy Alley - a case where pain clinics became pill mills, doctors became dealers, and an epidemic hid behind prescription pads… until the feds shut it down.

    Because in this world, corruption doesn’t always wear a suit.

    Sometimes, it wears scrubs.

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    28 min
  • "The Wrap Sheet: The Pizza Bomber - Disposable People and Dumb Masterminds"
    Jan 9 2026

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    In this Wrap Sheet episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, host Steve dives back into one of the most disturbing cases in true crime history - the Pizza Bomber case.

    This isn’t just a robbery gone wrong. It’s a story of calculated cruelty, where Brian Wells, a pizza delivery driver, was manipulated, lied to, and strapped into a bomb that no one ever intended to disarm.

    We break down:

    1. Why Brian appeared calm leaving the bank - and when that calm turned to terror
    2. The absurdity of a “master plan” that netted barely $8,000
    3. The impossible scavenger hunt designed to fail
    4. The twisted psychology behind Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, Kenneth Barnes, and William Rothstein
    5. An umbrella-disguised shotgun that feels ripped straight from a Bond villain’s closet
    6. And the haunting question: was Brian ever supposed to survive?

    Along the way, we roast the stupidity where it deserves it, slow down where the humanity demands it, and ask how people can be cruel enough to treat another human being as disposable.

    Plus, a teaser for next week’s deep dive into the FIFA corruption scandal.

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    17 min
  • "The Pizza Bomber: A Robbery Designed to Kill"
    Jan 2 2026

    On August 28, 2003, a pizza delivery driver walked into a Pennsylvania bank with a bomb locked around his neck and a note demanding money. Minutes later, he was dead - killed by an explosive that detonated live on television.

    But this wasn’t a robbery gone wrong.

    In this story-mode episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, we unravel the disturbing truth behind the Pizza Bomber case - a crime built not on desperation, but on calculation. A scavenger hunt designed to fail. A bomb designed to never be disarmed. And a man placed at the center of it all who may never have had a real choice.

    As investigators peel back the layers, a cast of deeply fractured minds emerges: a brilliant but violent mastermind, a bomb builder with nothing left to lose, a drug dealer chasing one last score, and a delivery driver whose role - willing participant or expendable pawn - remains bitterly contested to this day.

    This episode explores not just what happened, but why - and why this case still unsettles investigators, families, and listeners decades later. Because the most horrifying part isn’t the bomb. It’s the realization that the cruelty was intentional…and the outcome was always the same.

    Listener discretion advised.

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    19 min
  • "The Wrap Sheet: Catfished by a Monster Inside the Home"
    Dec 29 2025

    In this Wrap Sheet episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, we peel back the layers of the Kendra Licari catfishing case - a story that shocked a small town and left lasting damage far beyond the original investigation.

    What began as a relentless cyberbullying campaign against a teenage girl turned into something far more disturbing when the truth came out: the messages weren’t coming from a classmate… they were coming from inside the home.

    In this deep dive, we break down:

    1. How Kendra Licari cultivated the image of the “cool mom”
    2. The dangerous blurring of boundaries with her daughter’s friends
    3. The unfair suspicion and fallout faced by innocent students like Khloe Wilson
    4. How control, attention, and obsession quietly shaped the investigation
    5. And the devastating moment when Lauryn learned the truth

    We also look at where everyone is now, how this case still lingers, and why it’s a chilling reminder that cyberbullying doesn’t always come from where we expect.

    Listener note: This episode discusses bullying and emotional harm involving minors. Content is handled with care.

    If you haven’t listened to last week’s story episode, make sure to start there for full context.

    Next week: The Pizza Bomber case - a delivery, a bomb, and a mystery that still doesn’t sit right.

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    13 min
  • "Unknown Number: When a Mother Became the Monster"
    Dec 24 2025

    For nearly two years, a Michigan teenager was psychologically tormented by an anonymous texter who seemed to know everything about her - what she wore to school, her insecurities, her relationship, and exactly how to hurt her.

    The messages came nonstop.

    Dozens a day.

    Cruel, humiliating, sexually explicit - and eventually telling her to end her life.

    Parents begged school administrators for help. Police investigated classmates. Phones were searched. Suspects were cleared. And all the while, one person remained at the center of the investigation - comforting the victim, pushing for answers, demanding justice.

    Her mother.

    In this episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, we unravel the shocking true story behind the Kendra Licari catfishing case - a digital stalking nightmare that stunned investigators, fractured a family, and forced an entire town to confront an unthinkable truth.

    We dive into:

    1. The anonymous texts that escalated into psychological warfare
    2. The devastating emotional toll on a teenage girl and her relationship
    3. Why schools and local police couldn’t stop the harassment
    4. How the FBI finally cracked the case through cyber forensics
    5. The moment investigators realized the threat was inside the home
    6. The disturbing psychology behind a mother who became her child’s tormentor

    This isn’t just a story about cyberbullying.

    It’s a story about control, fear, and betrayal hiding behind love.

    Listener discretion advised.

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    32 min
  • "The Wrap Sheet: D.B. Cooper — The Jump, the Money, and the Suspects"
    Dec 15 2025

    In this Wrap Sheet deep dive, we’re reopening one of the most infamous mysteries in American crime history - D.B. Cooper - and putting the legend under a microscope.

    This isn’t a retelling of the hijacking.

    This is the post-game breakdown.

    We dig into how Cooper actually pulled this off, why the Boeing 727’s aft stairs made the crime possible, and whether survival after the jump was brilliant planning… or blind confidence fueled by bourbon and bad weather

    We examine:

    • The mechanics behind the hijacking and mid-air jump
    • Why 1971 airport security made this crime possible
    • Whether Cooper died on impact, drowned, or disappeared quietly
    • The mystery of the ransom money found along the Columbia River
    • And why the suspects list goes far beyond Richard Floyd McCoy

    Speaking of McCoy — we confront the elephant in the cabin.

    We break down the modern evidence, including:

    • Parachute discoveries uncovered by independent researchers
    • Testimony from McCoy’s own children
    • And the strongest arguments for and against him being D.B. Cooper

    We also explore other major suspects, including Robert Rackstraw, Kenneth Christiansen, Sheridan Peterson, William Gossett, Barbara Dayton, Richard Floyd McCoy...and explain why some theories collapse under the weight of physics, logistics, and common sense.

    Was D.B. Cooper a criminal mastermind?

    Or just a man who understood airplanes, people… and how to vanish?

    One thing’s certain — this case refuses to stay buried.

    If you enjoy deep dives like this, please subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with a fellow true-crime junkie. It genuinely helps more than you know.

    If you’d like to support the show directly, you can donate using the links in the show notes. Every contribution helps keep Heists, Hustles, and Homicide independent — and helps fund future investigations, research, and production.

    Venmo & Buy Me a Coffee links are in the show notes

    Thank you for listening, supporting, and keeping independent true crime alive.

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    20 min
  • "D.B. Cooper: The Man Who Vanished Into the Sky"
    Dec 11 2025

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    D.B. Cooper: The Man Who Vanished Into the Sky

    On the night before Thanksgiving in 1971, a quiet man in a business suit boarded a short flight from Portland to Seattle… and walked straight into American legend.

    He ordered a bourbon.

    Handed over a note.

    Claimed he had a bomb.

    What followed was the only unsolved hijacking in U.S. history — a perfectly executed skyjacking that ended with a man stepping off the back of a Boeing 727 into the dark, stormy sky with $200,000 in cash… and never being seen again.

    In this deep-dive documentary-style episode of Heists, Hustles, and Homicide, we unravel the full D.B. Cooper story — from the infamous jump, to the FBI’s decades-long investigation, to the shocking modern-day evidence that may finally answer the question everyone’s been asking for more than 50 years:

    Who was D.B. Cooper… and did he survive?

    We explore the most compelling theory of all — that Cooper was actually Richard Floyd McCoy II, a decorated Green Beret, helicopter pilot, and criminal justice student who pulled off a near-identical hijacking just five months later.

    This episode covers:

    • The night Cooper hijacked Flight 305 and vanished
    • The FBI’s largest unsolved investigation and why it stalled
    • The Utah copycat hijacking that changed everything
    • The discovery of a “one-in-a-billion” parachute
    • New evidence uncovered by a YouTuber that forced the FBI to move again
    • Family secrets, collapsing alibis, and a possible DNA endgame
    • And the haunting question of whether Cooper was a folk hero… or a desperate man with nowhere left to land

    This isn’t just a mystery.

    It’s a legend.

    And it might finally be coming down to earth.

    Strap in. Because some crimes don’t end… they disappear.

    If you loved this episode, please follow, rate, and share the show with another true-crime junkie. Word of mouth is the lifeblood of independent podcasts like this one.

    #HeistsHustlesHomicide #DBCooper #TrueCrimePodcast #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeCommunity #FBIColdCases #UnsolvedCrimes #TrueCrimeAddict #CrimePodcast #AviationMystery #AmericanMystery #ColdCaseFiles #TrueCrimeStories

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    29 min