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American Nightmares

Every headline hides a deeper story. American Nightmares pulls you into the most unsettling true crime cases—one season, one case at a time. These are the crimes that kept detectives awake, shattered families, and left entire communities on edge. Told through raw interviews, gripping investigative detail, and cinematic storytelling, each season reveals how these nightmares unfolded—and the long road to uncovering the truth. You may think you know the story. You don’t.

Latest Episodes

S2 E3 – The Dragnet
S2 E3 – The Dragnet
With no one in custody and no prime suspects, Prince George's County police devise a plan to get DNA from the hundreds of men working at Prince George's Hospital Center. A tactic that would turn highly controversial and put the police on ...
S2 E2 – The Investigation
S2 E2 – The Investigation
As Prince George's County Police detectives investigate the murder of nurse Sherry Crandell, they learn of a witness to the attack. A fact police kept deep in their files for 23 years and are revealing for the first time on this podcast.
S2 E1 – The Murder
S2 E1 – The Murder
In 1998, a nurse was found brutally raped and strangled in the Maryland hospital where she worked. Despite DNA evidence and a fingerprint of the killer left behind at the scene, the case remains unsolved 23 years later. But, could newly uncovered ...
S1 E13 – 22 Hours: The Appeal
S1 E13 – 22 Hours: The Appeal
An update in the case after nearly two years: Daron Wint’s lawyers have filed an appeal seeking to throw out his conviction and asking for a new trial. Hosts Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore head back into the studio to discuss the ...
S1 E12 – 22 Hours: The Breakdown Q&A #2
S1 E12 – 22 Hours: The Breakdown Q&A #2
In our final episode, we again return to the studio and dig through our notes, files and transcripts of the case to answer listener questions. What happened to the $40,000 ransom and was it fully accounted for? What is the timeline of ...
S1 E11 – 22 Hours: Life Without
S1 E11 – 22 Hours: Life Without
After Daron Wint’s conviction, federal prosecutors press the judge for the harshest possible sentence and, for the first time reveal his history of explosive rage, violent threats and assaults. At Daron’s sentencing, emotional statements from the two surviving Savopoulos daughters are read ...
S1 E10 – 22 Hours: The Verdict
S1 E10 – 22 Hours: The Verdict
After six weeks, dozens of witnesses and hours of testimony, emotions were running high when attorneys delivered their closing arguments. Then the United States v. Daron Wint went to the jury. Some of the men and women who decided Daron Wint’s fate ...
S1 E9 – 22 Hours: Brother vs. Brother
S1 E9 – 22 Hours: Brother vs. Brother
Daron Wint’s bizarre arrest one week after the murders on Woodland Drive only added to the mystery surrounding the case. When he was taken into custody, Daron was with five other people, including his brother, Darrell. But the full story of Daron’s ...
S1 E8 – 22 Hours: The Breakdown Q&A #1
S1 E8 – 22 Hours: The Breakdown Q&A #1
Did any of the victims eat the pizza? Why the $40,000 ransom? Did security cameras in the neighborhood capture footage? We hit pause on the case and go into the studio to answer your questions, so far, about the crime, the case ...
S1 E7 – 22 Hours: Cross
S1 E7 – 22 Hours: Cross
After hours on the witness stand, Daron Wint’s story begins to falter. Then, one of the lawyers in the case drops a big hint about what’s coming next in one of Washington, D.C.’s most high-profile murder trials. This episode is ...

It looked like a quiet small-town neighborhood, defined by manicured lawns and flower gardens. But behind the façade, more than a hundred residents were part of the Zion Society, a secretive cult that hoarded weapons and groomed children for sexual abuse under the control of an unassuming, soft-spoken leader. When a young woman escaped and went to authorities, the truth finally began to unravel.

Host Megan Cloherty returns for a new season of American Nightmares. In the upcoming season, we revisit the story that launched the series: a D.C. power couple, their 10-year-old son, and their housekeeper—held hostage for nearly 24 hours before being murdered inside their own home. Now, 10 years after the crime and 6 years since we first told the story, Season 1 returns with all-new content, fresh interviews, and exclusive updates that shed new light on a case that still resonates today.

For nearly a decade, he crept in the shadows, attacking women in the middle of the night — and then vanished. The 1998 murder of a brilliant scientist near Georgetown University marked a terrifying escalation. Investigators had DNA linking him to multiple crimes, but for years, he had no name — only the label “Unknown Subject.” This season uncovers the chilling case of the Potomac River Rapist, and the patrol cop who finally cracked it.

In a quiet hospital just outside Washington, D.C., a 50-year-old nurse named Sherry Crandell was raped and murdered inside her workplace — a place that was supposed to be safe. With DNA, fingerprints, and even a witness to the crime, police had evidence — but no suspect. This season revisits the cold case that continues to baffle investigators and devastate a family, more than two decades later.

One of the most shocking crimes in modern American history: a prominent couple, their 10-year-old son, and their housekeeper taken hostage and brutally murdered in their Washington, D.C. home. Over the course of 22 horrifying hours, they endured torture and terror before their killers tried to burn the evidence. This award-winning debut season revisits the infamous Mansion Murders, exposing new details and the twisted logic behind a senseless act of violence.