It's a story about the man who may have inadvertently triggered a chain of events leading to the conviction of John Gotti. To fully understand the impact of this story you have to turn the clock back to 1985 and the mob hit that changed everything.
The Tape Room explores the connection and the new podcast from Investigation Discovery podcast series called Mafia Tapes.  

Mafia Tapes

Kathy McCormack Durst disappeared in January of 1982 – 40 years ago.
From the time she vanished the focus has been on her husband at the time, Robert Durst.
A man born into enormous wealth who grew up to become one of the most infamous killers this country has ever seen.
Four decades after his first wife vanished, Durst was finally set to stand trial for her murder, but he died in prison.
The Tape Room takes a closer look at the case with author Matt Birkbeck who believes there may be more victims out there.

ROBERT DURST

Mary Rogers was what one would consider the reality star of her time. Long before television and social media, Mary’s popularity was trending in New York City in the 1840's. Her murder shocked a city and arguably began the true crime genre. The Tape Room travels back in time to explore the circumstances of her untimely death and the strange connection to legendary author Edgar Allen Poe.

The Cigar Girl Murder

What happened to Oscar Suarez and Magdalena Devil? The Tape Room investigation about a New Jersey couple that rented a Jet Ski in Barbados and disappeared into the ocean. 
It was supposed to be a 30 minute ride, but two years later they are still missing.

Vanished

At the end of an impossible day… when it felt like the world fractured wide open… the detectives in the 79th precinct received an unexpected report. There’d been a murder in Brooklyn. When they arrived the circumstances became even more strange. The victim was a polish immigrant who was never supposed to be in this neighborhood. 20 years later the case is still unsolved.

The Killing of Henryk Siwiak: New York City’s only unsolved murder on 9/11.

The crime happened back in 1990. Assistant Hofstra football coach Joe Healy was killed while sitting with his friends outside a fast-food restaurant. Police said it was a botched robbery. His death shattered the community and led to a lot of media attention. With pressure to find a killer, investigators eventually zeroed in on Christopher Ellis, who was 20 at the time, and two other men. Ellis has been locked in prison for the last 30 years but his murder conviction was just tossed out.
 
 

Long Island Man‘s conviction in 1990 murder of Hofstra coach

Summer 1977. New York City. A turbulent time in the five boroughs perhaps like no other in modern history. An economic crisis, a historic blackout and the haunting presence of a brutal serial killer. In August of that year, David Berkowitz was arrested and admitted to the attacks, ending some of the pressure. Now decades later, there are new questions. Did the .44 Caliber killer really act alone?
A new Netflix series, The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness explores this theory. The Tape Room sits down with the director Joshua Zeman.

Descent Into Darkness.

Nick Brandi was working his regular shift at a diner on September 5, 1995 when he received a call from the fiancé of his best friend, Jon Weaver. She wanted to know if Nick could check on Jon at his job at the Saw Mill River Motel just across the street. When Nick went across the street he was greeted by crime scene tape and the unimaginable.
Jon Weaver had his colleague at the motel,  Kerson “Kay” Praponpoj had been killed. A crime that remains unsolved to this day.

Saw Mill Motel Double Murder

On Long Island's south shore, between the charming homes and alluring beaches, there are secrets. A mystery deep and twisted: The Gilgo Beach Murders. At least 11 bodies discovered, mostly near Ocean Parkway. In all the years since the first bodies were discovered in 2010 no arrests have ever been made. Now a new series is taking a closer look: The Tape Room speaks with Billy Jensen and Alexis Linkletter  hosts of "Unraveled: The Long Island Serial Killer "

The Gilgo Beach Murders

He was the definition of an American success story. Abe Lebewohl was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States at the age of 19. He later opened the 2nd Avenue deli in the East Village where he was known to feed every homeless person who walked into the deli hungry. He was a man who lived to help others, until one day someone took everything. Abe was killed in March of 1996. The Tape Room takes a closer look at this case with an emotional conversation with Abe's brother.

ABE LEBEWOHL & THE SECOND AVENUE DELI

How can you know you neighborhood, if you don't know its secrets? For a neighborhood in Brooklyn, it's a secret that changed the course of organized crime in NYC in 1979. The Tape Room takes a closer look at the Assassination Of Carmine Galante

The Assassination Of Carmine Galante

A Major update to the Jennifer Dulos case. The Tape Room first featured the disappearance of the missing mother of 5 on an episode in September, 2019. Now authorities have charged her husband Fotis Dulos with murder. The new arrest warrants detailing a gruesome crime.

Jennifer Dulos Case Update

It was July 23, 1991. Three men were working in Inwood Hill Park, not far from the Henry Hudson Bridge, when they found a cooler. Inside, they made a horrifying discovery: the body of a little girl. The crime would come to be known as the Baby Hope murder. The story behind the investigation into the killing is now one of the featured in the NYPD’s new true crime podcast called “Break in the Case”

Break in the Case: The Baby Hope Murder

A special report from The Tape Room. On this episode, a closer look at one of the most notorious criminals in U-S history. The year long crime spree carried out by John Dillinger and his gang re-defined what it meant to be a gangster in America. Now, more than 80 years after his death there is a legal battle to have his body exhumed. His family says he wasn’t killed by the FBI that fateful night in Chicago all those years ago.Dan Bowens talks with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jon Seidel. Jon has written about many of Chicago's most notorious crimes and criminals as a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times

A Tape Room Special Report: John Dillinger

It is one of the most sensational cases in New Jersey history. A suburban mom Convicted of drugging, shooting, dismembering and then stuffing her husbands remains into suitcases &tossing them into Chesapeake Bay. New podcast , Direct Appeal , examines the case of so called SuitCase Killer, Melanie McGuire. The Tape Room takes a closer look with the hosts of that podcast.

The Suitcase Murder

Jennifer Dulos has been missing for months.  The 50-year-old New Canaan woman was last seen dropping her children off at school last Friday morning.
When she wasn't heard from for more than 10 hours, friends alerted police.  Her car was later found near a nearby park.
 Investigators have focused their attention on her estranged husband.

The disappearance of Jennifer Dulos

When troopers arrived, they discovered the bodies of Gary Deal, his wife Joan Deal, both 26, and their 3-year-year old son, Jason inside their home. Gary Deal was found lying on the floor near the front door. He was shot in the head multiple times and his throat was cut. Joan’s naked body was discovered on their bedroom floor. She was also shot in the head multiple times and had her throat cut. Jason was found lying on his bed in his pajamas. More than 40 years later, NJ State Police hope new DNA technology can solve the case. The Tape Room speaks to Detective Mario Nocito, of the New Jersey State Police Homicide South Unit.Anyone with information is urged to call 609-561-1800 extension 3354. Anonymous leads are also welcome.

The Deal Family Murder

A haunting ransom call released 45 years after Margaret Ellen Fox's disappearance.The FBI and local police in Burlington City, NJ hope it could help crack this decades old case.She was just 14 years old when she vanished on the way to a babysitting job on June 24, 1974. What happened to Margaret?

The Missing: What Happened to Margaret Ellen Fox?

A major UPDATE to a case featured on The Tape Room.
 The Connecticut Supreme Court ordered new trials for Ralph "Ricky" Birch and Shawn Henning , the two men convicted more than three decades ago in the stabbing and beating death of a 65-year-old man.
 The felony murder convictions in the Dec. 1, 1985, slaying of Everett Carr were based in part on false testimony about bloodstains on a towel that later were proven not to be blood, the court ruled.
In throwing out the convictions, the Supreme Court was heavily critical of state prosecutors and world famous forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee. 
Dr. Lee's false testimony helped put the men in prison nearly 30 years ago.

Convictions Overturned: New Milford Murder

In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater had it all. A position of influence and plenty of power. Then,one night, he vanished and was never seen again. At the time it was one of the biggest missing persons investigations in NYC history. It is now one of the oldest Cold Cases.The Tape Room takes a closer look with the help of New York Post Crime Reporter Larry Celona  at this case and the strange letter that led detectives in the early 2000’s to re-open the investigation with a hunch Crater, might be buried beneath the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

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