Weirdos! Today we are joined by legendary crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, the mastermind behind the Kay Scarpetta series and one of the pioneers of the forensic thriller genre! Whether you’re a longtime Scarpetta stan or newly forensic-curious, this episode is packed with morbid stories, writing wisdom, and bone-deep passion for the truth!

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On the evening of November 30, 1989, Linda Napolitano awoke in her lower Manhattan apartment to find herself unable to move. She felt as though she was in the presence of other individuals, then she began to lift off her bed and was transported, as though by unseen hands, out her bedroom window several floors up, before being abducted into an unidentified aircraft.

Linda Napolitano is one of countless people who claim to have been abducted and experimented on by extraterrestrials; however, she is one of very few whose abduction was witnessed by nearly two dozen strangers in one of the busiest cities in the world. According to ufologist Budd Hopkins, Napolitano’s abduction has produced irrefutable evidence of extraterrestrial life, but more importantly, he believes Linda’s case is proof of a larger and more insidious plan to eradicate humanity altogether.

The Manhattan Alien Abduction case is among a small number of heavily researched and well-documented cases of supposed alien abduction in American history, but it is not without its critics. In the years following Linda’s abduction, a dramatic story has unfolded, pitting skeptics and believers against one another in surprising and deeply personal ways.

Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!

Hopkins, Budd. 1996. Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

Lowe, Lindsay. 2024. ‘The Manhattan Alien Abduction’ controversial true story: Why the star is suing Netflix. November 1. Accessed September 27, 2025. https://www.today.com/popculture/manhattan-alien-abduction-true-story-rcna178005.

2024. The Manhattan Alien Abduction. Directed by Vivienne Perry and Daniel Vernon.

Sheaffer, Robert. 2011. "Abductology Implodes." Skeptical Inquirer 25-27.

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On February 4, 1941, Bronx police officers were called to the home of John and Catherine Pappas for a report of a homicide. Based on the evidence, detectives theorized that someone had been invited into the Pappas apartment while Catherine was home alone and that same someone had strangled her to death, then ransacked the apartment looking for valuables. To investigators the scene resembled a fairly straightforward robbery-homicide; however, to detective Ed Burns, there were elements of the crime scene that bore a striking similarity to another assault and robbery case he’d been assigned to just two weeks earlier in another part of the Bronx.

What followed was an investigation that exploded in size from a single robbery-gone-wrong that resulted in a murder to a sprawling serial sexual assault case that would eventually involve more than eighty victims in eight states, all victimized by the same man. The hunt for the Aspirin Bandit is among the more remarkable cases in New York criminal history, not only because of the number of victims, but also because of the tremendous effort and coordination put forth to catch the killer—effort and coordination that, in 1941, was virtually unheard of.

Thank you to the Amazing Dave White (of BRING ME THE AXE PODCAST) for research and writing assistance!

Brooklyn Eagle. 1941. "Papas slayer, faced by victims, confesses." Brooklyn Eagle, March 4: 1.

Connor, Christine, and Elise Greven. 2017. "Gentleman Killer." A Crime to Remember. Janaury 3.

Dillon, Edward, and Howard Whitman. 1941. "Cigarets, aspirin clues to woman's strangler." Daily News (New York, NY), February 6: 4.

New York Times. 1941. "Alarm for burglar sent in Pappas case." New York Times, February 8: 32.

—. 1941. "Cvek found guilty of Pappas murder." New York Times, May 20: 46.

—. 1941. "Cvek tells court he killed in anger." New York Times, May 16: 24.

—. 1941. "Mystery cloaks woman's murder." New York Times, February 6: 15.

—. 1941. "Pappas strangler admits 15 crimes." New York Times, March 5: 1.

—. 1941. "Slayer of woman 'rebukes' press." New York Times, March 8: 34.

—. 1941. "Sun lamp halts trial." New York Times, April 22: 23.

Rice, William. 1941. "Cvek a killer? No surprise to his relatives."

Daily News (New York, NY)

, March 5: 4.

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