Crime Salad

If you or someone you love is being hurt by a partner, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788

In October 2009, Dawn "Pixie" Viens vanished from Lomita, California. She was 39, the hostess at Thyme Contemporary Cafe, the restaurant she ran with her husband, chef David Viens. He told everyone she walked out after a fight. But her Jeep never left the lot, she never picked up the money she'd been saving with a friend, and a text from her phone spelled her own nickname wrong.

Ashley and Ricky tell Dawn's story, from her childhood in Burlington, Vermont, and her years on Anna Maria Island, Florida, to the friends and family who refused to accept that she just left. We cover the missing person case, the Daily Breeze reporting that kept her name in the news, David Viens's 2011 jump from a cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes, his hospital confession, the 2012 murder trial, and his parole hearings through 2026. Dawn's remains have never been found.

Content warning: domestic violence and descriptions of what was done to Dawn's body.

If you or someone you love is being hurt by a partner, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788

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Keywords: Dawn Viens, Dawn Papin Viens, David Viens, Lomita, Thyme Contemporary Cafe, chef who cooked his wife, Rancho Palos Verdes cliff

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On September 30th, 2026, Tennessee gave Christa Pike two full doses of pentobarbital. She lived.

Thirty-one years earlier, Christa was an 18-year-old student at a Job Corps center in Knoxville. In January 1995, she and two others led 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to an abandoned steam plant and killed her. Christa was sentenced to death at 20, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death in modern U.S. history.

Ashley and Ricky walk through the whole case: Christa’s childhood, the murder, the trial, three decades of appeals, and an escape plot involving a prison guard. They cover what her lawyers warned the state about months before the execution, what witnesses saw and heard inside the chamber that night, and the 911 call that came after. Learn about Willie Francis, Romell Broom, and Kenneth Smith, who survived execution attempts before her, and ask what a state is supposed to do when an execution doesn’t work.

Colleen’s mother, May, is still waiting for the last piece of her daughter to come home.

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As Halloween approaches and the leaves change, we're revisiting one of the most controversial and notorious haunted attractions out there: McKamey Manor. Known as the most extreme haunted house experience, McKamey Manor has been pushing the boundaries of fear since 2001. It started as a backyard haunt in a quiet San Diego neighborhood, with the classic jump scares and eerie sounds we all expect. Over time, it transformed into something much darker: a psychological endurance test designed to push people to their limits, both mentally and physically.

Reports describe participants enduring grueling challenges and leaving with bloody faces, broken bones, and swollen lips, not to mention the lasting psychological effects. What began as a spooky attraction became an intense and controversial experience that sparked debate over the limits of horror and personal endurance. Join us as we go inside McKamey Manor to see what lies beyond the fear.

This episode includes allegations made by former participants and people close to Russ McKamey. He has never been criminally charged over anything that happened at the Manor, and the 2024 charges discussed in this episode were dismissed.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Reckless Ben: https://www.youtube.com/@RecklessBen

Danny Berk: https://www.youtube.com/dannyberk

McKamey Manor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mckameymanorpresents6828

Change.org petition: https://www.change.org/p/tennessee-state-senate-shut-down-mckamey-manor?source_location=psf_petitions

Russ McKamey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russ.mckamey

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In the early 1990s, the transitioning industrial town of Middletown, New York, became the hunting ground for a ruthless killer. It started with a horrific discovery along abandoned railroad tracks and quickly escalated into a string of brutal murders that paralyzed the Hudson Valley.

In this solo episode, Ashley walks us through the devastating timeline of Nathaniel White. From a bizarre false confession that derailed the entire investigation to the chilling RoboCop 2 connection and finally to the incredibly brave mother and sister who refused to accept the police's "runaway" theory and decided to hunt down the killer themselves. Today, we honor and remember the lives of Juliana Frank, Laurette Huggins, Adriane Hunter, Angelina Hopkins, Brenda Whiteside, and 14-year-old Christine Klebbe.

⚠️️ Listener Discretion Advised: This episode contains highly graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault that may be uncomfortable for some listeners. Please listen with caution.

Follow Us: See photos of the victims discussed in today's episode on our Instagram: @crimesaladpodcast

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This week on Crime Salad, Ashley takes the mic solo to break down what authorities are calling one of the most disturbing cases in Philadelphia history. What started as a routine traffic stop involving 44-year-old Eugene Horsch near Independence Mall in June 2026 quickly unraveled a decade-long nightmare centered around a fortified rowhouse at 417 West Chew Avenue in the Olney neighborhood.

Inside the home, investigators uncovered an arsenal of weapons, fake federal badges, a toxic chemical lab wired into the city sewer, five urns containing human remains, and a massive digital archive of 600,000 images and 70,000 videos; OVER ONE MILLION PIECES OF DIGITAL EVIDENCE! The footage being reviewed revealed a horrifying reality: Eugene’s late father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch, spent years luring vulnerable women from Kensington into the home, documenting his violent crimes and hiding them in plain sight under the guise of underground art and films like Deleted Scenes: A Serial Killer's Video Journal.

As the FBI and Philadelphia Police Department painstakingly decode the hard drives, 58 women have been identified on tape, and authorities have officially linked seven missing women to the property. We cover everything we know so far, detailing Raymond's stolen chemist identity, his chilling 2013 interview on The Rialto Report, the hidden vault in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, and the devastating disappearances of Gabrielle Amarando, Maribel Fresses, Nicole Fusaro, Amy McHale, and Blair Tonzelli.

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Hers: Ready to take the stress out of weight management? Weight Loss by Hers offers access to personalized, affordable care and FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the Wegovy® pill and pen. Get started with an online consultation and find a plan that works for you. Visit forhers.com/crimesalad to learn more!

Home Chef: Take the stress out of weeknight dinners! Get 50% OFF your first box PLUS free dessert for life by going to HomeChef.com/CRIMESALAD.

OneSkin: Target the root causes of skin aging with OneSkin's revolutionary OS-01 peptide. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code CRIMESALAD at https://www.oneskin.co/CRIMESALAD #oneskinpod #ad

Quince: Get luxury quality without the luxury price tag. Download the Quince app or visit Quince.com to get free shipping and 365-day returns. Don't forget to let them know Crime Salad sent you in the post-purchase survey!

Episode Keywords: Olney house of horrors, Raymond Horsch, Eugene Horsch, 417 West Chew Avenue, Philadelphia serial killer investigation, Kensington missing women, Crime Salad true crime podcast, Gabrielle Amarando, Maribel Fresses, Nicole Fusaro, Blair Tonzelli, Amy McHale, Deleted Scenes movie, Rialto Report Raymond Horsch, Philadelphia FBI digital evidence, Eugene Horsch BMW.
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