The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - Introducing: My Friend, the Serial Killer

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

What would you do if someone you knew turned out to be a serial killer?   In the 1970s, Steve Fishman was an intern at his local newspaper, when one day he hitched a ride back from Boston with Robert Carr III, better known as “Red.” Red seemed trustworthy enough, but he was hiding a secret: by the time he had picked up Steve, he had already killed three people—and all of his prior victims were hitchhikers themselves.   This narrow brush with death is only the beginning of Steve’s relationship with Red. When Red is eventually arrested by the police and confesses to a slew of gruesome murders, Steve sees the journalistic opportunity of a lifetime. It’s exactly the career break that Steve has been looking for—but is it too good to be true?   Featuring exclusive interviews and never-before-heard tape, Steve goes inside a serial killer’s mind. He examines not only the details of Red’s crimes, but turns the scrutiny on his own coverage to ask: did he get the story right? And if not, what can he do now to set the record straight?   Subscribe now to unlock all shows on The Binge and you'll be the first to access Smoke Screen: My Friend, the Serial Killer as soon as it drops on June 1st.   An Orbit Media & Sony Music Entertainment production in association with Rhyme Media.   Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The following interview is being videotaped at the Dade County Public Safety Department. I was looking for a hitchhiker, potential victim. Do you remember the moment when the car picked you up? So I was on the side of the road and this, you know, a sedan, like a nice enough car, pulled up. And there's this guy. He had a kind of a bit of a drawl. I proceeded to do certain things that I considered to be necessary in the crime that I planned to commit. There was a funny thing that I recall. You go to kind of pull up the door handle to get out,

and it, like, didn't catch. First on this list of items was disconnect the door handle on the right-hand side of the car. I'm Steve Fishman. In the 1970s, I hitched a ride that changed my life. I was just starting out as a journalist and crossed paths with a local man with a secret. This guy wants to confess to these murders. Let him confess. Boy, he unloaded, I'll tell you that. He claimed to be the serial killer next door. Next door to me. He lived in my town. A killer who got his victims hitchhiking. You're a lucky man you're here. And now I had a connection

to him. I'd sat in his car. I hoped this would be my big journalism break, as long as this guy was telling the truth. We got a fine body. We don't have any bodies. We don't have any reports of anybody being found deceased. He was positive his victim was buried four feet under the road. He called me in the newsroom every day, as if we were friends. Then he invited me to visit him in jail. He confided in the newsroom every day, as if we were friends. Then he invited me to visit him in jail.

He confided in me. He told me he could have been stopped. But now, decades later, I'm not so sure. They caught him in possession of a crowbar, wire cutters, pliers, and razor blades, which he might use to escape. So I'm going back to find out what I missed. I know where I need to start. How old were you when you learned your father was a serial killer? Twelve.

And how old were you when you and I met? Twelve. This is My Friend the Serial Killer, coming soon wherever you get your podcasts.