To Die For - Introducing Lords of Death

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

A new podcast from Tenderfoot TV: While digging through an old memory box, host Thrasher Banks discovers forgotten VHS tapes, police reports, and faded letters regarding a 1995 murder in Dayton, Ohio. Drawn to the connection between this murder and the other seemingly innocuous contents of the box, Thrasher begins an investigation. As he follows the threads, he finds that a participant in the 1995 murder may be connected to more than one brutal, unsolved case… Against the backdrop of Ohio in the 1980s and 90s, around the height of satanic panic, this true crime story explores memory, perception, and a personal quest for the truth. Join Thrasher as he unpacks this box and searches for answers about the “Lords of Death.” Listen now or subscribe to Tenderfoot+ to binge the show ad-free!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is Neil Strauss, and while I'm working on the next investigation, I'm excited to tell you about a new Tenderfoot TV podcast that you can listen to right now called Lords of Death. In the late 80s and early 90s, a satanic panic swept the country. Cults, ritualistic murders, and animal sacrifices were actually topics of mainstream discussion. As a kid growing up in Dayton, Ohio, podcast host Thrasher Banks recalls several unsolved murders in the area that fuel the satanic panic narrative. Rumblings of cults and serial killers became popular theories.

Decades later, Thrasher set out to investigate the crimes, and he discovered a possible connection to a group who called themselves the Lords of Death. Check out this trailer. I found this VHS tape inside a box that had been kept in storage since the mid-1990s. It turns off? That's all right. You can just tell us what happened. I know it's not a... At that point, he fucking shot her. The box also contained documents referencing a group called the Lords of Death.

I noticed that everything they had had like a Lords of Death symbol. I'm like, what is this? It says the guts are a group. They said, that's our group. They said, we're trying to recruit people. But it never really clicked with me that it was like they were really the Lords of Death. But I was wrong. It meant a lot.

I learned that the Lords of Death could be connected to several unsolved murders dating back to the 1980s. It was pretty strange to run into this kind of murder. A husband and wife? Who would do such a thing? Two murders in the same family, months apart from each other. It still boggles the mind. As I dug deeper, I realized the box contained crucial information about these murders. Who gave you my files?

Because you know things like even the names of who my suspects were. You just don't pull that name out of thin air. How do we know he's not a serial killer? How do we know he's not murdered other people? I'm a firm believer of letting sleeping dogs lie. You ought to leave it alone. From Tenderfoot TV, I'm Thrasher Banks. This is Lords of Death.

What makes them so scary is their emptiness, their lack of conscience. People like that you know are capable of doing anything. From Tenderfoot TV, Lords of Death is available now. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.