Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations
James Wolner | Investigative Journalist & Creator of Dakota Spotlight
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Recent Episodes
S99E114 Hidden in Plain Sight - Josh Dean of Chameleon Weekly
Journalist and podcast creator Josh Dean joins Dakota Spotlight to discuss scams, deception, and the craft of narrative podcasting. Josh talks about the rise of fraud stories, producing investigative…
S13E5 The Bagpiper and His Brother (5) Finale: The Fall of the Bagpiper
In September 1972, in Edina, Lloyd Brenna appears to have put the bombing behind him, until federal agents return with a new case. This time, it’s tax fraud, built around a fabricated identity and a…
S13E4 The Bagpiper and His Brother (4): The Delivery
On a quiet night in 1971, in Huron, South Dakota Harold Pieper is asked to pick up a small case at the airport. Minutes later, it explodes. The investigation turns to Genevieve Johnson and her…
S13E3 The Bagpiper and His Brother (3): The Wiretap
In 1960, in St. Paul, something didn't look right with an office phone, and it leads back to Lloyd Brenna. By now, he has built a life that looks stable on the surface, a job, a home, a reputation,…
S13E2 The Bagpiper and His Brother (2): Between Prison and Parole
In 1930s Chicago, Lloyd Brenna is arrested for burglary and sent to prison, where parole hearings reveal a young man who is both highly intelligent and deeply unpredictable. Given a rare second…
S13E1 The Bagpiper and His Brother (1): Strange Beginnings at Braemar
Lloyd and Wallace Brenna are two Midwestern brothers whose outwardly ordinary lives conceal a long pattern of troubling behavior. From rural North Dakota beginnings to a 1971 bombing in South Dakota,…
S13 The Bagpiper and His Brother: Season 13 Trailer
The Bagpiper and His Brother traces two Midwestern brothers whose outwardly ordinary lives conceal a long pattern of troubling behavior. From rural North Dakota beginnings to a 1971 bombing in South…
S99E113 More Than a Missing Hiker - Talking Valley of Shadows with Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd
James is joined by Dakota Spotlight researcher Mari Zoerb Hansen for a conversation with investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd about the making of Valley of Shadows, their deep dive…
S99E112 From Vacation to Investigation - Inside Someone Knows Something with David Ridgen
James sits down with award-winning filmmaker and host of Someone Knows Something, David Ridgen. We talk about his approach to storytelling, how he works with families, and what it really means to…
S99E111 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (7): 15 Years Later
Years pass, and the case remains. In this final episode, we hear from people still connected to that night, to the investigation, and to what followed. They reflect on what has changed, what has not,…
S99E110 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (6): Travis on Trial
Inside the courtroom, the story is told again, through testimony, through argument, through the structure of a trial. And when it is all over, the jury returns a verdict, not guilty. A moment that…
S99E109 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (5): The Evidence Against Travis Stay
Here, we look at the case as it was built. What investigators believed, what prosecutors brought forward, the evidence piece by piece. And the questions that come with it, not just what it shows, but…
S99E108 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (4): A Portrait of Joel
Before all of this, there was Joel. In this episode, we step away from the investigation and spend time with the people who knew him. The stories are simple, but they stay with you, offering a…
S99E107 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (3): Travis Stay, the Man in Yellow
Now the focus turns to Travis Stay, who was there that night, moving through the same space and crossing paths with the same people. As investigators begin to build a timeline, his name comes into…
S99E106 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (2): The Clown, the Cowboy, and the Hunter
In the hours after Joel is found, the story begins to shift and scatter. Witnesses recall different things, a clown, a cowboy, a hunter, a lion, people arriving and leaving, a party bus pulling in…
S99E105 Unresolved, The Murder of Joel Lovelien (1): Halloween at The Broken Drum (2026 Case Update)
We begin with a 2026 interview with Sergeant Suby of the Grand Forks Police Department, sharing where the Joel Lovelien case stands today. Then we return to the original 2023 episode, and back to…
S99E104 Inside the Talina Zar Investigation
Journalist Melissa Jeltsen joins me to discuss the investigation behind her podcast What Happened to Talina Zar. In April 2020, a woman posted a troubling message on Facebook about COVID-19 and then…
S99E103 Filed and Forgotten - The Untested Podcast on Rape Kit Backlogs
James sits down with investigative journalist Gina Barton, host and creator of the USA Today true crime podcast Untested, to talk about a case that illustrates the real-world consequences of untested…
S99E102 Across the River from Yankton - The Death of Tammy Haas
In September 1992, Tammy Haas was 19 and figuring out her next step in life. After attending a homecoming celebration in Yankton, South Dakota, she and her on-again-off-again boyfriend crossed the…
S99E101 When Harry Met Rachel - A Long-Term Romance Scam Built on Lies and Manipulation
James sits down with Harry, the host and victim behind The Rachel Cancer Scam, before sharing Episode One of his story. What Harry once believed was a twenty-year love story slowly revealed itself to…
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Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations has published 238 episodes since February 2019, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 41m.
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