Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations
James Wolner | Investigative Journalist & Creator of Dakota Spotlight
Outreach Signals
Publishing Details
Contact & Outreach
About This Podcast
Social Media
Explore Statistics
Recent Episodes
S99E96 They Found Her in Water - A Case Reexamined with Trisha Taurinskas
Forty years after 22-year-old Kelly Jean Robinson was found floating in a gravel pit pond in rural Minnesota, her case had gone cold — until DNA tests taken by an adopted man revealed that Kelly was…
A Christmas Message
James shares a Christmas message with Dakota Spotlight listeners. A moment to pause, say thank you, and reflect before the year comes to a close, with appreciation for everyone who listens, supports…
S12E6 Meanwhile in Mankato (6): Reckoning in Rapidan — The Truth That Endured
In the season’s final chapter, Dakota Spotlight returns to Rapidan, Minnesota—to the classmates, friends, and families still living in the shadow of Ray Dahms’s murder. Host James Wolner traces the…
S12E5 Meanwhile in Mankato (5): The Acquittal That Exposed Minnesota’s Blind Spot
By the early 1980s, Brian Lee Hendrickson was still working at the Minnesota Home School in Sauk Centre, supervising teenage girls. When one of them—Michelle—spoke up, she was dismissed as unstable…
S12E4 Meanwhile in Mankato (4): The Parole Experiment That Failed at Sauk Centre
This episode looks inside Minnesota’s prison and parole system during the years when Brian Lee Hendrickson was behind bars—and how shifting attitudes toward rehabilitation vs punishment helped lead…
S99E95 Thanksgiving Treat (2): You Killed Chris - A Friend’s Fight for Justice
The second half concludes the You Killed Chris story — newly abridged and remastered. Through interviews, archives, and reflection, I revisit Linda’s decades-long effort to confront the man she…
S99E94 Thanksgiving Treat (1): You Killed Chris - A Friend’s Fight for Justice
A newly abridged and remastered two-part version of You Killed Chris: A Friend’s Fight for Justice. In 1968, 18-year-old Christine Rothschild was found murdered outside Sterling Hall on the…
S12E3 Meanwhile in Mankato (3): The Trial That Collided with Miranda
Episode 3 follows Brian Lee Hendrickson’s case through late 1965 and 1966, as court procedures, psychiatric evaluations, and a Minnesota trial unfold under the state’s Youth Conservation Commission.…
S12E2 Meanwhile in Mankato (2): Inside the Murder Investigation
In the aftermath of Ray Dahms’s killing, Blue Earth County investigators launch a Minnesota murder investigation that soon points to a local teenager, Brian Lee Hendrickson. When they finally bring…
S12E1 Meanwhile in Mankato (1): Lies, Silence & Murder in Minnesota
In 1965, seventeen-year-old Brian Hendrickson committed a small-town murder when he walked into a gas station outside Mankato, Minnesota, and shot clerk Ray Dahms twice at close range. Sentenced to…
S99E93 A Halloween Throwback – Unresolved: The Murder of Joel Lovelien
On October 27, 2007, Joel Lovelien stepped outside the Broken Drum Bar in Grand Forks, North Dakota, during a night filled with costumes, celebration, and heavy drinking. Moments later, he was found…
S12 Meanwhile in Mankato: A Preview of Dakota Spotlight Season 12
Announcing Season 12 Meanwhile in Mankato: Lies, Silence & Murder in Minnesota arrives this November. Episode 1 premieres for all listeners on Thursday, November 6. Spotlight PLUS subscribers can…
S99E92 The House on Sweet and Seventh (6): Escape to the Movies – A North Dakota True Crime Story
Episode 6, Escape to the Movies, brings forward Misty Jones — remembered as the girl with the little red car — in a 2020 interview. Misty recalls her early path into a party lifestyle, her personal…
S99E91 The House on Sweet and Seventh (5): A Sick Salute – A North Dakota True Crime Story
The arrest of Brian Erickstad and Robert Lawrence confirmed their role in Barbara and Gordon Erickstad’s murders, but the aftermath shocked the community. Episode 5, A Sick Salute, reveals how the…
S99E90 The House on Sweet and Seventh (4): One of These Days – A North Dakota True Crime Story
The night before Barbara and Gordon Erickstad’s murders revealed troubling signs in Bismarck, North Dakota. Episode 4, One of These Days, traces September 16, 1998, through interviews and police…
S99E89 The House on Sweet and Seventh (3): Patience Pays Off – A North Dakota True Crime Story
Episode 3, Patience Pays Off, captures how patient police work broke open the Erickstad murder case. Barbara and Gordon Erickstad’s deaths had left Bismarck shaken in 1998. Detectives pressed a…
S99E88 The House on Sweet and Seventh (2): Never Ever Narc – A North Dakota True Crime Story
Detective Lloyd Halvorson knew where to look for answers about the murders of Barbara and Gordon Erickstad in 1998. Episode 2, Never Ever Narc, follows Bismarck police as they questioned Brian…
S99E87 The House on Sweet and Seventh (1): A Little Red Car – A North Dakota True Crime Story
September 1998 brought a chilling moment in Bismarck, North Dakota, when 17-year-old Aimee walked into the police station. She suspected her boyfriend, Brian Erickstad, had harmed his parents. A…
S5E22 Barbara Cotton Cold Case Update: New Witness Insights on Williston's Unsolved Disappearance
In this gripping update on the Barbara Cotton cold case, we delve into new testimony surrounding one of North Dakota's most enduring unsolved disappearances. Barbara Louise Cotton vanished from…
S99E86 Introducing - Truer Crime
In July of 2018, 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts went on a run in her small hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Something she’d done countless times before. But this time, she didn’t come home. What followed was…
Frequently Asked Questions
Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations has published 214 episodes since February 2019, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations is currently active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 41m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Dakota Spotlight: True Crime & Cold Case Investigations, including email and social media links.
