Crime Junkie: What Listeners Are Saying

Table of Contents

• TLDR

• What Listeners Like

• What Listeners Don’t Like

• Featured episode

TLDR

Crime Junkie has a big and loyal fanbase. People love the storytelling, the hosts’ chemistry, and the focus on victims. But the podcast also gets serious criticism, mainly around delivery, research, plagiarism claims, and added political content.

What Listeners Like

Most reviews are positive. People praise the podcast for sticking to facts and using solid sources. The research feels thorough. The storytelling is clear and engaging. Ashley and Brit get credit for delivering complex stories in a simple way.

The chemistry between the hosts stands out. Listeners like the casual, friendly tone , like eavesdropping on two friends. Brit often asks the same questions listeners are thinking, which helps the flow. Ashley’s storytelling is a strong point.

Another highlight: the podcast focuses on victims and unsolved cases. Listeners appreciate the compassion and the effort to raise awareness. The fact that they donate to agencies helping victims also earns praise.

Some fans say the podcast helps them cope with anxiety, gives them a break from stress, and makes them more aware of safety. Many feel connected to the hosts and listen regularly during chores or commutes. The “pruppet of the month” segment, focused on dogs, is also a fan favorite.

What Listeners Don’t Like

352 reviews are negative. A lot of the complaints focus on delivery.

Some think the hosts come off as unprofessional, laughing during serious moments, overusing filler words like “like,” or sounding too scripted. Brit’s contributions are a frequent complaint. Some feel she interrupts too much or adds little value. A few even suggest Ashley should host alone.

Plagiarism is a major issue. Several reviews mention Crime Junkie allegedly copying content from other podcasts without credit. Listeners are also bothered by the lack of a public apology and the removal of episodes.

Some say the research isn’t always solid, that it leans too much on single sources or misses key facts. This affects trust in the content.

Another growing issue: political commentary. Listeners complain about anti-police sentiment, personal opinions, or “woke” language that feels out of place. Some feel this shift has taken focus away from the victims.

Tone is another concern. Some say the podcast jokes too much about dark topics or sounds insensitive. Even the “pruppet” term rubs some people the wrong way. Other complaints include too many ads, confusion from multiple podcasts on one feed, and a drop in storytelling quality over time.

Featured episode

INFAMOUS: Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre

TLDR
In 1990, seven people, four of them kids,were shot execution-style at a bowling alley in Las Cruces. Four died. A brave 12-year-old called 911 and survived. Conflicting witness descriptions, rumors of drugs, and odd behavior from the bowling alley owner left more questions than answers. After decades of investigation and media coverage, the case is still unsolved.

Synopsis
This Crime Junkie episode dives into one of New Mexico’s most haunting crimes, the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre. Hosts Ashley Flowers and Britt walk through the horrifying events of February 10, 1990, when what started as a normal Saturday morning ended in bloodshed and confusion.

It began with 12-year-old Melissa Repass visiting her mom, Stephanie Sinak, the manager of Las Cruces Bowl. Melissa’s friend Amy Hauser, 13, was there too. The bowling alley was a family business, Melissa’s grandpa Ron owned it, and her uncle Steve worked there. Stephanie and the girls were getting things ready before opening. Ida Holgene, the snack bar cook, had shown up that morning even though she wasn’t scheduled.

Around 8:00 a.m., Steve Sinak dropped by to grab his backpack. He noticed the doors were unlocked and saw two men walking toward the parking lot. One handed the other a small case, maybe a briefcase. Steve went inside, grabbed his bag, reminded Stephanie to lock up, and left.

Not long after, Melissa and Amy went to the office for some vending machine change. Right then, two men with guns appeared and forced the girls back into the office with Stephanie. One gunman brought Ida in too. Then Steve Toran, a mechanic, arrived with his daughters, Valerie, age 2, and Paula, 6 or 7. The men forced them into the office as well.

Then, in cold blood, they shot all seven people in the back of the head. Afterward, they set Stephanie’s papers on fire and took off. Despite being shot three times, Melissa survived. Once the men were gone, she crawled to the phone and called 911 at 8:33 a.m. Her calm, heartbreaking call helped bring help fast.

When police and firefighters arrived, the scene was chaos. One officer thought it was a training drill, it was that shocking. Paramedics treated survivors while firefighters put out the fire. The crime scene got trampled a bit during the response, but some evidence was still recovered, fingerprints and shell casings.

Cops immediately started canvassing the area and setting up roadblocks. A neighbor heard gunshots but didn’t think much of it. Around 9:00 a.m., police pulled over a car with four men and a lot of cash, but Steve Sinak said they weren’t the guys he saw.

By 9:47 a.m., police confirmed three people were dead: Amy Hauser, Steve Toran, and his daughter Paula. Two-year-old Valerie died at the hospital. The brutal murder of an entire family stunned the town. To make matters worse, an unrelated murder also happened in Las Cruces that same day, tripling the city’s homicide count.

Six hours later, police lifted the roadblocks. The botched crime scene made everything harder. Steve Sinak described the two men as Hispanic, one younger, one older and heavier. But Melissa’s 911 call described them as Black. Cops eventually figured Melissa may have been mistaken under stress and believed both men were likely dark-skinned Hispanics. Survivors gave limited details, but enough for composite sketches to be created and shared widely.

The sketches led to a ton of tips, but nothing solid. Police ruled out the other murder that day as unrelated. They leaned toward robbery as the motive, over $5,000 was missing, but some cash was oddly left behind. Ida said she saw the men going through filing cabinets, like they were looking for something specific.

Ron, the owner, was in Arizona golfing at the time. He raised eyebrows when he reopened the bowling alley less than a week later, saying “life is for living.” That didn’t sit well with a lot of people. He also denied Amy Hauser worked there, even though others said she had for about five weeks.

With no arrests, Crime Stoppers put up a $12,000 reward. Local businesses chipped in. Police also looked into a gas station murder from the previous month, but couldn’t link it to the bowling alley case. They showed the survivors footage of inmates in Mexico, hoping for a match, no luck. The case even got featured on Unsolved Mysteries, but again, nothing concrete came of it.

Ten months later, the bowling alley was sold off after Ron filed for bankruptcy. He owed nearly $2 million. This made people wonder, was money behind the attack? Amy’s mom thought maybe the killers were after a debt that hadn’t been paid. Ron denied this and claimed he’d fully cooperated with police, including taking a polygraph, though police wouldn’t confirm that.

Then in 1991, a similar execution-style murder happened at another New Mexico bowling alley, one Ron had once owned. Police said it wasn’t related. Later that year, a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, was hit, four teenage girls were killed and the place set on fire. It had eerie similarities, but key differences too. The victims there had their hands tied. That wasn’t the case in Las Cruces, except for one previous gas station murder victim, which again raised suspicions, but nothing was proven.

Years went by. No answers. In 1999, Stephanie Sinak died from complications related to her injuries, becoming the fifth victim.

In 2009, a filmmaker released a documentary, A Nightmare in Las Cruces, with new info. An informant said a woman named Irma had told people she hid the killers after the shooting. She said they were looking for drugs and thought a stash was hidden at the bowling alley. Irma later passed a polygraph, but then said she made it all up for attention. Still, her story stayed mostly the same each time she told it. Rumors swirled about drug deals happening at the alley, involving Ron’s son RJ, who worked the bar. RJ was questioned but died in 1997, and nothing was ever proven.

The episode ends by reminding listeners: no one knows if this was a robbery gone wrong or something more complicated. What we do know is that four people died, including kids. And more than 30 years later, the case is still open.