HLN

June 25th, 2020

Donnie Wahlberg Hosted Series, Very Scary People Returns to HLN , July 12, 9 pm ET/PT

“Very Scary People” Trailer: https://youtu.be/hvk6oOqYBDw

Los Angeles (June 25, 2020) – Second season of the HLN Original Series Very Scary People returns to HLN on July 12 at 9 pm ET/PT. The popular show, hosted by actor and musician Donnie Wahlberg, details many of history’s scariest and most notorious characters , through captivating news footage and interviews with people close to the case. The second season features six two-hour episodes which looks at the lives and crimes that have captivated and terrorized the nation.

Very Scary People is an HLN Original Series and part of the network’s internally developed programming dedicated to true crime, mysteries, and investigations. Nancy Duffy, Senior Vice President of Program Development for CNN, is the Executive Producer of the series. Donnie Wahlberg currently stars on the hit CBS drama “Blue Bloods,” and still tours with his band New Kids on the Block.

 

Very Scary People will also stream live for subscribers via CNNgo (at CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TV, and Android TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android.

 

Episodes of Very Scary People will be available on demand the day after their broadcast premiere via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.

 

Following are airdates and episode descriptions for season two of Very Scary People:

 

Son of Sam: The Duke of Death (July 12)

He is among the most infamous serial killers in American history.  From 1976 to 1977, David Berkowitz terrorized New York City under his creepy self-given moniker:  “Son of Sam.” Using a large caliber .44 revolver, he unleashed eight horrific shootings across three different boroughs, wounding seven people and killing six.  Despite an extraordinary investigation, and hundreds of NYPD officers working the case, Berkowitz’s crime spree lasted over a year.   How did he get away with it for so long? Did the investigators miss any vital clues? The detectives who worked the case tell the true tale of what it was like in New York City with a gun-toting murderer on the loose. The episode features interviews with detectives and psychologists about what he said after his arrest, why he did it, and how this quiet, soft spoken 24-year old post office employee from Yonkers turned into a serial killing monster.

 

BTK: Bind, Torture, Kill (July 19)

In January 1974, four members of a family are brutally tortured and murdered in Wichita, Kansas.  The murders shock the safe midwestern city, but little do they know, it is just the beginning.  The killer calls himself “B.T.K.” which stands for Bind, Torture, Kill; and for decades this bloodthirsty serial killer terrifies Wichita as he murders again and again and again. After multiple killings from 1974 to 1991, he goes quiet; but he resurfaces in 2004, and residents of the midwestern city are once again petrified. For months he plays a cat and mouse game with law enforcement and the media taunting them as he seeks the attention he craves. But when he finally makes a mistake and is apprehended, it is chilling to discover that he has been hiding in plain sight for years.

 

The Night Stalker: Summer of Terror (July 26)

The Summer of 1985 was one of the hottest the city of Los Angeles had seen in a century, but terrified residents were not sleeping with the windows open, they weren’t sleeping at all. A killer was on the loose. And although the 1980s were considered the decade of the serial killer, one man stood out. He was the night stalker, and his crimes were vicious, random, and committed in the name of Satan. His victims ranged from toddlers to the elderly; and as the city was paralyzed with fear, he went unchecked as police struggled to stop him. In 1985, the L.A.P.D. gets a tip. Twenty-four hours later, a mob of angry citizens track him down and capture him, and his trial is a bizarre chapter that has some wondering if the Night Stalker will escape justice.

 

The Co-ed Killer: The Murder Capital of the World (August 2)

Santa Cruz, California was a mecca for the hippie generation in the early 1970s, a beachside paradise, until female students began to go missing, with their body parts showing up around town. Police had no leads on who was committing these horrific crimes, but they soon realize that all the victims had something in common: they were last seen hitchhiking. A frantic public, desperate for answers, live in terror, waiting for the man they dubbed “The Coed Killer” to strike again. But no one could have expected that the person responsible, a local man, Edmund Kemper, was living among them, hiding in plain sight. Kemper was a man with a dark history and a tortured childhood, a man who had killed years before and had now set his twisted sights on young women. Told through interview footage with Kemper himself, as well as those who lived through this crippling period, this episode takes viewers back to the time when The Coed Killer brought terror to Santa Cruz.

 

Robert Durst: World’s Worst Fugitive (August 9)

The unbelievable story of Robert Durst, the millionaire heir to a vast real estate fortune who has been living under a cloud of suspicion for decades. Durst’s first wife went missing in 1982, but the case went cold when there were no leads — and no body. Then, 18 years later, just as the investigation into her disappearance was re-opened, Durst’s best friend and confidante, Susan Berman, was shot dead inside her home. Less than a year later, while Durst was hiding out in Galveston, Texas, his neighbor’s dismembered body was found floating in Galveston Bay. Durst was quickly charged with his murder and after jumping bail and going on the run for six weeks, he returned to Texas to stand trial. Durst admitted he killed his neighbor and chopped up his body, but said it happened accidentally, in self-defense. The jury acquitted him of murder. Durst, who pled not guilty, stands trial in Los Angeles for the murder of Susan Berman. Prosecutors say he killed her because he was afraid she would reveal what she knew about his wife’s disappearance.

 

Dr. Death: A License to Kill (August 16)

For nearly two decades, Michael Swango, a physician-turned-murderer, left a trail of death and mayhem across two continents. Suspicious illnesses and deaths followed this once-trusted doctor from hospital to hospital for nearly two decades, picking off unsuspecting coworkers and helpless patients.  What would make a well-respected doctor become one of the most prolific serial killers in the U.S.? Hear from the local and federal authorities who brought his reign of terror to an end.  Interviews include survivors from Michael Swango’s poisoning sprees, his former colleagues, families of his victims, federal and local investigators, and a Zimbabwean journalist who helped uncover a series of murders in a rural African hospital.

About HLN Original Series 

Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development, CNN Worldwide, oversees CNN Original Series and HLN Original Series. Nancy Duffy, senior vice president of program development for CNN, supervises production of internally produced HLN Original Series.

Contact: Shimrit Sheetrit, shimrit.sheetrit@turner.com

 

Tags
HLN