He Prosecuted a Serial Killer—What He Says the System Hides

Las Vegas is a city built on secrets, and for more than 25 years, Don “Woody” Fieselman was one of the detectives tasked with uncovering them. From organized crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs to sex trafficking, violent crimes, and high-stakes crisis negotiations, Fieselman spent decades investigating some of the darkest corners of Sin City. As a former sergeant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, he investigated sex crimes, worked alongside specialized law enforcement units, and helped negotiate situations where lives hung in the balance. But retirement didn’t last. In 2024, Fieselman returned to law enforcement, joining LVMPD’s Cold Case Homicide Squad to help investigate murders that have remained unsolved for years, sometimes decades. In this episode of UNHEARD: True Crime in Their Own Words, host Justin Shepherd sits down with Fieselman to explore the realities of policing Las Vegas, the psychology of criminal investigations, the challenges of getting people to reveal long-buried secrets, and what it takes to pursue justice when the trail has gone cold. What does it take to get someone to finally tell the truth after decades of silence? And what does a career spent confronting humanity’s darkest secrets teach you about people? This is UNHEARD. True Crime in Their Own Words. Follow and subscribe for more firsthand conversations with the people closest to the cases.

Gary DeVercelly Jr. was 18 years old with his entire future mapped out. He was smart, driven, an athlete, and the kind of kid his parents trusted to make good decisions. When fraternities at Rider University began recruiting him, Gary saw something that could help his future: leadership, connections, and a network that might open doors after college. His parents asked him about hazing, Gary told them not to worry, that he researched it. Then came Big Little Night. Pledges were taken into a basement and given bottles of alcohol. They had one hour to finish them. Roughly 15 pledges participated. Two would end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Gary would never come home. As his condition deteriorated, fraternity members put him on a stage with a backpack behind him to keep him positioned on his side. People noticed something was wrong. Eventually, his lips turned blue. He stopped breathing. By the time help came, his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long. But Gary's death is only part of this story. In this episode of UNHEARD: True Crime in Their Own Words, Gary's parents, Julie and Gary DeVercelly, take us inside what happened before, during, and after the night their 18-year-old son was killed by hazing. They talk about the warning signs they didn't recognize until afterward, the way hazing slowly escalates, what happened inside the fraternity house, the media's attempt to portray their son as a reckless college kid, the university and fraternity response, and the legal battle that followed. They also explain what nearly two decades of fighting hazing has taught them about a system they believe continues to protect institutions while families continue to bury their children. Gary died in 2007. His parents are still fighting to make sure another family doesn't get the same phone call they did. https://www.clerycenter.org/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jason Abarca was 19 years old when he disappeared in December 2023 after a series of events that ended with him running into the woods near Winchester, Virginia. Months later, his remains were found. But for Jason’s parents, Jennifer and Benito Soto, finding their son did not bring the answers they had desperately been searching for. Instead, it left them with even more questions about what happened to Jason after he disappeared and whether his death was properly investigated. Jennifer and Benito believe their son was murdered. In this episode of Unheard, they tell Jason’s story in their own words, from the devastating loss their family had already endured, to Jason’s disappearance, the discovery of his remains, and the evidence and circumstances that led them to question the investigation into his death. This is the story of a family that found their son but is still fighting to find out what happened to him. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Seven men have been accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting a young woman at Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity house. Nearly two years later, questions remain about what happened that night and how the university responded. For this bonus episode of Unheard, I’m sharing a conversation from my YouTube live with my friend Dan Catullo, an Emmy Award winning filmmaker whose work includes 4000 Days, Protect the House, Breathe, Nolan, Breathe, and Death of a Pledge. We walk through the Cornell allegations and the latest developments, then talk about the fraternity culture surrounding them: secrecy, loyalty, and the fight for accountability when students and families speak up. This Cornell case is not a hazing case. But Dan and I were both in fraternities, and we’ve both spent time with families who lost children to hazing. Those conversations have shown us how much can stay hidden inside these organizations, and why people outside them so rarely hear about it. The accusations made in the case we're talking about, point to a bigger issue surrounding toxic fraternity culture. If this is your first time hearing about the Cornell case, I’ll point you toward my full breakdown as well. And if you’d like more bonus conversations when major stories break, let me know. Follow Unheard wherever you listen, and leave a five-star rating if the show has earned it. Our regular Wednesday episode is still coming tomorrow. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual assault and other potentially disturbing subjects. Former Miss Switzerland and international model Beatrice Keul sits down with Unheard: True Crime in Their Own Words for an extensive conversation about events she says began more than three decades ago and ultimately connected her story to Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Keul recounts her experience in New York in the early 1990s, including her allegation that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her at the Plaza Hotel, and discusses Jeffrey Epstein's connection to her story. But this conversation goes far beyond a single encounter. Beatrice discusses the documentation she has preserved, the threats she says she received after coming forward, the other women who have spoken publicly, the legal avenues now being explored, and why she sees what happened as part of a much larger story involving power, influence and international ramifications. Beatrice has never lived in the United States and has never been an American citizen. Her story began decades before today's political environment, and in this interview, we're giving her the time and space to tell it from the beginning, in her own words. This is not a sound bite. This is her story. Unheard: True Crime in Their Own Words features long-form conversations with the people who lived the stories behind the headlines. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.