The dream island that became a nightmare – “Tatort Reise”
“Tatort Reise” is about true crime cases from all over the world
Brazil has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Many of them go back to bloody conflicts between enemy drug gangs in the slums of the big cities. What few people know, however, is that Brazil’s nightmare of organized crime originated on an island around 100 kilometers as the crow flies from Rio de Janeiro: on Ilha Grande. The 10th episode of “Tatort Reise” is about this island.
Larissa Königs spoke to Nuno Alves, who has been to Ilha Grande himself, in the new episode of “Tatort Reise”, TRAVELBOOK’s true crime podcast, about the history of Ilha Grande and Comando Vermelho. It is about the military dictatorship of the time, guerrillas and the close coexistence of political and ordinary prisoners in a very small space. Nuno Alves also spoke to former left-wing militant José Tórtima, who was himself imprisoned on Ilha Grande from February 1970 to June 1971. And of course, we take a look at today’s dream island: from the sights to why there are still no ATMs.
The ninth episode about the Amityville horror house
Terrible things happened in the Amityville horror house on Long Island near New York. Not only did the then 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo murder his entire family in 1974, a year later a family that moved into the horror house was said to have been haunted by ghosts. What really happened in the house? TRAVELBOOK tells the exciting story of the most famous “Haunted House” in the new episode of “Tatort Reise”.
In it, Larissa Königs and Sonja Koller take you on an exciting journey to Long Island in the USA. Because the island off New York, known for the Hamptons as a local recreation area for the rich and beautiful, is the scene of a dark story.
The eighth episode about Floreana’s emigrant drama
In the eighth episode of “Tatort Reise”, the true crime podcast by TRAVELBOOK, Angelika Pickardt and Larissa Königs take you on an exciting journey back to the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s. Eight emigrants from Germany and Austria tried their luck there – but in the end five of them died or disappeared without a trace. With the help of the German author Marcus Straub, we try to explain what really happened back then – and what is still pure speculation today.
The seventh episode about the Lizzie Borden House in the USA
Would you stay in a house if you knew that two people were once brutally murdered there? More than that, would you sleep in a room where the crime took place? Guests at the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, can do just that. Those who stay here become part of the long history of the house, in which a murder that has not yet been solved took place 130 years ago. The brutality with which two people were killed at the time made the case and the house known around the world. Its current owners make an unusual profit out of it. You can find out exactly how in the seventh episode of “Tatort Reise”.
The sixth episode about the “blood countess” in Slovakia
She is considered the most notorious murderer of all time. Up to 650 murders are attributed to her. We are talking about Elisabeth Báthory, the so-called “Blood Countess”. But who was this woman really? What crimes did she commit? In order to investigate these questions, TRAVELBOOK went to the scene of the event, to Schächtitz Castle in Slovakia.
The fifth episode about the HH Holmes Murder Hotel
Larissa Königs and Angelika Pickardt take you on a journey to Chicago in the 1890s. At that time, the serial killer HH Holmes was up to mischief in the up-and-coming city. When the Chicago World’s Fair takes place, he is said to have built a horrifying murder hotel full of horrific secrets in order to trap as many young women as possible. Emeritus lecturer and crime writer Harold Schechter, who demystifies some of the Holmes case, reveals whether all of this really happened.
The fourth episode about the Beelitz sanatoriums
In it, Larissa Königs and Nuno Alves from TRAVELBOOK talk about Germany’s former flagship clinic, which today is a magnet for ghost hunters and fans of true crime. Both go into the chilling murder cases – what really happened back then? And how did the murders come about? Larissa and Nuno dive into the life of the “Beast of Beelitz” – how did she become a murderer? What has become of the sanatoriums today is also exciting. The two talk about all of this in detail – here in the new episode of our podcast “Tatort Reise”.
The third episode about the ax murderer house of Villisca
In the third episode, Angelika “Geli” Pickardt and Larissa Königs talk about a horrific multiple murder, the ensuing search for the perpetrator and how the house became a tourist attraction. Someone who really knows about it also has his say: Johnny Houser, a man who now even offers tours of the ax murderer’s house in Villisca (USA). In this episode you will find out what he reports and which legends about the house are true and which are fiction.
The second episode about the horror hotel in LA
In the second episode, Angelika “Geli” Pickardt and Larissa Königs also talked about a case from the USA. It was about the Cecil Hotel, Hollywood’s number 1 horror house. Among other things, the editors get to the bottom of the question of how it can be that so many bad things happen at just one hotel. How can it be that so many suicides have been committed? Why didn’t just one serial killer check in here, but two? And why is the case of Elisa Lam, the woman in the water tank, so mysterious to this day? A historian who lives in Los Angeles and has dealt with the Cecil Hotel in more detail also has her say.
The first episode of the podcast “Tatort Reise”
In the first episode of our new podcast “Tatort Reise” Nuno Alves and Larissa Königs talk about a case that surprised, shocked and kept both of them busy during their research. It’s about a man who is cold as ice and calculating, highly manipulative and a real people snatcher. His name: Charles Sobhraj. In the 1970s he murdered numerous vacationers in Asia, especially in Thailand and Nepal. He moved along a very specific route, the hippie trail.
In the following we get to the bottom of the question of why he was looking for his victims there, how he committed his crimes and, of course, what makes this man so extraordinarily fascinating. As with every episode, we spoke to an expert to give you a behind-the-scenes look. TRAVELBOOK spoke to Tom’s father. The German journalist has been living in Southeast Asia for decades and has twice had the chance to interview Charles Sobhraj and see him live. At TRAVELBOOK he speaks exclusively about his experience with Sobhraj.
How he experienced it, why Sobhraj was also called “the snake” and what actually became of the legendary hippie trail – all this is in the first episode of “Tatort Reise”.
