347. KENTUCKY] The Tale of the Tape || The Champion Family Murders

·46 min·4 clips

Ryan tells detectives a stranger named Vito became obsessed with his sister Emily and murdered their family, but details don't add up.

The episode begins by introducing Joy and Lindsey Champion, a well-liked couple in Cadiz, Kentucky, who adopted a son named Ryan after struggling with infertility and later had a biological daughter, Emily. Ryan felt like an outsider and resented his sister's success, while Emily became a veterinarian. On October 26, 2014, Ryan's aunt Lisa called 911 after finding Ryan with duct-taped wrists, leading to the discovery of Joy, Lindsey, and Emily shot dead, along with Vito Risovato. Ryan claimed Vito, a stranger obsessed with Emily, was the killer, but his story had inconsistencies. Investigators learned from Vito's roommates that Ryan had hired Vito for $30,000 to kill three people. Forensic analysis of duct tape showed Ryan was taped last, disproving his account. Ryan and his friend Anne Plotkin, who acted as a go-between, were arrested. Ryan pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of kidnapping, receiving five life sentences. Anne pleaded guilty to complicity and got 22 years; she later died after parole was denied. The episode includes victim impact statements from family members expressing grief and lack of remorse from Ryan and Anne.

As heard by us

A Kentucky case told through the small-town setting and the people at its center.

Big Mad True Crime opens on a Kentucky case centered in Katie's, and Heather Ashley keeps the focus on the people nearest the story. Joy Allen comes through as kind-hearted and straightforward, someone others trusted to listen, while Boyd Lindsey Champion is presented as a…

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Why you'd press play

When you want a Kentucky murder story with a host who does not blink.

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