True Crime Podcast, Best Stories, Real stories, Investigations, Serial Killer · True crime

Bruce Reynolds And The Train Heist That Made History

December 8, 2025·46 min·4 clips

FBI agents told Diane that John's second wife didn't die of cancer and he was being investigated for two murders.

The episode follows Diane Beasley's marriage to John Smith, which begins in the summer of 1998 after a coworker's introduction. Diane, despite initial lack of attraction, marries John for stability, believing his story that his second wife died of cancer. Soon after moving in, Diane notices oddities like John's secretive computer use and his lack of a checking account or California driver's license. In May 1999, FBI agents visit Diane at work, revealing John is being investigated for the murders of his two previous wives, Fran and Janice. Diane initially doubts this, but after speaking with Fran's sister, she becomes convinced and fears for her life. Investigators focus on John's brother Michael, who eventually confesses to seeing a wooden box containing the skeletal remains of one of John's wives. This leads to the exhumation and identification of 'the lady in the box' as Janice Hartman, John's first wife. In December 1999, John violently attempts to break into Diane's apartment, but she survives with her daughter's presence. John is arrested in October 2000 and convicted of murder in July 2001, receiving a sentence of 15 years to life. Fran Gladden Smith, his second wife, remains missing. Diane later annuls the marriage and finds happiness with a new husband, Robert, emphasizing her belief in 'happily ever after.' The episode is structured as a narrative interview with Diane's firsthand account, interspersed with investigative details and trial outcomes.

As heard by us

A marriage story turns into a murder case, and the slow dread is the point.

Diane Beasley's marriage starts as ordinary enough, then opens into the discovery that John Smith is hiding a gruesome past. The review leans on small, sharp details to make that shift feel believable: odd explanations, a daughter who notices something changed, and a growing…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a marriage story that turns into a murder case.

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