True crime, told from the witness stand.
Court Junkie tells criminal cases through their trials, cutting recorded testimony and cross-examination into the host's narration. Its cases range from a Virginia husband and an au pair giving opposing accounts on the stand to a Florida hit-and-run with toxicology testimony and a 2022 sheriff's raid in rural Ohio involving Afroman.
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Court Junkie is a true crime show built on the trial record. The host narrates the background of each case, then steps aside for the courtroom, playing recorded testimony from officers, witnesses, lab analysts and defendants. The narration fills in the context between witnesses. The Brendan Banfield trial gets two parts. Part 1 lays out a Virginia household: Brendan, an IRS investigator; Christine, a nurse; their young daughter; and Juliana Perez Magalhaes, the au pair who came from Brazil to live with them. Part 2 turns to the fourth figure, Joe Ryan, found dead in the couple's bedroom, and to the question of whether he was an attacker or a man framed for Christine's murder. Juliana's testimony describes a plan and a staged cover-up. Brendan's describes stepping over his wounded wife to check whether the intruder was still a threat. Hearing the two accounts side by side is the show's method at its clearest. Other cases range widely. 'The Murders of Justin and Amber Hicks (Matthew Lanz Trial)' is set in Cobb County, Georgia, where a witness recalls a suspect's story of a long drive, a cigarette in the backyard and a short nap in his car, then describes going through hard-to-see surveillance video frame by frame. 'The Hit-and-Run Driver (Michael Kraft Trial)' includes a Florida crime lab analyst testifying that the driver's blood, drawn hours after the crash, showed methamphetamine. Not every episode centres on a killing. 'The Raid on Afroman' begins with deputies smashing in a front door in rural Ohio in 2022 and arrives at a cross-examination in which a witness admits the search and the money count were not done perfectly. That episode also points listeners to the show's coverage of Cardi B's trial, another pop-culture moment that ended up in court. 'A Dangerous Offender' is a deliberate change of approach. Instead of testimony, it follows Shannon Maroney, whose husband Jason was arrested for violent sexual assaults, through her own words: an interview with Court Junkie writer Gabrielle Rusin and passages from her memoir, Through the Glass. Professor Noah Weisbord is thanked for discussing the Canadian legal system for that episode. Several episodes credit Gabrielle Rusin with the research and writing, and ad-free versions and bonus episodes are offered through a Patreon. What a listener gets is the case as it played out in court, one witness at a time, with enough narration to keep the threads straight.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants to hear officers, witnesses and defendants in their own recorded words, and who is comfortable with detailed accounts of violent crime.
What sets it apart: Court Junkie hands much of the storytelling to the trial itself. Recorded testimony and cross-examination are cut into the narration, so the evidence comes in the witnesses' own voices instead of being summarised secondhand.
Imagine being wrongfully convicted for a crime you didn't commit, or imagine your child's killer is still on the loose even though there's enough evidence for an arrest. I want to help shine light on the injustices of our judicial system. I delve into court documents, attend trials, and interview those close to the case to help me tell their stories.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · August 2026
Court Junkie tells cases through prosecutor statements, cross-examination, and forensic testimony instead of dramatized retelling, verdicts included.
Court Junkie works from the record rather than around it, building episodes out of prosecutor statements, cross-examination, and witness testimony pulled straight from trial proceedings.
You want the courtroom record before the true-crime group chat gets a vote.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A disputed Ohio raid reaches court, where evidence handling becomes hard to ignore.
The Raid on Afro Man follows a rural Ohio search warrant into the gap between a severe allegation and what deputies were able to find. Adams County deputies entered Joseph Borman's home with weapons drawn after a confidential informant described a basement dungeon, women being…
A careful courtroom-focused episode about a bedroom shooting, a disputed catfishing claim, and testimony that keeps both accounts in view.
The Brendan Banfield Trial (Part 2) centers on the clash between Brendan Banfield's version of the bedroom shooting and Juliana Perez Magalhaes' allegation that he was tied to a catfishing scheme that brought Joe Ryan into the house.
A secret affair and an intruder story pull a Virginia family home into the center of Christine Banfield's killing.
This episode keeps its focus on the Banfield household, where Brendan Banfield and Juliana Perez Magalhaes's secret affair, Christine Banfield's killing, and Juliana's account of a cover-up around an intruder story all collide.
A dream home, a troubling neighbor history, and courtroom testimony converge in a focused account of the Hicks murders.
Court Junkie traces how Justin and Amber Hicks' dream home on Verbena Drive became the opening point for a case that moved into the trial of Matthew Lanz.
A rare Court Junkie perspective follows the private wreckage after a husband's violent crimes come to light.
Court Junkie steps away from its usual courtroom reconstruction and into the private shock that follows a violent crime, following Shannon Maroney as she learns her husband, Jason, kidnapped and sexually assaulted two women.
A State Road 46 crash case turns into a courtroom fight over drug evidence and an insanity defense.
Court Junkie's review of Michael Kraft's trial tracks the State Road 46 crashes that followed the death of 73-year-old motorcyclist Vincent Russo.
Street-level talk with civic urgency.
Trucking disputes from the driver's side.
True crime with the whole backstory intact.
Hip-hop headlines under pressure.
This episode covers the 2024 trial of Karen Read, accused of murdering her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe.
Prosecutor Adam Lally delivers opening statements in the 2024 trial of Karen Read for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe.
Court Junkie follows the August 2022 Adams County Sheriff's Office raid on Joseph Foreman's Ohio home after a confidential informant alleged a basement dungeon and hidden marijuana.
Court Junkie's "The Brendan Banfield Trial (Part 2)" centers on Brendan Banfield's own testimony about the February 24, 2023 shooting in the Banfields' bedroom.
["Court Junkie's \"The Brendan Banfield Trial (Part 1)\" follows Juliana Perez-Migaliahes's testimony about Brendan Banfield, Christine Banfield, and Joe Ryan in Fairfax County, Virginia.", "Juliana says Brendan turned an affair into a FetLife catfish scheme under the fake Christine profile \"Anastasia Nine,\" then gave Joe Ryan instructions to enter the Reston house with a knife, zip ties, and chains.", "She describes the February 24, 2023 confrontation, Brendan's shot at Joe, and Christine's stabbing, while prosecutors use bloodstain and digital evidence to argue the scene was staged.", "The defense pushes back with its own blood expert, questions Detective Brendan Miller's handling of devices, and sets up Brendan's testimony in Part 2."]
Court Junkie covers the murders of Justin and Amber Hicks in Acworth, Georgia, after a welfare check found a broken back window at their Verbena Drive home and their two-year-old son Jacob inside.
Court Junkie follows Shannon Maroney as she meets Jason Staples at Martha's Table in Kingston, Canada, then learns on their first date that he had already served 10 years for second-degree murder.
Court Junkie examines the Michael Kraft trial after a March 29, 2021 crash on State Road 46 killed motorcyclist Vincent Russo and bystander Jennica Campbell.
Court Junkie examines the 2025 Wisconsin trial of Candace Sheehan, whose grandmother Aline Schrader died after diabetes care became central to the case.
Court Junkie examines the September 19, 2024 shooting death of 25-year-old Paulina Wright by her boyfriend, 33-year-old Marion County Sheriff's deputy Leslie Dale Boylew.
Court Junkie examines the Alicia Andrews trial over the June 23, 2024 Tampa murder of Charles Jones, the rapper known as Julio Fulio.
Court Junkie examines the 2025 trial of Chris Wolfenbarger for the disappearance and death of Melissa Wolfenbarger, a 21-year-old Atlanta mother last heard from after Christmas 1998.
This episode continues coverage of the Karen Reed trial, analyzing witness testimony from the night of John O'Keefe's death.
Prosecutor Adam Lally's opening statement in the Karen Read murder trial describes the night John O'Keefe died and the evidence against her.
This episode covers the trial of 15-year-old Carly Gregg, who is accused of murdering her mother and attempting to murder her stepfather, with the defense arguing insanity.