True crime with local dirt under its nails.
Small Town Murder pairs detailed case narration with rapid comic reactions from James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman. Recent episodes range from Deerfield, New Hampshire to Newton, Kansas, with each story framed by bad decisions, local texture, and blunt disbelief.
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Small Town Murder is a true-crime comedy show with a map in one hand and a crime file in the other. It does not glide politely into a case. It barrels into towns, names the place, notices the texture, and then follows the bad logic that leads to violence. James Petrigallo carries the narrative. Jimmy Wissman works as the reactive counterweight, pushing back, laughing at the absurdity, and calling out the decisions that make a case feel almost engineered to go wrong. The recent Express episodes are compact but dense. Deerfield, New Hampshire brings a murder conspiracy so overbuilt and unnecessary that the plan itself becomes part of the horror. Gadsden, Alabama turns on a jail escape, a stolen truck, and the kind of local imagery that makes every witness seem pulled from the same hard-lived block. Oro Valley, Arizona has a killing, a bathroom, and an attempted cleanup so foolish it becomes its own bleak clue. Newton, Kansas lingers on cigarette butts beneath a living room window and sunglasses that do not belong to the household. Small details matter here. A flashlight is not just a flashlight if someone brought it as a weapon. A grocery bag is not just trash if someone tried to erase blood with it. The show is strongest when it lets practical stupidity collide with serious crime. The banter is sharp, but the story keeps the show from floating away into riffing. Live-show plugs and bonus-episode talk appear around the edges, giving the series the feel of a road act with a giant case archive. The mood is abrasive and comic, then suddenly grave. That shift is part of the design. The show finds humor in vanity, incompetence, local oddness, and criminal overconfidence. It does not need polished prestige-crime solemnity to make the violence register. It trusts the facts, then lets the hosts react like people watching a terrible plan collapse in real time. The result is messy, fast, specific, and unusually tied to place.
Made for: For true-crime listeners who want researched cases, fast banter, and a sharper comic edge than solemn documentary narration. Best suited to audiences comfortable with blunt discussion of murder and human stupidity.
What sets it apart: The show makes the town part of the case, not just the address. Its edge comes from pairing detailed crime narration with live, skeptical comic reaction to the bizarre choices around each murder.
Two comedians look at a small town, what makes it tick, and a murder that took place there. In depth research, horrible tragedy, and the hosts' comedic spin on the whole thing. New episodes every Thursday!!
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Detailed case narration and pointed co-host reactions make Small Town Murder especially clear on the reckless choices surrounding violent crimes.
Small Town Murder builds each case around the details that make a place and its people distinct. James Petrigallo handles the narrative while Jimmy Wissman reacts, questions decisions, and turns reckless behavior into sharp comic exchanges.
A murder plan brings an ex-girlfriend and a Maglite; you get James and Jimmy's running disbelief.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A bad plan in Londonderry, with a mag light, a bat, and a gun.
Small Town Murder Express treats the Londonderry, New Hampshire plan as the kind of bad idea that collapses under its own details. Andrew Carter drops Jesse Brooks and Michael Benton near Jack Reed's house at one in the morning, Benton shows up with an aluminum baseball bat,…
A town-first Small Town Murder Express episode that moves from junked cars and stained shirts to a Cherokee County Jail escape and gunpoint ride.
James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman give this Small Town Murder Express episode a town-first shape, spending real time on junked cars, front-yard repairs, and newspaper photos full of stained shirts before the story shifts into Glenn's Cherokee County Jail escape.
A failed toilet flush gives the episode its grimest, clearest image.
This Small Town Murder Express installment is strongest when it locks onto the attempted bathroom cleanup. After the attack in the master bathroom area, a paper grocery bag used to wipe up blood turns up in the toilet, with the floor flooded around it.
A daylight murder story with grim evidence and the show's usual jokes.
Small Town Murder Express opens on a murder that feels brazen from the start: broad daylight, a residential neighborhood, and two children in the house. The case is built through crime-scene detail, and that is what gives it its weight.
A messy house party and a small-town badass story keep this banter-forward episode moving.
The episode stays locked on a messy house party and the local legend around Steven, who comes off as a small-town badass thanks to jail, a group home, and time in California.
Orion's music-school promise makes the family's first 911 call land with a colder force.
Small Town Murder Express frames this episode through Orion: a gifted student and musician whose life moves from basketball with Wolfgang toward the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
A clumsy murder plan, a few bad props, and a brief live-show detour.
Small Town Murder Express turns a sprawling bad-decision story into a steady ride of escalating nonsense, with James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman keeping the murder-train bit moving as the planning circles John Brooks, Michael Benton, Andrew Carter, Jesse Brooks, and Jack Reed.
Supplement radio with the sales pitch included.
Ashley Flowers and Britt Prawat revisit unsolved murders and cold cases as new evidence surfaces.
Two friends narrate true crime cases, listener stories, and archived live-tour shows.
Multi-part true crime narration, from BTK's Wichita letters to Australian cold-case disappearances.
ABC Audio's Theranos fraud series that also introduces its other true-crime podcasts.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
Comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman explore the 2017 murders in Groton, Massachusetts.
Comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmy Whisman explore the murder of Jack Reed in Deerfield, New Hampshire.
This episode features advertisements for National Debt Relief's credit card debt solutions and Koyuchi's sustainable organic bedding products during Earth Month.
Small Town Murder Express opens with James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman back on the murder train.
This episode of Small Town Murder Express discusses a wild murder story from Pound, Virginia, with hosts James and Jimmy introducing upcoming live shows and merchandise.
This episode of Small Town Murder Express explores serial killer motives in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, blending true crime analysis with comedic commentary.
This episode of Small Town Murder Express previews a wild story about a murderer mayor in Pembroke, New York, while promoting live shows and Patreon content.
This episode promotes Surfshark VPN, highlighting its features for online security, privacy protection, and device coverage.
James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman open on this town, and they do it with windows-down contempt.
Oro Valley, Arizona is presented as a wealthy Tucson suburb with a 53.9 median age, a $476,300 median home cost, and a Chamber of Commerce claim to being Arizona's safest community.
Small Town Murder Express opens in its usual road trip mode and spends a long stretch on setup before the crime fully takes over.
James Petrigallo and Jimmy Wissman kick off Small Town Murder Express with live-show chatter and a Patreon push before the story really takes over.
The hosts introduce episode 666 of Small Town Murder Express, promising a bizarre murder story with an unusual weapon, while promoting upcoming live shows and a big announcement.
This episode promotes Avocado Mattress, highlighting its organic materials, health benefits, and current Earth Month sale.
The hosts introduce their podcast, promote merchandise and tickets for live shows across various cities in 2026, and tease an upcoming murder story.
The hosts introduce their true crime comedy podcast, promote merchandise, live shows, and other related content, and tease upcoming episodes about murder and sports team relocations.