The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast

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A death penalty case can pivot on one phone call, and that’s exactly where we start: Chris Pritchard decides to plead guilty and testify, and the fragile hope around Bart Upchurch’s defense instantly narrows. We walk through the private panic behind the scenes as Bart’s lawyers and parents confront the stakes in plain terms: a guilty plea might save his life, but it also means admitting to murder, and Bart refuses to do that.

From there, we move into Elizabeth City and the strange theater of trial. Jury selection, cameras in the courtroom, and Bart’s own posture in front of jurors all become part of the story. We break down the competing narratives from opening statements, including how Dungeons and Dragons is used to explain mindset and influence without claiming it “caused” the crime, and why the defense leans hard on the timing and incentives behind witness testimony.

Then the testimony lands with full force. Bonnie Von Stein describes the night of the attack, the long shadow it leaves on her body and mind, and the limits of what she could truly see. We also dig into the hard edges of evidence: investigators concede no physical proof places Bart in the house, and the medical examiner’s autopsy raises uncomfortable questions about injuries, digestion, and timeline. Finally, Chris Pritchard takes the stand and lays out a plot involving sleeping pills, a failed arson idea, maps, alibis, and promised payoffs, plus the chilling line that planning felt “like the game” until it became real.

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The case changes the moment the handcuffs go on, and it never stops changing after that. We pick up with Bart’s arrest and a quiet, rushed arraignment designed to keep the public from noticing, then watch that secrecy unravel as Chris is arrested at home and the town starts buzzing with leaks, reporters, and fear. With first-degree murder charges on the table and the death penalty looming, the early hours feel less like a clean search for truth and more like a race to control the story. 

From there, we track the legal machinery that decides what the public learns and when: grand jury indictments that help prosecutors avoid early hearings, discovery motions that reveal how little the defense can actually see, and bond hearings that separate who gets to go home from who stays behind bars. We also dig into the human side of the Von Stein family tragedy in Beaufort County, including the phone calls, breakdowns, and family fractures that erupt when someone is accused of murder and insists they were framed. 

Then the motive conversation lands like a thunderclap: news reports of a multimillion-dollar estate bring inheritance into the spotlight, while investigators and attorneys maneuver around witness statements, private detectives, and mounting media coverage. The pressure peaks with a plea bargain that turns Neil Henderson into the state’s key witness, complete with a rehearsal-style “trial before the trial,” and we end on a final development that reshapes everything heading into court. 

If you’re following the Von Stein murder case, true crime legal strategy, or how plea deals and public narratives collide, you’ll want every detail here. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves court-room true crime, and leave a review with the question you can’t stop thinking about.
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He walks away from house arrest and convinces himself it’s a great adventure, a cat and mouse chase where he is smarter than the police. Bart Upchurch drifts through Raleigh and the NC State campus on borrowed keys and borrowed time, reading under trees, checking out Moby-Dick, and writing diary entries that swing from political anger to an almost unbearable loneliness. It’s the kind of true crime story where the details feel ordinary until you realize how close danger is in every scene.

Then the case turns. Neil Henderson starts talking, investigators retrace the murder night step by step, and the search for the missing baseball bat becomes a race between evidence and escape. Stakeouts fail, rumors spread, and officers work angles that are both methodical and messy, from campus alerts to disguised searches in the woods. When the bat is finally found, the net tightens fast.

A thunderstorm becomes the backdrop for the moment everything changes: a patrol officer spots a suspicious figure, Bart tries a false identity, and police search the backpack that carries books, tapes, and a knife. What follows is a last burst of flight, a hard stop, an interrogation room, and the instant a first-degree murder warrant lands with full weight. If you’re drawn to investigative twists, fugitive psychology, and the realities behind a manhunt, listen now, then subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so more people can find The Murder Book.
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One abandoned army knapsack on a back porch becomes the thin thread detectives tug until an entire murder-for-inheritance plan starts to unravel. We follow John Taylor and Chief Crone as they walk the bag through Raleigh, comparing half-memories and denials, trying to figure out who owned it and why it showed up at the Von Stein house. The smallest details start to feel loud: a car parked too far from a dorm, a story that doesn’t quite fit, and a circle of friends who suddenly seem careful with their words. If you love investigative true crime, this is the kind of episode where a single object turns into a map.

Then the pressure spikes. A troubled suspect under house arrest cuts his ankle band and vanishes, and the case shifts from slow frustration to urgent pursuit. At a Wendy’s near campus, detectives press Neil, a friend who seems weak enough to crack but steady enough to surprise them. When he hints he can “lay the whole thing out,” the investigation collides with courtroom reality: prosecutors worry about deals, tainted testimony, and procedure, while detectives fear the chance will slip away if they wait.

What follows is the statement that changes everything. Neil describes an inheritance motive, hand-drawn maps, a key for entry, and a plan meant to look like a burglary. He recounts the night drive to Washington, clothes changed on the road, a ski mask and black shoe polish, a bat and a knife, and the sickening aftermath of burning evidence and washing mud from the car. Listen through to the end for the part that hurts the most: what guilt does to a person, and who they tell first when the secret finally becomes too heavy. If this episode pulls you in, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us which detail felt like the real turning point.
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The investigation feels like it’s finally ready to pop, until it doesn’t. We head into a new strategy session convinced Chris Von Stein will fold under pressure and give up the name investigators are waiting for, only to learn he’s lawyered up and refusing to speak. Bonnie Von Stein agrees to meet, but her calm certainty hardens the conflict, and a quiet detail surfaces that changes how we read her confidence: the power of a polygraph result and what people choose to believe when the stakes are life and death.

From there, the story becomes a true crime manhunt across Raleigh and the NC State campus for Bart “Moog” Upchurch. We track dead-end tips, dorm-room leads, bad checks, and a borrowed identity that nearly lets him slip away. When the arrest finally lands, we sit in on a jailhouse interview that paints a portrait of Chris’s drug use, his circle, and the dark humor around “inheriting money,” while investigators struggle to pin down anything solid enough to end the Leith Von Stein murder case.

Then the episode takes a chilling turn: a Dungeons and Dragons game recounted in vivid detail that sounds eerily like a rehearsal of the homicide itself. Is it coincidence, exaggeration, or a confession hiding in plain sight? Listen through to the final beats, then subscribe, share the show with a friend who loves investigative storytelling, and leave a review with your theory: did the game reflect the crime, or did the crime shape the story?
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