In the 1970s and early 1980s, Anchorage, Alaska, was stalked by a predator hiding in plain sight. Robert Hansen, a quiet baker, devoted father, and seemingly ordinary member of the community, was secretly hunting women in the wilderness, kidnapping them, assaulting them, and releasing them into the remote woods before tracking them like game. For years, his crimes went unnoticed, protected by his reputation and the harsh, isolated landscape he knew better than anyone. In this episode, we follow the investigation that finally exposed the Butcher Baker, the survivors who helped break the case, and the chilling methodical nature behind his violence. Through the lens of his Aquarius Sun and his Capricorn Moon and Venus, we explore the emotional detachment, rigid control, and cold calculation that fueled one of the most disturbing killers in American true-crime history.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with us across streaming platforms and social media, and explore ways to support our work through our Linktree.

Cosmic Crimes Podcast Linktree

If you are new to astrology and/or are getting lost or confused during the episodes, we created a free guide of all-things-astrology on Substack for you to reference so you can listen along with ease. Click the link below!

Astrology Basics

SOURCES:

"DNA Match IDs Alaska Serial Killer's Victim after 37 Years." NBC Philadelphia, 22 Oct. 2021,
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/dna-match-ids-alaska-serial-killers-victim-after-37-years/3008969/.**

D'Oro, Rachel. "Robert Hansen, Convicted Serial Killer in Alaska, Dies at 75." The Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2014,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/robert-hansen-dies-at-75-convicted-alaska-serial-killer/2014/08/22/cf2d2acc-2989-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html.

"How Did Robert Hansen's Wife & 2 Kids Have No Idea He Was a Serial Killer?" Distractify, 1 Sept. 2020,
https://www.distractify.com/p/robert-hansen-kids.

Klecka, Joey. "Victim of Alaska Serial Killer Identified after 37 Years." Alaska's News Source, 22 Oct. 2021,
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2021/10/22/victim-alaska-serial-killer-identified-after-37-years/.

"Victim of Serial Killer Robert Hansen Identified 37 Years after She Was Discovered." Alaska State Troopers – Press Releases, 22 Oct. 2021,
https://dps.alaska.gov/AST/PIO/PressReleases/Victim-of-Serial-Killer-Robert-Hansen-Identified-3.

Amelinckx, Andrew. "Who Was Serial Killer Robert Hansen's Wife, Darla?" Grunge, 8 Nov. 2023,
https://www.grunge.com/1438193/who-serial-killer-robert-hansen-wife-darla/.

Blair, Caroline. "Robert Hansen Hunted 17 Women in the Alaska Woods, but Police Didn't Even Know Most Were Missing. Here's How the Serial Killer Was Finally Caught." People, 21 Aug. 2025,
https://people.com/how-serial-killer-robert-hansen-was-caught-11793985.

"Robert Hansen." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hansen.

"Robert Hansen (Serial Killer) | Research Starters." EBSCO Research Starters: Biography, EBSCO Information Services,
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/robert-hansen-serial-killer.

In 2009, a Florida family gathered for what should have been a warm, ordinary Thanksgiving, until the night erupted into one of the most devastating family massacres in modern true-crime history. Paul Michael Merhige, long described as the "golden child" with a quiet brilliance and a history of untreated mental illness, arrived at his relatives' home in Jupiter with a calculated plan he had concealed for years. Before the night was over, four family members were dead. In this episode, we trace the years of decline that led to that holiday tragedy, the red flags, and the chilling callous behind Merhige's actions. Through the lens of his Virgo Sun, and the influence of Virgo Mars and Virgo Venus, we explore how perfectionism, suppressed rage, and internalized resentment fused into a catastrophic breaking point on a night meant for gratitude.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with us across streaming platforms and social media, and explore ways to support our work through our Linktree.

Cosmic Crimes Podcast Linktree

If you are new to astrology and/or are getting lost or confused during the episodes, we created a free guide of all-things-astrology on Substack for you to reference so you can listen along with ease. Click the link below!

Astrology Basics

SOURCES:

"2009 Thanksgiving murders." Wikipedia, last updated 2025.

"Thanksgiving Killer Pleads Guilty, Avoids Death Penalty." NBC Miami, 27 Oct. 2011.

"Merhige Sentenced to 7 Consecutive Terms of Life in Prison." Palm Beach Post, 27 Oct. 2011.

"Report: Paul Merhige Will Accept Plea Deal." CBS News Miami, 26 Oct. 2011.

"Parents Cleared on Son's Thanksgiving Murders." Courthouse News Service, 25 Feb. 2014.

Knight v. Merhige, 133 So. 3d 1140 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).

A&E True Crime. "3 Grisly Thanksgiving Family Murders That Will Make You Hug Your Family Tighter This Season." AE Network, Nov. 2022.

ABC News. "Manhunt for Thanksgiving Day Killer." Nov. 27 2009.

Palm Beach Post. "Family Struggled to Help Paul Merhige Before Murders." Nov. 30 2009.

Courthouse News. "Knight v. Merhige Appeal Filed in Florida." 2014.

In the winter of 1957, the rural town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, was thrust into national horror when investigators stepped inside the farmhouse of Ed Gein, only to uncover a nightmarish collection of human remains turned into masks, clothing, and household décor. Gein, a reclusive handyman shaped by an obsessive devotion to his mother and a lifetime of isolation, blurred the line between grief, delusion, and ritual. His crimes would go on to birth some of the most iconic monsters in American film, but the reality was far stranger than fiction. In this episode, we trace the path from Gein's suffocating childhood to the macabre discoveries that stunned the world, and examine how his Virgo Sun, Sagittarius Moon, and Gemini Rising reflect the unsettling mix of compulsive ritual, moral distortion, and fractured identity that defined the Ghoul of Plainfield.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with us across streaming platforms and social media, and explore ways to support our work through our Linktree.

Cosmic Crimes Podcast Linktree

If you are new to astrology and/or are getting lost or confused during the episodes, we created a free guide of all-things-astrology on Substack for you to reference so you can listen along with ease. Click the link below!

Astrology Basics

SOURCES:

"Ed Gein." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2025.

Aamodt, Michael A. "Edward Theodore Gein (Ed)." Radford University Serial Killer Database. Radford University, 2025.

"Ed Gein." EBSCO Research Starters: History & Criminology. EBSCOhost, 2024.

Montaldo, Charles. "Serial Killer Edward Gein." ThoughtCo, 8 May 2025.

"Ed Gein: Biography, Crimes & Influence on Modern Horror." Vedantu, 2025.

"Edward T. Gein – Dictionary of Wisconsin History." Wisconsin Historical Society, 2024.

On a December night in 1991, four teenage girls were found bound, gagged, and burned inside an Austin yogurt shop, a crime so brutal it stunned the nation. For years, police pursued a tangled investigation that led to false confessions, overturned convictions, and lingering doubt. Decades later, advances in DNA testing would upend everything, pointing not to the four accused young men, but to an unknown perpetrator whose identity remains elusive. In this episode, we revisit the case that defined a generation of true-crime skepticism, unpack the missteps that derailed justice, and explore how the cosmos of that night mirrored the tension between illusion and truth, a tragic reflection of innocence lost and faith in the system forever shaken.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with us across streaming platforms and social media, and explore ways to support our work through our Linktree.

Cosmic Crimes Podcast Linktree

If you are new to astrology and/or are getting lost or confused during the episodes, we created a free guide of all-things-astrology on Substack for you to reference so you can listen along with ease. Click the link below!

Astrology Basics

SOURCES:

ABC News. "Genetic Genealogy, Police Work Credited with Solving 1998 Murders of a Woman and Her Daughter." ABC News, 5 Oct. 2018.

Associated Press. "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt Murders: The DNA Breakthrough." AP National Wire, 27 Sept. 2025.

City of Austin. "Austin Police Make Significant Breakthrough in 1991 I Can't Believe It's Yogurt Murder Case." AustinTexas.gov, 26 Sept. 2025.

District Attorney's Office of Travis County. Yogurt Shop Murders Case Resolution Notice. Public statement by District Attorney José Garza confirming DNA match to Robert Eugene Brashers, Sept. 2025.

FBI Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP). Cross-Jurisdiction Violent Offender Profile: Robert E. Brashers. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Genealogical Forensic Unit Records, 2025.

Greenville News. "DNA and Genetic Genealogy Link Robert Brashers to Zitricki Murder Across Three States." GreenvilleOnline.com, 5 Oct. 2018.

KFVS-TV. "'My Father Was a Serial Killer': Robert Brashers' Daughter Speaks Out." KFVS12.com, 5 Feb. 2019.

KUT / Texas Standard Public Radio. APD Confirms Genealogical DNA Match in 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders. Broadcast segment and transcript, 28 Sept. 2025.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Records Archive. Incident Report: Self-Inflicted Gunshot Death of Robert E. Brashers, Kennett, MO, Jan. 1999.

People. "Austin Police Make 'Significant Breakthrough' in Murders of 4 Teen Girls at Yogurt Shop, Name New Suspect 34 Years Later." People.com, 27 Sept. 2025.

The Austin Chronicle. "Case Against Springsteen and Scott Collapses After New DNA Evidence." Austin Chronicle Archives, June 2009.

The Guardian. Dodd, Vikram. "Men Freed After DNA Fails to Link Them to 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders." The Guardian, 2009.

The New York Times. "Cold Case Cracked by Genealogical DNA: Texas Yogurt Shop Murders Linked to Serial Offender." NYT National Desk, 29 Sept. 2025.

The Washington Post. "DNA Testing Links Dead Man to Texas Yogurt Shop Killings, Police Say." The Washington Post, 27 Sept. 2025.

Travis County Medical Examiner's Office. Yogurt Shop Homicides: Autopsy File Compilation, Case Nos. 91-12-07-A1 to A4 (including soot inhalation determination for victim Amy Ayers).

WYFF-TV. "Suspect in 1991 Texas Yogurt Shop Murders Tied to 1990 Greenville Killing." WYFF4.com, 29 Sept. 2025.

In September 2004, London was gripped by a wave of seemingly random violence that left four people dead and two others severely injured. The attacker, 24-year-old Daniel Gonzalez, moved through the city like a horror-film villain come to life, mask on, knives drawn, and an obsession with becoming a "famous serial killer." Diagnosed with schizophrenia years earlier, Gonzalez had cycled through psychiatric care and warning signs that went unheeded until it was too late. In this episode, we trace the brutal timeline of his two-day killing spree, the chilling writings that revealed his fantasies, and how his chart, anchored by a Cancer Sun and Libra Moon, reflects the desperate need for validation, emotional chaos, and fractured sense of self that spiraled into real-world horror.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with us across streaming platforms and social media, and explore ways to support our work through our Linktree.

Cosmic Crimes Podcast Linktree

If you are new to astrology and/or are getting lost or confused during the episodes, we created a free guide of all-things-astrology on Substack for you to reference so you can listen along with ease. Click the link below!

Astrology Basics

SOURCES:

Independent Investigation into the Care and Treatment of Daniel Gonzalez. NHS South East Coast Strategic Health Authority, Department of Health, 2009.

Dodd, Vikram. "Man Guilty of Killing Four People in Two-Day Stabbing Roam." The Guardian, 16 Mar. 2006.

"Spree Killer 'Like Horror Movie Villain.'" BBC News, BBC, 16 Mar. 2006.

Laville, Sandra. "Killer Who Wanted to Be Freddy Krueger Jailed for Life." The Telegraph, 17 Mar. 2006.

"Mother Warned Doctors Son Would Kill." BBC News, BBC, 17 Mar. 2006.

Hansard. Parliamentary Debates (UK House of Commons), vol. 446, 2006. Reference to constituent correspondence regarding Daniel Gonzalez.

Regina v. Gonzalez (Old Bailey Court Records), 2006. Crown Prosecution Service Archive Summary.

Crown Prosecution Service. "Press Statement on Sentencing of Daniel Gonzalez." CPS Media Briefing, 2006.

"Daniel Gonzalez: Timeline of a Spree Killer." Evening Standard, 18 Mar. 2006.

"Inside Broadmoor: The Case of Daniel Gonzalez." Channel 4 Dispatches Documentary Transcript, 2007.