The whole story read like something out of a cold war thriller.

A bunch of outsiders descend on a sleepy town in the Ozarks

to steal its prized fish, undercover federal agents

who launch a three-year-long sting to crack open an international crime ring.

So who exactly were these poachers?

I'd heard rumors, it might be the Russian mafia.

I'm Helen Holliman.

This is the Paddlefish Caviar Heist.

Get the podcast wherever you listen.

This podcast is intended for mature audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

Well, I'm Karen Caulfi Wood and I have lived in the Durham House since 1997.

Actually, the first night we stayed here was the anniversary of the murders.

It was weird.

And I got a good deal on the house because they had the people that were here

before tried to sell it for a long time and it was on the market for a long time

and they couldn't sell it because they're by like, oh, no, that's when those people got murdered

and we're not buying the house.

And I got a good deal on the house for the time period.

I was talking to my dad about it and he said, look, it's an investment.

He said the house didn't kill the people.

And it was close to my work and it just, and you know,

...