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Once Upon A Crime

The Ties That Bind: The Crimes of Shelly Knotek - Part 1

Once Upon A Crime

Esther Ludlow

Truecrime, History, True Crime, Crime, Criminals, Criminology, Society & Culture

4.65K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Shelly Knotek has been called “America’s Most Evil Mom”. She abused, tortured, and humiliated her children and partners, but her control and abuse went beyond her own family members. One-by-one people she took into her home as boarders also found themselves trapped and unable to escape her abuse. This is part one of a two-part episode. To get Part 2 early and ad free, become a Patreon member of Once Upon a Crime at www.patreon.com/onceuponacrime.  Resources: If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood - Gregg Olsen https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/knotek-michelle.htm https://www.the-sun.com/lifestyle/876416/shelly-knotek-abuse-daughters-serial-killer/ https://casetext.com/case/state-v-knotek Snapped: Season 10, Episode 19 Couple Held in Woman’s 1994 Disappearancehttps://apnews.com/article/1ba1a2ceca7d8bbbc82506c3b1b488b5

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

0:07.0

This episode contains explicit language. It is not intended for children.

0:11.0

Listener discretion is advised.

0:13.0

Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

0:25.0

In this month's series, The Ties that Bind,

0:28.0

I'm sharing cases in which family units are so toxic,

0:31.0

they function like cults.

0:33.4

In the most extreme examples of these family cults,

0:36.3

rainwashing, control, abuse, and even murder have occurred.

0:40.8

This week's case is one of the most bizarre true crime stories I've ever encountered.

0:45.0

After I read about it, I couldn't get it out of my mind, and I wondered why I hadn't heard about it before.

0:51.0

Shelly Noetec subjected her children to abuse, torture, and mind

0:54.9

control throughout their lives and manipulated her husband into being her accomplice. But when a

1:00.5

friend moved into her home in 1988, she focused her attention on mentally and physically

1:05.8

destroying her border through an escalating series of violence and torture for her own sadistic

1:11.6

pleasure.

1:13.2

You won't believe this story and do it justice I felt the need to cover this case in a two-part episode,

1:19.7

something I rarely do, but felt this case warranted the extra attention.

1:24.5

Part 2 will be released next Monday.

1:26.8

But if you're a Patreon member, you won't have to wait to listen to the second part.

1:31.0

You can get it immediately on our special Patreon VIP link.

1:35.0

If you're not a Patreon member, you can join for immediate access for as little as $2 per month.

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