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Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

[Unsolved] The Televangelist Mail Bombings

Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

Moms got ya covered-feed

True Crime

4.68.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1990, two of America's most prominent televangelists became targets of a mysterious mail bombing campaign. John Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston and Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network both received explosive devices in the mail—bombs sophisticated enough to kill, but intercepted before they could detonate. Despite an extensive FBI investigation, the bomber was never caught, and the case remains unsolved to this day. We explore the rise of televangelism in the 1980s and 90s, the attacks that nearly claimed lives, the FBI's investigation, and the internet's favorite theories about who was really behind it all. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @momsandmysteries Join our Patreon: patreon.com/momsandmysteries Visit our website: momsandmysteries.com #TrueCrime #Podcast #FloridaMoms #Televangelism #UnsolvedMystery #MailBombing #FBI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Today, we're diving into a story that is equal parts fascinating, unsettling, and a little mysterious.

0:06.7

It's not every day that faith, fame, and explosive devices collide, but that's exactly what happened in this case.

0:13.7

Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa.

0:20.3

Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy, how are you? Oh, I am doing well. How are you? I'm good. We just

0:26.3

recorded a chat episode where we said things like, it's not going that great, but yes, here we are to lie to you.

0:34.3

Sometimes then, and then sometimes when people email us and just they're like, sometimes

0:38.7

the intro is a little dry and I'm like, well, because we usually just talk to each other. Yeah,

0:42.9

I'm like, and sometimes if we tell the truth, then you're going to say like, wow, these women are

0:47.9

depressed and need to be locked away. It was dark before we even got to the story. Exactly.

0:54.4

So enjoy the lies, okay? No, everything is good. I am excited. We have an episode coming out Thursday that I'm really excited about, and I'm looking forward to getting into this episode. This is a story I did not really know. Yeah, and I've learned a lot. All right. So let's just go ahead and get straight into it then. So when I say the word televangelism, you probably instantly picture a high-energy preacher on a massive stage. It's

1:16.6

kind of giving lights, camera, action, but for church. So typically, the preacher will enthusiastically

1:22.4

speak messages of hope and salvation while asking for money, which of course they need to continue the great work

1:28.7

that they're doing spreading the word about Christianity. And the best part about all of this is

1:33.0

you can do it all from the comfort of your living room, including the part where you donate your money.

1:37.5

So our story today centers around two figures. There's Pat Robertson, who's the force behind

1:43.2

the Christian Broadcasting Network and the infamous John Osteon, who's the force behind the Christian Broadcasting Network,

1:45.3

and the infamous John Osteen, who was the founder of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

1:51.0

Both of these televangelists were pioneers in the field, and they reached millions with their

1:55.9

messages. But in the late 1980s and early 90s, their lives were changed when a chilling series of events

2:02.9

led to the detonation of pipe bombs. But who sent them and why? And that's what we're here to find out

2:09.3

today. So the practice of televangelism dates back further than you might actually think.

2:15.2

It began long before the days of high-deaf TV and social media,

...

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