Resources
Got a case you want to dig into?
Maybe you're trying to find an old newspaper report, track down a court document, work out where a crime actually happened, or figure out whether something you've read online is actually true.
That's where this section comes in handy.
True Crime Resources is your starting point for finding information, following research trails and making sense of the huge amount of material that's out there.
Because researching true crime isn't always as simple as typing a name into Google and calling it a day. Sometimes the information you need is buried in an old newspaper archive. Sometimes it's sitting in a court database. Sometimes three websites are repeating exactly the same story and none of them bothered to check where it came from.
So let's dig a little deeper.
Where Do You Start?
First, don't worry about knowing exactly what you're looking for.
Good research is often a bit like following a trail. You start with one useful piece of information, which leads you to another, which leads you somewhere else.
A victim's name might lead you to a newspaper report. That report might give you a date and location. Those details might lead you to a court record. The court record might give you names, charges or dates you hadn't found anywhere else.
And suddenly you've gone from "I wonder what happened here?" to having a much clearer picture of the case.
The trick is knowing where to look.
Start With the Right Source
Not all information is created equal.
A social media post, a newspaper article, a court document and an official government report can all contain information about the same case but they don't necessarily serve the same purpose.
That's why it's useful to understand the different types of sources available to you.
- Official records can provide primary information from courts, police agencies and government bodies.
- News reports can be excellent for timelines, quotes, background and finding leads to other sources.
- Archives can help uncover older reporting that has disappeared from ordinary search results.
- Crime databases can help you find statistics, case information and records collected by particular organisations.
- Research tools can make it easier to search names, dates, locations and documents.
And sometimes the best research comes from using several of them together.
Explore the Resources
We've broken the research side of true crime into practical guides so you don't have to figure everything out from scratch.
True Crime Research Guide
Not sure where to begin? Start here. This guide walks you through the basics of researching a true-crime case, from finding your first reliable source to building a useful timeline.
Explore the True Crime Research Guide
Research Tools
There are plenty of tools that can make researching a case easier. Search tools, archives, mapping tools, document searches and other useful resources can save you a lot of time — once you know how to use them.
Crime Databases
Crime databases can be incredibly useful, but they aren't all built the same way. Find out what different databases contain, what their limitations are and how to get the most out of them.
Court Records
Court records can contain some of the most useful information you'll find during case research. They can also look like they're written in another language if you've never dealt with legal documents before.
We'll show you what to look for and where these records may be found.
Crime Statistics
Numbers can tell us a lot about crime — but only if we understand what those numbers actually represent.
Crime statistics can be surprisingly easy to misread, especially when different countries, agencies or reporting systems use different definitions. This guide helps put the numbers into context.
True Crime Sources
Where does reliable true-crime information actually come from?
This guide looks at the different types of sources researchers use and why some sources are more useful for particular questions than others.
And There's More to Come
Research can take you in some interesting directions, so this section will continue to grow.
Future guides will cover things like finding old news reports, searching newspaper archives, working with public records, researching historical cases and finding information about unsolved cases.
We'll also look at some of the trickier parts of research — like checking whether a claim is actually supported by evidence, understanding court documents and putting together a reliable case timeline.
- Finding Old News Reports
- Newspaper Archives
- FOIA & Public Records
- Police & Government Sources
- Identifying Reliable Sources
- Searching for Historical Cases
- Researching Unsolved Cases
- Understanding Court Documents
- Finding Case Timelines
- Fact-Checking True Crime
- Researching Victims & Missing Persons
- Researching Criminals & Offenders
A Quick Tip Before You Go
Don't believe everything you find just because it appears in a search result.
That's probably the single most useful piece of advice we can give you.
Check dates. Check names. Check locations. Look for the original source. If several websites are saying exactly the same thing, see if they're actually reporting independently or simply copying the same information from somewhere else.
And when something is described as an allegation, don't quietly turn it into a fact in your own notes.
Good research isn't about finding the most information.
It's about finding the right information, understanding where it came from and knowing what it actually tells you.
So grab a notebook, open a few tabs and follow the trail.
Happy researching.