A Very Fatal Murder sends Onion Public Radio correspondent David Pascall from New York City to the sleepy town of Bluff Springs, Nebraska to investigate the mysterious death of a 17-year-old girl, Hayley Price. Haley was a popular, smart animal lover, with a bright future ahead of her. Everyone in town knew her name, and now everyone in town is a suspect. Join David as he works to understand why the initial investigation of Hayley’s death failed, and how a very inquisitive and Pulitzer-hungry podcast host might shed new light on the case.


You can also find “A Very Fatal Murder” on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, and on the NPR One app.

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4

Episode 5, Part 1 | Episode 5, Part 2 | Episode 6

In the first episode of The Onion and Onion Public Radio’s inaugural podcast “A Very Fatal Murder,” longtime OPR reporter David Pascall, who has searched tirelessly for the most resonant true-crime podcast that is also about middle America, heads to Bluff Springs, NE where the small town is reeling from the death of 17-year-old Hayley Price.




In the second episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David conducts preliminary interviews with those connected to the murder of Hayley Price, including chief of police Charlie Jameson and Hayley’s boyfriend Bryan, who is really hot but also–like–interesting–which is so hard to find in someone these days–as well as the mysterious W.O. Calloway, the town millionaire whose presence looms large over Bluff Springs.




In the third episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David attends Calloway Day to see exactly how middle-class America celebrates what little they have, and to see just how deep a hold W.O. Calloway has on the townspeople of Bluff Springs.



In the fourth episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David recruits Onion Public Radio’s robust team of interns to recreate the night of Hayley Price’s murder in order to determine once and for all if a person can really die from a simultaneous gunshot-stabbing-strangling-drowning. Plus: A major twist.




In the first part of an extra-long and incredibly poignant episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David returns to the Bluff Springs Police Department to search the evidence locker in hopes of finding the long-lost key to Hayley Price’s Murder.



In the second part of the fifth episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David finally confronts W.O. Calloway about the murder of Hayley Price.




In the finale of “A Very Fatal Murder,” David returns to where it all began to finally solve the murder of Hayley Price.

Go back to Episode 1