Robert Hansen has gone down in true-crime history as the serial killer who "hunted" women through the Alaskan wilderness, which makes him sound considerably more formidable than he deserves. But in 1983, a 17-year-old girl named Cindy Paulson found one thing Hansen hadn't accounted for: an unlocked car door. Her escape eventually helped expose the quiet Anchorage baker behind a string of murders—and makes the mythology surrounding him look very different. This week on Pretty Evil, we're looking at Robert Hansen, the women he targeted, and what "winning" actually proves when the contest is rigged in the first place.

Richard Chase became known as the Vampire of Sacramento after murdering six people in just one month. Years before the murders, he had been diagnosed, hospitalized, and repeatedly identified as a serious psychiatric concern. Nurses begged for him to remain hospitalized. Doctors documented his delusions. His deterioration was visible to almost everyone around him. So why was he released?

He smiled, he charmed, and he got what they wanted. Behind the polite conversation and polished veneer lay a different kind of brilliance — the chilly, calculating mechanics of manipulation. In this episode, we peel back the mask to reveal how ordinary people are coaxed into extraordinary betrayals, why charisma can be a weapon, and what subtle signs most of us miss until it's too late.