It took me a long time to jump on the podcast caravan, but once my sister convinced me to listen to Dirty John back in 2018(?) I’ve been hooked, particularly on true crime podcasts, and am constantly on the search for the next captivating story.

For months I’ve had the intention of writing a post on some of my absolute favorite podcasts. I know it sounds incredibly creepy, and my friends give me weird looks when I say this, but I love “murder podcasts.” I love listening to them when I’m on my way to work (yep, I find it oddly soothing…I’m hoping it’s because I just genuinely enjoy the storytelling that keeps me from thinking about work), and I also love listening to them when I’m walking/running since it gets me out of my own mind.

I’ll certainly write one about my favorites, but this post is specifically dedicated to the podcast that I’m currently captivated with – The Orange Tree.

The Orange Tree tells the story of a really horrific murder that took place in 2005 at the Orange Tree condos in Austin, near the University of Texas. Apparently this murder is one of those stories that students hear about but aren’t really aware of all the surrounding details. I don’t want to provide too much information here about the murder and the major players in the story because the hosts do such an amazing job.

Speaking of the hosts, this is another reason why I can’t get enough of this podcast. The Drag, which produces the podcast, is a production house that’s part of the Moody College School of Journalism at UT Austin (find out about all that here). This means that students and/or alums are producing and hosting these podcasts. As someone who teaches college students, I’m beyond impressed at the professionalism, research skills, and knowledge of these students.

 

My husband, who also enjoys a good podcast, frequently comments on how a podcast might have a good story, but if the presenter/host is also really good, it just really takes it to another level. I agree – I’ve listened to some podcasts that have incredibly boring hosts and it’s unfortunate how that can take away from the actual story. So again, kudos to these two young women for a phenomenal job on hosting!

Again, the murder that is the focus of the podcast took place in Austin. I visited Austin in 2019 for my sister’s bachelorette party. 6th Street was the last place many people saw Jennifer Cave before her murder, and even though I didn’t spend a lot of time on 6th Street while we were there, I did visit Voodoo Doughnuts on that street! 

I hadn’t heard anything about this murder prior to selecting the podcast, but when I was searching for something to listen to, The Orange Tree was on the “top shows” list, and I thought it sounded fascinating. I was right, and part of why I’m writing this post is because I desperately want to talk about this story with someone.

Don’t get me wrong, the murder is gruesome, but I think the most disturbing part and person is Laura, especially hearing some of her comments in episode 6. Y’all, something is very wrong with that one, and I found myself constantly mouthing (or even verbally saying) “what??” or “yikes!!!” I’d love to hear a psychologist chime in about her.

The last thing I found interesting (not sure that’s really the appropriate word) about this podcast is how many college students are apparently on hard drugs. Is this an Austin thing, or are students everywhere really doing meth on the daily? If so, maybe stop so you can actually remember stuff??

If you’ve listened to this podcast, who do you think did it, and what do you think of Colton and Laura? Please let me know in the comments!!