Silver Linings Handbook Podcast

12/18/2025

🎨 A little peek behind the canvas. I sat down with our podcast’s artist, Hannah Hill, to talk about how we found each other, how she builds the visual identity of the show, and why her work carries stories words can’t always reach.

Some collaborations in life feel inevitable. This bonus episode touches on the strange ways we were searching for each other long before we met —and how she turns narrative into art. Our Patreon bonus episode is live now. You can check out more of Hannah's work at on Instagram.

Tap the LinkTree link in our bio or go to this link:
https://bit.ly/4aurVmN

12/18/2025

Krissi Haas was just one year old when her mother vanished from her life. For more than a decade, she believed she’d been abandoned—until fingerprint evidence revealed the truth: her mother, Wilma Jean Nissen, had been murdered and left in a ditch off a gravel road in Rock Rapids, Iowa.

Since that moment of identification, Krissi has fought for answers and worked to understand the mother she never got to know in life. In our latest episode, she shares her journey, her grief, and her determination to keep Wilma’s story alive.

The episode art, created by Hannah Hill (), features Wilma’s signature white go-go boots—found alongside a friendship ring in what may have been a staged scene.

Listen to our conversation here: https://bit.ly/49eqqI7

12/16/2025

A daughter’s decades‑long search for the truth.
For 20 years, Krissi Haas believed her mother had simply disappeared. Then a cold case review revealed the devastating reality: Wilma June Nissen had been murdered.

In this episode, Krissi shares the emotional journey of uncovering what really happened, the power of a fingerprint match, and her continued fight for justice.

Watch the full episode: https://bit.ly/49eqqI7

12/16/2025

Join me for a discussion with retired FBI profiler Julia Cowley, of The Consult: Real FBI Profilers, as we dig deeper into the haunting, unsolved 1996 murder of Karina Holmer — a case that continues to raise questions nearly three decades later. In Part 2 of our conversation, we explore what the killer’s behavior may reveal, how geography shapes the investigation and why early media narratives pointed in the wrong direction.

If you’re fascinated by behavioral analysis or the complexities of cold cases, this episode offers a thoughtful, evidence‑driven look at a mystery that still matters.

Listen here: https://bit.ly/4iP1me2

12/15/2025

My friend, Jason Usry, a podcast editor likes to say "blame the editor." But little does he know how much we appreciate them. I am consistently grateful to mine, Alyssa Miller. 🙌Thanks for making the audience's experience so good and joining me for this quick conversation on Patreon.
https://bit.ly/48VwmVi

12/15/2025

Vangie Randall Shorty and I first connected at CrimeCon Nashville in 2024, where she shared the heartbreaking story of her son, Zach Randall Shorty—found dead just days after being dropped off at the Journey Inn in Farmington, NM. This September, we reunited at CrimeCon Denver, standing together beneath the banner of the organization she founded to fight for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons.
Three men have now been arrested for Zach’s murder.
Listen to Vangie’s powerful episode: https://bit.ly/3XUTsWR

MMIP

12/15/2025

Just after meeting her at a panel on MMIP cases Nashville in 2024, Vangie Randall Shorty came on the podcast to tell the story of searching for answers in the murder of her son, Zach. After years of searching for answers, arrests have been made in rhe case.

https://www.crimeonline.com/2025/12/08/zachariah-shorty-3-men-arrested-for-navajo-nation-mans-death-found-shot-and-left-along-dirt-pathway/?fbclid=IwdGRzaAOsaFVjbGNrA6xoT2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHlKpP0IsXpUqPYTC6QkDvdVfB0EPlXSI5Iz3jIQ1G81nKw26cE_xeOG6gK9t_aem_B42QWDRjB5KLsd_MYDl79A

Over five years after the death of Navajo Nation member, Zachariah Shorty, three New Mexico men have been arrested. According to KOAT, Austin Begay, Jaymes Fage, and Joshua Watkins have been indicted on federal charges in connection with Shorty’s death. Begay has been charged with first-degree mur...

12/15/2025

🎙️ The Collateral Damage of Speculation

In the wake of Karina Holmer’s unsolved murder, media frenzy and amateur sleuthing didn’t just chase shadows—they shattered lives. Innocent people were publicly accused, reputations destroyed, all without evidence. Julia Cowley, former FBI profiler and the host of The Consult: Real FBI Profilers, podcast, reminds us: “You have to be so careful about that.”

Listen now: https://bit.ly/4iP1me2

12/12/2025

Julia Cowley, host of The Consult: Real FBI Profilers, joins me to dig deeper into the Karina Holmer case. Insightful, unsettling, important and hopefully solvable. The artwork by Hannah Hill depicts investigators at the dumpster apartment building where the upper half of the Swedish au pair's body was found.
https://bit.ly/4iP1me2

12/09/2025

We conclude our deep dive into the haunting unsolved murder of Karina Holmer with retired FBI profiler Julia Cowley and host of The Consult: Real FBI Profilers. In Part 2, we explore what the killer’s choices reveal about motive, geography, and whether this crime was planned or part of a larger pattern. 👉 And join the conversation in our Facebook Group., the Silver Linings Fireside Chat to share your thoughts with fellow listeners.

Go to https://bit.ly/4iP1me2 to listen now.

12/07/2025

🔍 In our series on the University of Idaho murders, retired FBI Profiler Julia Cowley and I explored what we call the Holy Trinity of homicide: sexually motivated murders and personal-cause killings.

It’s tempting to see the haunting 1996 case of Karina Holmer in Boston as a textbook sexually motivated murder. But was it really that simple? Join us as we discuss the case.

🎧 Listen here: https://bit.ly/3KazyUG

12/06/2025

Welcome to all the new listeners!
https://bit.ly/4pB96lT