Podcast dives into the world of Terri Hoffman, the Charlie Manson you’ve never heard of.
New York, NY – December 2, 2024 – Sony Music Entertainment today premiered Scary Terri, a new podcast season digging into the shocking story of Terri Lee Hoffman, a spiritual leader in Dallas whose followers kept dying one after the other. A tragic double suicide. A teenager suspiciously drowned. A mother and her childhood nanny drove off a cliff. Between 1979 and 1989, a dozen people died – all of them connected to Terri Hoffman. In many instances, Terri was the beneficiary of assets they left behind. Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes today on The Binge Cases.
In Scary Terri, Jonathan Hirsch, investigative reporter and host of this year’s hit My Fugitive Dad, unravels the web of lies, manipulation, and dubious deeds that surround Hoffman and her organization, Conscious Development of Body Mind and Soul. Many of her victims’ families believe Terri Hoffman convinced her followers to kill themselves so she could benefit financially. Hirsch uncovered tapes of counseling sessions Terri gave to one student, so you can hear Terri’s manipulation for yourself.
Hirsch spoke to many relatives who still wrestle with the mysterious death of their loved ones. In one case, Terri welcomed a grieving family into her fold, only to drive a wedge between wife and husband. Soon after their divorce, she married the father, and then when she tired of him, she convinced him he had terminal cancer and should die. The father took his own life, but after, an autopsy showed he never had cancer. His adult children – brother and sister – both spoke to Jonathan Hirsch for Scary Terri, hoping to get closure and expose her manipulation.
This is a dark Texas Gothic about a unique kind of serial killer. She had no blood on her hands; there’s no smoking gun to find because Terri never shot a single one of her victims. How can you prove a homicide if someone dies by their own hand?
Scary Terri gives listeners an unprecedented look into Hoffman’s devious world. Through never-before-heard recordings and interviews with Terri’s inner circle, victim’s families, and law enforcement, listeners can join Hirsch as he explores questions that continue to remain today: how involved was Terri in these deaths? And how did she get away with the destruction of so many people’s lives?
“The story of Terri Lee Hoffman is one of the most eerie and disturbing I have ever come across,” said host, Jonathan Hirsch. “Throughout the season, we dive into why this one woman had so much power and how she manipulated so many people into doing things they would not normally act upon.”
Scary Terri is written and reported by Jonathan Hirsch. Cooper Moll is the lead producer and co-reported the series. Catherine Saint Louis is our story editor. Scary Terri is executive produced by Jonathan Hirsch.
Listeners can subscribe to Scary Terri on The Binge, as well as all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. For more information on Scary Terri and all other Sony Podcast shows, follow @SonyPodcasts on X/Twitter and Instagram.
The post Scary Terri, New Podcast From Sony Music, Explores Story of Spiritual Leader Behind Mysterious Deaths in the 1970s and 80s appeared first on Sony Music.
