Sony Music Entertainment has confirmed the launch of a new true crime podcast exploring one of America’s most extraordinary fugitive cases.
The Crimes of Margo Freshwater tells the story of a teenage woman whose relationship with an older man spiralled into murder, escape and decades spent living under a false identity.
Hosted by journalist Cooper Moll, the podcast focuses on Margo Freshwater, who was just eighteen when she became involved with Glenn Nash, a man twice her age, in a violent crime spree likened at the time to Bonnie and Clyde.
In 1969, Freshwater was sentenced to 99 years in a Tennessee prison after three people connected to Nash were murdered, marking the start of a case that would puzzle investigators for decades.
Just eighteen months into her sentence, Freshwater escaped from prison and vanished without trace.
She went on to reinvent herself as Tonya McCartor, settling into suburban life in Ohio as a wife and mother, living quietly and undetected just three miles from where she grew up.
For more than thirty years, McCartor lived in plain sight, building what appeared to be a completely ordinary life. That ended in 2002, when her past finally caught up with her and her true identity was uncovered. This reopened questions that had remained unanswered since the late 1960s.
Nearly 60 years after the original crimes, Tonya McCartor speaks publicly for the first time in exclusive interviews recorded for the podcast.
The series also features contributions from investigator Gregg Costas, defence attorneys and members of her family, offering multiple perspectives on a case still surrounded by debate.
Through these voices, The Crimes of Margo Freshwater examines whether Freshwater was a willing accomplice or a frightened teenager manipulated by an older partner, how she managed to evade capture for so long, and how she successfully constructed a new identity after escaping prison.
“At its core, this is a story about identity, reinvention, and the gray area between guilt and innocence,” said host Cooper Moll. “Tonya McCartor is one of the most compelling people I’ve ever met, and after decades of speculation and silence, I can’t wait for people to finally hear her story in her own words.”
The Crimes of Margo Freshwater is available now on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
