_{Photography provided by Parcast Network.}

June 27, 2016— “Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories” released a thrilling, new podcast episode this week titled “Lights, Camera, Murder.” “Unsolved Murders” is a recently launched podcast series Produced by Parcast and co-Founded by Max Cutler and Ron Cutler (son and father). Parcast created this multi-dimensional podcast network as a flagship series with an acute focus on cold case files. The first three episodes of “Unsolved Murders” pertain to “The Axeman,” a serial killer in New Orleans. And the second series of podcasts within most recent episodes revolve around “Hollywood’s First Murder.” Please bear in mind these episodes are not intended for children—the podcast contains a great deal of graphic and bloody details—therefore, viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Nonetheless, “Unsolved Murders” is an enticing and haunting mixture of a classic radio show, a theatrical script and a murder-mystery-book-on-tape that morphed into the form of a modern-day podcast. Narrated by Carter Roy and Wendy Mackenzie, “Unsolved Murders” combines the beauty of audio and sound design with the articulate eloquence of literature and storytelling. The professional sound effects, dialogue and delivery within each episode of the show are compelling—and the audio is very clear and precise to the ears. Listeners can almost hear the amount of time, heart and energy that Parcast’s talented crew of employees dedicated into this podcast just by the quality of presentation and sound.

Reminiscent of a riveting and spooky time machine, “Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories” take us back, safely, to mysterious cold cases like The Axeman from the 20th century in New Orleans when his murderous and diabolical rampage in Louisiana began. Actors and a sound crew portray all the voices of the witnesses, the victims, the locals and the police. The footsteps in the dark and the screams in the night. The audience can feel the fright, and yet the lovely melodies from the jazz era that trickle in throughout the podcast add a sense of playfulness and lightness in the midst of a dark, heavy story. Listeners come to know the presence of The Axeman by the bone chilling audio of his weapon hacking into flesh and bone after carving his way in the back door with a blade. Even though the murderer is a mystery, the audience comes to learn about his obsession for jazz music and the fact he was a deranged man who believed he was inhuman. And by the end of “The Axeman” episodes, the narrators swap theories as to who they believed to be the violent serial killer.

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Max Cutler, Co-founder and President of Parcast, consented to a phone interview in June 2016 with Arts & Entertainment Writer for Examiner, Nicolette Mallow to discuss “Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories”, the launch of Parcast and The Axeman of New Orleans.

Nicolette Mallow: Will you tell me about your love for radio and storytelling? How did this all begin from childhood to adulthood?

Max Cutler: I’ve always loved radio and I was born into it. But I remember when I was 4 to 5 years old that it really became part of me. My dad (Ron Cutler) worked in radio and operated 12 national radio shows when I was growing up called Cutler Productions. His company was also the #1 in comedy. However, my love for storytelling happened as I got older and then I grew an interest in true crime and mysteries. Looking back, my dad had a profound impact on my career. He was also a storyteller that wrote a novel titled “The Secret Scroll” … As an adult I wanted to start my own company and I wanted to pursue the entertainment business. Obviously I love radio for many reasons but what I hope to gain from “Unsolved Murders” is not only to share crime stories and top quality audio productions, but I want to bring people together and help take away the daily stress of life. People are very stressed out sometimes and to help lessen the stress of others in the form of radio and storytelling for 20 minutes, or an hour, is a very good thing. Its important to relax and unwind.

NM: Will Parcast and its podcasts networks focus solely on “Unsolved Murders” or do you and your team intend to cover and produce other topics of interest?

MC: “Unsolved Murders” is the first show but there will be five to seven new shows within the next year that cover other topics than cold cases, such as education or history. We started with this genre because I love mystery and true crime stories 100%. And there is also a large community that appreciates cold cases. So from a business standpoint it’s also a hot topic that has a market. “Unsolved Murders” is about my passions and entertaining the interests of others… Parcast came to be so that we could take audio and radio to the next level. There are many great, high quality podcasts out there that are up to par. But a large majority of the podcasts these days are lacking in sound quality and production with a lot of holes to be filled. Parcast has the most talented crew working with us and I am so grateful for my team that my father and I assembled. The whole company is very gifted and talented. We spent a lot of time searching and recruiting voice actors, writers, and we have a great digital engineer (Ron Shapiro) that brings the sound of the axe to life. It took about 3 to 4 months to get it right, but we are just very overwhelmed and excited about this start. “Unsolved Murders” already ranked #5 out of 300,000 podcasts. It’s just a really humbling experience and we all look forward to the future.

NM: “Unsolved Murders” begins with the story of “The Axeman” and all the podcast episodes about this cold case are so captivating. I didn’t want to stop listening to the audio. Although I admit I probably will not listen to the podcast right before bedtime. Anyway, the sound quality is amazing and I love the voice actors and the narrators. Y’all did a great job and I look forward to more episodes… How did you come to hear of The Axeman?

MC: Thank you. I am glad you enjoy it and I appreciate the compliments… The Axeman is ranked among the Top 10 serial killers to never be caught. Our podcast focuses on serial killers and cold case crimes that aren’t as well known as criminals like Jack The Ripper or The Zodiac Killer. We didn’t want to focus on the commercial cases the media already had a field day with. A lot of research lead me to the launch of this series about The Axeman. Another reason I chose this story is because it gets me upset when someone gets away with a crime and justice is not served, so this podcast is also a way to never forget the case. It’s just a very interesting and scary story about a clearly deranged criminal.

NM: Yes, he is very deranged. That episode entailing the letter written by The Axeman to himself and when its read aloud in that sinister voice on the podcast. The letter he wrote to the police. It was very creepy and disturbing how he claims that he is a demon, inhuman. And The Axeman even writes the return address as being from ‘hell’ just like the infamous Jack The Ripper… Did people really believe this guy was a demon? And was it ever made clear why he demanded people go to jazz halls and listen to jazz music in order to be spared from his axe?

MC: Actually, yes, many people did believe he was a demon. And many people even thought The Axeman was somehow Jack The Ripper manifesting in another continent at another time. You can’t make this up! We have to remember this is the early 20th century in New Orleans, a very superstitious place. When the newspaper in New Orleans published his letter in 1919, locals and immigrants were terrified and became very scared of this ‘inhuman’ criminal. Which is why most of the city went out that one Tuesday night to listen to jazz music at “12:15 earthly time” just as The Axeman demanded. However, there is a common theory that perhaps the The Axeman was actually a musician and needed to get paid. Regardless, The Axeman had a sense of control over this town and the fact he was never convicted only added to the stigma that he was supernatural. It was a huge topic all around Louisiana and a #1 hit jazz song about The Axeman was written about him.

For more information about “The Axeman” series, Parcast network and the podcast “Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories” please visit their website, iTunes or SoundCloud. (The podcast is also available on Google play for those with Androids.) Stay tuned and subscribe to receive the latest information of new episodes and upcoming shows.

 Note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com in June 2016.