

Debuting October 4, 2022, American Nightmare Series: Unknown Subject focuses on a man who terrorized women across the D.C. area for nine years. It started with breaking into homes and raping his victims, then ended with the killing of a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998.
Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject”. A man whose DNA linked him to all of these crime scenes but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For nearly three decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots and finally cracked the case.


S3 – E2 – Kelly’s Story

S3 EP1 – A Murder In Georgetown

Trailer: Season 3- Unknown Subject
WTOP and PodcastOne Announce Return of “American Nightmare Series” Podcast
Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2022) –
– WTOP News and PodcastOne announced today the return of their critically acclaimed and award-winning podcast, American Nightmare Series. Debuting October 4, 2022, American Nightmare Series: Unknown Subject focuses on a man who terrorized women across the D.C. area for nine years. It started with breaking into homes and raping his victims, then ended with the killing of a brilliant scientist near the gates of Georgetown University in 1998.
Before the FBI would name him the infamous Potomac River Rapist, detectives simply called him their “unknown subject”. A man whose DNA linked him to all of these crime scenes but whose name and face remained a mystery to police. For nearly three decades, detectives had no idea who he was until a bike cop named Smugs began connecting the dots and finally cracked the case. Veteran D.C. crime reporter Paul Wagner is back to host season 3 of WTOP’s American Nightmare Series podcast.
For the past 22 years, Wagner has covered some of the most well-known and heinous crimes the D.C. region has ever seen. As a reporter for FOX5 News (WTTG-TV) from 1999-2020 and now as a reporter for NBC4 (WRC-TV), Wagner covered everything from the murder of Chandra Levy to the Mansion Murders to the DC Police-involved shooting of motorcyclist Terrence Sterling. Prior to his career at FOX5, Wagner worked as a reporter for WTOP from 1989 to 1999.
Now, Wagner returns with a new true crime podcast in Season 3 of WTOP’s American Nightmare series. In this series, Wagner examines the 1998 murder in Georgetown of Christine Mirzayan. A brilliant young scientist who was viciously attacked while walking home from a party. A crime eventually linked by DNA to a number of other crimes committed just miles away. In this 7 part series Wagner goes in-depth with the investigators and takes you inside the search for a man the FBI dubbed the Potomac River rapist.
“Paul has done it again. He is such a great storyteller. Listeners will be captivated from the first minute of episode 1,” said Julia Ziegler, WTOP’s Director of News & Programming.
The podcast will launch as the third season of WTOP’s American Nightmare Series. Season 1 of the series debuted in June 2019. 22 Hours: An American Nightmare, hosted by WTOP award-winning journalists Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore, covered the horrific murder of a D.C. couple, their 10-year-old son and housekeeper inside their burning D.C. mansion. The podcast was honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, reached #2 on the Apple Podcast charts and was ranked the #2 podcast of the year by The Associated Press.