Family Secrets, Part 1

In 1985, college student Ian Perkins reconnected with a family friend, Fritz Klenner, who told him a secret. He said he was a CIA agent — and offered to let Ian come along on his next mission.

To listen early to Part 2 of this story, sign up for Criminal Plus at patreon.com/criminal (patreon.com/c/Criminal).

Jerry Bledsoe's book is called Bitter Blood (penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326077/bitter-blo…). You can read more of Susan Spear's reporting in the Greensboro News and Record (greensboro.com/news/local/crime-courts/article…).

We're going on tour - and it's a different kind of show than any we've done before. Next week, we'll be in in Durham, NC, and Portland, ME. Find ticket links and updates at ⁠⁠thisiscriminal.com/live⁠⁠ (thisiscriminal.com/live).

Say hello on ⁠Facebook⁠ (facebook.com/ThisIsCriminal), ⁠Instagram⁠ (instagram.com/criminal_podcast) and ⁠TikTok⁠ (tiktok.com/@criminal_podcast). Sign up for our ⁠occasional newsletter⁠ (thisiscriminal.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe?…). Follow the show and review us on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ (podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/criminal/id80926…).

⁠Sign up for Criminal Plus⁠ (patreon.com/criminal) to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, invitations to virtual events, special merch deals, and more.

We also make ⁠This is Love⁠ (thisislovepodcast.com) and ⁠Phoebe Reads a Mystery⁠ (thisiscriminal.com/mystery).

Artwork by ⁠Julienne Alexander⁠ (yssrs.com). Check out ⁠our online shop⁠ (shop.thisiscriminal.com).

Episode transcripts are posted on ⁠our website⁠ (thisiscriminal.com).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices