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Just hours after spending Easter Sunday with their family, Sharmon and Wayne Stock were shot to death in their own Nebraska farmhouse bedroom.
The six-episode series, which premiered on February 17, 2025, explores “the controversial investigation” that “spanned multiple states and ensnared several suspects,” according to a press release. It’ll also reveal how a gold ring was key to solving the murder mystery.
Keep reading to learn more about Murder in the Moonlight.
How did Wayne and Sharmon Stock die?
The small town of Murdock, Nebraska is the type of place where people don’t lock their doors at night. So, when Wayne and Sharmon Stock were found shot and murdered in their farmhouse on Monday, April 17, 2006, neighbors were stunned.
“It was very much an execution,” Kofoed recalled in the podcast.
Police initially explored the possibility of robbery or home invasion, but with no evidence found to corroborate that theory, police began to believe the homicide was a personal attack. They narrowed their suspect list to a member of the Stock family — who confessed to the crime, and even implicated another cousin.
But one detail derailed the whole case: a golden ring found on the kitchen floor of the farmhouse, that didn’t belong to the victims, or suspects. That bizarre clue pulled the investigation out of Nebraska and across Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Murder in the Moonlight will take a deeper dive into the wrongful arrests for the double murder, reported by the Omaha World-Herald, as well as the investigator who was convicted of planting blood evidence against them. It’ll also share who the real killers were — and why they took the lives of the well-liked Wayne and Sharmon Stock.
How can I listen to the Murder in the Moonlight podcast?
The first two episodes of Dateline NBC’s Murder in the Moonlight are now available for download and streaming across major podcast platforms. New episodes will become available on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next two weeks.
Listen to the latest episodes completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or DatelinePremium.com. Subscribers get early access to new episodes and can listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free.
How can I listen to other podcasts hosted by Keith Morrison?
Dateline NBC journalist Keith Morrison has hosted more than 10 original true crime podcast series in addition to Murder in the Moonlight. The Seduction follows the twisted relationship between a young man, Jaime Ramos, and an older married woman, Patty Presba. Their entanglement led to a murder plot and a staged kidnapping.
The Thing About Helen and Olga podcast shared the story of Helen and Olga, two kindly elderly women, who helped homeless men in Los Angeles — but who also had a string of murders following them.
Morrison also followed the true crime story of Betsy Faria, who was stabbed to death in her home, and her best friend Pam Hupp’s involvement in her death in The Thing About Pam podcast. The podcast inspired the Peacock limited series by the same name.
Morrison’s other true-crime podcasts include The Man in the Black Mask, Murder in the Hollywood Hills, Mommy Doomsday, The Girl in the Blue Mustang, Morrison Mysteries, Murder in Apartment 12, Murder & Magnolias, and Killer Role. You can find all of these podcasts on major streaming services now.
