'There's Always A Case That's Stranger Than Fiction': 'Snapped' Producer Shares All

Very few shows make it to Season 30 — but that's exactly the milestone that the hit Oxygen series "Snapped" is doing.

"Snapped," which takes a deep dive into twisted and disturbing cases of female murderers, has aired over 500 episodes and had its Season 30 premiere Sunday, October 9 at 6/5c on Oxygen. Ahead of that landmark moment, Oxygen digital correspondent Stephanie Gomulka spoke with Alyssa Maddox, a co-executive producer of "Snapped," about behind-the-scenes secrets, how they choose stories, and what to expect from Season 30.

Maddox, who has been with Jupiter, the production company behind "Snapped," for 11 years now, has seen plenty in the intervening years. "There's always just some case that is just stranger than fiction, that always blows me away. One of my favorite cases we ever had, this woman faked her own death and then came back as a twin. That's straight out of a telenovela," she told Gomulka.

Of course, cases aren't chosen strictly by shock value. There are many important factors that go into creating an episode, and it's important for the "Snapped" team to treat the case in an ethical way.

"We have a giant database of different cases that we look into and we have certain criteria. So, for example, one of the cornerstones of 'Snapped' is that this person doesn't have some prior conviction or something similar — like this has to be something where it was a 'snapped' moment, it's not like them to do this. So we come up with people that meet that criteria and then we start just trying to see if we can get full access ... we like to make sure that we talked to all sides because ultimately there's two sides that are affected," she explained.

Maddox also gushed about the upcoming season, calling it "one of the most compelling seasons." So, what can viewers expect?

"One thing that's the most intriguing to me is there are two episodes where the murders are caught on cellphone footage ... it's been interesting to me, just seeing how technology changes and how technology, when everybody's filming something and everyone has their phones out at all times, how that plays into investigations has been really interesting to me," she said.

Above all else, "Snapped" continues to stick to its credo of placing a respectful emphasis on victims and their stories.

"I want to make sure that victims' families and the victims are being honored. They're sharing the most painful part of their lives with us and that's a responsibility. I think we have to tell this story and to tell it well and to honor them, we always make sure that we talk about this person outside of this murder … who they were as a mother, as a father, as a member of this community. They mattered and that's really important to us to make sure that person in that family has a voice," Maddox told Gomulka.

For more on Gomulka's interview with Maddox, listen to the podcast above. And catch Season 30 of "Snapped," airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen. You can stream episodes here.