Episode 162 concerns a large blond man claiming to be a good Samaritan who brings a badly-beaten man into a hospital. It sparks an intricate game of cat-and-mouse that crosses several states and one international border.Bonus Stories For Patreon Subscribers:"No Judge Or Jury," by Peter Levins, considers the case of a missing family. When the Haven family moves West for the mother's health, they seem to have left their farm in good hands, but where exactly did they go?"The Kahuna Murder Suicide" revolves around the translation of a suicide note that is both touching and hair-raising.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

From The Archives Of The PinkertonsEpisode 61 begins with a daring train robbery and tells the story of how one of America's famed detectives, the esteemed William Pinkerton, solves a series of seemingly unrelated robberies while tracking the lone bandit down. The exciting tale is told by Cleveland Moffat, a New York journalist who wrote mystery stories on the side, and in 1905 syndicated a series of articles about the exploits of the Pinkerton Detectives that was published in newspapers across the country.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Captain Tyrell's Stories Of The Secret ServiceEpisode 59 turns again to the writing of Captain Patrick D. Tyrell, a former investigator for the Secret Service, who set down many of his adventures for a syndicated newspaper feature that ran in 1905. This is an exciting story about two related investigations. After Tyrell and his men track down some of the Midwest's most notorious counterfeiters, they stumble upon a plot to steal the corpse of Abraham Lincoln by some of the scoundrels in an attempt to have their star engraver released from prison. In the first act, we'll hear about how Captain Tyrell broke the counterfeiting ring, and in the second act, how a pair of Pinkerton detectives botched the sting at the Lincoln Memorial in Sprinfield, Illinois.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

How Mary Rogers Murdered Her HusbandEpisode 179 tells the story of a sordid little plot to commit murder in 1902, set in motion by a young married woman of questionable reputation. One boyfriend helps her in her plot, another testifies against her, and when she receives her sentence, she cries for a girlfriend.Ad-Free EditionMore Femmes Fatale Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Many True Crimes of Tillie Klimek and Nellie Koulik Episode 100, a man goes to a doctor because he’s not feeling well and the doctor says, “Sounds like arsenic poisoning,” and suddenly there are four women in jail who discovered that arsenic is more effective in getting rid of a husband than divorce. The ringleader of them all, however, not only poisoned her husband, but just about anybody who crossed her, including an annoying dog. Before it was through, more than 20 deaths would be attributed to Tillie Klimek. For our 100th episode, we take a look at one of Chicago’s most prolific serial killers and her disciples. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Peoria Hallmark Sex MurderEpisode 182 tells the story of a young sex fiend, whose aggressive pursuit of his nefarious goals ends up with a body in a ditch. Police find a diary he kept of his exploits, used in court as evidence... FOR THE DEFENSE!Ad-Free Edition Purchase for $3 or Listen Ad-Free With SubscriptionIncluded in the collection Capital CrimesIncluded in the collection Courtroom ShenanigansBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murder Of Percy Thompson By His Wife’s Young LoverFor Episode 149 we make a journey to England in the 1920s and hear about the torrid affair between a successful milliner, but unhappy wife, and a young sailor eight years her junior. She writes saucy letters to his ports of call while he’s away that seem to indicate a plan for murdering her husband. She says she was role-playing, just showing how much she loved him. He had a different interpretation.Patreon Purchase for $3 or Listen Ad-Free With SubscriptionSpreaker Supporters ClubIncluded in the collection Love Triangles Gone AwryBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The End Of Gordon Fawcett Hamby Episode 277 is a fascinating portrait of a cold-blooded psychopath and sociopath, an erudite Canadian seaman who allegedly traveled the world committing the most dastardly robberies. But when he goes too far and murders a friend, his conscience finally gets to him and his eight year career comes to a crashing halt and the light of day.Culled from the historic pages of the New York Herald and other newspapers of the era.Patreon Ad-Free EditionPurchase for $3 or Listen Ad-Free With SubscriptionSpreaker Supporters ClubIncluded in the collection Robberies Gone AwryBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Travels of Clara Elizabeth SkarinEpisode 204 tells the interesting tale of a young woman who shoots her aged benefactor and loots his trunk for a poke full of gold, then goes on a spending spree to update her wardrobe. Was it self-defense (as she would claim eight months later when police finally catch up with her)? Or premeditated? That's the question.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Pulp NonfictionA celebration of the pioneers of true crimeIn a remote part of Florida in the 1920s, a brother and sister in business together running a curio shop and gas station are found brutally murdered. Was it a robbery gone awry? Or were there more sinister forces at work? Detectives on the case soon dig up some telling secrets.Adapted from True Detective, v. 43, no. 2, May 1945.Ad-Free EditionBuy this episode!More Prison Breaks!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

A Crossing Guard ConfessesEpisode 150 is the brutal tale of one of the most fiendish murders on record in California (or anywhere else for that matter) that a dogged prosecutor pins on the town’s simple-crossing guard. The man confesses four times, then retracts it at the trial. I think maybe they got the wrong maniac. What do you think?Ad-Free EditionMore episodes about kidnappingsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Baby Irene & Her Two MothersEpisode 208 seems to start out like a murder case: An elderly man marries a woman 40 years younger and suddenly dies three months later under suspicious circumstances. But it turns out to be something much more complicated-even an international incident!-the macguffin being a tiny baby girl. The final decision on this case is dramatically made by the famous Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who (incidentally) was born right down the road from me.Ad-Free EditionMore Courtroom ShenanigansBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Pregnant Church Worker Found Dead In Harvey’s LakeAd Free Safe House Late EditionIf the tropes in Episode 275 sound a bit like Episode 96, “The Body In Big Moose Lake,” the familiarity was not lost on the people of the day, either. The 1906 murder of Grace Brown in Big Moose Lake inspired novelist Theodore Dreiser to write “An American Tragedy,” which became an instant classic when it was published in 1925. The story you are about to hear struck such a familiar chord that the press made many comparisons and headlines described the murder of Freda McKechnie and the trial of Bobby Edwards in the same terms. Theodore Dreiser was called upon by the New York Post to cover the trial, and he makes a brief appearance in our story when he receives an admonition from the bench.Culled from the historic pages of the Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Wilkes-Barre Evening News and other newspapers of the era.More tales of Capital CrimesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

'Billy' Brown's Tragic Affair Episode 96 is a tragic story of young love gone bad. Real bad. So bad, in fact, that it ended with the body of a young girl floating in an up-state New York lake one summer day in 1906. The man she came there went missing, but not for long. Was it a simple accident as Chester Gillette would claim, or a brutal, cold-blooded murder on a honeymoon trip? The answer may be in the tear-stained letters she wrote to him.Theme music by Dave Sams. Incidental music by Chuck Wiggins, Ad Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Kidnapping And Murder of Betty SchnaidtEpisode 203 is dedicated to listener Charlene Hall, who not only requested a story about a certain brutal kidnappng and murder in her hometown, but also sent me her personal collection of clippings to form the basis for this story. Turns out Charlotte's hometown murder was the culmination of a summer of terror and a cross-country kidnapping spree.Ad Free EditionMore stories of Serial KillersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Nagging Mother Killed In Her Own Kitchen Episode 151 is the twisted little tale of a family quarrel gone extreme. There are a couple of different explanations as to how things got so heated on that July afternoon in 1936, but my take is that four beers in a 110-pound girl coming home to a chronically nagging mother with a hatchet nearby... Yeah, whether it started over dinner or a kiss or something else, that’s not gonna end well.Ad-Free EditionMore Axe MurdersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

 A Bad Year For The CrabbsEpisode 274 tells the tragic story of the Crabb family of Delavan, Illinois. One minute, they were well-respected bankers, pillars of the community. But the aftermath of a tragic death in the family mansion led to charges of manslaughter, perjury, and embezzlement, and another untimely death.Culled from the historic pages of the Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph and other newspapers of the era.Ad Free EditionMore Falls From GraceBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Kansas City Typhoid MurdersEpisode 205 tells the story of a dark shadow that fell over Kansas City when the death of philanthropist Thomas H. Swope resulted in a murder trial, the defendant a member of his own family. Did Dr. Hyde kill the Colonel? And infect the whole family with typhoid, too? Or is he just the victim of a lingering family grudge? Includes an interesting sidebar about a runaway juror. Ad-Free EditionMore Courtroom ShenanigansBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Peggy Nash Tells How She Killed Her Husband Episode 153 involves a domestic dispute, shots fired. What drew me to this story, actually, was the patience of the woman charged. Wait til you hear all of the altercations she had with this man before she finally put an end to it. I’m not justifying homicide, but… well, I’ll tell the story, you supply your own horror, outrage, and indignation.  Ad-Free EditionMore Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Why I Decapitated My Wife Episode 272When I first encountered the headlines that led me to episode 272, they had me at wife decapitation, but it turns out to be so much more: a trunk murder, a sordid love triangle, a broken-hearted aged father and two poor waifs left without a mother. Plus some of the most spirited and detailed reporting you’ll find. Culled from the historic pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionMore Love Triangles Gone AwryBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Islip Murder Of Cynthiana Clock HawkinsEpisde 207 tells the tragic story of a young man so beguiled by love and consumed by greed that he commits a most heinous crime when his mother refuses to give her blessing. His careless circumstantial trail quickly trumps his vain effort to pin the crime on the proverbial drifter.Ad-Free EditionMore Capital CrimesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Dorothy Ellingson Shoots Her Mother Episode 155 sends us back into the jazz age with another tale of a bad girl gone worse. It seems like a cut and dry case, and it is, but there’s a great deal of drama between her arrest and the somewhat anti-climactic trial. By the way, the sheiks referred to in the story are not from the Middle East, but because of the popularity of popularity of the Rudolph Valentino film, “sheik” became jazz slang for good-looking playboy types.Ad Free EditionMore Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Episode 271It seemed pretty obvious that the murder of Beate Marie Voss was the unfortunate result of a botched burglary, similar to a string of others of late in Reno, but tracking down the itinerant killer would take some clever and dogged police work. Told from the perspective of Reno Chief of Police Harry Fletcher by Bob Arentz, Episode 271 is adapted from True Detective, V. 43; No. 2, June 1945 and historic newspaper accounts from the archives of the Reno Gazette Journal.Ad Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Botched Fake Suicide Of A Millionaire ContractorEpisode 206 is not just your typical love triangle gone awry, but the story of a woman about to be scorned retaliating in advance. There's also some intriguing family drama, a conspiracy among sisters, and a retrial that proves to be more sensational than the first.Ad Free EditionMore Love Triangles Gone AwryMore Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Scarsdale Apple Orchard Torch Murder ScandalEpisode 156 is the scandalous tale that begins with the charred body of a young woman, identified only by a mole on an unburned leg. Turns out she was married. And had a boyfriend. Police solve the case quickly, but the decision of the jury is to be whether it was a crime of passion, manslaughter, or premeditated first degree murder. Here are the facts. You decide.AD-FREE EDITIONMore Love Triangles Gone AwryMore Torch MurdersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

It Happened In A Fargo HotelEpisode 270 examines a case that baffled police then, and still today, there is some doubt cast on the verdict. But at the time, when the body of an innocent young farm girl turns up brutally raped and murdered in a Fargo, North Dakota, hotel room, fingers turn toward the night clerk, admittedly the town Lothario.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Episode 209 is a deadly double-header: Two stories about women murdering their philandering men and getting away with it.The Broadway Playboy Picks A Fight: A housewife complains to her husband that he should spend more time with his children and less time drinking with his friends Then he cracks her over the head with a pool cue. Yeah Big mistake.To Save Others From A Heartache: A nurse leaves her job and moves to another state to follow the man she loves on the promise of marriage, but when she gets there, she discovers he is nothing but a love pirate with a detailed log of his conquests.AD FREE EDITIONMore Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Life, Loves, And Crimes Of Emma LeDouxEpisode 157 tells the scandalous tale of a California woman who loved not wisely but too often. It’s hard to say from the newspaper reports and court records how the corpse in the trunk actually met its demise, but Emma Le Doux would never escape the consequences.AD-FREE EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Executed For A Worthless HaulEpisode 268 takes us back to the years just after Prohibition when gangsters no longer had illegal alcohol to excite their purpose. This gang terrorized three states until their number came up, as it always does, and their story not only contains some daring and ill-conceived heists, but internal strife and a flight from justice.Culled from the historic pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Baltimore Sun, the Newport News Daily News, and other newspapers of the era.AD-FREE EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Last Desperado Of The Wild WestEpisode 180 takes us to the final days of the Old West and the search for the notorious outlaw Harry Tracy, who made a daring, deadly escape from the Oregon Penitentiary and embarked on a deadlier two-month flight from justice.AD-FREE EDITIONMore ManuhntsMore WesternsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

From The Files of Ellis H. ParkerEpisode 267 is adapted from a first-person article in True Detective Mysteries, December 1928, written from the perspective of Detective Ellis H. Parker of Mount Holly, New Jersey, who during his career was known as “America's Sherlock Holmes.”  He solved 288 of the 300 major crimes he worked on during his career, obtaining signed confessions in more than half of them. His most high-profile case was the Lindbergh kidnapping. Stories of his cases were collected in a book by Fletcher Pratt titled “The Cunning Mulatto” in 1935.AD-FREE EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Buck Ruxton’s Double Jigsaw Puzzle MurderEpisode 159 takes us once again to the British Isles, our first excursion into Scotland with the story of a physician (some accounts call him a gynecologist) accused of dismembering his wife and the nanny of their children, scattering their parts in a deep bowl-like valley near the town of Moffat, so named as it was known as a good spot for hiding stolen cattle.AD-FREE EDITIONMore TORSO MURDERSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Brickbat Moron Serial MurdersEpisode 210 is a dark journey through five murders in two widely-separated states, all perpetrated by a single, simple-minded man using bricks as weapons. Each case has enough drama to be an episode of its own, but taken together it's five times ugly. So hold on.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The True Crime Of Charles Wilson Against Mamie WalshEpisode 266 details a random, impulsive act in the wilds of frontier Oregon. When a pretty little 14 year old girl turns up brutally murdered and possibly raped, the town of Milwaukie and nearby villages teeter on the brink of mob violence for several weeks until... well, no spoilers here. AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

he Murder of Philippo CarusoEpisode 161 takes us on a trip across the Midwest from the Italian slums of Chicago, where a produce salesman meets a terrible fate at the hands of a countryman aboard a train to Pittsburgh where his body was found several days later. In this story, the police and the press work together to break down the brotherhood of silence and crack this horrible crime.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, the Inter-Ocean, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and other newspapers of the era.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Cruel Murder Of The Deering FamilyEpisode 177 has been adapted from an 1866 trial pamphlet published in Philadelphia. One of the earliest expressions of true crime in print, trial pamphlets were often embelleshed from newspaper accounts of a case, and like this one--a bloody mass murder on a farmer's family just after the civil war--were released within days of the final disposition.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Fiasco at the World’s FairThere’s a lot of crazy in episode 167, and it’s a little confusing at first because there’s so much of it going around, but even once the source of the crazy is obvious, the story is just picking up. I never thought I’d be doing a crime story about a child custody case, but I never heard of a child custody case like this one. Hold one, everybody. This one is a wild ride.AD-FREE EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

 The Betrayal Of Gerretje HaastAlthough there is a verdict and a lot of drama in Episode 265, many details of this case remain oblique. Only two people know what happened in that shack on the windswept Colorado prairie, and they aren’t talking, but there are many subtle clues to pique your imagination. AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Michigan Petting Party MurdersEpisode 176 tells of a most horrible--and most quickly-resolved--murder. When four teenagers are found dead on a country road, public indignation runs high, and under the pressure of a gathering mob, justice moves swiftly. The bodies are found on a Tuesday, and by Friday the case is resolved.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Confession Of The Bigamist Otto MuellerEpisode 169 concerns the search for the killer of a young woman whose body is found in a remote Long Island development a year after her death. The one clue takes the investigation to Europe with sudden and surprising results.AD-FREE EDITIONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Frank Carter, ManiacEpisode 263 explores the psyche of a purely evil man, but also a witty, highly entertaining individual, a textbook sociopath.AD-FREE EDITIONCulled from the historic pages of the Omaha World Herald and other newspapers of the era. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Two Doomed FugitivesEpisode 211 truly is a historic case: the story behind the first execution under the Lindbergh kidnapping law, which called for the death penalty in cases where the victim is taken across state lines. So when a pair of fugitives takes hostage a pair of small town policemen in their own car... well, you know that's not going to end well.AD-FREE EDITIONFor more information on the Lindbergh Kidnapping, check out Episode 113: A Ladder At The Window.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Little Eva’s Roadhouse PlotEpisode 171 relates the sordid tale of a plot to collect insurance money. After Eva Coo, a Cooperstown, New York roadhouse proprietress, purchased $10,000 in policies for her handyman, she asks him and her best friend to go for a ride in the country in a car she just borrowed. Yeah, that’s not gonna end well. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

 Unveiling The Scandalous Hannah EliasEpisode 261 begins with a prominent citizen of New York City being gunned down on the street in a case of mistaken identity. But finding the real reason behind the killing, officials uncover a questionable liaison between another prominent citizen and a woman who is living in comfortable circumstances that belie her humble origins. Then things get messy.This story has a strong racial element to it. Whenever possible, I have tempered the rough language that was common in the day, except in direct quotes or when it is relevant to the narrative. In those cases, I read it as published.Culled from the historic pages of the New York World and other newspapers of the era. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

 The Tragic Ordeal Of Sally HornerEpisode 260 relates the sad, short life of Florence Sally Horner, who endured a two-year kidnapping by a convicted sex offender. If that’s not sad enough for you, stick around for the twist at the end. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Search For The Sheba BanditEpisode 234 is not only a murder mystery, but it also explores the history of attitudes regarding alternative lifestyles. Now that we’re living in an age where gender is a fluid thing, it’s interesting to hear how the police and the press respond when the main suspect doesn’t quite fit into the sexual norms of nearly a century past.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Assassination of Nancy ParkerRemastered from the True Crime Historian VaultEpisode 202 takes us inside the mind of an unhinged woman, but not too deeply. The story takes a lot of strange contradictory turns as the layers are peeled back and everyone tries to get the story straight. Or not.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Long Island Gas Station MurderEpisode 219 is the first-person report of New York private detective Felix De Martini as he investigates the death of a popular and benevolent small businessman, the owner of a service station. De Martini's dogged pursuit of the culprit was told in the classic pages of True Detective Magazine, historic purveyors of sensational true crime, in April 1945.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Solteldo-Barton AffairEpisode 247 strikes a little close to home for me. Having spent 25 years working in a newsroom with very little security, the possibility of an indignant individual bursting in with a gun and opening fire because he didn’t like what was printed, was a constant (albeit low-grade) fear. In this case, when the bullets start flying and witnesses start ducking out the door, it’s hard to tell who shot who.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Haynesville/Homer Hammer MurderThe scandal in Episode 188 unfolds in the small towns dotting the bayou country of Northern Louisiana. When the Haynesville town grocer goes missing, his wife declares that he ran out on her, but then a former border from Homer moves in and eyebrows are raised.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Covington Kiger Conspiracy ChargeEpisode 227 is the strange tale of a teenage girl who admittedly shot her brother and father in the middle of the night thinking she was shooting at burglars. Did she kill her family because of a nightmare? Was the girl insane? Or were there more sinister forces at work? Seems like no one can decide.... Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Starring Beulah Binford As ‘The Woman In The Case’Episode 251 is the story of one of the most sensational murders of its day when the spoiled son of a well-to-do Richmond, Virginia, family commits a ghastly crime. The entire nation is enthralled by the salacious details of the case and photos of his beautiful young paramour, a girl with a bad reputation though still in her teens, graces front pages everywhere.Culled from the historic pages of the Richmond VA Times Dispatch, the Washington Times and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Baldwin Trunk MurderEpisode 187 takes us to Prohibition-era Los Angeles, where a gallivanting doctor gets a snoot full of juice and more than he bargained for. Factor in a devoted teenage son who will do anything to protect his mother and a somewhat bewildered boyfriend to come up with another scandalous tale.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Mutilation Of Anna AumullerEpisode 217 is more than just a murder. It starts out as just your run-of-the mill everyday good-girl-gone-bad headless torso murders, but the finding of the body parts only opens a sweeping international criminal case that gets the Feds involved. This story has a big pile of drama under every headline, including some impressive courtroom theatrics, but is so laced with lies and deceit, that it might've been easier to put Anna's body back together than to get at the entire truth of the matter. Whatever story is true, any one of them will make your blood curdle. Promise.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Hodges Massacre And Its Awful AftermathPut on your favorite indignation hat, my friend, because episode 253 is going to be one of those. This case was mentioned in the coverage of the Padrick case, Episode 245, Slain For Her Own Salvation, and it piqued my interest and the interest of some listeners, so I looked into it. I hesitated going on. We live in tense times but I decided it’s important to remember how ugly things can get. All of my stories are cautionary tales, and we should never forget the dark past so we won’t go there again.The Hodges family massacre sparked a wave of lynchings and other crimes against African-Americans in Georgia and nearby states.According to the Tuskegee Institute, between 1882 and 1964, 4,743 people were lynched in the United States, 3,446 of them African-Americans, 73 percent. Georgia racked up 531, 92 percent African-American, more lynchings than any other state except Mississippi, 581.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Golden Gate Park Tunnel TragedyEpisode 185 takes us to the West Coast just after Prohibition, when a 23-year-old woman turns up dead, strangled and violated (as they say) in Golden Gate Park, just after being unceremoniously ejected from a rich man’s hotel apartment after refusing his advances. The man has an alibi. See if you buy it.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Atrocities Of Albert FishI'D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU!!!Episode 191 is without a doubt the vilest case you'll ever hear on this program because I don't think I could find a worse one if I tried. There's a lot of evil discussed here: torture, cannibalism, and more. Consider this your trigger warning: I'd turn back if I were you! Or at least put the kids to bed and plug in your ear buds. Keep this between us.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Florodora Girl Takes The StandEpisode 257 combines some of our favorite tropes: the love triangle gone awry, another showgirl and another man about town who wants to eat his cake and take it to Europe, too. There were only two people in that hansom cab when the shot was fired, and the Flora Dora girl said she didn't shoot even though the gun was identified as hers.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Stanford Bathtub MurderEpisode 255 examines the sensational events following the discovery of a woman found dead in the bathtub, bludgeoned to death, and all circumstantial evidence pointing to the husband. I’m not so sure. The prosecution theory makes some sense, but I think they failed to prove a crucial element that would have convinced me. Drop me an email or a message on Facebook and tell me if you think the same way, what that missing element might be.Culled from the historic pages of the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Mahoney Trunk Murder of SeattleEpisode 194 takes place in the Pacific Northwest, when an elderly, wealthy widow marries a man fresh out of Walla Walla Prison, then disappears on their honeymoon two months later. I think we know where this is going, and yeah, it's not gonna end well.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murders Of William Lindstrom, Cameo Soutar, And Maybe One Other GuyEpisode 201 tells the story of a woman's allegedly murderous career in Chicago and Indiana. Three times a murder or otherwise suspicious death took place near Mrs. Cassler, and she even spent some time condemned to the gallows, but fate twisted in her favor every time. She did spend more than two years in jail, but overall, it seems like she got pretty lucky indeed.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

 The Scoundrel John Arthur PenderIn episode 259, a woman and her toddler son are brutally murdered in their remote Oregon cabin. Suspicion falls on a neighbor who had been given their mail, found unopened at the crime scene. With intense courtroom testimony and a handful of plot twists, this one will keep you guessing. Did he, or didn’t he?Culled from the historic pages of the Oregon Daily Journal, the Oregonian, and other newspapers of the era. Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

First Lady Of The Electric ChairEpisode 212 tells the story of the first walk of a woman to the electric chair. One cold winter night, a Brooklyn woman apparantly attacks her husband with an axe as he walks through the door, leaving him for dead in the entry way. Besides this gruesome sight, neighbors are about to discover a whole house full of horrors.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony FeaturingFeaturing Emily Simer Braun as Susan B. Anthony Episode 173 explores the prosecution of one of the most hideous crimes in American history, trying to sway an election by voting. By a woman! Just kidding. The real crime here is the way the judge handed down the decision. Listen, and tell me if you agree.Theme Music by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music. “Sound Off” by John Philip Sousa, performed by the United States Marine Corps BandAd-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Betty Martin And Mildred Bolton Take AimEpisode 178  takes us to Chicago in the 1930s when two women stand trial for very similar crimes, murdering their husbands, the second one inspired by the first. Both women are a little crazy, maybe a lot crazy, but their demeanor during their trials and the very different outcomes makes an interesting study to compare and contrast. One of them is pretty, the other pudgy. Which one do you think gets acquitted?Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Elderly Carpenter Murdered With HammerEpisode 199 tells what happens when a grandmother with a grumpy but somewhat older husband befriends a younger man when he's released from prison and begins paying him $250 a month for his, um, affections. Yeah, that's not going to end well. That's a grand, sordid conspriracy. Just like we like 'em.Ad-Free EpisodeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Philadelphia Arsenic RingEpisode 181 takes us down a dark road of spiritualism and witchcraft, of an elaborate web that led to an estimated 200 deaths by various means, including arsenic poisoning. And two executions. And twelve lifesentences.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murder Of Mary PhaganEpisode 183 tells of one of the most infamous cases of an innocent man wrongly accused. When a teenage factory girl is found dead in the basement of an Atlanta pencil manufacturer, blame falls on the mild-mannered Jewish superintendent of the plant, and the jury takes the word of a drunken janitor. It’ll take 70 years for the truth to come out.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Rosier Affair, Part TwoEpisodie 190 finishes up the melodramatic tale of Catherine Rosier as she goes on trial for her life. Get out the smelling salts and tissues, folks, there's a lot of swooning and fainting about to take place, not to mention the flying accusations and indelicate revelations.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Willow Love Triangle Murder PlotEpisode 184 takes us into Pennsylvania Dutch territory, where two local farmers are found murdered in the woods a month apart. Although not related, the second murder sparks intense local interest, especially when the farmer’s wife is discovered in a salacious love affair.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Inept Executioner of Wise CountyEpisode 254 has a different format than usual. I was perusing an old True Detective Magazine and found a story written from the point of view of the hangman of Wise County, Virginia, telling the stories of the five men whose heads he put in nooses. It was an interesting story, but something wasn’t quite right about it. So I did some research on the individual cases, and have woven some news stories of the day in with the executioner’s tale, an exercise in point of view as it were. It’s interesting to note that the ghostwriter of the True Detective story was James Taylor Adams, the beloved folklorist of Wise County.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Rosier Affair, Part OneEpisode 189 is the first part of a story so twisted, snarled, and sensational that we broke it down into two episodes because one show couldn't hold all the drama. It starts out looking like another love triangle gone awry, but.... Well, hang on. It's a bumpy one.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Mysterious Murder Of Dr. William H. WilsonEpisode 216 comes not only with a mysterious poisoning, but a side dish of “illegal operations.” Either it’s a devilishly clever plot, or perhaps the police didn’t really give it their all, considering the scandalous nature of Dr. Wilson’s practice.Ad-free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Vivian Gordon’s Final Caper Though the body was found in the Bronx, Episode 228 is a dark, twisting ride to the seedy side of Broadway near the end of Prohibition, with a heavy dose of family drama swirling around a tale teeming with underworld villainy and police corruption. There were plenty of people with a motive to murder Vivian Gordon. Was it the cops? The crooks? Or some combination thereof? It’s a stumper.Told from the historic pages of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and other newspapers of the era.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Episode 221 explores how some bits of cardboard, a moonstone ring, and a dog that couldn't bark solved a riddle in the lonely swamp.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Teenage Sex & Murder Club Episode 220 takes us to Tucson, Arizona in the 1960s, when police find a charismatic young man responsible for the disappearance of three teenage girls as the leader of a bizarre little party cult. But even when the murder cases are closed, the exciting story continues to include a daring prison break and a deadly prison brawl. Culled from the historic pages of the Arizona Daily Star. Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Evelyn Ramadka, Queen Of The Chicago VampiresEpisode 225 at first seems like a run-of-the-mill burglary case, a good girl gone bad, until we start getting to know the defendant as the story takes careen plot turns, compounded by the sensational press coverage--and a mysterious surprise ending.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Trial Of The Rev. Ephriam Kingsbury AveryEpisode 24 takes place 60 years before Lizzie Borden put the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, on the murder map. The body of Sarah Maria Cornell, a 30-year-old mill worker, was found hanging from a haystack pole in the nearby town of Tiverton, just across the Rhode Island border. The first coroner's jury ruled the death a suicide, but a note later found in the woman's boarding house led to the first of two exhumations of the body and the arrest of the Rev. Ephraim Kingsbury Avery for her murder. It is believed to be one of the first trials of a minister for murder in America, and it was a scandalous one.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Murder And Arson At Brandywine Springs ParkEpisode 448 is a sad and sordid tale of a passionate frenzy, when a young woman’s divided attention puts one man in a rage and leaves another to grieve.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Lawrence/Foster/Disbrow AffairEpisode 423 delves into a love triangle gone awry. When two sides of the triangle, including an expert swimmer and sailor, are found drowned dead in a Long Island bay, suspicion immediately falls upon the third, even though the coroner declares the whole thing an accident.Culled from the historic pages of The New York World, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The New York Tribune, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Amos Lunsford Meets His MatchEpisode 175 comes by the way of a request from a listener in North Carolina who wanted to know more about this incident, a fight about a horse at a church revival camp that gets out of hand. There might have been whiskey involved. Go figure.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Scoundrel Gershon MarxEpisode 447 retains a lot of the discrepancies in the reporting of the story, so don’t be alarmed at conflicting versions of the same incidents. I can’t say for certain that they ever got some of the names right, but nothing could be more wrong in so many ways than the theatrical adaptation of the case that takes place at the denouement.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Bloody Record Of Henry Plummer And His GangEpisode 422 hearkens back to the wild wild West, in the days following the great gold rush. Much of the story takes place in Bannack, Montana, which is now a state park and ghost town, and follows the career of one of the most notorious gangs of the day and the rise of the citizen's committee that puts an end to it.Adapted from the books "The Story of the Outlaw" by Emerson Hough and "The Montana Vigilantes, Or Popular Justice In The Rocky Mountains" by Thomas J. Dimsdale, the first newspaperman in Montana.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murder Of The Duchess Of PraslinEpisode 213 is dedicated to listener Clair Stephenson, who reached out after watching the 1940 move "All This And Heaven Too", the story of a scandalous murder in the courts of France that helped precipitate the French Revolution. Based on dispatches to London, the real story is not quite the Hollywood version, but I can definitely see Bette Davis as Henriette Deluzy.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Mrs. Peete’s Private BurialsEpisode 420 recalls one of America’s lesser-known serial killers, Louise Peete. There’s never been a book or a movie about her, yet during her murderous career, her Southern charm and polite matronly manner made her a nation-wide front page sensation, with some newspapers printing literally every word of her trial as well as fawning feature stories.Culled from the historic pages of the Los Angeles Express, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers from the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Clue Of The Antique DimesEpisode 445 is the tale of a pair of simple-minded lumberjack cousins who go to extreme and cruel measures to exact revenge against a mountain recluse. But what price will they pay?Culled from the historic pages of the Denver Post and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Doctor's Wife And The Dumpy Little Chicken ManEpisode 186 explores another eternal triangle resulting in murder. This time, it's the young-ish wife of an elderly doctor who plots with a neighboring poultry salesman to put a deadly end to her marriage. Obviously, it doesn't end well for them, or they wouldn't be on this show.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Suitor V. The ShotgunEpisode 419 tells the story of a family’s downfall, precipitated by a general disdain for the 25-year-old suitor of a 17-year-old daughter. Things go particularly awry when the suitor makes a valiant last-ditch effort to win the love of the family he hoped to be his in-laws, but a shotgun blast proves more potent than true love.Culled from the historic pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Ordeal Of C. Frederick KohlEpisode 444 is the strange story of a double tragedy. On one side we have a woman apparently driven insane with the desire to avenge crimes that exist only in her own mind. Her obsession has serious consequences for an innocent man.Culled from the historic pages of the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Ordeal Of June RoblesEpisode 224 explores the sensational kidnapping for ransom of a young Tucscon girl, the favorite granddaughter of one of the city's pioneers. It's a story as frustrating as it is heartbreaking as a legion of pursuers doggedly but fruitlessly seek the kidnapper.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Teen Mother In A Murder TrialEpisode 418 concerns a robbery gone awry and features a colorful woman in the case, a teenage bigamist and mother, whose salty ways and love for her baby make her a little bit endearing, in spite of her crimes.The Tesmer case, referred to in the prologue, is the subject of Episode 234, Mrs. Carrick’s Rouge And Whiskers, available only to residents of the Safe House. Reserve your bunk at www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian where you can enjoy other treasures from the True Crime Historian vault, exclusive episodes, ad-free editions of all new episodes, and whatever personal services you require.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Murder In The OzarksEpisode 442 shows how a small town in Arkansas splits down the middle when the son of the local justice of the peace is accused of the brutal murder of a popular young lady.Culled from the historic pages of the Daily Arkansas Gazette, the Arkansas Democrat, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Killed By The Dapper BootleggerEpisode 226 is dedicated to True Crime Historian listener Kaylie Jansen who recommended this sad story of two sisters, gunned down and left by the roadside after a Christmas holiday with their elderly parents. It takes some clever police work and legal maneuvering to find justice in this case.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Cincinnati Kitchen Sink TragedyEpisode 417 takes place at the turn of the last century Cincinnati, when a man allegedly finds his wife’s brutally murdered body in the kitchen sink and his four-year-old son sound asleep in his bed. Burglars did it, the man says, but his son will tell a different story.Culled from the historic pages of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

An End To The Graham-Tewksbury FeudEpisode 439 looks into one of the great family and land feuds of the Old West, the classic squabble between the sheep herders and cattle ranchers. Oddly, the best descriptions of the central event comes from a preliminary hearing for one of the accused. By the time the incident got to an actual trial, the newspapers seemed to have lost interest. Good story though, with good reliable tropes, including one of my favorites, what I like to call “courtroom shenanigans.”Culled from the historic pages of the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Weekly Star, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Murders Of HonorEpisode 197 gives us not one but TWO murders arising from the defense of a young lady's reputation. The Pennsylvania trials garnered national attention, and the great orator Indiana Senator Daniel Vorhees served as counsel for the defense in the second trial, deliver a remarkable 90-minute closing speech. The highlights are excerpted near the end of this tale, adapted from a trial pamphlet published shortly after the trial's conclusion.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Ghastly Kidnapping And Murder Of Marion ParkerEpisode 415 relates one of the most difficult crimes we’ve yet to tell, a terrible kidnapping and brutal murder of 12-year-old girl by a smiling, charming monster. No other word for William Edward Hickman. The details of the crime were so disturbing that the newspapers could not report on them, but even the broad outline as presented will give you chills.Culled from the historic pages of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Homer Bird’s Gold FeverEpisode 438 takes place during the great Alaskan gold rush when a group of adventurous businessmen from New Orleans leave their families and risk all in a quest to gain riches beyond imagination. Yeah, that’s not gonna end well, but the most interesting part of this drama is the influence of two women in the defendant’s life. One, a literal gold-digger, the other, the faithful wife who stands by her husband’s side til the bitter end.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Scourge Of Sugar CreekEpisode 164 asks the rhetorical question: Will the real Will Harris please stay in jail? It seems "Will Harris" was the go-to nom-de-plume for a number of Southern scoundrels around the turn of the 20th century. Sometimes the press is confused and sometimes the police are confused, shedding doubt on whether or not they have the real desperado, an imposter, or just another desperado with the same name.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Shooting Showgirls Lillian Graham And Ethel ConradEpisode 414 tells the story of a pair of young vaudeville actresses who come up with a scheme to dupe an older former lover of a great sum of money. But when he calls their bluff, they choke and shoot the old fellow in the leg. Three times. It’s hard to find a hero in this tale. They’re all kinda skeezy.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Scoundrel Frank BadgleyEpisode 437 is dedicated to the True Crime Historian patron Kim Parkhurst, who discovered several scoundrels, including the subject of this story, on the Indiana branch of her family tree. Her people seem to be as shady as my own.Ad-Free EditionSupporters Clubhttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support

The Awful Fate of Mary Ann Rheinhardt ___This episode explores the heinous crime of the scoundrel Edward Reinhardt of Manhattan and Staten Island who got tangled up with two women, got them both in trouble, and apparently, had to pick a favorite. Yeah, that’s not gonna end well. And when they find the barrel buried on the shore of Silver Lake, all sorts of scandal comes tumbling out.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Trials Of Otis Clark, Etc.Episode 136 comes by the way of a request from Herrin, Illinois, where TCH listener Chris Banes wants to know more about some hometown dark history, about the time a local mining company imported fifty guys from Chicago to bust a strike--25 to ship the coal that had been dug, and 25 to stand armed guard with rifles and machine guns to make sure the work got done. Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Trial Of The Big Beef SextetEpisode 424 is not your typical heartwarming holiday story, but takes place on Thanksgiving day, 1927, when a pack of Folsom prisoners enact a long-laid plan to make a big break from the big house. Needless to say, it doesn't end particularly well for any of them when two guards and ten prisoners meet their deaths as a result.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Bosson’s Bitter Whiskey And BananasEpisode 436 comes from a request by True Crime Historian patron Marlene Resch, who wanted to hear a story from her home Lane County, Oregon. So I dug up this sordid tale of a man who stands trial for the murder of his wife, with allegations of insurance fraud and lust for his young sister-in-law, who turns out to not have the best reputation herself.Culled from the historic pages of the Eugene Guard, the Eugene Morning Register, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free Edition

The Murders Of Phoebe Hogg And Phoebe HoggEpisode 244 tells of a murder in Victorian London so vicious and violent and ghastly that some people believe to this day that the perpetrator was the infamous Jack the Ripper--or Jill the Ripper, as it were, for this brutal murder of a mother and her babe fell squarely upon Mary Eleanor Wheeler Percy, who will pay dearly for her crime.Ad-Free Edition

The Montgomery Grocer Murder MysteryEpisode 433 follows the investigation of a robbery gone south down South, and while the family battles over the will, police arrest many different suspects, but it takes three years before they get a confession from an unexpected place.Culled from the historic pages of the Montgomery Advertiser, the Montgomery Times, and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free Edition

The Tragic Leggit OrdealEpisode 425 tells of the end of the road for Walter Ligget, who made his fame as a journalist who supported unions, exposed the criminal element, crusaded against graft and corruption, and dared to speak truth to power, so the powerful (whoever they may be) try and try again to get their revenge.Ad-Free Edition

The Tribulation Of Meda Dudgeon HodellEpisode 229 is a rich tale from the swamp lands of Michigan, an ever-changing story that includes a fake suicide, a pair of murders, confessions out the wazoo, as well as charges of police corruption and coersion--even a couple of ghost stories--all centered on a simple 20-year-old country girl, the bride of a much older man. Yeah, it's that kinda country.Ad-Free Edition

Mystery Of The Pyjama GirlEpisode 432 comes from a request from a listener Down Under, the story of a mysterious body found smoldering in a country culvert. It takes ten years to identify the body and name a suspect, but one interested physician claims they misidentified the victim and pinned the crime on the wrong man. Weigh the evidence yourself, and let me know your verdict.Ad-Free Edition

Kid McCoy Down For The CountEpisode 427 documents a dramatic fall from grace when a beloved American prizefighter and silent film star falls for a married woman, who seemed destined to be his ninth or tenth wife. His marital history is as complicated and murky as her business dealings, and their affair takes a tragic turn late one hot august night.Culled from the historic pages of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free Edition

Life And Confession of Stephen Dee RichardsEpisode 223 takes us to the prairies of Nebraska to explore the state's first serial killer, Stephen Dee Richards. His confession and the reporting of his murder come from a sensational trial pamphlet published shortly after his death, the 19th century version of a true crime podcast.Ad-Free Edition

The Reily Mattock MurderEpisode 198 is centered on one of my favorite murder tropes, the so-called “eternal triangle,” between the cranky old farmer, his fading wife, and the handsome young farmhand. Yeah, that’s not going to end well, but they might have gotten away with it if they had just put the body across the tracks. It’s all in the details.Culled from the historic pages of the Hamilton Journal-News and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free Edition

Jealous Husband Murders Rival, Wounds WifeEpisode 232 is really just your average love triangle gone awry, but there are mysteries to be solved here, and the real reason I like this story is that the bad girl in this case is not the instigator, but a survivor, the victim of a jealous husband, a strong Southern woman with flair and flaws of her own.Ad free edition

Case File For The Scoundrel LingoEpisode 428 describes two violent murders in the rural areas around Merchantville, New Jersey, in the 1890s. A rough farm-hand is the first suspect in the first case, but suspicion suddenly turns to the victim’s uncle/husband and attention to a trial full of courtroom theatrics. Then a nearly identical murder a year later adds a new wrinkle to the case. But that’s still not all.Culled from the historic pages of the New York Daily World, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers of the era.

A Deadly Package At Seat PleasantEpisode 430 tells of another holiday celebration ending in tragedy, when a mysterious package makes its way to the home of a young recently secretly married expectant mother. Suspicion falls at once to the family of her secret husband, and the husband himself.Ad-free edition

The Trial Of The Mother Of DollsEpisode 240 is one of those cases where you just know that somebody's off their rocker, but it's hard to figure out exactly who. Things get weird when a husband charges his wife with murdering their twin babies. That he never saw. So what was he pushing around in the stroller the last couple of months?Ad-free edition

The End Of The Skinny And Stumpy AffairEpisode 429 is our very special holiday episode, in which a disenchanted housewife pulls the trigger on her lover and claims self-defense. Let’s see how that works out for her.Culled from the historic pages of the Louisville Courier-Journal and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free version

The Michigan School House MassacreEpisode 48 looks at the most tragic school massacre in American history, this one perpetrated by the school district’s treasurer, upset over a recent rise in his property taxes to build a new school. So he decides to blow up his own house and take the school down, too, claiming 45 lives, including his own. If not for a faulty wiring plan, it could have been worse. Much worse.Music by Chuck Wiggins

The Boston Broker Bomber's Attack on Wall StreetEpisode 238 takes an inside look at the mad business of stock trading during the boom of the late 1800s as we hear the news of a bombing attack on the offices of one of the titans of Wall Street, the second-richest man in the world. The dust is barely settled as the lawsuits begin. I think you'll get a kick out of the reason why.Ad-Free Version

The Saga Of Ruth Freed’s Itchy Trigger FingerEpisode 222 tells of the unsolved murder of a professional party girl in post-Prohibition Chicago. Well, technically it’s unsolved because no one was ever tried and convicted, but I think it’s pretty clear who the culprit is.

The Real ‘Chicago’ MurdersEpisode 352 explores the two murders that inspired the hit musical “Chicago,” which was based on a play by Maurine Watkins, who did some reporting on both cases as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. I’ll be joined by my colleague Susan Ferman, whose own podcast Catastrophic Calamities, will premiere next week on the Pulpular Media network. Susan will read about the case of Beulah Annan, who became Roxy Hart on stage. I will read the case of Belva Gaertner, who became Velma Kelly.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and other newspapers of the era.This episode includes a reference to a fellow murderess Sabela Nitti, whose story you can hear about in True Crime Historian 230, The Ugly Duckling Murderess.

Sabella Nitti Gets Almost PrettyEpisode 230 is a story that turned out to be the exception to the rule in the 1920s, because a woman not only gets convicted of murder, but also faces execution for her alleged crime. Public indignation and sympathy for the homely defendant was so inflamed that it became part of the story. Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, this story features reporting and commentary from legendary Chicago journalist Genevieve Forbes Herrick whose contributions will be read by guest voice Susan Ferman.

A Broadway Moth, Her Overweight Date, And The Half-Pint GangsterEpisode 412 is an action-packed adventure that begins with the body of a pretty girl on a dark lonely road and includes a policeman killed in the line of duty, more than a thousand shots fired in a showdown with the villains, a couple of attempted jailbreaks, and a double-dose of lethal justice. Add in a broken-hearted mother and a moll who turns the tables, then see where it goes. The newspapers at the time compared this to a similar murder that had just taken place, the story of Vivian Gordon’s last ride.It was the subject of True Crime Historian Episode 228 and you can listen to it at www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian.Culled from the historic pages of the New York Daily News and other newspapers of the era.

The Reverend ExecutionerEpisode 239 not only gives you two executions for the price of one, but also an executioner who has to choose between his moral convictions and his duty under the law. What I like most about this story, though, is the fierce teenage daughter who shows no fear when it comes to facing down these half-witted bandits. If the final scene doesn't raise the hair on your neck, I don't know what will.

The Trial Of Rattlesnake James, The Red-Headed BluebeardEpisode 192 gets a bit epic, but it’s the story that keeps on giving, with two botched murders and moral charges to boot, and things go from crazy to crazier when they bring a pair of rattlers named Lethal and Lightning into the courtroom.

The Horror in the Slaughter GarageEpisode 243 is the sordid tale of a man who pursued women he presumed were wealthy with long distance love letters in order to swindle them of their money. Yeah, that’s a story we’ve heard before, but this one goes an extra step darker with a gruesome murder of women and children. Consider that your trigger warning. The West Virginia community was so outraged by the crime that the lingering crowds began to worry the police. And for good reason. You’ll want to join them. There are some excellent first-hand accounts of the events of this story, and because the victim was from Chicago, the Tribune sent their ace reporter Genevieve Forbes Herrick to West Virginia to interview the principals. We welcome back Susan Ferman to read Ms. Herrick’s reports. Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Press and other newspapers of the era.

The Rosewood MassacrEpisode 284 is dedicated to True Crime Historian patron Mary Virginia Avery who lives near what used to be Rosewood, Florida, where the probably unfounded accusation of a black man for assaulting a white woman led to the destruction of the town and the banishment from Levy County of all of its citizens. Because incidents like this were numerous and under-reported, I’ve included accounts of some of the racial unrest in that area that researchers believe contributed to the rage that was exhibited that night, and also some passages from a report produced in 1993 based on interviews with survivors. Although I’ve edited the news reports to lighten the obvious racial bias, there are times when I felt it important to read them as written, so be aware that the language may be strong at times. History is not always pretty, and I don’t think it endorses the racism of the day to bring it into light. I believe that all of my stories are cautionary tales, and it’s too easy to see echoes of these events in modern America.Ad free edition

The Case of the Deadly BonbonsJust about every sensational murder case is hailed as "too strage for fiction" or "the most remarkable in history", but Episode 235 really is unique: A murder inflicted on two persons unknown to the assailant from a distance of nearly 3,000 miles. Figure that out!. Add to the mix the usual sleazy scandals of inappropriate behavior and this one is ripe for your horror and indignation.Ad-free version with subscription

Two Twists on a Classic TaleEpisode 242 explores two versions of the same case by two true crime pioneers, the first by distinguished journalist Alfred Henry Lewis and the second by True Crime Historian favorite Edmund Pearson. It's interesting how they approach the case from entirely different perspectives with completely different details. The episode ends with an obituary of the interesting life of the defendant after she leaves Bond Street.Ad free version with subscription

A Litany of HorrorEpisode 12 is a reading of the chilling confession of Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as H.H. Holmes, one of the most remarkable serial killers in American History. The whole nation was shocked and outraged in the waning years of the nineteenth century by the gruesome deeds of one Herman Mudgett, the arch fiend who took on the pseudonym H.H. Holmes as he prepared his famous "Castle of Death" in downtown Chicago. He was arrested for an insurance fraud in November 1894, but his string of murders, perhaps 200 in all, were soon revealed. He was convicted of one capital crime in Philadelphia, and while he awaited execution, he penned a confession detailing 27 murders that was published in newspapers across the country. He would recant this confession before he hanged, but really, you can't make this stuff up.Ad free Patreon edition with subscription

The Tragedy of Joyce Joan ShouseEpisode 236 is a down and dirty story of a negligent mother, a sexually frustrated hunchback, and one terrible night in a hotel cafe. There's a lot of blame to go around on this one.Ad Free Edition with Patreon subscriptionPurchase single ad-free edition

Teller And His Teenage Moll Episode 215 is dedicated to True Crime Historian listener Virgil Kay, who sent me the case file on this story of a pair of bandits on the run, a 27-year-old exhibitionist and his 17-year-old moll, a tough girl who was said to be the brains behind the operation, such as it was.Listen to this and other episodes from the True Crime Historian Vault at the Safe House.

Madame Bessarabo's ExplanationEpisode 111. When the body of a missing international businessman is found in an unclaimed trunk in the train station at Nancy, France, his wife (the French dramatist and poet known as Hera Mirtel) and his stepdaughter were immediately suspected, but it took two years to end their legal ordeal. Mysteries still remain (such as how two petit women managed to truss up the body and carry it around in a trunk). Episode 111 focuses on an epistle she wrote from her jail cell as she continues to proclaim her innocence, even denying that it was her husband's body in her trunk. Featuring Emily Simer Braun reading Mme. Bessarabo's epistle from the Paris jail.Join us at the Safe House and listen to this and other episodes from the True Crime Historian Vault AD-FREE.Or purchase an AD-FREE edition of this episode from the Safe House Boutique.

The Money Was the MotiveEpisode 241 is a variation on one of our favorite tropes: The Trunk Murder. Culled from the historic pages of True Detective Magazine and the Oregon Daily Journal, this story takes place in the Pacific Northwest, when a couple of shady transients try to pull a long con on a wealthy, recently widowed rancher. Getting rid of the body is always the tricky part.

The Boy Preacher and His Teenage WifeEpisode 245 tells the scandalous tale of a young preacher with a David complex. who in order to save his wife's soul, takes her life--and the life of her mother, just so he could get away.Ad-Free Version

The El Dorado Oberst MassacreEpisode 174 begins with a family of seven found incinerated in their farm house. The only suriviving member of the family was the 17-year-old son, who was at the movies with a friend when the fire began. But his story changes so dramatically and so frequently that justice has a hard time keeping up.Ad free version

A Terrible Reign of MurderEpisode 214 digs deep into the files of the FBI and one of its early successful investigations during the tenure of J.Edgar Hoover, when the Bureau of Investigations looked into the murder of as many as 60 to 70 Osage Indians. The file includes a report by Agent Frank Smith as well as statements by informants who helped break the conspiracy. True Crime Historian welcomes guest reader Susan Ferman as Katherine Cole, one of these informants.

The Case Against Professor KaneEpisode 249 digs into the case of a college professor accused of drowning his wife for the love of another woman, but the prosecution first has trouble identifying her, then tracking her down, then getting the court to allow her testimony and love letters as evidence. I love a good fall from grace story, but what I really like about this case is the devotion shown by the professors father, a renown surgeon who lives in a small Pennsylvania town founded by his father. Stick around after the credits for a little bonus story about him.

For Episode 135 we’ve put together a double-header expanding on the theme of the past two episodes. Both of these cases were mentioned in “The Good Friday Beekman Place Bathtub Murder” and "Tears of the Weeping Willow.” The Glickstein Tragedies: The Examination Room MurderFirst is the story of how an unfortunate relationship brought tragedy upon tragedy to a physician’s family, and then we’ll explore the case of a housewife caught unaware by a burglar carrying a deadly weapon.The Battered Bride Bathtub Murder: Major Green Collared by the Collar (1:19:23)How the case was cracked by trailing the suspect's clothing.

The Kentucky ConspiracyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky was thrown into political turmoil over the election of its governor in 1899 and the winner's murder. The republican candidate, William S. Taylor, first appeared to win the election by a narrow margin, but the votes were challenged by his opponent, William Justice Goebel, who eventually won the seat by the act of the legislature. Tensions ran high in the days before his inauguration as these Kentuckians took their politics seriously. Deadly seriously.For ad-free versions of this and over 300 episodes in the True Crime Historian Vault, sign up at THE SAFE HOUSE. A buck a week gives you exclusive access to more murder than you can shake a snub-nose revoler at, and we're still finding old episodes like this one and dusting them off for future generations.http://www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian

True Crime Historian tells the story of a prominent businessman and a relationship with a young woman that gets him into all kinds of hot water. But the remarkable thing about this story is how history repeats itself and in 20 years, the business man finds himself in another fine mess.For access to the True Crime Historian Vault of more than 300 vintage tales of the scandals, scoundrels and scourges of the past, please visit www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian.

The Mysterious Murder Of Dr. William H. WilsonEpisode 216 comes not only with a mysterious poisoning, but a side dish of “illegal operations.” Either it’s a devilishly clever plot, or perhaps the police didn’t really give it their all, considering the scandalous nature of Dr. Wilson’s practice.

YESTERDAY’S NEWS -- Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told through vintage newspaper accounts from the golden age of yellow journalism...The Gillooly/Lannon AffrayEpisode 443 tells the story of the first officer to be killed in the line of duty in Kokomo, Indiana. But was the violent action against him provoked, or spurred on by a notorious local gang? The question divided the growing Indiana town.Culled from the historic pages of the Kokomo Saturday Tribune, the 1882 History of Howard County, and Jackson Morrow’s 1909 History of Howard County.We offer a special thanks to the staff at the Howard County Library’s genealogy room and listener Anthony R Jones, no relation, who saw the mobile production unit outside that library, where I was engaged in research on another matter. After I got his message telling me to look into the Mollihan gang, I dug around and came up with this episode.Residents of the Safe House can take a deeper dive into Kokomo’s criminal past in the case file posted at www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian. ***A creation Of Pulpular MediaAlso from Pulpular Media:Portals to Possibility, an improvised mock-talk show that proves you don’t have to be human to be good people. Visit pulpular.com/portals2 for a brand-new episode.Catastrophic Calamaties, Exploring the famous and forgotten disasters of the 19th and 20th centuries. What could go wrong? Everything! Some listeners choose to support this podcast by checking in at the Safe House at www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian, to get early access, exclusive content, and whatever personal services you require.Some listeners don’t want to pledge monthly support but just want to send a few bucks this way. You can do that at www.buymeacoffee.com/crimehistorian. You can also subscribe to a $5 monthly or $50 annual membership!***Musical contributors include Nico Vitesse, Lucia La Rezza, Joyie, Danielle Mo, Dave Sams, Rachel Schott and David Hisch.Some music and sound effects licensed from podcastmusic.com.Media management by Sean Miller-JonesRichard O Jones, Executive Producer

SERIAL KILLER CLIPSA reading of Yesterday’s News exploring one of History’s most prolific murderers. The Mysteries Of Belle Gunness Episode 308 examines the strange story of Belle Gunness, which came to light only after her house burned down with her body presumably inside and a dozen or so bodies buried in the yard. There’s a lot of conjecture and debate about this case still going on today. Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and other newspapers of the era. A creation Of Pulpular Media Can’t wait for the next episode to drop? Download the new podcast app Himalaya and get all new episodes a day early, and drop a buck in the tip jar for True Crime Historian. Support your favorite podcaster at www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian. Just a dollar a month reserves your bunk at the safe house and access to exclusive content and whatever personal services you require. *** Opening theme by Nico Vitesse. Some music and sound effects licensed from podcastmusic.com. Closing theme by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music. Media management by Sean R. Miller-Jones Richard O Jones, Executive Producer

YESTERDAY’S NEWS --Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told from historic newspapers in the golden age of yellow journalism...The First Mrs. KinkeadEpisode 258 tells the sad story of a nurse who fell in love with her patient. If you can believe her story, she may have been led on a bit, maybe outright deceived by his promises of marriage. But then, he marries another and the nurse turns stalker.For your delight and indignationA creation Of Pulpular MediaZipRecruiter. The smartest way to hire.Do your hair a favor with all natural Nutrafol and get your first bottle for $10 with subscription and promotional code TRUE at Nutrafol.com.***Opening theme by Nico Vitesse.Incidental music by Nico Vitesse.Closing theme by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music.Media management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer BraunRichard O Jones, Executive Producer

Episode 256 we return to the mother of all murder mysteries, the case of Lizzie Borden in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the verdict in her sensational trial, June 20, 1893. We again turn to the godfather of American True Crime, Edmund Pearson, the librarian who wrote slyly humorous takes of famous murder cases. His landmark essay, simply titled The Borden Case, makes up the first 119 pages of Pearson’s Studies in Murder, from which this episode is adapted.Bewilderment and indignation***A creation Of Pulpular MediaOpening theme by Nico Vitesse.Incidental music by Nico Vitesse.Closing theme by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music.Media management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer BraunRichard O Jones, Executive Producer

AN EYE FOR AN EYE --A special edition of Yesterday’s News exploring the criminal justice system at its most extreme: Inflicting the Death Penalty...The Avondale HorrorEpisode 231 is a dark, dark tale of what happens when the population doesn’t die fast enough to keep the medical schools supplied with cadavers for dissecting: The resurrectionists start hitting people over the head to hasten the process and get their points. The reporting also includes some interesting stories about the craft of the grave robber.Culled from the historic pages of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other newspapers of the era.***Hosted by Wondery. @wonderymediaIt’s time to step up your watch game. Join the MVMT!ZipRecruiter. The smartest way to hire.You can eat like a gourmet and cook like a chef in your own kitchen with Blue Apron, a better way to cook. @BlueApronBe a part of the story. Get in the game at huntakiller.com/true***Theme music performed by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music.Incidental music from podcastmusic.com and musopen.org.Media management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer BraunRichard O Jones, Executive Producer

AN EYE FOR AN EYE --A special edition of Yesterday’s News exploring the criminal justice system at its most extreme: Inflicting the Death Penalty...A Foul Deed In Ft. ThomasIn celebration of our 200th episode, I’m going to share one of my favorite local stories. The murder itself took place a state over, but one of the convicted murderers lived for a time in my hometown, and the sad story of Pearl Bryan is well-known in the three states involved, with many dubious legends and rumors abounding, and it’s said that her spirit haunts a Northern Kentucky nightclub. But what I really like about this story is that it has one of the most remarkable descriptions of an execution that I’ve come across. Enjoy.***Hosted by Wondery. @wonderymediaMember of the BombPod Media Network. @bombpodSimple Contacts. They don’t call it simple for nothing.***Incidental music by Nico VetteseTheme music performed by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music.Media management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer Braun

UNSOLVEDA special edition of Yesterday’s News exploring one of history’s most baffling murder mysteries.The Murder Of Elizabeth ShortBy listener request, Episode 196 follows the first month of the investigation of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated murder mysteries that begins when of a 22-year-old party girl turns up tortured, murdered, and mutilated by the side of a busy boulevard. She was such a runabout that when her body was identified by fingerprints, no one had realized she hadn’t been seen in five days. But the body was fresh.***Hosted by Wondery. @wonderymediaMember of the BombPod Media Network. @bombpod***Theme music performed by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered by David Hisch at Third Street Music.Some incidental music by Chuck WigginsMedia management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer Braun

The Great Borden Hearing Begun.While Lizzie Borden waits in the Taunton jail for her preliminary hearing to see if she is to go on trial for the murder of her father and stepmother, the community’s sympathy is expressed in interviews to people close to her and the appearance of “a wild-eyed man” ready to take the blame from her shoulders.We will continue “The Lizzie Edition” in June 2018, the 125th anniversary of the famous trial of Lizzie Borden.***Theme music “My Ain Countrie” by Mary Lee Demarest, 1861, performed by Davide Severi with Plava Kuca on Violin.Media Management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer BraunDedicated to Rachel Michelle Jones, whose enthusiasm for the case prompted this monumental treatment.

Still in the middle of the inquest, Fall River officials finally feel as though they have enough evidence to make an arrest for the murder of Andrew J. Borden. She is sent to the jail in Taunton, Mass., where the matron turns out to be an old family friend.

Part II: The Hunt Progresses. The surviving members of the Borden household are being held as prisoners in their own home, even while officials literally take it apart searching for clues. Yet they remain mum on the contents of the ongoing inquest, leaving ample room for speculation.Theme music “My Ain Countrie” by Mary Lee Demarest, 1861, performed by Davide Severi with Plava Kuca on Violin.Media Management by Sean R. JonesProduction assistance by Emily Simer BraunDedicated to Rachel Michelle Jones, whose enthusiasm for the case prompted this monumental treatment.

Butchered in Broad Day --Episode 166...In commemoration of the 125th anniversary of America’s greatest murder mystery, True Crime Historian brings you “The Lizzie Edition,” and in-depth look at the murder of Andrew J. Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts, on August 4, 1892, and the trial of his daughter Lizzie Borden the following June....Theme music “My Ain Countrie” by Mary Lee Demarest, 1861, performed by Davide Severi with Plava Kuca on Violin....Media Management by Sean R. Jones...Production assistance by Emily Simer Braun...Dedicated to Rachel Michelle Jones, whose enthusiasm for the case prompted this monumental treatment.

Crane Neck Nugent, Prohibition TriggerThe Gangster ChroniclesBook Two, Chapter Six__Crane Neck gets arrested in a Florida speakeasy, then is quickly in the wind again. Meanwhile, the hunt for his former partner and archenemy Bob Zwick continues. When Zwick’s reign of terror finally ends, details of their worst exploits are revealed in court.__Music by Dave Samswww.truecrimehistorian.com/1925nugent

Crane Neck Nugent, Prohibition AssassinThe Gangster Chronicles 2.5Crane Neck returns to Cincinnati to do a favor for his old boss, Fat Wrassman: Even the score for the hit on George Murphy. But it means going after his partner, Bob “The Fox” Zwick. You don’t want to miss the showdown in the streets of Cincinnati between Fat Wrassman and Detective Dutch Schafer.- Music by Dave Sams-www.truecrimehistorian.com/1925nugent

Crane Neck Nugent, Prohibition TriggerThe Gangster Chronicles 2.4-Crane Neck Nugent’s career included work with the gang of Fred “Killer” Burke of St. Louis, whom he got to know when they served together as machine gunners in World War I. While no one was ever charged with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, it is generally agreed that Al Capone hired the Burke gang, whom he called his “American Boys,” to take down his rival Bugs Moran. In this episode, we’ll also hear about Burke’s murder of a policeman in Michigan a few months after the massacre, his capture two years later when some of this information came to light.

Crane Neck Nugent: Prohibition Trigger -The Gangster Chronicles 2.3 -With the heat turned up high in Ohio, Crane Neck retreats to Kansas City to join the gang of his Army mentor Fred “Killer” Burke, the leader of his own gang there. A Toledo job goes south on the Burke gang, and a patrolman ends up dead from machine gun fire. Meanwhile Jack Parker, Todd Messner, Breck Lutes, Rodney Ford, and Bob Zwick hold up a craps game at the Pelican Club in North College Hill, killing the town marshal who stopped in to chew the fat. Later, Jack Parker is found dead outside Lebanon, Ohio. When the state’s chief witness in the first trial for the marshal’s murder turns up charred in an abandoned barbecue shack, police enhance their search for Crane Neck and Bob the Fox, while the surviving Dumele killers face the music.- Chapter 4: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre -Music by Dave Sams

The Gangster Chronicles 2.2.2-George "Fat" Wrassman figures heavily (so to speak) in the saga of Crane Neck Nugent. While this case doesn't bear directly on Nugent's story, it tells you the kind of man that Fat was, and will help inform some of the action in a later episode, so I offer this as a bonus to The Gangster Chronicles Book Two at no extra charge.

Crane Neck Nugent: Prohibition Trigger-The Gangster Chronicles 2.2.1-YESTERDAY'S NEWS-The murders of Gus Fitch, Bob Sollick, Glenn Hiatt, Martin Dailey and Buddy Ryan. Crane Neck Nugent was involved in four of these, and will soon avenge a fifth.

Crane Neck Nugent, Prohibition Trigger -The Gangster Chronicles 2.1-YESTERDAY'S NEWS-A reading from historic newspapers in the golden age of yellow journalismThe second volume of The Gangster Chronicles explores one of the many side effects of the Great Experiment, America's Prohibition on alcohol.I’ve often contended that Prohibition made criminals out of a lot of ordinary people who just wanted to drink and serve drinks. But it also gave some truly bad men an opportunity to misbehave.Although he had one of the worst nicknames names ever, Raymond "Crane Neck" Nugent, was one of the most ruthless of the era's gangsters.At 25, he went to trial for the murder of a bootlegger, and when the witness who came forward right after the event changed his mind at the trial -- well, we’ll look at that here in Chapter One.Before his own demise, Nugent would be suspected in at least 15 high-profile murders, including the most famous gangland massacre of the Prohibition era. Yeah, he was probably one of the guns at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.-Musical direction by Dave Sams

 Murder Under the Crab Apple Tree By Damon RunyonWhen a friend of mine started pitching Hall-Mills murder to me as a potential episode, I was immediately enthralled by the tale of an Episcopalian rector and his tragic affair with the choir singer, but when he told me the case hinged on the eyewitness testimony of “the pig woman,” I knew this was a story for True Crime Historian. But it gets even better. I started looking into it and discovered that the famed sportswriter Damon Runyon covered the trial with the same breezy prose he used in the short stories he wrote that inspired the musical “Guys and Dolls,” with daily dispatches drawing vivid word pictures of the trial and its participants. I felt it worthy of in depth exploration, so we’ll be doing a six episode series released on consecutive Sundays to hear all about the case and its cast of characters as told by one of America’s premier storytellers, who turns out to also be a Pioneer of True Crime. 

 Panic at the Italian HallThis episode comes from the request of a listener in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who wanted to know more about the panic disaster that took place at the Calumet Italian Hall in 1913. We just took nice camping trip to the Keneewah Peninsula, Michigan's upper Upper Peninsula. You'd be hard pressed to find a more beautiful place in the world. The weather was sublime and Lake Superior is one of my favorite bodies of water--crystal clear, unsalted and shark-free. My girlfriend wants to move up there, at least for the summers, and I'm not opposed.While we were there, we took the time to stop at Calumet and visited the memorial to the the Italian Hall. I'm usually a pretty cynical person, but I was truly moved to tears thinking about how horrible a person it took to instigate this tragedy, especially when most of the victims were little children. I took some pictures of the memorial and that evening, dug Episode 67 out of the vault, made a few edits, enhanced some of the audio, and while listening to it, found myself with the sniffles all over again. It’s a sad story, folks, but I think it’s an important one to remember because it’s all about what happens when we lose our civility. Theme music by Dave Sams Some incidental music via musopen.org Creative Commons license 

AN EYE FOR AN EYE-A special edition of Yesterday’s News exploring the criminal justice system at its most extreme: Inflicting the Death Penalty.-This episode comes at the request of a faithful listener in Cincinnati who wanted to hear more about Anna Marie Hahn, the first woman to be executed in Ohio's electric chair.-Although ‘Arsenic Annie’ had stoically proclaimed her innocence right up until her dying day, Anna Marie Hahn left a handwritten 20-page confession in her death row cell on December 7, 1938, when they led her to Ohio’s electric chair, literally kicking and screaming.-In the letter, she not only takes responsibility for six murders, she denies other poisoning attempts and goes into details about her life and how she began her series what the governor called cold-blooded and horrifying crimes when he made the final decision to take her to the chair.-The letter is such a remarkable and revealing self-portrait, more entertaining than her pathetic execution, that I gave it to a professional actress, my friend and colleague Emily Simer Braun, to help bring out some of the nuances in this rare insight into the mind of a mass murderer.-Music by Dave Sams-www.truecrimehistorian.com/1938hahn

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES A special edition of Yesterday’s News focusing on the notorious scoundrels of the Prohibition and Depression eras.The Final Chapter of the Dillinger Saga-The first volume of this this series has been devoted to the exploration of newspaper accounts of the trail of terror blazed by one of America’s most famous, dare I say most beloved, gangsters, John Dillinger.-From the time he was paroled from the Michigan City prison in May, 1933, to the time he was gunned down by police on a Chicago sidewalk 14 months later, John Herbert Dillinger was one of America’s most notorious scoundrels.-In previous chapters, we read the newspaper accounts of the escape of ten convicts from the Indiana penitentiary at Michigan City and the bloody delivery of Dillinger from the Lima, Ohio, jail; how Dillinger and his new gang blazed a trail of terror across the Midwest until he was captured in Tuscon, his second daring escape using a gun he made from broomstick, and his continuing reign of terror. Last month, we heard about one more narrow escape from the clutches of the law and one final bank robbery.-The narration for this episode was recorded on the main stage of the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, where Dillinger saw his last film just minutes before meeting his fate on the sidewalks of the Windy City. It was a movie theater then, and Dillinger, his hair dyed black, came here with two women to see Clark Gable in “Manhattan Melodrama,” and on the way out… Well, listen to this episode to see how it all shakes out.-Music by Chuck Wiggins-www.truecrimehistorian.com/1934dillingers0106

YESTERDAY'S NEWSA reading from America's historic newspapers in the golden age of yellow journalism.Luke Brannon Thwarts a Lynching-The Classic Village of Oxford, Ohio, got so riled up over a shooting in a local saloon, that they bust open the jails and drag the culprits to the local hanging tree. The tree had been  used once before, and if you go to my archives, you can hear about that tale in the episode two, "An Outrageous Murder in Oxford," in which the town got so outraged over the apparent murder of one of the town matrons that they hung a dead man. A decade later, another Oxford mob attempts another lynching, but it doesn’t really go any better for them, not when brave Deputy Luke Brannon swoops in just in the nick of time.-Music by Chuck Wiggins

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES 1.5A special edition of Yesterday's News focusing on the notorious scoundrels of the Prohibition and Depression eras.-We're beginning this series with newspaper accounts of the trail of terror blazed by one of America's most famous, dare I say most beloved, gangsters, John Dillinger.-From the time he was paroled from the Michigan City prison in May, 1933, to the time he was gunned down by police on a Chicago sidewalk 14 months later, John Herbert Dillinger was one of America's most notorious scoundrels.-In previous chapters, we read the newspaper accounts of the escape of ten convicts from the Indiana penitentiary at Michigan City and the bloody delivery of Dillinger from the Lima, Ohio, jail; how Dillinger and his new gang blazed a trail of terror across the Midwest until he was captured in Tuscon, his second daring escape using a gun he made from broomstick, and his continuing reign of terror. In this chapter, we’ll hear about one more narrow escape from the clutches of the law and one final bank robbery.I’m pleased to announce that on Sunday, May 8, I will be recording the final chapter of the Dillinger saga from the main stage of the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, where Dillinger saw his last film just minutes before meeting his fate on the sidewalks of the Windy City. Please visit my website, www.truecrimehistorian.com, for updates on that event.-Musical Direction by Chuck Wiggins

TRUE CRIME STORY TIMEThe Sad Tale of Anna May Gamble Knapp-Around the jails and the Indiana and Ohio neighborhoods where he lived, Alfred Knapp carried the nickname “Looney” Knapp for his bizarre, often childish behavior. He spent half of his adult life in prison for petty larcenies and attacks upon young women. When he was released from the Michigan City Penitentiary in the summer of 1902, he joined his third wife, Hannah, in her hometown of Hamilton, Ohio. Three days before Christmas that year, Knapp strangled his wife in the early morning hours and put her body in a box and put the box in the Great Miami River, then told everyone that Hannah had left him. Some in his family became suspicious, and when he remarried two months later, they had him arrested for bigamy. Alfred Knapp then not only confessed to killing his wife, but four other women in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, including his second wife. Consequently, “The Strangler Knapp” became a Midwest sensation and dozens of newspapers sent reporters to cover the case.-One of the many things that makes the Knapp case a remarkable story worth telling is the intense family and courtroom drama that was chronicled in the extensive press coverage. One of the most colorful real-life characters in this tale is the young, simple-minded fourth wife, from whose bed he was arrested for bigamy at four in the morning. So I want to tell you her story in a series of excerpts from my latest book, The First Celebrity Serial Killer: Confessions of the Strangler Alfred Knapp.-I invite you to visit my website, www.truecrimehistorian.com, for source information and instructions on how you can buy an inscribed edition of “The First Celebrity Serial Killer.”

TRUE CRIME STORY TIMEThe Saga of the Scoundrel Thomas McGehanA true crime short story by Richard O Jones-On Christmas eve, 1870, three men attack a local politician with boulders and slungshots, and at least a dozen men scramble for the door while five shots pepper the faro room at the American Saloon in Hamilton, Ohio. One of bullets kills the politician, Thomas Myers, but in their haste, none of the gamblers see who fired the gun. The blame falls on the leader of the gang of thugs who attacked Myers, his political rival Thomas McGehan. At his trial the famed former Congressman, exiled Copperhead and gubernatorial candidate Clem Vallandigham, who literally gives his life to McGehan’s defense.-For a complete list of sources for this podcast, please visit www.truecrimehistorian.com, where you can also find newspaper clippings and drawings from this case, including a diagram of the layout of the American saloon, as well as more stories about the scandals, scoundrels and scourges of America’s past, along with information about my true crime books and my Two-Dollar Terror series of historical crime novellas.-Music by Chuck Wiggins

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES 1.4-The Gangster Chronicles is a special edition of Yesterday's News focusing on the notorious scoundrels of the Prohibition and Depression eras.-We're beginning this series with newspaper accounts of the trail of terror blazed by one of America's most famous, dare I say most beloved, gangsters, John Dillinger.-From the time he was paroled from the Michigan City prison in May, 1933, to the time he was gunned down by police on a Chicago sidewalk 14 months later, John Herbert Dillinger was one of America's most notorious scoundrels.-In chapter one, we looked at the escape of ten convicts from the Indiana penitentiary at Michigan City and the bloody delivery of Dillinger from the Lima, Ohio. In Chapter Two, Dillinger and his new gang blazed a trail of terror across the Midwest. In chapter three, Dillinger gets quietly captured in Tuscon, but makes another daring escape, this time, using a gun he made from broomstick.-With Dillinger again in the wind, state and now federal police launch a desperate manhunt while the gangster continues his trail of terror.-For source information and clips related to this installment of the Gangster Chronicles, visit www.truecrimehistorian.com, where you can also find additional stories about the scandals, scoundrels and scourges of America's past, as well as information about my books and my TwoDollar Terror series of true crime novellas.-And come back here next month for Chapter 5 in the Dillinger saga when the notorious scoundrel once more narrowly escape arrest in a deadly police raid at Little Bohemia.Lodge in Wisconsin.-Musical direction by Chuck Wiggins.

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES 1.3Yesterday's NewsA reading from America's historic newspapers-From the time he was paroled from the Michigan City prison in May, 1933, to the time he was gunned down by police on a Chicago sidewalk 14 months later, John Herbert Dillinger was one of America's most notorious scoundrels.-In chapter one, we looked at the escape of ten convicts from the Indiana penitentiary at Michigan City and the subsequent delivery of Dillinger from the Lima, Ohio, jail that led to the death of Sheriff Jesse Sarber. In Chapter Two, Dillinger and his new gang blazed a trail of terror across the Midwest.-Now, the wanted desperados have made their way to Tuscon, Arizona, to escape the heat of Chicago, but a hotel fire spells the beginning of the end for most of the outlaw gang.-Musical direction by Chuck Wiggins.-Produced by Richard O Jones

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES 1.2A reading from America’s historic newspapers from the golden age of yellow journalism-Law enforcement officials and fellow bandits alike lose their lives in the hunt for the desperate criminals who escaped from the Michigan City prison and murdered a sheriff in getting John Dillinger out of jail. In the meantime, Dillinger and his companions continue their spree of mayhem across the Mid [...]

THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES 1.1Yesterday's NewsA Reading from America’s Historic Newspapers-In this first volume of "The Gangster Chronicles," we will follow the trail of terror blazed by one of America's most famous, perhaps most beloved, gangsters, John Dillinger. From the time he was paroled from the Michigan City prison in May, 1933, to the time he was gunned down by police on a Chicago sidewalk in front of the Biograph Theater 14 months later, John Herbert Dillinger was one of America's most notorious scoundrels. Chapter One will detail some of Dillinger's earliest known robberies and his murderous escape from the Lima jail. We plan to tell the Dillinger saga in five chapters. After this first one, you can expect a new installment at 7 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month. We're considering the options for Volume 2 and are welcome to suggestions. Please email us at [email protected] with your thoughts.-Music by Audionautix. Theme song by Josh Woodward.