True Crime Historian

Scandal At ReynoldaJump to the AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONEpisode 338 weaves the tale of mystery surrounding the shocking death of the youngest son of the tobacco king R.J. Reynolds when he is found dead in the family's palatial North Carolina home. Although the coroner immediately ruled it a suicide, other officials felt differently, and suspicion fell on the young man's new bride and his best friend.More LOVE TRIANGLES GONE AWRYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Australian Aviatrix And Her SuitorsJump To The AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONEpisode 341 tells the scandalous story of one of Miami, Florida's most sensational murders when a young writer is found dead in a sleeping porch, a bullet in his head and two suicide notes on the table. Public interest is high because the other two sides of the fatal triangle are two world-famous, record-holding aviators.MORE LOVE TRIANGLES GONE AWRYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murder Of The Butcher Pops Wagner Jump To The AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONEpisode 117 tells the story of sweet 16-year-old Lena Theresa Neinstedt, known as Terry, a pretty eighth-grade dropout with a habit of stealing government checks out of neighborhood mailboxes. A wild child of the streets of New York, young Terry also had a habit of carrying a knife -- to keep the wolves from pawing her, she said. When she lost the knife, she discovered a small hatchet around the house that fit nicely in her patent leather handbag. Yeah, that's not gonna end well. More FEMMES FATALEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Episode 118Jump To The AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITION"Murder For Two Dollars And Forty-Five Cents" tells the story of how a newsboy finds the clue solving a professional (well, sorta) murder."The War Hero's Love Letters Sentenced Him To Die" (14:26) ties in the murder of a theater tycoon with a bit of romantic intrigue."Love And The Counterfeiters" (28:07) is the exciting tale of, well, counterfeiters and double-crossers in the old-school Italian mob."When The Ouiji Board Spelled DADDY MUST DIE" (49:41) is the tragic story of a teen-age girl falling into her mother's web of betrayal and murder."Phantom In The Window"  (1:04:37) is another heart-breaking tale of a teenager caught in a murder plot.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

A Double Dose Of ArsenicJump to the AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONEpisode 119 tells the sordid tale of Edith Carew, an English society woman living as an expatriate in Japan, who goes to trial for poisoning her husband. The the press couldn't help but compare it to the case of Florence Maybrick, which took place a few years earlier in Liverpool.More Cases Of POISONBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Brutal Crimes and Punishment of Jesse Pomeroy Jump to the AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONEpisode 121 concerns one of the most heinous crimes ever committed by a teenager. Jesse Pomeroy was but 14 years old when he was arrested for abducting and torturing young boys and sent to the state reformatory. He was released after a little more than a year, due either to the pleading of his mother or some kind of bribery, you be the judge. But anyway, you know it's not gonna end well. At 15 years old, Jesse Pomeroy was at the time  the youngest person to be convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to die. More Botched ExecutionsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Brutal Murder Of Alberta MeadowsJump to the AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONOnce upon a time, 1922 to be precise, Clara Phillips, a former Hollywood bathing beauty and chorus girl, decided she wanted to have a chat with a young lady she suspected of canoodling with her husband. She stopped at the dime store and bought a brand new hammer on the way. Yeah. That's not going to end well. This episode is filled with a lot of poignant stories of the incident from a variety of points of view, including from the alleged murderer herself, and a daring escape from justice.   More Murders With AXES & HAMMERSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Kentucky ConspiracyJump to the Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 122The 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.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Diabolical Meeks Family MassacreAd-Free Safe House EditionScoundrels abound in Episode 337, when an ex-convict is assassinated in cold blood by the men he's about to turn state's evidence on. That would be bad enough, but what makes it intolerable is the fact that the turncoat's wife and daughters are with him when the attack takes place, and his assailants don't care.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Campfire Cremation Of John LinnAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 336 is dedicated to True Crime Historian patron Marlene Resch, who wanted to hear a historic case from her hometown of Eugene, Oregon. So I dug around a bit and found this cowboy story which turns out to have been the first execution in Lane County.More WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Lumberjack And The Boatman's WifeAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 335 tells of another scandalous eternal triangle that ends in murder. The victim this time is the husband, and both his comely wife and the illiterate man who cuckolded him go on trial for his murder.More LOVE TRIANGLES GONE AWRY Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Crimes Of The Citrus KingAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 332 tells the story of a prominent businessman and his relationship with a young woman that gets him in all kinds of hot water. But the remarkable thing about this story is how history repeats itself, and twenty years later, he finds himself in another fine mess.More FALLS FROM GRACEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Emil Sanger's Rage Ad-Free Safe House EditionLike all episodes of True Crime Historian, Episode 333 is a cautionary tale, this time about rage, when a normal businessman gets so  heated about a squabble mixing family and business that he lays out his own ruin. I wouldn't go so far as to say anyone was asking to be murdered, but... I'll let you be the judge.More FALLS FROM GRACEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Trial Of Arthur SargentAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 334 is a simple tale: Three men go fishing on a boat, one man comes back the next day saying the other two were drowned in an accident on the pond. But was it an accident? We'd let the jury decide but for a rare motion with unusual timing by the prosecuting attorney that makes the outcome a certainty. More COURTROOM SHENANIGANSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Saga Of Ida & Paul V. HadleyAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 125 concerns Ida Hadley, who was so passionate for her husband Paul that they called her a nymphomaniac in open court. Their trouble started much earlier, in Beaumont, Texas, when a man made eyes at Ida, and Paul shot him. This steamy story spans five years and includes three trials, attempted and successful jail breaks, multiple flights from justice across five states, an important invention, and two murders--one from a moving train! What more could you ask for?More Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Death of a Teenage StenographerAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 123 is the story of fifteen year old Ruth Wheeler, recent graduate of a secretarial school, who excitedly picked up a referral from her alma mater and headed to her first job interview in a building on East 75th Street in New York City. She was not seen alive again. Two days later, a man living in the same building discovered that someone had dumped a gunny sack full of trash on his fire escape. But there was something not quite right about that bundle of garbage. More TORCH MURDERSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Minot RedemptionAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 124 is classic potboiler adapted from the pages of True Detective Mysteries Magazine, concerning a party of sailors landing in a private speakeasy in the San Pedro Harbor during prohibition. Told from the perspective of a detective on the case, this is a tale of sin and redemption, of an escape from justice and ill-fated love, and the efforts of an amateur sleuth in discovering the fugitive.More PRISON BREAKSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The $2.35 MurderAd Free Safe House EditionEpisode 331 is dedicated to listener Kalie Jansen who recommended this strange story of a  Syracuse, New York woman who came up missing during a brutal snowstorm, and the surprising way in which the mystery unfolded.Culled from the historic pages of the Syracuse Herald and other newspapers of the era.More CAPITAL CRIMESBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Jailer's Wife's BetrayalAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 330 is the exciting story of the Biddle Brothers of Pittsburgh, whose ransack of a humble home turns to homicide and leads to the line-of-duty death of one of the city's beloved officers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Tragic Typhoid ConspiracyCommercial Free Safe House EditionEpisode 329 tells of an unusual modus operandi, the use of typhoid germs as a method of poisoning when an Illinois attorney goes on trial for the murder of a young man he raised after the death of his mother, who happened to leave her son a million dollar estate.A big welcome back to our friend Susan Ferman, who will read passages written during the trial by the Chicago Tribune's ace female reporter Genevieve Forbes Herrick about some of the women involved in the case.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers of the era.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Rampage in ValdostaAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 126 concerned this podcast's first non-human perpetrator, a great big crazy brilliant elephant first known as Empress when imported into the United States in 1871. She killed so many handlers that she was sentenced to death many times, but doing so was so difficult that she was just passed from show to show. Along the way someone changed her name to Gypsy, and she spent the last decade of her tragic life with the Harris Nickel Plate Circus. She claimed at least seven victims, but she was crazy for a reason, and if you're an animal lover, I've got to warn you that you're about to get a big dose of outrage and indignation. More Serial KillersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Botched Execution of Tom KetchumAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 127 takes us back to the days of the Old West with the tale of “the Black Jack Gang,” terrors of the Southwest, from about 1896 to 1891 when its leader, Tom Ketchum, was finally captured trying to pull off a train robbery solo. He didn't know the conductor had been robbed once before and carried a sawed-off shotgun. Yeah, that's not gonna end well.More BOTCHED EXECUTIONSMore WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

What The Dog Saw At Beekman PlaceAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 128 is one of the creepiest and sleaziest yet, when the mad Bohemian debauchery that made Greenwich Village famous spills over into the posh East Midtown. The colorful cast of real-life characters includes a woman who ran a prohibition speakeasy, her beautiful model daughter and her artistic friends, and an estranged husband who is disgusted by the whole thing, but addicted to pornography. And wait til you hear the eerie confession! You're gonna love it.More Mass MurdersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The LaBoeuf TriangleAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 328 revisits one of our favorite tropes: The Love Triangle Gone Awry. The people involved here weren't rich and famous, but just ordinary people, tragically caught up in their passion.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Exploits Of The Outlaw James GangAd Free Safe House EditionEpisode 326 finishes off Wild West Month with the epic tale of one of the most notorious bands of outlaws to plague the American frontier. It's a wild ride, so hang on.More WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Thorny Rose Of The Wild BunchAd Free Safe House EditionEpisode 324 tells the tale of a young woman who would do anything for the man she loves, even go to prison for him. The couple were associated with the gang known as the Wild Bunch, featuring such notorious characters as Black Jack Ketchum, Butch Cassidy, and Harry Longbaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid.More WILD WESTERNSCulled from the historic pages of the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, the St. Louis Republican, and other newspapers of the era.Epilogue. Ben Kilpatrick did not get out of federal prison until 1911. By that time, Laura Bullion had been involved with several other men and was living in Memphis. They never reconnected. Kilpatrick was killed in an attempted train robbery in 1912. Laura Bullion worked as a seamstress and interior designer in Memphis until she died of heart disease at age 85 in 1961, the last surviving member of the Wild Bunch.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Grand Mogul Of The Texas DesperadosCommercial Free Safe House EditionEpisode 322 relates the downfall of one of the most desperate desperados of the Old West, John Wesley Hardin, the man so mean that it is alleged he shot a fellow just for snoring.Culled from the historic pages of the Galveston Daily News, The El Paso Times, and other newspapers of the era.More WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Capture Of Hong Di Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 321 continues our exploration of stories from the Old West, this one from a ranch near Colusa when a Chinese cook, a mere boy of 17, opens fire with a rifle during the family meal. After a flight from justice, an unlikely hero captures the fugitive, who is put on trial while a vengeful crowd gathers outside demanding the extreme penalty of the law.Culled from the historic pages of the the San Francisco Examiner and other newspapers of the era.More WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Earp Brothers Take A StandAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 319 takes us on a journey to one of the most famous gunfights in Old West history, the shoot-out at the OK corral. The first two thirds relates the story from the newspaper accounts of the day, while the third act gives a first-person account from Wyatt Earp himself.Culled from the historic pages of the Tombstone Epitaph, the Arizona Daily Star, the San Francisco Examiner, and other newspapers of the era.More WILD WESTERNSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

She Conversed With The DevilAd-Free Safe House EditionRecently widowed, eager to date,her family hated of her choice of a mate.So she put poison in their water.What a mean & devilish daughter!YESTERDAY'S NEWS --Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told from historic newspapers in the golden age of yellow journalism...Episode 317 explores the bizarre tale of Martha Wise who becomes so tired of the scorn of her family and their objection to her dating life after the death of her husband, that she starts putting arsenic in their drinking water. Not everyone dies, so the intense family drama carries over into her sensational trial and damning testimony from a cousin made invalid from the poison and the suicide of a sister-in-law.Culled from the historic pages of the Akron Beacon Journal and other newspapers of the era.More Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Mysterious Case Of Alma TirtschkeAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 315 is the sad tale of a 12 year old Aussie girl who disappeared while running errands for her family. Her body was found naked and outraged the following morning. Based on the testimony of some spurious witnesses, as you shall hear, the crown executed the owner of a wine shop near the alley. But did they get the right man?More Stories From True Crime Pioneer Peter LevinsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Botched Execution of Eva DuganAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 131 concerns the murky relationship between the mysterious hired wife, a Tucson rancher, and a young man who came to stay. It's also about the dogged chase for the fugitive conducted by a determined sheriff, but the scene that strikes me most takes place in the office of a prison warden when they confront the suspected murderer with an unsettling relic of her crime.More Botched ExecutionsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Trial Of Vera Stretz She was his dedicated love slave and "office wife," until he pushed her too far.Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 133 is the story of a scholarly young artist whose married fiance tries to take things too far. This story is performed by our late friend Emily Simer Braun, reading the reporting from Alice Cogan, ace reporter for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.More Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

A Secret Crime Spree Revealed By MurderAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 313 is the action-packed story of a pair of bands who met in juvenile jail, and embarked on a short-lived but deadly crime spree through the Wyoming Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania that included two murders, a shooting to kill, several home invasions, and a general disregard and disdain for social order and the rule of law. But they'll get what's coming to them.More Capital CrimesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Bannon Buries Bodies In The Haven BarnA family of six goes missing, and the only clue is a badly misspelled letter from a post office box that doesn't exist. Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 312 tells the story of a disappearing farming family in North Dakota, who were said to have gone out West for the health of the wife and mother. But the young man left in charge has a strange story to tell, and it keeps changing. When the truth is revealed, if it is revealed, the community seeks its own justice.More Mob JusticeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Lady Bluebeard Lyda SouthardAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 310 is the tale of Lyda Trueblood Meyer Southard, who is credited with killing four husbands, a brother-in-law, and her own baby. Along with a sordid marital history, this tale has the bonus of a daring prison escape and a 15-month flight from justice.Culled from the historic pages of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, the Salt Lake City Telegram, and other newspapers of the era.More Serial KillersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Mrs. Creighton's Cocoa And Egg NogThe epic saga of Mary Frances Creighton and her web of adultery, pedophilia, and murder.Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 307 is the epic tale of the serial killer Mary Frances Quevada Avery Creighton, who is generally credited with three poisonings, although she was acquitted in court on the first two. But 12 years later, she will find herself ensnared in a tangled web of adultery, pedophilia, and murder when she conspires with her live-in lover to poison his wife so that he can marry her teenage daughter. It's a long and sordid tale, so settle in with your favorite beverage.More Serial KillersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Special Triple FeatureEpisodes 306, 309, 311Jerry The WildcatAd-Free Safe House EditionAdapted from True Detective, vol. 56 no. 4, February 1952By Jonas BayerA cowboy rolls into Miles City, Montana, on his way back home to Iowa, and stops in a local cafe to buy a fellow ranch hand a drink. When he's found later, beaten nearly to death in an alley and his roll of bills missing, officials set out to find the fiery red-head he had been talking to in the bar. There was only one clue as to who murdered the drunken cowboy: The fiery red-headed teenager he escorted out of the cafe.More Wild WesternsThree Women In BlackAd-Free Safe House EditionMidnight. A few harsh words. A glint of steel. Murder.More Femmes FataleThe Gatton MurdersAd-Free Safe House EditionWhen the grown Murphy children failed to return home from a dance, a wobbly wagon trail leads to a most horrible scene. Episode 311 explores one of Australia's historic mysteries, the death of a man and his two sisters -- and  an old horse -- found dead in an isolated paddock, the girls raped and all of them brutalized. More Unsolved CasesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Lizzie Halliday HorrorsAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 305 kicks off Lady Serial Killers Month with the strange story of Lizzie Halliday, the perpetrator of at least five, maybe six murders, and once you hear about those, you'll wonder if maybe there weren't a few more than that. In addition to six murders, the spice in this tale includes a near-lynching and the lunatic antics of the prisoner, the first American woman to receive a death sentence in the electric chair.More Serial KillersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Racine Street Bridge HorrorWhen 14-year-old Hattie Zinka disappeared, people feared her body would be found in the river. It wasn't, but it was just as bad.Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 303 takes us back to 1909 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where a teenage girl disappears while walking home from her married sister's house. The area was known as a dark, dangerous place, but she'd made the journey many times. Until one fateful dark night... Culled from the historic pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other newspapers of the era.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Brutal Murder Of Ethel Mae AtkinsAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 301 is an especially sordid tale, and I don't belive all of the lurid details were revealed, although many of them hinted at as police and people who knew her inadvertently reveal uncomfortable truths even as they try to protect the dignity of the victim. But I think she just went on a bender and things took a dark fatal turn. What do you think?More stories of Capital CrimesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Brownell-Bennett DismembermentsAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 300 recounts a grisly pair of murders that are uncovered when New York City residents begin finding stray body parts around Brooklyn. The reporting isn't terribly graphic, but there are a few ghastly descriptions. There's your trigger warning.Culled from the historic pages of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the New York Daily News, and other newspapers of the era.More Torso MurdersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Berthe Claiche's Revenge Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 298 relates the sad story of Berthe Claiche, whom we met briefly in episode 297 when she gave a necklace to her cellmate, Josephine Terranova. I normally like to mix things up a bit, but these two tales have a lot in common, interesting back stories about immigrants struggling to adapt to American ways, courtroom theatrics, and sympathetic abused female defendants. Not that murder is ever a good idea, but if I were in their shoes... What do you think?Culled from the historic pages of the New York Evening World, the New York Sun, and other newspapers of the era.More Courtroom ShenanigansBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Josephine Terranova's RevengeAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 297 is a sad story about a young immigrant woman so abused by her relatives that when the truth is revealed to her newlywed husband, he breaks off the union. The teenage bride believes she has but one recourse: To do what God commands.Culled from the historic pages of the New York World and other newspapers of the era.More Femmes FataleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Crime Club Founder Found DeadAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 134 takes place five months and one city block from Episode 133, Tears Of The Weeping Willow. They are otherwise unrelated, except that both incidents begin with sexual assaults that end in murder. In this one, an up-and-coming author and recent bride makes the grave mistake of opening the door of her upscale Manhattan East Side apartment to a young man who wanted to talk about her love seat. Without many clues to go on, police pin their hopes on a stray piece of twine left at the scene of the crime. More Bathtub MurdersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Who Killed The Widow Short? Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 137 is the quirky story of the death of a beloved widow in Topeka, Kansas. She was old and in ill health, and no one suspected any foul play until her caretaker--allegedly her late husband's nephew--suddenly confessed to the crime, but then the autopsy told another story entirely. Was Fred Fanning covering for someone? Or did someone have undue influence over his mind, if he had one? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Complicated Death Of Starr FaithfullAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 138 is the story that inspired the John O'Hara novel and the Elizabeth Taylor film “BUtterfield 8,” the sad, sordid tale of a beautiful girl with an evocative name and a traumatic past that put her on the road to ruin. The finding of her body on a Long Island beach led to probe deep into the social fabric of three cities on two continents. The telling of the story isn't particularly graphic, but it does go into dark, dark places. Just so you know.More Unsolved CasesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

The Murder Of William Desmond TaylorAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 295 recaps one of Hollywood's first and most sensational murder cases. After his death, the mysterious past life and personal entanglements of William Desmond Taylor lead in a dozen different directions, but none apparently toward a solution to the case. But there's a reason the case aroused so much sensation.The victim's mysterious past and a tangled web of relationships made the shocking murder impossible to solve.Culled from the historic pages of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers of the era.More Falls From GraceBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Episode 294Ad-Free Safe House Edition Pulp Nonfiction“I'd die before I'd let a man do anything to me,” she said. And she did.Adapted from “Joanna And The Hillbilly Lover Boy,” by George Vedder Jones, True Detective, Vol.73 No.1, May 1960Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

A Rampage In RichmondAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 293 may start out like your ordinary love triangle gone awry, but the city of Richmond, Virginia is scandalized by the revelations that come out about the young people of their city during the shocking trial. When the flapper told the dapper young man that it was over between them, she set off a massacre.More Love Triangles Gone AwryBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

Historic Lady KillersAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 292, in which we pay our respects to a quartet of murdered wives:Sarah Yargus, murdered by her husband John Yargus, July 13, 1849;Pauline Schmitt, murdered by her husband Germain Schmitt, January 21, 1919;Ida Jech, murdered by her husband Frederic Jech, July 22, 1930;Anna McDowell Gentry, murdered by her husband Sam Gentry, February 1, 1935.Recorded live at Miami University Hamilton Downtown, October 29, 2018.Download the slideshow for headlines and more information. 0292 slideshow.pdfBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.