Wicked Women

Season 2's last episode brings us back to the Big Easy in the 19th century. Post-Civil War New Orleans was in the throes of change and fear. So when a little white baby goes missing, the city begins to spin all sorts of tales to explain the kidnapping. Was it voodoo? Was it political? Who took “Baby Digby?” 

Rootin’ Tootin’ Belle was the Bandit Queen of the Wild West. Husbands, lovers, guns, and horses, she mastered them all. She was raised proper, but the wild rebel blood ran through her bones. And she would pass down that tenacity and drive… This is the story of Belle Starr and her daughter, Pearl.

She was the definition of “Mad Queen.” The daughter of a commoner rose to royalty and preserved her island’s traditions, culture, and sovereignty. But was it really necessary to take 50,000 people on a buffalo hunt? If you’re Ranavalona I: The Female Caligula, then of course! Poison feet, chicken skins, and vomit-inducing nuts are just a taste of this ruthless gal's Reign of Terror. Meet the Mad Queen of Madagascar!

She wanted to keep living her name-brand life. Her husband’s family empire was her destiny, so when he decided to sell her world collapsed. But Patrizia believed his family name and fortune was her birthright. Lady Gucci was about to become a Black Widow - though she will always be “the most Gucci of them all.”

This pair of Swashbuckling Dames took to the high seas like Pirate Pros. These fiery cross-dressing women knew their way around a hull and fancied themselves just as dandy as their fellow sea rovers and privateers. Join us for an episode of Seadogs, Plunders, and Yo Ho Hos!

The press couldn’t have created a more twisted story for the tabloids and grocery store checkout lanes. But should we be entertained by the lascivious actions of a woman who preyed on a child? Their forbidden love was on display, even while she served time for child rape. Prison was not a deterrent. They resumed their affair when she was released, both times. This is the uncomfortable story of Mary Kay Letourneau.

Before the sexual revolution. Before the Witch’s Guide to Self Care. There was Rosaleen Norton, a self-proclaimed witch. An artist and occultist who pushed Australia’s Christian conservatives to the point of exhaustion with her Pantheistic rituals and dark art. They tried to burn this witch, but nothing could keep Roie from her sex magick and devotion to Pan. Meet the Witch of Kings of Cross and her “Coven From Down Under.” 

Mary had a past full of missing husbands, a love of shoplifting, loads of secrets, and she was just getting started. But her criminal mind was taking her to a much darker place. Did Mary enjoy the pain and grief she put the parents of little Sonny through? Did she mastermind it all on her own? Criminally insane or unjustly accused?

The legend of Madame Delphine Lalaurie has grown into a pop culture phenomenon. And like most things in pop culture, the line between fact and fiction is blurry. There is no denying that Lalaurie plays a major part in New Orleans' dark history. But was this complicated woman really as wicked as your ghost tour guide would lead you to believe? Yep! And her story has quite a few twists and turns...  

Laura wore a black dress, a black hat, and a black veil the day she shot her lover in the chest. The courtroom drama sent the press into a frenzy. Feminists were in her corner, but the conservative spectators wanted to see her hang. Who was the real victim in this sordid affair? All is fair in sex, lies, and murder. 

She has been called the “last white colonizer.”  Was Dian Fossey a tyrant and terrorist? Or did she just lose herself in the mists of Rwanda? Her story is complex and heartbreaking. Discover the woman who changed the world's view on conservation, and possibly murdered for her heavy-handed demands.

Her contributions to conservation and primatology can not be denied, but Dian Fossey is anything but a hero for many. She has been called the “last white colonizer” and some feel she should be wiped from textbooks. Was Dian Fossey a tyrant and terrorist? Or did she just lose herself in the mists of Rwanda?  Discover the woman who changed the world's view on conservation, and possibly murdered for her heavy-handed demands. 

She was known as a “master of vices” and had a “morbid imagination.” Jolly Jane’s macabre fascination with the fine line between life and death did more than pique her interest. It lasciviously excited her. A nurse by trade and mortal mixologist for fun, her morphine and atropine cocktails were garnished with a squeeze of “moral insanity.” Meet Jolly Jane Toppan.

She came to the land of opportunity as a young woman, naive and eager, determined to succeed. And she did. But not without learning a very hard lesson… Lorena’s story is gut-wrenching, her action was wicked. Was the deed deserved? Her tale is proof some will never change.

A little scripture and a splash of arsenic are the secret ingredients in Blanche’s famous Banana Pudding. She’s been on death row for thirty years, North Carolina’s oldest death row inmate, and one of only two women currently condemned to death in the state. Is Blanche Taylor Moore a cold-blooded killer? Or just a misunderstood victim of male adoration... 

Exotic, clever, and convicted as a double agent. Who was Mata Hari? Was she guilty of espionage? Or was her bold female prowess a threat to wartime strategies? Her dance mesmerized and captivated, but youth fades. And the ones she served showed no mercy.

She is known as one half of the notorious and legendary outlaw duo, Bonnie and Clyde. Did Bonnie do it all for love, or was she motivated by fame? Maybe it was a little both. One thing is for certain, Bonnie Parker deserves her own place in history's spotlight. 

She just wanted everyone to understand that she is Jesus Christ. Join Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s Family and get dosed with LSD, take some yoga, and be protected when the aliens show up to rid the earth of evil. Your only contribution is a child. 

She was born into a family with a Satan-worshipping father and a mother who had no boundaries. Good decisions didn’t come naturally to Brookey Lee West. But fraud and murder did. Meet the woman who took Sin City to another level. 

Her murder farm held the answers to the disappearance of dozens. Belle Gunness had an axe to grind, quite literally. What possessed this serial killer to take the lives of so many? Greed? Anger? Or was she just a plain old psychopath? Learn why Belle Gunness is known as the “Female Bluebeard.”  

When a spouse disappears, the partner is always first to suspect. But what about when the spouse has their fair share of enemies and unsavory hobbies? Don disappears, a rival goes over the top, and Carole seems to get a raw deal. Mystery and crazy make a good story. But what about the truth?

Were the axe murders that rocked Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas the work of one deranged bloodthirsty individual? Or was it a group effort driven by dark forces and a mysterious macabre faith? In Episode One, we explored Clementine Barnabet, Louisiana’s Voodoo Axe Murderer, and discovered more questions than answers. In Episode Six: You Axed - Clementine Continued, we find more victims. And more questions. Was Clementine a murderer guided by dark forces? Or was there a copy cat killer crossing state lines?

She slaughters animals for a living and covets her knife collection. Surely she’s just a regular “Sheila.” Katherine Knight, Australia’s first woman to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, gave Hannibal Lecter a run for his epicurean money.

15th century BFFs, Margery Jourdemayne and Eleanor Cobham just wanted to conjure up some good social status, and maybe a baby or two, but nobody likes a social climber. And if you’re a woman in the 1400s, you must be practicing sorcery if you're getting any “boudoir triumphs.” Margery Jourdemayne and Eleanor Cobham got into some trouble with the Crown. One of them burned for it. 

What do you get when you take a fake teenager, a doctor, a cult, and two sisters? A twisted tale of torture, lies, and a woman who doesn’t deserve the title  “Mom.” In a neighborhood in Brno, Czech Republic, atrocities so shocking were taking place that the Czech people fear they will never recover from the horrors. This is the Kuřim Case. 

In 19th Century Britain, a lot of people were dying. And death was a big business. Unless you were the one who died. Don’t let your loved one end up on an anatomy school’s dissecting table, join a Burial Club… or 2, or 7.  Meet the Black Widows of Liverpool. Card-carrying members of Burial Clubs.   

Before the New Orleans Axeman, there was another slayer brutally tormenting the Bayou: Clementine Barnabet.  Guided by supernatural powers, she was on a mission to shed blood. Armed with Louisiana voodoo and her insatiable appetite for human sacrifices, she ripped through rural Southeast Louisiana.  Who was Louisiana’s Voodoo Axe Murderer?

Take a walk on the Wicked side. When it comes to true crime, men tend to get all of the glory. But there are some truly Wicked Women out there, and they have earned their place in history's deep pocket of notorious criminals: Voodoo Queens, black widows, DIY chemists, accused necromancers, and witches. Listen weekly to the stories of these Wicked Women. You'll never look at "Grandma" the same way again.