he Murder of Philippo Caruso Episode 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…

The Cruel Murder Of The Deering Family Episode 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 relea…

Fiasco at the World’s Fair There’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 …

The Betrayal Of Gerretje Haast Although 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 EDITION Become a supporter of this pod…

The Michigan Petting Party Murders Episode 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 EDITION Becom…

Confession Of The Bigamist Otto Mueller Episode 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 EDITION Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcas…

Frank Carter, Maniac Episode 263 explores the psyche of a purely evil man, but also a witty, highly entertaining individual, a textbook sociopath. AD-FREE EDITION Culled 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--290931…

Two Doomed Fugitives Episode 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 …

Little Eva’s Roadhouse Plot Episode 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 su…

Unveiling The Scandalous Hannah Elias Episode 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 beli…

The Tragic Ordeal Of Sally Horner Episode 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 Atrocities Of Albert Fish I'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 Murder Of Mary Phagan Episode 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 …

Dr. Jermaine Ford - President - Florence Darlington Technical College

The Reily Mattock Murder Episode 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.…

The Real ‘Chicago’ Murders Episode 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 Pulp…

The Trial Of Rattlesnake James, The Red-Headed Bluebeard Episode 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. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.sprea…

A Litany of Horror Episode 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 t…