The Pearce Insanity Plot Ad-Free Safe House Edition Episode 289 is a scandalous story that shook two Midwestern cities in the late 1930s when a woman came forward with a bizarre tale of abduction, adultery, assault, addiction and absconsion. That’s why I’m putting this story on my A-list. More Prison Breaks Become a supporter of this podcast: https…

The LIzzie Edition Part V.b 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 case…

The LIzzie Edition Part V.a 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 case…

The Lizzie Edition: Part IV 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. Ad-Free Safe…

The Lizzie Edition: Part III 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. Ad-Free Safe House Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: …

The Lizzie Edition: Part II 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. Ad-Free Safe House Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: http…

Murder Of The Mythical Helen Johnson Ad-Free Safe House Edition Episode 288 goes out to True Crime Historian patron Aisha B., who requested a murder from her hometown of Pleasanton, California. Although a lot of these historic stories have humorous elements when considered in modern light, I don’t normally treat them as comedies. There may or may n…

The Ridde Of The Grinning Skull She led police to the body of her husband, but when she saw the mocking skull they dug up, a second murder came to light. By Frederic O. Schultze Ad Free Safe House Edition Adapted from True Detective Mysteries, V. 7; No. 4; July, 1927 Episode 287 is a first person account from a police reporter who admits to unethic…

The Lizzie Edition, Part I Episode 166 Ad-Free Safe House Edition True Crime Historian brings you “The Lizzie Edition,” an in-depth look at the murder of Andrew J. Borden and his wife 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…

The Heinous Crime Of Carl Wanderer Ad-Free Safe House Edition Episode 286 relates one of the most reprehensible double murders we’ve yet to encounter. They’re all reprehensible, but there’s no question that the act of Carl Wanderer was spawned by truly evil intent. More stories of "Pregnicide" Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreake…

Episode 140. Ad-Free Safe House Edition “The Bigamist And Her Murderous Husband: The Sweetwater Double Homicide” is the sordid tale of a love octangle (or something like that) when the suspiciously widowed husband of a girl married five times without a divorce gets fed up from the legal harassment from his wife’s elderly suitor. Culled from the his…

The Brutal Murder Of Mayme Sherman A True Crime Short Story by Richard O Jones Ad-Free Safe House Edition One of the factors behind my interest in historical true crime is that my hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, seems to have a particularly rich history of crime--murder in particular, but not just murder. I’ve done several local programs about the safe…

The Saga of the Scoundrel Thomas McGehan A true crime short story by Richard O Jones Ad-Free Safe House Edition - Episode 28 takes place on Christmas Eve 1870, when 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…

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 …

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…