True Crime Historian

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Brutal Murder Of Mayme ShermanA True Crime Short Story by Richard O JonesAd-Free Safe House EditionOne 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 safecrackers, bandits, and other notorious characters. This short story, “Bacon On The Table,” concerns the third of three “bluebeard” killers in the first decade of the 20th century. The first was the murder of Hannah Knapp by Alfred Knapp in December, 1902. This is the subject of my book, “The First Celebrity Serial Killer.” But even before this crime came to light, Samuel J. Keelor tried to decapitate his wife on Valentine’s Day, 1903. You can read more about that story in my ebook, “The Sleepwalking Slasher.”The following year, just a week after Knapp paid the ultimate penalty for his crime, Charles Victor Sherman commits the horrible crime detailed in this episode.In

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 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.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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

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 versionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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 WigginsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

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.

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.