A True Crime History Podcast
In 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish galleon San José sailed from South America carrying a vast cargo of gold and silver bound for Spain. Off
Continue readingThe Shipwreck of the San José & the Quest to Find Its Treasure w/ Julian Sancton
n 1949, a quiet neighborhood in St. Louis became the center of one of the most controversial religious cases in American history. A 13-year-old boy began exhibiting disturbing symptoms including
Continue readingThe 1949 Exorcism That Inspired “The Exorcist” w/ Troy Taylor
Told and retold in many languages, the legend of the Blood Countess has consumed cultural imaginations around the world. But despite claims that Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed as many
Continue readingElizabeth Báthory: The World’s Worst Female Serial Killer? w/ Shelley Puhak
On a beautiful fall day in September 1916, 68-year-old Hannah Spielman went on a picnic with her new husband, 71-year-old James Allen, in the woods outside Grand Rapids, Michigan. She
Continue readingHenry Scott Mausell: Michigan’s First Serial Killer? w/ Allie Seibert
My guest, William J. Mann, has spent years writing about Hollywood, and in his new book “Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood”, he takes a fresh look
Continue readingThe Black Dahlia: Another Suspect w/ William J Mann
On this episode of Most Notorious, I speak with author Jack El-Hai about his book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting
On October 21, 1836, crowds lined the docks of Saint John, New Brunswick, to watch the steamship Royal Tar depart for Portland, Maine – this time carrying an entire circus.
Continue readingThe Wreck of the Circus Ship Royal Tar w/ Jane Parks Gardner
At the close of the nineteenth century, serial killer Joseph Vacher terrorized the French countryside for years, eluding capture while murdering more victims than Jack the Ripper. His sprawling crime
Continue readingThe Killer of Little Shepherds w/ Douglas Starr
On April 13, 1788, outrage erupted in New York City when word spread that students from the local medical school were stealing corpses from nearby graveyards, at the direction of
Among the many murder cases handled by South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian, one continues to stand apart: the prosecution of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins. A serial killer and sexual predator,
Continue readingSerial Killer Pee Wee Gaskins w/ Dick Harpootlian