A True Crime History Podcast
The small Southern California island of Coronado rarely makes news for violent crime. But in the spring of 1975, World War II widow and retired librarian Ruth Quinn was murdered,
Continue readingThe Murder of Jujube Heiress Ruth Quinn w/ Taylor Kiland
In the early twentieth century, eugenics captivated scientists and the public alike, giving researchers license to exploit the infirm, the mentally ill, prisoners, Native communities and many others considered “defective”
Continue readingA History of Eugenics in America w/ Mark A. Torres
Clay Allison was both liked and loathed in his lifetime, embodying the contradictions of the American frontier. He could show moments of kindness for the downtrodden, but also carried deep
Continue readingGunfighter Clay Allison w/ Donna Blake Birchell
In the sultry summer of 1949, a sleepy Florida beach town was rocked to its core. A brutal home invasion, a shocking murder, and a desperate, month-long manhunt captivated—and terrified—an
The 1952 burglary of eccentric multi-millionaire LaVere Redfield’s mansion in Reno, Nevada was the largest of its time, but also a comedy of errors. “Masterminded” by a French-Canadian woman with
The First Forensic Hanging: The Toxic Truth That Killed Mary Blandy by Summer Strevens tells the story of Mary Blandy, executed in 1752 for poisoning her father Frances Blandy with
Continue readingThe First Forensic Hanging w/ Summer Strevens
Myra Maybelle Shirley, better known as Belle Starr, was one of the most notorious female outlaws of the Old West (if you believe period newspapers, anyway). My guest, bestselling and
“Doctor” Robert Spears was arguably one of the greatest con artists of the twentieth century, and very likely a mass murderer. In thirty nine years of grift, he had 25
Continue readingThe Life & Crimes of Robert Spears w/ Jerry Jamison
My guest this week is Scott Ellsworth, author of Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America. He talks
Continue readingJohn Wilkes Booth & the Last Year of the Civil War w/ Scott Ellsworth
In July of 1908 the body of twenty-year-old Hazel Drew was found floating in a mill pond in Upstate New York. Her death captured headlines across the nation and around
Continue readingThe Hazel Drew Murder Revisited w/ Jerry C. Drake