True Crime Historian

 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 belie her humble origins. Then things get messy. This...

 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 . You can pay more if you want to, but rent at the Safe...

The Search For The Sheba Bandit Episode 234 is not only a murder mystery, but it also explores the history of attitudes regarding alternative lifestyles. Now that we’re living in an age where gender is a fluid thing, it’s interesting to hear how the police and the press respond when the main suspect doesn’t quite fit into the sexual norms of nearly a century past. Culled from the historic pages of...

Assassination of Nancy Parker Remastered from the True Crime Historian VaultEpisode 202 takes us inside the mind of an unhinged woman, but not too deeply. The story takes a lot of strange contradictory turns as the layers are peeled back and everyone tries to get the story straight. Or not. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2...

The Long Island Gas Station Murder Episode 219 is the first-person report of New York private detective Felix De Martini as he investigates the death of a popular and benevolent small businessman, the owner of a service station. De Martini's dogged pursuit of the culprit was told in the classic pages of True Detective Magazine, historic purveyors of sensational true crime, in April 1945. Ad-Free E...

The Solteldo-Barton Affair Episode 247 strikes a little close to home for me. Having spent 25 years working in a newsroom with very little security, the possibility of an indignant individual bursting in with a gun and opening fire because he didn’t like what was printed, was a constant (albeit low-grade) fear. In this case, when the bullets start flying and witnesses start ducking out the door, i...

The Haynesville/Homer Hammer Murder The scandal in Episode 188 unfolds in the small towns dotting the bayou country of Northern Louisiana. When the Haynesville town grocer goes missing, his wife declares that he ran out on her, but then a former border from Homer moves in and eyebrows are raised. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-histor...

The Covington Kiger Conspiracy Charge Episode 227 is the strange tale of a teenage girl who admittedly shot her brother and father in the middle of the night thinking she was shooting at burglars. Did she kill her family because of a nightmare? Was the girl insane? Or were there more sinister forces at work? Seems like no one can decide.... Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https...

Starring Beulah Binford As ‘The Woman In The Case’ Episode 251 is the story of one of the most sensational murders of its day when the spoiled son of a well-to-do Richmond, Virginia, family commits a ghastly crime. The entire nation is enthralled by the salacious details of the case and photos of his beautiful young paramour, a girl with a bad reputation though still in her teens, graces front pag...

The Baldwin Trunk Murder Episode 187 takes us to Prohibition-era Los Angeles, where a gallivanting doctor gets a snoot full of juice and more than he bargained for. Factor in a devoted teenage son who will do anything to protect his mother and a somewhat bewildered boyfriend to come up with another scandalous tale. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcas...

The Mutilation Of Anna Aumuller Episode 217 is more than just a murder. It starts out as just your run-of-the mill everyday good-girl-gone-bad headless torso murders, but the finding of the body parts only opens a sweeping international criminal case that gets the Feds involved. This story has a big pile of drama under every headline, including some impressive courtroom theatrics, but is so laced...

The Hodges Massacre And Its Awful Aftermath Put on your favorite indignation hat, my friend, because episode 253 is going to be one of those. This case was mentioned in the coverage of the Padrick case, Episode 245, Slain For Her Own Salvation, and it piqued my interest and the interest of some listeners, so I looked into it. I hesitated going on. We live in tense times but I decided it’s importan...

The Golden Gate Park Tunnel Tragedy Episode 185 takes us to the West Coast just after Prohibition, when a 23-year-old woman turns up dead, strangled and violated (as they say) in Golden Gate Park, just after being unceremoniously ejected from a rich man’s hotel apartment after refusing his advances. The man has an alibi. See if you buy it. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https:...

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 kids to bed and plug in your ear buds. Keep t...

The Florodora Girl Takes The Stand Episode 257 combines some of our favorite tropes: the love triangle gone awry, another showgirl and another man about town who wants to eat his cake and take it to Europe, too. There were only two people in that hansom cab when the shot was fired, and the Flora Dora girl said she didn't shoot even though the gun was identified as hers. Ad-Free Edition Become a su...

The Stanford Bathtub Murder Episode 255 examines the sensational events following the discovery of a woman found dead in the bathtub, bludgeoned to death, and all circumstantial evidence pointing to the husband. I’m not so sure. The prosecution theory makes some sense, but I think they failed to prove a crucial element that would have convinced me. Drop me an email or a message on Facebook and tel...

The Mahoney Trunk Murder of Seattle Episode 194 takes place in the Pacific Northwest, when an elderly, wealthy widow marries a man fresh out of Walla Walla Prison, then disappears on their honeymoon two months later. I think we know where this is going, and yeah, it's not gonna end well. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909...

The Murders Of William Lindstrom, Cameo Soutar, And Maybe One Other Guy Episode 201 tells the story of a woman's allegedly murderous career in Chicago and Indiana. Three times a murder or otherwise suspicious death took place near Mrs. Cassler, and she even spent some time condemned to the gallows, but fate twisted in her favor every time. She did spend more than two years in jail, but overall, it...

 The Scoundrel John Arthur Pender In episode 259, a woman and her toddler son are brutally murdered in their remote Oregon cabin. Suspicion falls on a neighbor who had been given their mail, found unopened at the crime scene. With intense courtroom testimony and a handful of plot twists, this one will keep you guessing. Did he, or didn’t he? Culled from the historic pages of the Oregon Daily Journ...

First Lady Of The Electric Chair Episode 212 tells the story of the first walk of a woman to the electric chair. One cold winter night, a Brooklyn woman apparantly attacks her husband with an axe as he walks through the door, leaving him for dead in the entry way. Besides this gruesome sight, neighbors are about to discover a whole house full of horrors. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this...

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony Featuring Featuring Emily Simer Braun as Susan B. Anthony  Episode 173 explores the prosecution of one of the most hideous crimes in American history, trying to sway an election by voting. By a woman! Just kidding. The real crime here is the way the judge handed down the decision. Listen, and tell me if you agree. Theme Music by Dave Sams and Rachel Schott, engineered...

Betty Martin And Mildred Bolton Take Aim Episode 178  takes us to Chicago in the 1930s when two women stand trial for very similar crimes, murdering their husbands, the second one inspired by the first. Both women are a little crazy, maybe a lot crazy, but their demeanor during their trials and the very different outcomes makes an interesting study to compare and contrast. One of them is pretty, t...

Elderly Carpenter Murdered With Hammer Episode 199 tells what happens when a grandmother with a grumpy but somewhat older husband befriends a younger man when he's released from prison and begins paying him $250 a month for his, um, affections. Yeah, that's not going to end well. That's a grand, sordid conspriracy. Just like we like 'em. Ad-Free Episode Become a supporter of this podcast: https://...

The Philadelphia Arsenic Ring Episode 181 takes us down a dark road of spiritualism and witchcraft, of an elaborate web that led to an estimated 200 deaths by various means, including arsenic poisoning. And two executions. And twelve lifesentences. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support . You can pay more if you wa...

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 truth to come out. Ad-Free Edition Become a su...