Murder, Mischief & Mayhem!

Justin Vyor is the creator and writer of Murder, Mischief & Mayhem! , the anthology podcast that explores sensational but long-forgotten American murder cases from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Justin's deep fascination with the odd corners of American history —especially when crime, character, and culture collide — has resulted in a unique podcast series that features compelling narrati...

Upon the discovery of the body of Ocey Snead, the three Wardlaw sisters are apprehended and indicted on first degree murder charges. The circumstances surrounding the girl’s passing are incriminating. The “women in black” all steadfastly maintain their innocence in a courtroom unnerved by the untimely death of Virginia Wardlaw (who starves herself in her jail cell) and the egomaniacal ravings of C...

East Orange New Jersey was an affluent, tree-lined, mansion-filled community in 1909, populated by oil tycoons and Newark industrialists. In November of that year, its tranquility was suddenly shattered by a phone call to the police from Virginia Wardlaw, one of the three Wardlaw women (the Sisters in Black) who were well known in East Orange for their weird attire and strange behavior. That distu...

Three sisters disturb the peace in East Orange New Jersey in 1909 when they take a 19-year-old girl hostage and imprison her in their hovel. Their plan for the girl (the daughter of one of the sisters) is diabolical: gaslight their victim into submission, gain control over her inheritance, and then starve her to death. 

The trial of Dr. Rosenzweig attracted national attention, thanks to its relentless coverage in the New York press. Abortion was relatively common in Post-Civil War New York. In fact, an underground network of providers openly advertised their services in the classified sections of the local newspapers. However, in 1871, it was an unsafe and often fatal pursuit. The Rosenzweig trial went well beyon...

Nothing could prepare the baggage handlers on the loading dock of the Hudson River Railroad Depot for what they found when they cracked open a suspicious steamer trunk headed for Chicago. They recoil in horror. The authorities are immediately called in. The New York City Constabulary conducts an investigation with a zeal that befits the enormity of the suspected crime.

In 1871, a mysterious woman deposits a Saratoga trunk on the loading dock of the Hudson River Train Depot for transport to Chicago. The steamer never makes it to its destination. Instead, it triggers arrests, an indictment and a sensational trial that attracts national attention.    The issue at stake in that courtroom foreshadows a  judicial and cultural firestorm that continues to rip the fabric...

J. Edgar Hoover, now smelling blood, rejoins the interrogation, from the other side of the two-way mirror. He leans hard and loud into McCall. With Hoover relentlessly breathing down his neck, McCall agrees to escort the cops to where he “believes” his alleged partner in crime may have left the child. The field team quickly comes across an appalling find; the decomposed body of young Skeegie Cash,...

Young Skeegie, Old Sparky & J. Edgar  Season 1 Episode 3 As the FBI fumble their way through the case, a skeptical Sherriff D.C. Coleman pursues his own investigation. He reaches out to several of the locals to confirm his belief that the kidnapper was right under his nose. His folksy charm and wry sense of humor disguise a keen observational skill set based on years’ worth of police work. The she...

Four days pass after the kidnapping. The search team has expanded to include the local volunteers, the Sheriff’s office, FBI agents from the Miami office and other public and private agencies. The search fans out miles beyond the town of Princeton – but produces no results. The child has not been returned nor has the kidnapper communicated anything new. One day later, on June 3, 1938, a private pl...

On May 28, 1938, a toddler is kidnapped in the middle of the night from his bedroom in a rural South Florida town on the edge of The Everglades. The father shapes up a posse to find the culprit and the child. Soon, all the locals join in the hunt – and are suspects. Local law enforcement and the Miami office of the FBI join the rescue effort; it produces three ransom notes and one failed attempt t...

During a kidnap-for-ransom crime wave that plagued the country during the Great Depression (beginning with the notorious Lindbergh baby kidnapping case in 1932) a 5-year boy is snatched from his crib in a remote town on the edge of the Florida Everglades.  The parents, Bailey and Vera Cash, find a ransom note demanding $10,000 for the safe return of their son. The kidnapping of “Skeegie” Cash attr...