Historical True Crime

In December 1811, two households on London’s Ratcliffe Highway were brutally murdered within days of each other. As panic spread through the East End, investigators searched for a killer moving through the dockside streets. A sailor named John Williams soon became the prime suspect but his death would leave the truth uncertain. Source Materials P. D. James and T. A. Critchley. The Maul and the Pea...

In October 1949, aspiring Hollywood actress Jean Spangler left her Los Angeles apartment and never returned. Despite a major police investigation and decades of speculation,Jean Spangler was never found. In this episode, we examine the evidence behind one of Hollywood’s most enduring unsolved disappearances. Source Materials Lewis, Jon. Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los An...

In 1922, six people were murdered at the remote Hinterkaifeck farm in rural Bavaria. Despite an extensive investigation, the killer was never identified. This episode examines the historical context, evidence, and enduring mystery behind one of Germany’s most famous unsolved crimes. Source Materials Peter Leuschner, Hinterkaifeck: Germany’s Most Mysterious Murder Case. Bill James & Rachel McCa...

In 1857, a prominent New York dentist was found murdered in his Bond Street office. Suspicion fell on Emma Cunningham, the widow who ran the boardinghouse and claimed to be his wife — and heir. Her acquittal did not end the scandal. Adisputed marriage, a claimed pregnancy, and a staged birth kept the city riveted and raised new questions about truth, reputation, and inheritance in mid-19th-century...

In 1629, the Dutch merchant ship Batavia wrecked on a remote reef off Western Australia. What followed was not just a struggle for survival, but a calculated campaign of violence that left more than one hundred people dead. Drawing on survivor testimony and historical records, this episode examines one of the most disturbing episodes in maritime history. Source Materials Pelsaert, Francisco. The J...

The 1612 Pendle witch trials remain among the most famous in English history. What began with a single accusation soon expanded into a prosecution that would send ten people to the gallows. Source Materials Potts, Thomas. The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (1613) Almond, Philip C. The Lancashire Witches: A Chronicle of Sorcery and Death on Pendle Hill. Poole, Robert (...

In 1937, three girls left home for a day at the park and never returned. Their disappearance sparked a frantic search, a shocked community, and a murder case that moved with remarkable speed. This episode traces the investigation intothe deaths of Melba Everett, Madeline Everett, and Jeanette Stephens, the arrest of Albert Dyer, and a trial shaped almost entirely by his confessions. Everett, Pamel...

I n September 1907, Emily Dimmock was found murdered in her rented rooms in Camden Town, her throat cut while she slept. Known to some as “Phyllis,” she lived a double life in Edwardian London, moving between respectability and survival. This episode explores Emily’s final days, the trial that followed, andwhy the Camden Town Murder remains unsolved more than a century later. Source Materials Napl...

In 1799, Elma Sands vanished from a New York boardinghouse. Her body was later found in a well, and the trial that followed — defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr — left more questions than answers. This episode examines the Manhattan Well murder and the limits of justice in early America. Source Materials Coleman, William. The Trial of Levi Weeks; or, The Manhattan Well Mystery . New Yor...

Three deaths. No obvious violence. No immediate suspicion. An 1886 poisoning case that unfolded quietly inside the home — until it didn’t. Source Materials: Berry,James. My Experiences as an Executioner .Berry, James. The Hangman’s Thoughts Above the Gallows .Shannon, Issy. Infamous Lancashire Women .Stratmann, Linda. The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder Watson, Katherine. Poisoned Lives: Engl...

In February 1567, an explosion destroyed a house in Edinburgh but the body of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was found outside the ruins, untouched by the blast. His murder was never solved. This episode examines Darnley’s death within thepolitical world of sixteenth-century Scotland and the pressures facing Mary, Queen of Scots. A story of power, perception, and suspicion without proof. Source Materi...

In 1924, bones emerging from the River Leine exposed the crimes of Fritz Haarmann—the “Butcher of Hanover”—who had been operating in plain sight. This episode traces the missing boys, the fractured systems that failed them, and how one city finally uncovered a killer hidden in its midst. Source Materials Alexander Gilbert — The Hanover Vampire: Fritz Haarmann Mark Pulham — “The Monster of Hanover,...

A quiet border town, a sudden illness, and a solicitor accused of poisoning both his wife and a rival. This episode examines the Armstrong case and why, even 100 years later, it remains one of Britain’s most debated convictions. Sources & Further Reading Stephen Bates, The Poisonous Solicitor (2022) Martin Beales, The Hay Poisoner: Herbert Rowse Armstrong (2001) Robin Odell, Exhumation of a Mu...

A 1932 Stockholm murder becomes one of Sweden’s strangest cold cases. When 32-year-old Lilly Lindeström is found dead in her apartment, unusual details spark rumorsof a “vampire” killer. What’s fact, what’s myth, and why was the case never solved? Source Materials https://gizmodo.com/swedens-most-bizarre-unsolved-murder-was-maybe-commit-1706115395 https://londonpress.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/the-d...

A woman posing as Andrew Carnegie’s secret daughter scammed banks out of today’s equivalent of $20 million—armed with nothing but forged notes and absolute confidence. This is the rise and unraveling of Cassie Chadwick, one of the boldest fraudsters of the Gilded Age. Source Materials Crosbie, John. The Incredible Mrs. Chadwick . 1975. Hazelgrove, William Elliott. Greed in the Gilded Age: TheBrill...

A young woman in rural Tipperary falls suddenly ill in 1895—and within days, fear, folklore, and family pressure spiral into one of Ireland’s most disturbing murder cases. This episode unravels the death of Bridget Cleary, the beliefs that shaped it, and the legacy she never asked for. Source Materials  Bourke, Angela. The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story. Penguin, 2000. The Tipperary Witch...

In 1920s Los Angeles, prophecy, greed, and death collided in the hills of California. This episode unravels the story of the Blackburn Cult—a mother-daughter prophecy, a girl kept on ice, and a courtroom that tried to make sense of itall. Historical True Crime was named one of Feedspot’s Best 1920s Podcasts , coming in at #4. Feedspot highlights top podcasts across history, true crime, and culture...

Between 1894 and 1897, a scarred drifter named Joseph Vacher wandered the French countryside, leaving a trail of murdered shepherds and farmhands in his wake. Dubbed “The French Ripper,” his crimes terrified rural France—and helped give birth to modern forensic science. This episode traces his life, his trial, and the work of Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the scientist who proved that evidence could s...

In 1803, a ghost was said to haunt the lanes of Hammersmith. By the time the truth emerged, one man was dead—and another stood trial for murder. This is the story of the Hammersmith Ghost: where fear, rumor, and justice collided in the dark. Source Materials Proceedings of the Old Bailey ,11 January 1804 – Trial of Francis Smith for the murder of Thomas Millwood. Burton, Paul J. “The Hammersmith G...

A nobleman’s drunken murder. A trial before the Irish House of Lords. And the scandal that gave rise to Ireland’s most infamous secret society — the Hellfire Club. Source Material   Neal Garnham , “The Trials of James Cotter and Henry, Baron Barry of Santry: Two Case Studies in the Administrationof Criminal Justice in Early Eighteenth-Century Ireland” , IrishHistorical Studies , Vol. 32, No. 128 (...

In 1566, a widow from a quiet Essex village was accused of feeding her cat with drops of her own blood—and of using it to kill. This is the story of Agnes Waterhouse, the first woman in England whose witch trial was captured in print. A story offear, faith, and the birth of the English witch. Source Material:

In 1900, Texas millionaire William Marsh Rice was found dead in his New York apartment. Within hours, forged checks, a suspicious will, and a hasty cremation order set off one of the most sensational murder cases of the Gilded Age. This is thestory of greed, betrayal, and the crime that nearly derailed the founding of Rice University. Patreon - Historical True Crime | Patreon Website - Historical...

Glamour, scandal, and an unsolved death. When torch singer Libby Holman married into the Reynolds tobacco dynasty, she stepped into a world of wealth and whispers. Whatfollowed was a mystery that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Source Material The Notorious Libby Holman | Vanity Fair | March 1985 This Month In Rockingham County History: August - 'Libby Holman Reynolds Turns Herself I...

In July 1908, the body of 20-year-old Hazel Drew was discovered face-down in Teal’s Pond near Sand Lake, New York. Rumors of secret lovers, missing letters, and powerful suspects turned her death into both a ghost story and, decades later, the inspiration for Twin Peaks. Source Materials Jerry Drake, Hazel Was a Good Girl (Clash Books, 2023). David Bushman & Mark Givens, Murder at Teal’s Pond:...

For our 150th episode, we revisit one of history’s most infamous names: H. H. Holmes. Behind the myths of the ‘Murder Castle’ lies a story of fraud, fear, and fact stranger than legend. Step inside Chicago’s 1890s underworld—and separate truth from folklore. Source Materials The Enduring Mystery of H.H. Holmes, America's 'First' Serial Killer The Toronto link to America's bloodiest...