Criminal Broads

Poor Pam Hupp and her bad luck. First her best friend Betsy gets stabbed 55 times. Then her mother falls off a balcony. Then she gets KIDNAPPED. And now Pam, who wouldn’t hurt a fly, is in prison for life?! Some people just can’t catch a break, no matter how hard they lie. Read Jeanette Cooperman’s longform piece on Pam: https://www.stlmag.com/longform/pam-hupp/ Support the podcast by supporting i...

Catherine Pileggi went from a flight attendant to a multimillionaire’s girlfriend. But after eighteen years, her relationship was on the rocks. Then one night—someone cracked. Was it him? Or was it her? Check out: lastprisonerproject.org Support the podcast at: patreon.com/criminalbroads Follow on Instagram: Instagram.com/criminalbroads Find sources here: criminalbroads.com/sources/episode63 Music...

When Blanche Wright was captured in 1980, police said they’d found a vicious killer. And for decades, no one dug any further to find out who the real Blanche was. Michael Wilson of the New York Times comes on the podcast to tell us her story. Read Michael’s article on Blanche here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/nyregion/prince-charming-hit-man.html?searchResultPosition=1 Read more of Michael’...

Faithful friends, how could I conclude sister month without interviewing MY OWN SISTER? Enjoy this mini just-for-fun interview with the iconic Anna Telfer, actress, little sis, and—controversially—someone who once identified with Kitty in Pride and Prejudice. Follow Anna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna.telfer/?hl=en Follow the podcast on Instagram: Instagram.com/criminalbroads Intro a...

June and Jennifer Gibbons made a pact with each other when they were eight: they weren’t going to speak to anyone but each other. Decades later, they found themselves in a high-security psychiatric hospital, putting the final touches on their pact that had turned surreal, all-encompassing, and…deadly. *** Support the podcast by supporting its sponsors! Go to dailyharvest.com and enter promo code c...

Hi, my loves! I'm super excited to introduce you all to Sinisterhood, a true crime comedy podcast that covers all things creepy and gives you the deep dives and thorough research you want. Best friends and long time comedians Christie Wallace and Heather McKinney cover serial killers, disappearances, cults, cryptids—and even do legal deep dives into things like the Britney Spears conservatorship....

Welcome to week three of SISTER MONTH. The three Khachaturyan sisters liked to take selfies and go to the movies. They looked like typical teenage girls from the outside—but behind the scenes, they were locked in a house of horrors with their cruel father and a wall covered in angels. Email your sister stories to criminalbroads@gmail.com . Sign the change.org petition: https://www.change.org/p/sto...

Welcome to week two of SISTER MONTH. Today we’re traveling to the midcentury Dominican Republic, where three of the four Mirabal sisters are facing off against notorious dictator Rafael Trujillo. Who wins? That depends on whether or not you take the long view. Email your sister stories to criminalbroads@gmail.com. *** Support the podcast by supporting its sponsors! Go to athenaclub.com/criminalbro...

Welcome to SISTER MONTH. We’re starting in 1930s France, where Christine and Lea Papin do everything together. They work together. They live together. They ignore everyone else together. They kill together. *** Support the podcast by supporting its sponsors! Go to dipseastories.com/criminalbroads for a free month of sensual stories! And go to dailyharvest.com and enter promo code criminalbroads to...

Your faithful correspondent is on vacation, so please enjoy this re-release (with brand new introduction) about one of the most iconic broads we’ve ever covered. In 2018, I described it as follows: “A surreal story of abuse and revenge, one that starts in poverty and ends in power.” And then meet me back here next month for our June theme: SISTERS.  *** Support the podcast by supporting its sponso...

We’ve covered over fifty broads on this podcast, from serial killers and cult leaders to lady lawyers and forensic artists. But their stories don’t end when the episode does. Today we’re taking a look at what some of our most infamous broads—Amy Bishop, Jasmuheen, Caril Ann Fugate, and more—have been doing lately. This episode contains everything from war crimes to nine nights spent in a dark cave...

One of the most powerful offices in the country is up for grabs this year, and it’s never been held by a woman. It’s the office of Manhattan District Attorney. And Eliza Orlins wants the job. She’s a public defender who’s represented over 3000 New Yorkers and now she’s ready to cross the courtroom aisle and reimagine criminal justice across the US. Oh: and she almost won Survivor. Join the fight a...

Last time we encountered Marie Hilley, she was running from the FBI. Now, she’s changed her name and her backstory and (eventually) even her hair color. Meet Robbi. No, meet Teri. You’ll like her. She’ll MAKE you like her.  *** Thanks to Alex Taylor and Anna Telfer for the great voiceover work. :) Support the podcast by supporting its sponsors! *Go to dailyharvest.com and enter promo code criminal...

Marie Hilley grew up thinking she was special. Marie Hilley spent a lot of money. Marie Hilley said she had a twin in Texas. Marie Hilley started carrying around hypodermic syringes. MEET MARIE. PART ONE OF TWO. *** Sign Sister Eli's petition: https://www.change.org/p/ned-lamont-more-recreational-time-for-cheshire-ci?redirect=false Support the podcast by supporting its sponsors! *hellofresh.com/cr...

She came to New York to make a name for herself, and despite a little, um, detour on Rikers Island, Anna Delvey succeeded. Netflix and HBO dueled over her life story; people dressed up as the scammer for Halloween. But behind the bravado and the $400 eyelash extensions, what can we say about the real Anna? …Is there a real Anna? Support the podcast! Go to dailyharvest.com and enter promo code crim...

It was a crime made for the headlines: GOOD TWIN VS. EVIL TWIN. The twins themselves, Sunny and Gina Han, disagreed with the headlines. But you couldn’t deny that something had gone wrong between them, because now one of them was in shackles, and one of them was on the witness stand.  *** Support the podcast by supporting today’s sponsor. Go to athenaclub.com/criminalbroads for 20% off your new fa...

Nobody conquered crime quite like Sophie Lyons, who grew from a childhood pickpocket to a career criminal with a talent for disguises, netting husbands, and talking her way out of sticky situations. Author Shayne Davidson comes on the podcast to tell me Sophie’s story from her book Queen of the Burglars: The Scandalous Life of Sophie Lyons . *** Find more of Shayne’s work (lots of fabulous vintage...

Somewhere on the icy sidewalks of New York in 1910, an heiress vanished into thin air. Her family waited six weeks to call the police. This is the tale of Dorothy Arnold, one of America’s original front-page missing person stories. *** LINKS I MENTIONED IN THE INTRO: Donate to the Women’s Prison Association—if you become a quarterly or monthly donor and put “Criminal Broads” in the details section...

On January 17, 2014, Sister Eli decided not to go to a party because she was too pregnant. Three years later, she was taking a plea deal for something she hadn't done that night—to avoid a three-to-ten year prison sentence. This is the story of how the criminal justice system can come crashing down on an innocent woman like a wave and make it very hard for her to come up for air. Big thanks to Sis...

Casey Anthony is a woman whose face launched a thousand death threats, because most Americans believe she killed her daughter. After her high-profile trial and shocking acquittal, she became an odd sort of celebrity: a famous recluse. What’s she been up to for the past ten years? Why do we care? How accurate are the headlines about her? And does it all add up to anything at all? *** Support the po...

In 1992, the body of a young nun named Sister Abhaya was pulled from a well with fingernail marks on her neck. Why did it take thirty years for anyone to be charged for her murder? Support the podcast: patreon.com/criminalbroads Sources: “Regressive, crude,” Indian Express, 24 July 2009 “Sister Sephy burst into tears, Fr Kottoor kept a stoic face,” The Times of India, 23 Dec 2020 “She was murdered...

Rebekah Sebastian has interviewed pretty much everyone in the true crime universe on her podcast Die-Alogue. Now, for our second ever Crime-Obsessed Broad episode, I’m interviewing HER! She talks about the most emotional moments she’s heard during her interviews, why a jury trial scares her, and a HILARIOUS trend involving people who don’t turn down their…um…TV. Oh, and a conspiracy theory involvi...

The story of a fortune teller, a romance novelist, and millions and millions of missing dollars. From CONFIDENT WOMEN: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion . —Preorder my new book, Confident Women, at Pilsen Community Books or Binnacle Books or wherever you get your reads! —SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patron . —See photos from the episode on Instagram . Sources: This...

Amy Bishop was obsessed with her Harvard degree, but the rest of the world failed to bow down to her, and she couldn’t take it. “These people are against me,” she ranted to a coworker. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. —Preorder my new book, Confident Women, at Pilsen Community Books or Binnacle Books or wherever you get your reads! — Here’s my Atlantic article about women who com...

In 2007, Jennifer Mee got her fifteen minutes of fame when she couldn’t stop hiccuping. In 2016, she was once again on TV—this time on a show called “Killer Women.” Fame is a curse, and it had cursed her.  *** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patron .*** Sources: Jennifer Mee advocacy website: jmeefree.com St. Petersburg Times coverage of Jennifer Mee, 2007-2013, especially coverage from journalist M...