Assassinations Podcast

An academic at the University of Swansea, Dr Trenta discusses his research into America’s use of assassination as a tool of foreign policy during the Cold War and the development of the so-called ban on assassinations, which was instituted through an executive order by President Gerald Ford in 1975. The conversation between Luca and host Niall continues and concludes next week. Check out producer...

Kit has extensively looked into the alleged attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England in 2018. In this interview he shares his thoughts on the case, as well as more recent developments and a potential connection with another other high-profile alleged chemical weapons attack that year. Thanks to Kit Klarenberg for joining us for this episode. His work can be found via: https:/...

A former British Army officer and private security contractor, Le Mesurier helped to found the Syrian Civil Defense, aka the White Helmets. Embroiled in scandals in the last months of his life, was his death an accident, suicide, or murder? In this episode we talked about an organization called ARK. It’s website is: https://www.ark.international To find out more about the people and music featured...

In this mini episode we consider the life and death of the Lebanese leader, whose extensive business interests and political activities made him a friend, confidante, and rival to some of the most powerful - and dangerous - people on earth. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. AssassinationsPodcast.com While there,...

One was a Nazi torturer, protected by the United States. The other was a Marxist guerrilla, hunted by the Bolivian government. Their paths would cross in one of the most infamous episodes of the Cold War. Assassinated, Guevara would become a countercultural icon. Meanwhile Barbie would go on to commit many more crimes before his final date with destiny. This episode is brought to you by EarlyBird....

Though authorities blamed an outlawed far-left militant group called the Red Army Faction for the assassination of this prominent West German businessman, there is good reason to think that other forces might have been behind the hit. This episode is brought to you by Omio. Use the link https://omio.sjv.io/c/2544961/1078765/7385 and promo code OMIO5 at checkout to receive a discount on your purcha...

Gerald Bull had been developing “super guns” for decades, culminating in his work for the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Assassinated in 1990, it is unclear if Bull was killed by the Israelis, the Iranians, some other covert agency … or by the Iraqis themselves. This episode is brought to you by Omio. Use the link https://omio.sjv.io/c/2544961/1078765/7385 and promo code OMIO5 at checkout to...

For our 100th episode, we travel back to the thirteenth century to hear a story about the most feared killers of their age: the Order of Assassins, led by the mysterious Old Man of the Mountains. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. AssassinationsPodcast.com While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we rec...

Our 100th episode, which comes out next week, will bring us face to face with the OG assassins of yore. To find out more, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. AssassinationsPodcast.com While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can also contact us throug...

Host Niall is joined this week by historian Sue Woolmans, the co-author of a book on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne who was killed in Sarajevo in 1914 - the event that sparked the First World War. This episode is brought to you by Brüush. Follow this link and use promo code POD15 to get 15% off your order: www.bit.ly/3xe5g7S To find out more about th...

In the concluding installment of our three-part investigation into the life and death of Roberto Calvi, we consider the forensic evidence from the scene of what at first appeared to be a suicide. Police eventually came to believe that he had been murdered. We go on a hunt for possible motives - a search that leads us from London, to Italy, to Poland, to Latin American … and back to London again. T...

The financial scandal centered on the dodgy activities of Roberto Calvi brought with it assassination, Mafia threats, and the exposure of corruption at the highest levels in Rome. This is the second installment of a three-part series. This episode is brought to you by Podgo.co To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. As...

This is Part 1 of our three-part investigation into the life, time, crimes, and suspicious demise of Roberto Calvi - a man dubbed “God’s banker” because of his association with the Vatican. We begin by imagining (based on first hand accounts) an initiation ceremony that Calvi might have gone through in order to join a secret society called Propaganda Due . To find out more about the people and mus...

Soleimani was killed in an American drone missile strike at Bagdad International Airport. Many feared that the assassination would incite a major military response from Iran; however, the whole affair appeared to have been quite carefully stage-managed by both sides. This episode is brought to you by Away Travel. To get the best deal on premium luggage go to: PODGO.CO/AWAY To find out more about t...

A soldier, a diplomat, the grandson of a king, and a man who helped to save thousands of people from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, Folke Bernadotte was selected to help resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict in Palestine in 1948. It was a mission that cost him his life. This episode is brought to you by Clarks. Clarks and PODGO are bringing you up to 30% off select footwear. Just go to PODGO...

For decades a leading figure in the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, al-Mabhouh was remarkably negligent in his security arrangements leading up to his assassination in 2010. An Israeli death squad was sent to Dubai to eliminate him; but they ended up making their own set of strange decisions, causing an international diplomatic incident in the process. Today’s episode is brought t...

We take a lighthearted narrative approach to finding out about the great Pan-American Exposition in New York, before turning to the somber matter of the assassination of President McKinley, who was shot there on September 6th, 1901. This episode is brought to you by Purple Carrot - the plant-based subscription meal kit that makes it easy to cook irresistible meals to fuel your body. Get $30 off yo...

In the third and concluding installment of this investigation, we consider the case against Barry George, the sole person charged and convicted for the crime - only to be acquitted after six years in prison. Finally, we consider one other highly controversial potential motive for the murder of Jill Dando.  To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assa...

As outlandish as it might seem, British police and the media considered whether Jill Dando might have been murdered on the orders of the Serbian government, possibly in an act of revenge for the NATO bombing of a TV station in Belgrade. We also consider some other more conventional motives in this, the second installment of our three-part look at this case. This episode is brought to you by the Yu...

The murder of journalist and television personality Jill Dando, slain outside her home in London in April 1999, sparked one of largest manhunts in British history. Many theories were considered as to who was responsible, but the case remains unsolved 20 years later. In the first episode in our three part investigation, we recreate events on the day of the killing and look in depth at one of the th...

Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England had a rollercoaster relationship. Once a trusted ally who was awarded the highest offices of the land and even care of the monarch’s own son, Archbishop Becket became an intractable obstacle to Henry’s ambitions. This lead to one of the most notorious chapters in the long struggle between Church and Crown in the realm. This episode is brought to you by PO...

In the corridors of power in Washington, DC and the plantation houses of Louisiana, there were many who sighed with relief when news broke that an assassin’s bullet had put paid to the relentless ambition of Senator Huey Long, a man described by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of the most dangerous in America. This episode is brought to you by PODGO, the easiest way for you to monetize your podca...

In honor of both Halloween and the current US presidential election campaign, we take an offbeat look at one of history’s most notorious assassinations. After leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy, in 1865 President Lincoln was struck down by John Wilkes Booth. Just as “Honest Abe” loomed like a colossus over the nation during the Civil War, so in death it seems that he continues to ca...

The seventh season of Assassinations Podcast will be a “potpourri” of subjects - some cases that host Niall has wanted to cover for a while, as well as cases suggested by listeners. The first episode of the new season, which comes out next week, will be Halloween/US election special on the legend of Abraham Lincoln’s ghost, which is said to stalk the corridors of the White House.

The closer Don Bolles got to the truth of criminal activities in Arizona, the deeper he entered into a world of danger. On the verge of exposing a massive money laundering operation by the Mafia, with links to the political and business elite of the state, he was seriously wounded in a car bombing, dying eleven days later. The following year, another Arizonan was found dead - with links to the ver...