Crime Capsule

The rich history of the Wolverine State has a serious dark side. In the Detroit area, the Black Legion outdid the Ku Klux Klan in hate but remained secret until one of its leaders was implicated in a murder. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek was equal parts physician and quack. Then there were the state's two self-proclaimed kings--James Jesse Strang, the leader of a Mormon group on Beaver Islan...

The rich history of the Wolverine State has a serious dark side. In the Detroit area, the Black Legion outdid the Ku Klux Klan in hate but remained secret until one of its leaders was implicated in a murder. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek was equal parts physician and quack. Then there were the state's two self-proclaimed kings--James Jesse Strang, the leader of a Mormon group on Beaver Islan...

Honoring the Lives of Missing Women Through their Stories and Poetry She Goes by Jane tells the stories of America's missing and unidentified women through episodes that honor women and their lives without focusing on gratuitous violence or perpetrators. Each episode features an original poem by Aimée Baker read by a special guest. Aimée Baker is an award-winning poet, author, and the subject of t...

In this episode of Crime Capsule, host Benjamin Morris continues his conversation with Philip Andrew Gibbs, author of "Murder and Mountain Justice in the Moonshine Capital of the World." The episode explores the violent year of 1978, where numerous murders occurred in Western Franklin County. Gibbs, who was 21 at the time, shares his personal connection to the events and how it inspired him to wri...

Franklin County, Virginia is notorious for its moonshine legacy. The county's history is not a fairy tale, but a saga of blood and fire. The Scots-Irish settlers who came to its harsh mountains brought with them a fierce spirit of independence and resistance to authority. They made moonshine not only for profit, but also for pride and identity. During the Prohibition era, the county became a hotbe...

In this episode of Crime Capsule, host Benjamin Morris continues his conversation with author Paul Hodos, discussing his book "Steel City Mafia, Blood, Betrayal, and Pittsburgh's Last Dawn." They focus on Mike Genovese, a key figure in the Pittsburgh mob. Born in 1919 to Italian immigrant parents, Mike's early life was marked by both violence and opportunity. While his parents had no direct ties t...

Pittsburgh's small but lucrative Cosa Nostra mafia family was on the rise in 1985 with a newly crowned Don... The men who came to dominate the rackets in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia opened the family to massive profits from drug trafficking and a street tax on other criminal activities. At the same time, the Youngstown, OH faction of the family launched a brutal mob war a...

Pittsburgh's small but lucrative Cosa Nostra mafia family was on the rise in 1985 with a newly crowned Don... The men who came to dominate the rackets in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia opened the family to massive profits from drug trafficking and a street tax on other criminal activities. At the same time, the Youngstown, OH faction of the family launched a brutal mob war a...

Even in a town notorious for gangsters like Al Capone, much of Chicago's lawless lore has remained uncharted. Chicago's Chinatown, in particular, was home to a vast criminal enterprise, strictly bound by old country rituals, rules and traditions. Few know of Moy Dong Chew, aka "Opium Dong,'? one of Chinatown's original godfathers, much less Frank Moy, his fedora-wearing predecessor. While incident...

Join host Benjamin Morris as he interviews the author Harrison Fillmore about his new book from Arcadia Publishing & The History Press, Godfathers of Chicago's Chinatown. Even in a town notorious for gangsters like Al Capone, much of Chicago's lawless lore has remained uncharted. Chicago's Chinatown, in particular, was home to a vast criminal enterprise, strictly bound by old country rituals, rule...

Ellen E. Jack backed up her orders with a shotgun as she stood at the entrance to her Black Queen Mine. To profit from the mine, located near Aspen, she engaged in many other battles with lawyers and capitalists who tried to wrest her ore away. Mrs. Captain Jack contributed to the myth of the West by crowning herself as the “Mining Queen of the Rockies” as she entertained tourists at her roadhouse...

Ellen E. Jack backed up her orders with a shotgun as she stood at the entrance to her Black Queen Mine. To profit from the mine, located near Aspen, she engaged in many other battles with lawyers and capitalists who tried to wrest her ore away. Mrs. Captain Jack contributed to the myth of the West by crowning herself as the “Mining Queen of the Rockies” as she entertained tourists at her roadhouse...

Tales of California’s hidden treasures and lost mines span the state from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sunken cargo from the steamship Brother Jonathon is rumored to still be out there, awaiting discovery, as is the location of the famous lost Breyfogle Mine. Outlaws like Three Finger Jack and Joaquin Murrieta were said to have stashed their loot while evading law enfo...

Tales of California’s hidden treasures and lost mines span the state from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sunken cargo from the steamship Brother Jonathon is rumored to still be out there, awaiting discovery, as is the location of the famous lost Breyfogle Mine. Outlaws like Three Finger Jack and Joaquin Murrieta were said to have stashed their loot while evading law enfo...

In the South, mystery comes heaped with added richness. And in this collection of comfort food for the curious mind, author Alan Brown guides readers into the most delightful medley of mystery the South has on offer. Witches in Tennessee. The devil’s hoofprints in North Carolina. Voodoo in New Orleans. In this South, meat rains from the sky in Bath, Kentucky. A professor’s thigh makes the case for...

In the South, mystery comes heaped with added richness. And in this collection of comfort food for the curious mind, author Alan Brown guides readers into the most delightful medley of mystery the South has on offer. Witches in Tennessee. The devil’s hoofprints in North Carolina. Voodoo in New Orleans. In this South, meat rains from the sky in Bath, Kentucky. A professor’s thigh makes the case for...

Join us next Thursday for part one of our conversation with author Alan Brown. Alan Brown was born in Alton, Illinois, on January 12, 1950. After earning digress from Millikin University, Southern Illinois University, Illinois State University and the University of Illinois, he taught high school English in Flora and Springfield, Illinois. In 1986, he joined the English faculty at the University o...

Join us in 2 weeks for a brand new episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chapel Hill has seen its share of violence and murder, but it has been able to push those instances aside and keep the ambiance of a Norman Rockwell–style small town. A walk through the campus of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill can be inspiring, but the school has a darker side that has been well hidden. Over the years, there have been many murders that have taken place among the oak...

Chapel Hill has seen its share of violence and murder, but it has been able to push those instances aside and keep the ambiance of a Norman Rockwell–style small town. A walk through the campus of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill can be inspiring, but the school has a darker side that has been well hidden. Over the years, there have been many murders that have taken place among the oak...

Untangle the complex conspiracy that led to the tragic deaths of Charlotte Kay Elliott and Kevin Edwin Frase on the banks of the Rio Grande. On the night of July 13, 1980, a hitman fired a high-powered rifle into the crowd at Pepe's On the River, an outdoor bar in Mission, Texas. He missed his target, a witness in the Loop 360 drug case, but killed two young bystanders. While state court prosecuti...

Untangle the complex conspiracy that led to the tragic deaths of Charlotte Kay Elliott and Kevin Edwin Frase on the banks of the Rio Grande. On the night of July 13, 1980, a hitman fired a high-powered rifle into the crowd at Pepe's On the River, an outdoor bar in Mission, Texas. He missed his target, a witness in the Loop 360 drug case, but killed two young bystanders. While state court prosecuti...

In 1988, Judge Joe O’Kicki was regarded by many of his peers as one of the most brilliant legal minds in the country. Newly remarried and sworn in as the president judge of Cambria County, he had ambitions for a seat on a federal bench. But a state police vice unit was in the midst of a covert investigation into O’Kicki’s personal affairs. He was accused of soliciting bribes, protecting illegal ga...

In 1988, Judge Joe O’Kicki was regarded by many of his peers as one of the most brilliant legal minds in the country. Newly remarried and sworn in as the president judge of Cambria County, he had ambitions for a seat on a federal bench. But a state police vice unit was in the midst of a covert investigation into O’Kicki’s personal affairs. He was accused of soliciting bribes, protecting illegal ga...

Join Crime Capsule for a detailed account of the recently concluded Alex Murdaugh trial. Author Michael M. DeWitt Jr. was on hand for the trial and he will give us insights he learned throughout the case. Hampton County was carved from Beaufort County during the turmoil of Reconstruction and named for Gov. Wade Hampton, who personally laid the cornerstone for the county courthouse in 1878. The cou...