Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Fiblett 2.5 contains three actual articles from newspapers of the past about crimes with a connection to the prestigious Palmer House Hotel in Chicago.  I've written one myself.  Can you identify which one is my creation?  Listen carefully because it's tough to know if what you hear is Fact or Fiction! Note:  If you're interested in learning more about Stuart's...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Alice Wynekoop was a respected physician and social reformer in Chicago in 1933 when her daughter-in-law's nearly nude body was found shot to death in Dr. Wynekoop's basement operating room.  Was it possible that the highly esteemed doctor had cruelly killed her beautiful, young daughter-in-law?  You be the judge.  Is it Fact or Fiction? Support the show Images and r...

Send us Fan Mail Today's Fiblett is filled with more Pinkerton adventures!  Three of them are from published newspaper accounts, but one is my own creation.  Listen closely.  Is it Fact or Fiction? Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com. If you enjoyed this show, please support the pod by giving it a five star rating, writing a comp...

Send us Fan Mail Belle Gunness purportedly killed scores of victims for financial gain.  After her Indiana farm burned to the ground with the bodies of the Gunness family huddled together in the basement, investigators discovered a number of disfigured and dismembered bodies buried in shallow graves on her property.  Many suspect Belle staged her death and lived out her life as a wealthy woman.  L...

Send us Fan Mail This week's minisode features Pinkerton detectives!  As always three of the stories are from printed newspaper articles and one is a fictional account of my own creation.  Listen closely.  Can you tell if it's Fact or Fiction?   Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com. If you enjoyed this show, please support th...

Send us Fan Mail In 1856, a young woman entered the Pinkerton Detective Agency's offices at 80 Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois, looking for employment.  According to his own accounts, Pinkerton politely told her he didn’t need a cleaner or a secretary, but she insisted she wasn’t interested in a traditional woman’s role.  She believed the detective service needed her as an agent.  Afte...

Send us Fan Mail It's February, and love is in the air!  Today's minisode is all about romance.  In Fiblett 2: Season 2, I read four articles about elopements.  Three of the stories are from news articles of the past, but one is my own creation.  Listen carefully to find out if you can tell if each article is Fact or Fiction! Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can...

Send us Fan Mail The public was fascinated by the disappearance of Louisa Luetgert, wife of sausage manufacturer, Adolph Luetgert.  When authorities suggested he had disposed of her body in his sausage plant, the nation's imagination went wild...and sausage sales took a huge hit.    Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com. If you enj...

Send us Fan Mail This is another fun Fiblett episode where Laura reads articles that may or may not have appeared in newspapers of the past.  It's up to you to decide which of the articles are Fact or Fiction.  Ready to play? Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com. If you enjoyed this show, please support the pod by giving it a five...

Send us Fan Mail The first episode of Fact or Fiction’s second season features Tillie Klimek, the black widow of Little Poland.  In 1922, Tillie was arrested for poisoning her husband with a steady diet of arsenic-laced stew.  Investigators soon discovered there was more to the story of the woman renowned in her community for cooking a killer stew and predicting impending deaths. Support the show...

Send us Fan Mail In the early hours of December 30, 1888, Mrs. Amos Stillwell ran from the mansion she shared with her husband and young children to request help from her neighbors.  Startled to see the respectable Mrs. Stillwell in her nightclothes and even more startled by her story, the neighbors returned with her to her home to find a grizzly scene—the dead body of her much older husband, Mrs....

Send us Fan Mail Fiblett #4 is another minisode of four stories, one of which is my writing.  Here are the answers: Choice #1 about the attempted elopement of nineteen year old Cleo Broadhurst and his married lover Mrs. C. J. Ware appeared under the title of “Eloping Boy Slept on the Job” in The Kansas City Times on 22 September, 1910, p. 1. Choice #2 was the story of two sisters who ran away toge...

Send us Fan Mail During the 1930’s kidnappings were a common occurrence, and wealthy St. Louisans were prime targets for criminals interested in collecting ransom. One dark and stormy night in 1931, a wealthy and respected St. Louis doctor was abducted and held for over a week. Although no request was made for ransom, he was released unharmed and returned to his family. No one was arrested in conn...

Send us Fan Mail Fibletts are minisodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts!  Today's episode includes four stories, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own creative writing based loosely on another case.  It's up to you to decide which one is the fiction and which ones are the facts!  I&a...

Send us Fan Mail On a cold December evening in 1902, two good-looking young men robbed a Union, Missouri Bank and escaped with an estimated $15,000 worth of loot.  When Pinkerton detective Charles Schumacher tracked them down, the young thieves brutally murdered him and became two of the most hunted and most celebrated criminals of the time.  Follow along as I tell the story of their crimes and th...

Send us Fan Mail Fibletts are minisodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts!  Today's episode includes four stories, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own invention.  It's up to you to decide which one is the fiction and which ones are the facts!  I'll come clean in two weeks in the...

Send us Fan Mail On November 20, 1885, former East St. Louis mayor John B. Bowman was gunned down as he crossed the street to his home.  Neighbors soon discovered his body.  The shooter had disappeared, and the crime remains unsolved to this day.   In this episode of Fact or Fiction, I identify potential suspects and motives.  Who and why would someone want to kill the 51-year-old prominent politi...

Send us Fan Mail Fibletts are mini-episodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts!  I'll read four paragraphs, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own invention.  It's up to you to decide which one is the fiction and which ones are the facts!  I'll come clean in two weeks in the next Fi...

Send us Fan Mail The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, more commonly referred to as the St. Louis World’s Fair, opened its gates on May 1, 1904 and throughout its seven months of life, entertained approximately 20 million visitors.  It was a remarkable event, and its impact on St. Louis and the world is felt to this day. Cotton candy, private automobiles, x-ray machines, and other technologies debute...

Send us Fan Mail In May 1903, a shabbily dressed old man checked himself into a St. Louis hospital claiming “the only poor thing about me is my health.” Doctors weren’t sure what to make of this unusual patient who soon died with no mourners at his bedside. Francis J. Tumblety was indeed a wealthy man, a well-known “herb doctor” who had traveled extensively, been arrested for potential involvement...

Send us Fan Mail In the early 1920's a group of inmates from the Jefferson City State Penitentiary, the prison's Peaceful Village Band, used their musical talents to rise to national fame.  Some of the members leveraged this notoriety to shorten their sentences.  Today's episode of Fact or Fiction looks at this group of inmates who’d been incarcerated in Missouri’s only maximum secu...

Send us Fan Mail On the evening of January 31, 1912, a St. Louis police officer noted the business of The Cowperthwait Loan Company uncharacteristically had its lights on at 7:00 p.m., well after its usual closing time.  The officer entered to find a disturbing scene that would launch an investigation to find a criminal whose exploits are truly stranger than fiction.  My niece, Kaitlyn, joins me t...

Send us Fan Mail Bertha Gifford was a matronly lady who devoted herself to her sick neighbors out of the goodness or her heart, or did she have another motive for "helping" her neighbors?  Listen carefully, because it’s more difficult than you think to distinguish between Fact or Fiction. Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com....

Send us Fan Mail Bloody Island was a sandbar located in the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois.  During the 1800’s, it technically didn’t belong to either state, so men traveled there to settle disputes without the interference of the law. Believe it or not, many of these duels were between the movers and shakers and great politicians of the era. Today, Fac...

Send us Fan Mail In late June of 1887, a young wife died under mysterious circumstances. Her husband left shortly after her burial with a cryptic note indicating he couldn’t live without her.  What the authorities discovered when his employer contacted them to try to save the grieving husband’s life is almost unbelievable.  Support the show Images and resources used in this episode can be found at...