Fresh Hell Podcast

In 1920s Vienna, a woman calling herself Baroness Cadvé ran what appeared to be a private language school for children. Behind the polite advertisements and the respectable address in the city center was something much darker. This episode tells the story of Edith Kadivec, the woman at the center of the 1924 Vienna "Sadist Trial,” in which she was accused of abusing children for the sexual gratifi...

If you want to watch Henry's wonderful documentary, you can find the English version here: https://www.henryhauck.de/en-us and the German version here: https://www.henryhauck.de/de In this episode we speak with filmmaker Henry Hauck, a cousin of one of the "Missing Children of Pirmasens", a series of missing person cases from the 1960s, that have never been resolved and continue to haunt the town...

Today we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Our True Crime Podcast, covering the deeply troubling murder of Michelle McNeill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re back to bridge the space between the holidays and the return of brand-new episodes. This volume revisits the 1904 murder of Lucie Berlin in a rapidly modernizing Berlin, the still-unsolved killing of Peggy Andrews in Columbus, Ohio, and the controversial 1902 murder of Bertha Schippan in rural South Australia. If you want the full versions, with expanded background, investigative detail, and...

While we take a holiday break, we’re bringing you Best Of, Vol. 3: a condensed revisit to three cases from the Fresh Hell archives. This episode features the disappearance of the three lighthouse keepers on Eilean Mòr, the chilling crimes of Viennese con man and serial killer Hugo Schenk, and the Victorian-era murder of Anna Evans Skeeters in Bermuda. If you want the full versions, with all the ba...

On December 24th 1996, in Minneapolis, a series of escalating disturbances unfolded across the city, leading to an explosion during the city’s Christmas celebrations. What began as isolated incidents at shopping centers and local businesses quickly revealed themselves to be connected, linked by the same individuals. Jingle Bells Calm by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributio...

In November 1995, 16-year-old Ruth Wilson vanished after leaving her home in Surrey. She didn't go to school as planned though. Instead she ordered some flowers, and took a taxi to a quiet rural lane near Box Hill. Then...she disappeared without a trace. Thirty years later, her family and investigators are still searching for answers. Was Ruth planning to run away? Did she meet someone that day? A...

In the final part of our Dr. Crippen series, we’re heading into the Old Bailey for one of the most sensational trials in Edwardian history. We’ll walk you through the courtroom, the personalities, the evidence, the theatrics, the “Saul Goodman–before-Saul-Goodman” defense strategy, and the moment the jury returned in just twenty-seven minutes. Part 4 brings the story to its end… or at least as clo...

In Part 3 of our Crippen series, we follow the case across the Atlantic and back again. After the dramatic arrest aboard the Montrose, Inspector Dew brings Crippen and Ethel to Québec, where the crowds are already waiting and the extradition machinery kicks into motion. We cover their guarded return voyage, the secrecy, and the surprisingly calm behavior of a man accused of murder. Once back in Lo...

In Part 2 of our Crippen series, Scotland Yard finally agrees something isn’t right with Dr Crippen. Inspector Dew talks to Crippen, listens politely, and then decides he needs another look inside the house on Hilldrop Crescent. What he finds there ends any hope that Belle simply packed up and left. At the same time, Crippen and Ethel are already gone, traveling under new names, dressed as father...

London, 1910: Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen and his wife, music-hall performer Belle Elmore, seem to have built the perfect Edwardian life... a tidy house in Holloway, polite manners, and a place in London’s social circle. But behind the facade of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, the marriage is falling apart. In this first part of the story, we look at who the Crippens really were: Hawley’s small-town upbringin...

They’ve delivered love letters and war messages, carried microfilm across battlefields, worn tiny backpacks full of XTC, and been accused of international espionage! Yet somehow, pigeons have become one of the most hated animals in modern cities. In this episode we take a closer look at the humble pigeon...a bird that’s been by our side for thousands of years.  You’ll hear about decorated pigeon w...

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On Halloween night, 1973, nine-year-old Lisa Ann French left her home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, dressed as a hobo and planning to trick-or-treat with a friend. She never made it back. What followed would not only shatter their community, but also forever change Halloween for American families, and spark one of the most shocking parole controversies in Wisconsin history. In this episode, Annie and...

This week, Johanna takes us back to 18th-century Austria, when terrified villagers were convinced the dead were refusing to stay buried...and the Habsburg Empire responded the only way it knew how: with paperwork! Hear all about Petar Blagojević and Arnold Paole, and how it lead to Maria Theresia’s no-nonsense vampire ban. This is the true story of Europe’s first documented vampire epidemic. We’ll...

For our 300th episode, we’re boarding one of the most famous ships in the world: the RMS Queen Mary. Once the epitome of 1930s luxury and wartime resilience, she now sits permanently moored in Long Beach, California… and she’s said to be home to over 150ghosts. We talk about the tragic story of Door 13 and the splendor of the first-class swimming pool, as well as the anger and rage in the infamous...

This week on Fresh Hell, we’re taking you to the heart of spooky fuckery month with a deep dive into witch lore and trials in Austria and Germany. You know Salem: twenty people, one tragic year! But compared to what happened in central Europe, Salem was just a footnote. We’ll explore the folklore that fed the fear: Walpurgisnacht on the Brocken, Frau Perchta and her terrifying entourage, witches b...

Crikey! This week we’re taking you to meet crocodiles. The largest living reptiles on Earth, creatures that inspire both awe and terror. We’ll talk about the late, great Steve Irwin, whose passion and humor showed millions of people why crocodiles deserve our respect. We’ll also tell you the truth about the legend of the Ramree Island “crocodile massacre,” and explain the strange biological truth...

Cardinal de Rohan believes he’s secretly helping Marie Antoinette purchase the world’s most extravagant necklace, while Jeanne de la Motte and her accomplices quietly dismantle it and sell the diamonds across Europe. We’ll tell you all about the scheme, the dramatic arrest of Rohan at Versailles during the Feast of the Assumption, and the sensational public trial before the Parlement of Paris. Jea...

This week we’re heading to Versailles for one of the most scandalous cons in French history. In Part 1, you'll hear all about the glittering worlds of Versailles and Schönbrunn, the childhood and marriage of Marie Antoinette, and her already fragile reputation as “Madame Déficit.” We’ll meet the main characters in this elaborate scheme: Cardinal de Rohan, desperate for the queen’s forgiveness; Jea...

In the 16th to 18th centuries, hundreds of people across Central Europe engineered their own executions in the hope of dying “in a state of grace.” Suicide was a mortal sin, but murder was a capital crime, and execution after confession was seen as a path to salvation. In this episode we discuss several real cases of so-called “suicide by proxy,” including Agnes Catherina Schickin in 1704, Eva Liz...

We're still on a summer break, but you know we couldn’t stay away from the horror for long.  In this second Best of Fresh Hell special, we’ve got three more unforgettable true crime cases from the archives, all condensed for maximum dread in minimum time. We start with the heartbreaking murder of Katharina Fellner, a young woman in 1920s Vienna whose brutal death was only kind of solved.  Then we...

We might be on a summer break, but the mystery doesn’t stop. In this first Best of Fresh Hell special, we’re serving up three of our favorite cold cases in condensed form—perfect for when you want the unsettling highlights without the two-hour extra information. First up: Owen Parfitt, a paralyzed man who vanished from his front porch in 1760s England...without a trace and without anyone seeing a...

In the third and final part of this Hollywood murder saga, we talk about the murder scene, all the possible suspects! Who had a motive? And who may have been protected by the studio system at all costs? We’ll walk you through the possible killers — from studio insiders and jilted lovers to the ones no one saw coming — and look at how the investigation quickly fell apart under pressure from powerfu...

In part two of our three-part look at the mysterious murder of William Desmond Taylor, we pick up with the powerful (and possibly romantic) figures in Taylor’s life, and trace the final days leading up to his death. You’ll hear about his complex relationship with set designer George James Hopkins, the bond he shared with Mabel Normand, and how the evening of February 1, 1922, played out—including...