Historical True Crime

Billy the Kid was an infamous gunfighter and outlaw in the American West. His name is synonymous with the Wild West, along the likes of the Bob Dalton Gang, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cole Younger and Jesse James. He claimed to have killed 21 people, although there's a good chance the number is less than 10. Billy the Kid was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett when he was only approximately 21...

Many people consider Carl Panzram to be the most vicious American serial killer. The 6-foot-tall, tattooed man with icy grey eyes operated as a solitary crime wave for over 20 years. He committed robberies, rapes, and murders in numerous cities across several nations. Despite being hanged at the age of 38, he admitted to more than 20 killings and the rape of up to 1,000 men and boys during that ti...

In 1947, Jake Bird was executed for the murder of a mother and her daughter. Just before his death, he confessed to murdering 44 people, and at least 11 murders have been confirmed. The fact that Bird thought he could hex individuals with his name made him a unique serial killer. As people tried to punish him, he put the "Jake Bird" hex on them, and amazingly, several people involved in his trial...

Before mysteriously disappearing in 1908, Belle Gunness murdered two of her husbands, a number of single men, and several of her own children on a pig farm in La Porte, Indiana. A fire broke out at her farm on April 28, 1908, and a headless woman's body was found inside. Was it Belle, or did she fake her own death and escape? Listen to the entire story now. Source Materials: https://laportecountyh...

The murder of Julia Martha Thomas by her maid, Kate Webster, was one of the most infamous and heinous murders committed in nineteenth-century England. Join us to hear the full story! Source Materials: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/505155/barnes-mystery-twisted-tale-maids-murder-and-mistaken-identity https://murderpedia.org/female. W/w/webster-catherine.htm https://www.irishpost.com/news/ten-...

Marguerite Marie Alibert, often referred to as Princess Fahmy, Maggie Meller, and Marguerite Laurent, was a French socialite. She began her profession in Paris as a prostitute and courtesan. During 1917 and 1918, she had a relationship with the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). When she wed the Egyptian aristocrat Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, the media of the day referred to her as Princess. She murder...

Fred and Maria Manning's story involves love, treachery, greed, and murder. In a scheme nicknamed "the Bermondsey tragedy," they murdered Marie's affluent lover in cold blood and attempted to profit from their victim's fortune. New technologies and the newly established police units that had appeared throughout Britain in the past two decades would be their undoing. Source Materials: https://www.t...

From May 1871 through December 1872, the Bender family—better known as the Bloody Benders—operated as a family of serial killers in Labette County, Kansas, in the United States. John Bender, his wife Elvira, their children, John Jr. and Kate, made up the family. The Bender family appeared seemingly out of thin air, carried out horrifying and uncountable acts of heinous brutality, and then van...

A serial killer who went by the names The Cleveland Torso Murderer and The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run operated in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1930s. Twelve known victims were dismembered in the killings, and their bodies were dumped in the underprivileged Kingsbury Run community. These murders remain unsolved to this day. Source Materials: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/632096/cleveland-torso-m...

Jesse Pomeroy was the youngest person to be found guilty of first-degree murder in Massachusetts history in 1874. Even though he was just 14 years old, the brutal and violent atrocities he committed led to life in prison, where he died in 1932. Source Materials: https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/jesse-pomeroy https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-story-of-jesse-pomeroy-14-year-old-serial-killer/ https://...

Gilles de Rais was a Breton nobleman, a soldier with a distinguished career in the Hundred Years’ War and as Joan of Arc’s comrade in arms. Today, however, those accomplishments are only viewed in the context of the secret life he led while committing more than a hundred horrifying child killings, a spree that may have made him the first serial murderer in history. Source Materials:  Gilles d...

In an era before anaesthetics, when speed mattered in terms of agony and survival, Robert Liston was a British surgeon renowned for his quickness and skill. The West End's "fastest knife" was said to be able to amputate a leg in just over two minutes. He is also notorious for performing the only surgery with a 300% death rate in history. Please join us to learn the entire tale and the horrifying s...

Eugène-François Vidocq was a French criminal who became a detective. Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, and Honoré de Balzac were all influenced by Eugène-François Vidocq's life. The former criminal went on to develop and lead the first known private detective agency as well as the first director of the crime-detection Sûreté nationale. Vidocq is revered as the founder of contemporary crimino...

Christine and Lea Papin were responsible for one of the most heinous murders in French history on February 2, 1933. They disfigured their victims by tearing out their eyes and mutilating their genitals. Their victims were Léonie and Geneviève Lancelin, the mother and daughter of the wealthy family who employed them. But what drove them—madness, bloodlust, or class warfare? Source Materials: https:...

Dr. Crippen was an amiable doctor who committed one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century by killing his wife and briefly avoiding capture. New forensics came to light in 2007. So was he a cold-blooded killer or an innocent man? Source Materials: Young, D. 2014. Trial of H.H. Crippen . London: Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-notorious-case-of-dr-crip...

Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie was a New Orleans socialite and her legend has grown into pop culture phenomenon. As her legend grew, the facts became harder to discern from fiction but after a fire at her mansion, a torture chamber filled with her slaves was discovered. Check out this episode for the full gruesome tale.  Source Materials: https://www.neworleanslegendarywalkingtours.com/blog/w...

It may be challenging to distinguish fact vs. fiction in the life of Liver-Eating Johnson but it's rumored he killed over 300 Crow Tribesmen in retaliation for his wife's murder. Join us as we unravel the truth in this twisted tale. Source Materials: https://allthatsinteresting.com/liver-eating-johnson https://www.damninteresting.com/liver-eating-johnson/ https://www.britannica.com/science/head-fl...

Scotland's most notorious body snatchers, William Burke and William Hare never actually snatched a body. However, they did murder 16 people and sell their bodies to science. Join us to hear the full story and what happened to Burke and Hare. Source Materials: Ben Johnson – The Story of Burke and Hare - https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Burke-Hare-infamous-murderers-graverobbe...

Jane Toppan was an American serial killer who earned the nickname "Jolly Jane." She confessed to murdering 31 people.  Source Materials: Serial killer researched by Emily Allen Alana Averill Emmeline Cook, Department of Psychology Radford University http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Toppan,%20Jane%20-%202005.pdf A.W. Naves, "Jolly Jane"- The story of Serial Killer Jane Top...

One of history's deadliest duos, the Harpe brothers murdered, plundered and pillaged across Kentucky, Illinois and Kentucky in the late 18th century.  Source Materials: Kathy Weiser, “The Vicious Harpes – First American Serial Killers” https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-harpes/ https://www.appalachiabare.com/the-devil-in-appalachia-the-bloodthirsty-harpe-brothers/ - Delonda Anderson DeLani R...

Join us this week and we dive into the life and crimes of Lizzie Halliday. She earned the title of "Worst Woman on Earth" with her penchant for arson and murder. Source Material: https://truecrimeengland.wordpress.com/2020/09/27/lizzie-halliday/ https://medium.com/mystery-confidential/true-crime-the-worst-woman-on-earth-b576f9b5be18  

Join Lizze as she travels back to 16th centrury Germany to examine the life and crimes of the Medieval Boogeyman. Was Peter Niers a psychopath or a supernatural cannibalistic satan worshipper? Join us to find out! Source Materials: Was Medieval Cannibal And Black Magician Peter Niers History’s Most Prolific Serial Killer? https://cvltnation.com/was-medieval-cannibal-and-black-magician-peter-niers-...

Episode 2 takes us back across the pond where Austin is about to experience America's first serial killer. The servant girl annihilator. Join us as learn about the US's oldest spree killer cold case. Source Materials : https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/10-10-18-servant-girl-murders-history/ https://www.historicmysteries.com/servant-girl-annihilator/ https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2019...

Known as the black widow, Mary Ann Cotton murdered for over 20 years before getting caught. Join us as we delve deeper into her dark history. Souce Materials: Dark Angel: How were Mary Ann Cotton's terrible crimes uncovered? https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/dark-angel-how-were-mary-ann-cottons-terrible-crimes-uncovered/ She poisoned 21 people including her own mother, children and husbands. So...