History is Criminal

New Year's Day 1923 an accusation causes people to lose all sense of humanity. A quiet small town is erased from the map in an act of racial violence that was itself erased from history for 60 years. Join Kim and I as we dig into the tragic story of Rosewood, Florida. A story some tried to kill, but refused to die.

In a slightly shorter episode, we take a look at some of the legal trappings of the yuletide. From Puritans to a tree tax, Kim and I jump around it time to look at some Christmas traditions that were codified into law. It's a very merry criminal Christmas

For nearly 1700 years the real Santa has been breaking into homes all around the world and treating traffic law like mere suggestions. But what happens when Santa goes full on Christmas felon. Join Kim and I as we look at four Santas who found their names on the naughty list. I also left in some of the stuff that could have been edited out, let me know if you like the outtakes left in.

Kim is down. The Dentist got her, so we are dropping the full episode in 24 hrs. Just a little preview of Santa Robs a Bank.

The president might be the most documented man in the country. His every move is watched, analyzed, and debated. If a president were to just up and drop dead, you would think there would be no end to the investigation. But when Warren G Harding died nobody looking into anything. Was it his heart, a stroke, a bad case of crabs, or possible suicide or even assassination. The leader of one of the mos...

It has been said that older people are less likely to commit violent crimes because, we all mellow with age. Whoever said that never meet Captain Wilson Ellis Davis. Davis might have been a lot of things, but mellow wasn't one of them. Civil War vet, possible Captain in the Union Army, sharpshooter, and likely murderer he seems to have just gotten meaner with age. Join Kim and I as we jump bac...

What do you do when ancient laws and biology cut your family out of the royal line. Well if you are Jeanne de la Motte you fake it until you make. Or until it all come crashing down like a guillotine on Louis XVI oversized neck. Join Kim and I as we jump back to 1790s France and a con artist who would try to make the royal court her mark, and in the process add to the insanity causing the French R...

I'm all alone this week as I jump bank to the late 19th century to look at the last gentleman bank robber, Jimmy Hope. Hope was a thief with a code of non-violence and if stories are to be believed a little bit of a softer side. It was a time when many of the bank robbers were seen as Robin Hood figures, without the whole pesky giving to the poor. But boy did they rob from the rich.

Hopefully the full Episode is there this time. A young couple set out to row across a beautiful upstate New York lake. But when the boat never comes back a poorly planned murder, or horrible accident, is quickly uncovered. Join Kim and I as we take a look at the death of Grace Brown, a story that has fascinated true crime lovers for over 100 years. Just what happened on Big Moose Lake in July of 1...

Playwright, party boy, spy. Christopher Marlowe was one of the biggest names in Elizabethan England. More successful and famous than William Shakespeare, rubbing elbows with the Queen and Royal Court. But then he dies in a questionable way while day drinking with three friends. Three friends with their own shady back stories. Join Kim and I as we jump back to 1593 Elizabethan England and the myste...

She was one of the most beautiful women in the world. She had wealth, fame, and talent. What she didn't have was a knack for picking men. And it would lead to a murder! Sound like a Hollywood movie? Well it was really life Hollywood in 1958. Join Kim and I as we jump back to 1958 and the death of a low-level mobster, at the hands of the 14 year-old daughter of Lana Turner.

What do incest, bribery, murder, theft, and a Saint have in common? They are all part of the Borgia family. Join Kim and I as we jump back to the Renaissance to look at Cesear, Lucrezia, and their Dad, Pops the pope as they take on all seven deadly sins, and rip through the 10 Commandments all in route to massive money and power. Its crime family 1500s style.

Pirate Queen, Warrior, Clan Chief: Grace O'Malley never allowed others to define her. Join Kim and I as we jump back to the 1500s to look at the life of one tough mother. Irish folklore and history combine to tell the tale of one of the most fascinating women in history.

Down on your luck need some quick money? Why not kidnap the 19-year-old son of one of the most famous people in the world? What could go wrong? Join Kim and I as we jump back to 1963 Lake Tahoe and the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. It's a story that comes with a surprise cameo by a famous surf-rocker.

technical issues and my illness means that this week's episode won't drop until the evening of the 9th. So, for our literally 10s of fans hope you will come back tomorrow evening, for the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra JR.

It is great when families share hobbies. But for the Barkers that hobby seemed to be bank robbery, murder, and kidnapping. And according to the FBI's J Edgar Hoover, at the heart of it all was the mama, Kate "Ma" Barker. But just what was the role of Ma Barker, as her boys terrorized the mid-West. Join Kim and I as we jump back to the depression era to tell the tale of Kate "Ma&...

Mad man or holy man? Grigori Rasputin went from illiterate monk in the wilds of Siberia, to having the ear of the Tsarina. As the empire set on the edge of disaster many felt the only way to save the Romanov dynasty was for the Mad Monk to die. Join Kim and I as we jump back to pre-revolution Russia to look at the life and death of Grigori Rasputin.

Strong women have often made their marks on history. But Ching Shih might have out done them all. She might have been the most successful pirate of all time. And unlike most other pirates she would walk away with the cash. Join Kim and I this week as we travel to 18th century China to look at the Pirate Queen of the South China Sea.

An empire falls prey to the age of revolution, because a man-child king is unable to lead. As the revolution becomes a blood bath, what happens to the royal family? Join Kim and I as we look at Louis Charles (AKA Louis XVII) the lost Dauphin of France. It is a story of con men, desperate hope, and an attempt to claim a crown, decades after the collapse of a monarchy.

A serial killer in post WWII Japan works his way across the nation. Using his skill as a conman he keeps one step ahead of the police. But a 10-year-old girl will prove to be his undoing. Join Kim and I as we travel to Japan in the years after the war and take a look at the tale of Akira Nishiguchi, the "Black Gold Metal Killer."

In 1933 a wealthy, popular, All-American young man is taken by two desperate men. Over the next few weeks San Jose, California anger and lust for revenge grows. Join Kim and I as we dig into the events of November 1933, and a town that takes the law into their own hands.

It was a time of labor unrest in the United States. Socialist and anarchist used the brutal tactics of the robber barons to gain support for their causes. The robber barons used private armies, like the famed Pinkertons, to crush unions. In 1892 these forces would collide at the Carnegie owned steel mill in Homestead Penn. Join Kim and I as we take a dive into the chaos surrounding the Homestead s...

In 1947 a woman walked with young daughter to pick up a pair of shoes. Ahead she was what she thought was a broken mannequin, what it actually was would start one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the history of Hollywood. Join Kim and I as we look into the story surrounding the Black Dahlia murder.

What is a lonely widow to do when not one but two husbands up and die on her? Well head to the personal ads of course. And that was just what Belle Gunness did, over and over again. Was she an unlucky victim of both fate and an evil man or was she a prolific serial killer. And what really happened to the woman newspapers called the Indiana Ogress. Join Kim and I this week as we look at the tragica...

He was one of the greatest heroes of the Revolution, right up until he betrayed it. Why would a man who gave the American cause everything turn traitor? Was it love, money, or something else that drove Benedict Arnold to become the most famous traitor in American History. Join Kim and I as we look into an act of treason that still sticks in the American psyche.