Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

When the name "Butch Cassidy" is mentioned, it conjures an image (for many of us) of Paul Newman, who along with Robert Redford joked their way through the classic 1969 film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". But that movie was almost entirely fictional, and as often typical, Hollywood ignored the far more interesting factual historical account of the legendary outlaw and his vast criminal resu...

Most of us probably know at least the basics of the 1959 Kansas Clutter family murders case, in large part because the story was dramatically detailed by Truman Capote in his best-selling 1966 non-fiction novel entitled "In Cold Blood". But was Capote's book as factual as he claimed it was? The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says so, but my guest, Gary McAvoy does not. Gary, along with Ronald R. N...

Beverly Hills, California is not all glitz and glamor. The city has had more than its share of shocking true crime over the last one hundred years, often involving famous figures like Lana Turner, Lupe Vélez, Jean Harlow and Bugsy Siegel. Murder and scandal seem to follow the rich and famous, and my guests - investigative reporter Barbara Schroeder and forensic science specialist Clark Fogg - are...

June 1st, 2020 marked the 99th anniversary of one of the most despicable acts of mass murder in American history. A mob of 10,000 white vigilantes descended on an African-American suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma - looting, burning houses and businesses, and killing men, women and children. Black business owners put up a fierce resistance, but were soon beaten back by sheer numbers and firepower. My gues...

The city of Boston was put to the test when occupying British soldiers opened fire into a crowd of rioters on March 5th, 1770. Known forever as the Boston Massacre, it later became a rallying cry for the American Revolution. My guest is Carlton College's Professor Serena Zabin, author of "The Boston Massacre: A Family Affair". Her research into the pivotal event breaks some longstanding myths on t...

On November 5th, 1934, in the small coal mining town of Kelayres, Pennsylvania, Republican political boss Joe Bruno took an extreme and shocking step. Worried and agitated about a possible loss in the following day's elections, he and his family used his large weapons arsenal to fire into a Democratic parade. My guest, Stephanie Hoover, author of "The Kelayres Massacre: Politics & Murder in Pe...

As political factions battled in pre-Civil War Washington D.C., a sensational sex and murder scandal suddenly grabbed the nation's attention. New York Congressman Daniel Sickles, having learned that his wife Teresa was in the midst of a torrid love affair with U.S. Attorney Philip Barton Key II, angrily confronted him in a park with fatal consequences. My guest is Chris DeRose, New York Times best...

In the years following World War One, thousands of young women were hired to paint radium on watch and clock dials so they would glow in the dark. As a result, many of the women would suffer the excruciating effects of radiation poisoning, which often lead to their deaths at an early age. My guest, Kate Moore, is author of the New York Times bestselling book "Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americ...

In early 19th century Australia, escaping from a penal colony was not an easy task, mostly because there was no where to go. Six foot five William Buckley did just that, however, wandering though the wild Australian bush before being taken in by a tribe of aborigines, close to death. For the next thirty-two years he would live with the tribe, before finally meeting famed bushranger and bounty hunt...

Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas was once home to some of the most notorious criminals in America, including Carl Panzram, Robert "the Birdman" Stroud, Frank Nitti and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Part of its history includes one of the most exciting prison breaks in U.S. history, when the "Leavenworth Seven" kidnapped Warden Tom White in December of 1931 White and busted out, only to face one wi...

Calamity Jane is without question one of the most iconic figures in Old West history. She's been portrayed innumerable times in film and television, most recently in the HBO series Deadwood as Wild Bill Hickock's loyal buckskin-wearing friend and sidekick. Her reputation proceeded her wherever she went, as a master bullwhacker, an excessive drinker, a riveting storyteller, and as a woman who found...

While the Coen brothers refuse to confirm it, many believe that their movie "Fargo" was inspired by the Carol Thompson murder case. She was viciously killed in her comfortable Saint Paul home by a hitman hired by her eccentric husband, T. Eugene Thompson, in March of 1963, leaving behind four small children. It was an absolutely sensational case, one not only covered extensively by local press, bu...

Some of the most notorious cases in American history were solved by the masterful techniques of forensics expert Dr. Edward Oscar Heinrich. He was known as the "American Sherlock Holmes" for his use of science and deduction to solve what many considered unsolvable cases, including Oregon's infamous 1923 Siskiyou "train robbery"/multi-murder, and San Francisco's 1921 Fatty Arbuckle murder case. My...

In late October of 1928, authorities in the small town of Lake Bluff, Illinois discovered a grisly scene in the village hall basement. They found a young woman named Elfreida Knaak, naked, horribly burned and barely clinging to life, next to a furnace. From that point on, investigators would uncover a bizarre story, including a secret affair, mystical Christian rituals, and contradictory deathbed...

On March 6th, 1873, a brutal double ax murder took the lives of two Norwegian women living on the isolated Smuttynose Island, one of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. My guest is J. Dennis Robinson, a prolific writer, historian and steward of Smuttynose Island, and author of "Mystery on the Isles of Shoals: Closing the Case on the Smuttynose Ax Murders of 1873". He not...

David Grann, author of the New York Times Bestselling "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI", is my guest on this week's episode of Most Notorious. He talks about his research into a spree of murders of oil-rich Osage Indians in 1920s Oklahoma. Dozens and dozens of people were being murdered in a crime wave that became so sensational that J Edgar Hoover and his fl...

In the summer of 1937, in an idyllic neighborhood of Los Angeles called Inglewood, the unspeakable happened. Three little girls were lured from a park, assaulted and murdered. The sensational case, known as the "Babes of Inglewood" Murders, would shake Depression-era America. My guest, Pamela Everett, is not only an attorney with the InnocenceProject and a UNR professor of criminal justice, but al...

Alvin "Creepy" Karpis could claim many things in his life. He was not only the brains behind the Barker-Karpis Gang, but the last public enemy of the 1930s, one of J. Edgar Hoover's most hated adversaries, and the longest serving inmate in Alcatraz history. Julie Thompson, author of "The Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio: Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and his Road to Alcatraz" is my gues...

In this episode, we examine the most notorious witch hunt in American history, in Salem, Massachusetts. Hundreds of women and men were accused of witchcraft by young, "afflicted" girls, and many were executed. My guest is Mary Beth Norton, award-winning historian and professor of American history at Cornell University. She joins me to talk about her book, "In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraf...

In early 1946, a serial killer nicknamed "The Phantom Killer" (aka the "Moonlight Killer") terrorized the citizens of Texarkana (Arkansas and Texas). It was one of the most sensational series of murders in post-war America. Dr. James Presley is my guest, and the author of "The Phantom Killer - Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town In Terror". He walks us throug...

Most of us are probably familiar with the Kingston Trio song, "Tom Dooley", but fewer may realize that it was based on the true life murder of Laura Foster in 1866 North Carolina. Charlotte Corbin Barnes is an unapologetic supporter of Tom Dooley's innocence, and explains the crime, the complications of the trial due to the intense political climate in North Carolina in the era of Reconstruction,...

In October 1922, a sensational murder gripped the city of London. While on a walk home after a show, Percy Thompson was stabbed by Freddy Bywaters, the lover of his wife, Edith. Passionate love letters written by her, including mentions of the desire to murder Percy, helped send not only Bywaters to the gallows, but her as well. My guest is bestselling author Laura Thompson, and she joins Most Not...

On the evening of November 17th, 1973, five teenagers, enjoying a campfire at the Gitchie-Manitou State Park in Iowa, were terrorized by three sociopathic brothers, who would end up murdering the four boys in brutal fashion. The lone survivor, Sandra Cheskey, was raped and released, and not surprisingly deeply traumatized by what she'd witnessed and experienced. She would become known from that po...

While much is written about Prohibition-era gangsters and bootlegging, the focus is typically in places like Chicago, Kansas City and New York City. Far less known, but very compelling, is the history of the Mexican-American border in the Southwest in the 1920s, and the battles between Old West-era lawmen and the dangerous gangsters who were intent on smuggling booze into the United States. Samuel...

One of the world's most preeminent Ripperologists, Tom Wescott, author of "The Bank Holiday Murders" and "Ripper Confidential" is my guest on this week's episode of Most Notorious. His extensive research into Jack the Ripper/Whitechapel murders give his a unique perspective into this truly iconic true crime cold case. Focusing on some of the more intriguing peripheral players in the events, includ...