Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

There are many myths surrounding Grigori Rasputin, known in popular history as the "Mad Monk" and the "Holy Devil". His influence on Tsar Nicholas II and his family in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Russia is well known, but my guest, Douglas Smith, author of "Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs" sheds new light on his life, his motives and where the legends end and the actual...

Dillinger historian Ellen Poulsen, author of "Don't Call Us Molls", completes her interview with me about the role of women in Depression-era gangs of the Midwest. Included in this episode, girlfriends of the Barker-Karpis and Dillinger Gangs, Mrs. Babyface Nelson and Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde fame. The author's website: http://www.dillingerswomen.com/ Become a Most Notorious patron: https...

In this first part of my two part interview with Ellen Poulsen, author of "Don't Call Us Molls", we discuss the many women involved with notorious 1930s Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger, including Evelyn "Billie" Frechette, Anna Sage and Polly Hamilton, and the role that molls played in the lives of bank-robbing Depression-era gangsters. The author's website: http://www.dillingerswomen.com/ Become a...

In March of 1887 a high-class prostitute and two others, including a child, were found stabbed to death in a luxury apartment on the upscale Avenue Montaigne. Police settle on a mysterious immigrant gigolo as their main suspect, named Enrico Pranzini. My guest, Aaron Freundschuh, author of "The Courtesan and the Gigolo: The Murders in the Rue Montaigne and the Dark Side of Empire in Nineteenth-Cen...

Richard Zacks, bestselling author of "Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd" is my guest, and he tells some stories (and breaks some myths) about a man considered one of the most infamous pirates in American history. More about the author here: https://www.echonyc.com/~rzacks/ Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Most Notorious on Facebook: https://www.face...

The 1930s were filled with news of midwest bank-robbers like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie & Clyde, but few know that Boston had its own gang of thieves and killers during the Depression. Murt Millen, a whip-smart but unstable Jewish kid, his mentally challenged brother, Irv, his wife, Norma Brighton (the wayward daughter of a minister), and his MIT graduate fri...

Two events in early 1940s L.A. grabbed newspaper headlines almost back to back- The murder of José Díaz and following trial of 22 boys, and the race riots between American sailors and zoot-suit wearing Mexican-American kids in downtown Los Angeles. Eduardo Obregón Pagán is a professor at Arizona State University and a co-host of PBS's History Detectives, and he talks with me about his book, "Murde...

Carl Panzram was a self-confessed serial killer and rapist, who admitted in his autobiography to over 20 murders just before his execution in 1930. My guest, John Borowski, director of the documentary "Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance" talks about this man, who many consider one of most evil people to ever walk the earth, and how childhood traumas and prison torture might have cont...

Few of us think of 19th century Los Angeles in the same breath as Tombstone, Dodge City, or Deadwood, but in the 1850s it was filled with rampant racism and violent conflict. Vigilantes roamed the streets and lynchings were commonplace. My guest, Professor John Mack Faragher, author of "Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles" talks about this rough and savage time in Califor...

In 1913 a PR man named John Gluck successfully petitioned the US Post Office for control of New York City's Santa Claus letters. From that point forward, he not only built the Santa Claus Association into a major holiday organization, but also found ways to steal large amounts of money in the process. Alex Palmer, author of "The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Inve...

Cory Frye, author of "Murder in Linn County, Oregon: The True Story of the Legendary Plainview Killings" is my guest. He tells two stories. On June 21, 1922, Linn County sheriff Charles Kendall and Reverend Roy Healy drove out to arrest a moonshining farmer named Dave West. By the end of the day, all three men were dead. William Dunlap replaced him, but was also killed on duty within a year. Autho...

My interview with Michael Wallis, author of "Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd" continues. We cover the bloody and notorious Kansas City Massacre, as well as the last few weeks, days and hours of Pretty Boy Floyd's life. Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Most Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/

Pretty Boy Floyd lit up the late 20s and early 30s Midwest with bank robberies, daring escapes from the law, and cold-blooded murder. My guest, Michael Wallis, author of "Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd", talks about his early life, his first forays into crime, time in a Kansas prison, and an audacious bank heist in his hometown cheered by his friends and grandfather in this...

Rumors for many years have circulated about the mysterious death of famed boxer Sonny Liston in December of 1970. My guest, Shaun Assael, author of "The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin and Heavyweights" and a former police reporter and sports writer for ESPN Magazine, talks about the suspects and possible scenarios surrounding Lison's demise, and the very strong possibility of his murder...

One of the most enduring historical mysteries of the 20th century is of the missing Sodder children. After a fire in the family home on Christmas Eve of 1945, George and Jennie escaped with four of their children, however five more never made it out of the house. At first, it was assumed that they died in an accidental fire, but a series of strange clues aroused their suspicions that something mor...

My guest, David Pietrusza, is the author of "Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius who Fixed the 1919 World Series". He talks about this extraordinary, eccentric man who managed to expertly balance between high society, highbrow intellectual circles, Tammany Hall and the underworld, and had his fingers in just about every racket in Jazz-Age New York City. Become a Most Noto...

In the outskirts of France in 1869, an entire family is found dead after being stabbed and then buried alive. G.S. Johnston, author of "The Cast of a Hand", talks about France in the 1860s under Napoleon III, and the events that led up to the terrible, tragic murders of Jean and Hortense Kinck and their six children by Jean-Baptiste Troppmann and possible accomplices. The author's website: http://...

Just in time for some Halloween, Diane Student, co-producer and host of the "History Goes Bump" podcast, joins me to share her list of the top ten most notorious ghosts in American history. We deviate a bit from our regular author /interview format this week to delve into some of the sightings of ghostly activity attributed to many of the subjects we've covered in past episodes, including The Blac...

In Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, on a November evening in 1928, Nelson Rehymeyer, a local "powwow" practitioner of Christian folk magic, is murdered in his home. John Blymire soon confesses, telling police that he was trying to lift a hex. Shane Free, the producer and director of the documentary "Hex Hollow" is my guest on this week's episode of Most Notorious, where he explains the details of this...

In December 1888, in Bradford, England, a little boy named Johnny Gill disappears and is eventually found murdered, his body mutilated almost beyond recognition. Kathryn McMaster, author of "Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?" tells the tragic story of this most horrific of crimes, and the man who she thinks did the evil deed. The author's website: https://kathrynmcmaster.com/ Become a Most Notorious...

In 1871, on the outskirts of London, a police constable discovers a young woman, bloodied and battered beyond recognition. She dies, and the police officially have a murder on their hands. They eventually set their sights on Edmund Pook, the son of a wealthy printer, who had employed the woman, named Jane Clauson, as a family servant. Paul Thomas Murphy, author of "Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kid...

Bestselling UK author Kate Summerscale joins me to talk about her book, "The Wicked Boy". Two young boys, Robert and Nattie Coombs, conspire to murder their mother in Victorian-era London. While the murder is gruesome and sensational, an uplifting event years later gives hope that rehabilitation can have a positive effect on a young criminal's life. The author's website: https://www.katesummerscal...

My conversation with author Mark Lee Gardner continues, about his book "Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape". In the second part of the story, we talk about the James-Younger Gang's flight into the Big Woods of southern Minnesota, and the difficulties that they faced navigating through unknown territory, and also the troubles the local posses had...

Much has been written about Jesse James, including his gang's ill-fated trip to Northfield, Minnesota, a botched bank raid met with death and tragedy, but never told like this. Mark Lee Gardner, author of "Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid and the Wild West's Greatest Escape", joins me to tell the story of the James-Younger gang's foray north from Missouri and the chaos that follo...

In April of 1920, neighbors discover the bodies of most of the Wolf Family, killed by shotgun and hatchet, on their North Dakota farm, just outside Turtle Lake. Only the Wolfs' eight month old daughter survived. Vernon Keel, journalist and author, grew up in Turtle Lake, and joins me to talk about the book he's written about the sensational and tragic crime, called "The Murdered Family". The autho...