The New York Mystery Machine

From 1989 through 1993 Joel Rifkin spent many evenings picking up sex workers, having sex with them, and brutally murdering them soon after. On this week's episode we take a deep dive into Rifkin the Ripper and the terror he spread throughout Long Island and Manhattan at the start of the 90's. Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on iTunes! Support the s...

Suzanne Lyall was your average college student - studying, holding down two jobs, and navigating her dating life. After she got off the bus back to her campus one winter night, she was never seen again - and, what's more, little physical evidence has helped narrow the possibilities in the days, months, and decades since. On today's episode, we tackle this cold case, which remains an ongoing invest...

The Fox sisters, Leah, Margaretta, and Catherine, were three sisters from Rochester, New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism. But were they communicating with the dead or deceiving all of New York? We have spoken a lot about Mediums and Seances on the show. This is a story about the dark side of Spiritualism...when you prey on peoples emotions and con them.  Avai...

When three Miami surfers rob the American Museum of Natural History, a multi-state investigation ensues. But how did they get into one of the most famous museums and make off with some of the world's most precious gems? Get ready to be astounded in this episode as we dive into the legendary tale of Murf the Surf and his crew. Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, &amp...

In Season 1, we covered the harms perpetrated by Sharon Gans and the Odyssey Study Group - a cult that has preyed on people for decades. If you need a refresher, head back over to Episode 33. In this episode, we have the opportunity to sit down with Esther Friedman and Spencer Schneider, two former members of the Cult, to hear their stories, their experiences, and their journeys since leaving. The...

Last week we focused on Chapter One of the Amityville Saga, the DeFeo Murders. This week, a new family has moved into the home and the paranormal has moved in with them! This episode has everything...cold spots, ghostly pigs, green ooze and much more! The Lutz Family will spend 28 days in the most notorious home on Long Island...but will they survive?  Available wherever you stream podcasts!...

Welcome to Season 2 of The New York Mystery Machine! This week we focus on the first part of the legendary Amityville Horror. On November 13, 1974, at around 6:30 p.m., 23-year-old Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Jr. entered Henry's Bar in Amityville, Long Island and declared: "You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!" It turned out, all six members of his family had been shot. This murder...

Well, can you believe we started this journey a year ago?! Today, for our Season 1 Finale, we are exploring some of our past episodes from this season and discovering new theories while trying to solve what we thought was unsolvable! You reached out with theories and we looked into them! Plus, Christina bought more books! We are taking a trip back to Episodes 1, 11, 20, 38, 43, and 44...with littl...

Happy Pride Month! This episode we are honoring a legend of the LGBTQ+ Community who died under mysterious circumstances. Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson, a prominent Trans Activist who fought at Stonewall, was found floating in the Hudson River off the Christopher Street Pier on July 6, 1992. Her death was initially ruled a suicide but with the help of many activists and friends in the community,...

Even devout New Yorkers need to quit the city once in a while! This week Adam and Christina are going on a little roadtrip to New Jersey to investigate the state's only official demon: The Jersey Devil. What is it? Why is it? How is it? We're not sure, but apparently everyone has somehow seen this thing! Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on iTunes! Su...

If you've never heard the name Stanford White and you've spent any time in NYC, you certainly know his work. Him and his firm McKim, Mead, and white designed many things in NYC from the Washington Park Arch to the Original Penn Station. But this is not a story about his creativity. It's a story about his toxic relationship Evelyn Nesbit which ultimately led to his murder at the hands of Harry Thaw...

New York is home to one of four Presidential Assassinations. On September 5, 1901, Leon Czolgosz would shoot President William McKinley at point blank range while the President was greeting visitors at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Who was Leon Czolgosz and why did he want to kill the President?  Find out wherever you stream podcasts! Music featured in the episode comes from the 200...

The more investigators prodded into Hazel's life, the more they found that just didn't add up. Who was she waiting for at the train station? What was she doing on Taborton Road at dusk? And who are the individuals behind those eerie letters sent to Hazel? Who killed Hazel Drew? Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on iTunes! Support the show by becoming...

Okay, Hazel wasn't actually wrapped in plastic, but she was actually the inspiration for Twin Peaks and Laura Palmer! Who was Hazel Drew? And why was she near Teal's Pond? And does anyone *actually* know anything about her private life?! Find out on this week's episode as we try to sort through all the conflicting evidence surrounding the murder of Hazel Drew. Available wherever you stream podcast...

Here come the Men in Black: galaxy defenders! Okay, well, forget what you think you know about the Men in Black because on the show today we are chatting about the "ultra-terrestrials" that John Keel described in his book, The Mothman Prophecies. Located back at our favorite high point in Long Island, Mount Misery, are they a part of a secret organization or commune? Is it a mix of humans and alie...

In Napanoch, New York there is a hotel that not only is known to be haunted...but takes pride in it. The Haunted Shanley Hotel (yes, that is the official name) has seen a fair share of sorrow in the course of its over 175 years of being in existence. From fires to sudden deaths, this hotel has seen it all. Learn about this spooky inn, the residents who've lived there and the ghost fanatics who vis...

When a buyer asks that the mysterious barrel in the crawl space of the home he is purchasing be removed prior to moving in, the seller makes a truly horrific discovery. Find out how the forensics team and investigators determined whose body was in that barrel and what happened to her on this week's episode. Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on iTunes!...

When William Sebold arrived in Germany for a visit to his mother, the Nazi government tried to recruit him as a spy. Sebold, however, went to the US government and told them everything, agreed to help take down the growing Nazi spy rings already present in New York, and became the FBI's first double agent. Find out more on this week's episode. Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be sure to Sub...

Sneha Anne Philip was last seen on Century 21 security footage on September 10, 2001. On the show this week, we are taking you through the events that preceded the young medical interns disappearance and the theories on what may have happened to her. Did she die a hero at the World Trade Center? Or did she vanish the night before that fateful Fall day? Available wherever you stream podcasts! Be su...

Christina wants it to be known that the FULL title of this episode is "Building a Conspiracy: Murder, Conspiracy, and Book Publishing in mid-19th century New York for a podcast about New York mysteries" Adam told her it needed to fit on the graphic and cut it down. Anyway. At the heart of this week's episode is a man trying to publish a book - a pursuit, believe it or not, which resulted in his ki...

Well, the title of this one kinda says it all! Before it became Brittany Hall, a Dorm building for NYU, the Brittany Hotel served as a highlight in the Village area during the 1930s. However, at the time of its construction, tragedy befell. Now, over 90 years later, the building still can't seem to get rid of the spirit of a young girl named Molly. Who is she? What does she want? Find out on the s...

When Ronnie Gedeon, a beautiful and risque model, is found killed in her home along with her mother and a boarder, the public was morbidly fascinated. Soon, every newspaper was lit up with headlines of a multi-state manhunt for the killer. Learn more in this week's episode - available wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on iTunes! Support the show by becoming a...

This episode is an odd and awful look at the world of medicine in the 18th Century. Because there were no ways to secure deceased bodies for scientific study and research, med students at Columbia College and New York Hospital went to cemeteries and robbed the graves of the poor, immigrants, and free and enslaved African Americans. The result of these heinous acts? A two day riot that saw New York...

We'd all like to think we'd never fall into the hands of a cult, that we'd see through a cult's facade, but the truth is cults are insidious, clever, and lure intelligent, savvy people all the time. On this week's episode, we dive into what little information is out there about a lesser known cult, led for decades by the late actress Sharon Gans Horn: The Odyssey Study Group. What is it? What do t...

On July 3 1953 a man named Captain Hassoldt Davis placed an ad in the classifieds. It read: "Fifth Avenue Studio for Sublet. Includes, among the attractions, ‘attic dark room with ghost.” Not only did the ad catch the attention of the press, but also Mr. Hans Holzer, the famed parapsychologist. Holzer and his team would reach out to the Captain and eventually hold seventeen seances in order to rea...