True Crime Historian

The Awful Fate of Mary Ann Rheinhardt ___ This episode explores the heinous crime of the scoundrel Edward Reinhardt of Manhattan and Staten Island who got tangled up with two women, got them both in trouble, and apparently, had to pick a favorite. Yeah, that’s not gonna end well. And when they find the barrel buried on the shore of Silver Lake, all sorts of scandal comes tumbling out. Ad-Free Edit...

The Trials Of Otis Clark, Etc. Episode 136 comes by the way of a request from Herrin, Illinois, where TCH listener Chris Banes wants to know more about some hometown dark history, about the time a local mining company imported fifty guys from Chicago to bust a strike--25 to ship the coal that had been dug, and 25 to stand armed guard with rifles and machine guns to make sure the work got done. Ad-...

Trial Of The Big Beef Sextet Episode 424 is not your typical heartwarming holiday story, but takes place on Thanksgiving day, 1927, when a pack of Folsom prisoners enact a long-laid plan to make a big break from the big house. Needless to say, it doesn't end particularly well for any of them when two guards and ten prisoners meet their deaths as a result. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this...

Bosson’s Bitter Whiskey And Bananas Episode 436 comes from a request by True Crime Historian patron Marlene Resch, who wanted to hear a story from her home Lane County, Oregon. So I dug up this sordid tale of a man who stands trial for the murder of his wife, with allegations of insurance fraud and lust for his young sister-in-law, who turns out to not have the best reputation herself. Culled from...

The Murders Of Phoebe Hogg And Phoebe Hogg Episode 244 tells of a murder in Victorian London so vicious and violent and ghastly that some people believe to this day that the perpetrator was the infamous Jack the Ripper--or Jill the Ripper, as it were, for this brutal murder of a mother and her babe fell squarely upon Mary Eleanor Wheeler Percy, who will pay dearly for her crime. Ad-Free Edition Be...

The Montgomery Grocer Murder Mystery Episode 433 follows the investigation of a robbery gone south down South, and while the family battles over the will, police arrest many different suspects, but it takes three years before they get a confession from an unexpected place. Culled from the historic pages of the Montgomery Advertiser, the Montgomery Times, and other newspapers of the era. Ad-Free Ed...

The Tragic Leggit Ordeal Episode 425 tells of the end of the road for Walter Ligget, who made his fame as a journalist who supported unions, exposed the criminal element, crusaded against graft and corruption, and dared to speak truth to power, so the powerful (whoever they may be) try and try again to get their revenge. Ad-Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/...

The Tribulation Of Meda Dudgeon Hodell Episode 229 is a rich tale from the swamp lands of Michigan, an ever-changing story that includes a fake suicide, a pair of murders, confessions out the wazoo, as well as charges of police corruption and coersion--even a couple of ghost stories--all centered on a simple 20-year-old country girl, the bride of a much older man. Yeah, it's that kinda country. Ad...

Mystery Of The Pyjama Girl Episode 432 comes from a request from a listener Down Under, the story of a mysterious body found smoldering in a country culvert. It takes ten years to identify the body and name a suspect, but one interested physician claims they misidentified the victim and pinned the crime on the wrong man. Weigh the evidence yourself, and let me know your verdict. Ad-Free Edition Be...

Kid McCoy Down For The Count Episode 427 documents a dramatic fall from grace when a beloved American prizefighter and silent film star falls for a married woman, who seemed destined to be his ninth or tenth wife. His marital history is as complicated and murky as her business dealings, and their affair takes a tragic turn late one hot august night. Culled from the historic pages of the Los Angele...

Life And Confession of Stephen Dee Richards Episode 223 takes us to the prairies of Nebraska to explore the state's first serial killer, Stephen Dee Richards. His confession and the reporting of his murder come from a sensational trial pamphlet published shortly after his death, the 19th century version of a true crime podcast. Ad -Free Edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.sprea...

The Reily Mattock Murder Episode 198 is centered on one of my favorite murder tropes, the so-called “eternal triangle,” between the cranky old farmer, his fading wife, and the handsome young farmhand. Yeah, that’s not going to end well, but they might have gotten away with it if they had just put the body across the tracks. It’s all in the details. Culled from the historic pages of the Hamilton Jo...

Jealous Husband Murders Rival, Wounds Wife Episode 232 is really just your average love triangle gone awry, but there are mysteries to be solved here, and the real reason I like this story is that the bad girl in this case is not the instigator, but a survivor, the victim of a jealous husband, a strong Southern woman with flair and flaws of her own. Ad free edition Become a supporter of this podca...

Case File For The Scoundrel Lingo Episode 428 describes two violent murders in the rural areas around Merchantville, New Jersey, in the 1890s. A rough farm-hand is the first suspect in the first case, but suspicion suddenly turns to the victim’s uncle/husband and attention to a trial full of courtroom theatrics. Then a nearly identical murder a year later adds a new wrinkle to the case. But that’s...

A Deadly Package At Seat Pleasant Episode 430 tells of another holiday celebration ending in tragedy, when a mysterious package makes its way to the home of a young recently secretly married expectant mother. Suspicion falls at once to the family of her secret husband, and the husband himself. Ad-free edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian...

The Trial Of The Mother Of Dolls Episode 240 is one of those cases where you just know that somebody's off their rocker, but it's hard to figure out exactly who. Things get weird when a husband charges his wife with murdering their twin babies. That he never saw. So what was he pushing around in the stroller the last couple of months? Ad-free edition Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www...

The End Of The Skinny And Stumpy Affair Episode 429 is our very special holiday episode, in which a disenchanted housewife pulls the trigger on her lover and claims self-defense. Let’s see how that works out for her. Culled from the historic pages of the Louisville Courier-Journal and other newspapers of the era. Ad-Free version Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/...

The Michigan School House Massacre Episode 48 looks at the most tragic school massacre in American history, this one perpetrated by the school district’s treasurer, upset over a recent rise in his property taxes to build a new school. So he decides to blow up his own house and take the school down, too, claiming 45 lives, including his own. If not for a faulty wiring plan, it could have been worse...

The Boston Broker Bomber's Attack on Wall Street Episode 238 takes an inside look at the mad business of stock trading during the boom of the late 1800s as we hear the news of a bombing attack on the offices of one of the titans of Wall Street, the second-richest man in the world. The dust is barely settled as the lawsuits begin. I think you'll get a kick out of the reason why. Ad-Free Version Bec...

The Saga Of Ruth Freed’s Itchy Trigger Finger Episode 222 tells of the unsolved murder of a professional party girl in post-Prohibition Chicago. Well, technically it’s unsolved because no one was ever tried and convicted, but I think it’s pretty clear who the culprit is. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support . You can pay more if...

Sabella Nitti Gets Almost Pretty Episode 230 is a story that turned out to be the exception to the rule in the 1920s, because a woman not only gets convicted of murder, but also faces execution for her alleged crime. Public indignation and sympathy for the homely defendant was so inflamed that it became part of the story. Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, this story features r...

A Broadway Moth, Her Overweight Date, And The Half-Pint Gangster Episode 412 is an action-packed adventure that begins with the body of a pretty girl on a dark lonely road and includes a policeman killed in the line of duty, more than a thousand shots fired in a showdown with the villains, a couple of attempted jailbreaks, and a double-dose of lethal justice. Add in a broken-hearted mother and a m...

The Reverend Executioner Episode 239 not only gives you two executions for the price of one, but also an executioner who has to choose between his moral convictions and his duty under the law. What I like most about this story, though, is the fierce teenage daughter who shows no fear when it comes to facing down these half-witted bandits. If the final scene doesn't raise the hair on your neck, I d...

The Trial Of Rattlesnake James, The Red-Headed Bluebeard Episode 192 gets a bit epic, but it’s the story that keeps on giving, with two botched murders and moral charges to boot, and things go from crazy to crazier when they bring a pair of rattlers named Lethal and Lightning into the courtroom. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/supp...

The Horror in the Slaughter Garage Episode 243 is the sordid tale of a man who pursued women he presumed were wealthy with long distance love letters in order to swindle them of their money. Yeah, that’s a story we’ve heard before, but this one goes an extra step darker with a gruesome murder of women and children. Consider that your trigger warning. The West Virginia community was so outraged by...