TwistedPhilly

Episode 20 – Originally Published in 2017 Trigger warning – discussions about homophobia and murder In the 1970s, one of the largest employers in the city was the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, or just Byberry as the locals called it. Dr. Lois Farquharson was a psychiatrist working at Byberry. She and her partner, Gloria Burnette, had recently moved to Philadelphia from New Je...

Episode 19 – Originally Published 2017 This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Philly author and public relations expert Irene Levy Baker, author of 100 Things To Do In Philly Before You Die.  This book is an absolute gem, filled with the best of the best restaurants, museums, concert halls, everything that’s wonderful about the city of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affect...

Episode 18 – Originally Published 2017 Trigger warning – discussions about child abuse and death of a child While the “Boy in the Box” may be the most infamous cold case from Philadelphia, it’s certainly not the only one and tragically, it’s not the only one about children. This is the story of the “Girl in the Trunk” and the “Boy in the Bag&#8...

Episode 17 – Originally Published in 2017 Trigger warning – discussions about murder You may be familiar with one of the most notorious serial killers in American history: H. H. Holmes. But you may not know about the crimes he committed in Philadelphia. Holmes spend the last year of his life incarcerated in Moyamensing prison in South Philadelphia. While the prison is gone and an ACME...

Episode 16 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about abuse and murder For those who celebrate Christmas, it’s a time for joy, a time for family celebrations and traditions. On Christmas Eve in 2002 in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jean Wholaver and her daughters, 20 year old Vicky and 15 year old Izzy, packed Jean’s car for a trip to visit family for th...

Episode 15 – Originally published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about murder In the 1930s Philadelphia, like the rest of the country, was suffering from the great depression.  While the rest of the country was at a 15% unemployment rate, Philly was doing much worse at 25% unemployment.  With a population of about 2 million people, a half million people were unemployed in the &#...

Episode 14 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about spree killing and gun violence To recap part one, Sylvia Seegrist was a resident of Springfield, Pennsylvania, a suburb about 10 miles outside the city of Philadelphia.  On Wednesday, October 30, 1985, Sylvia brought an automatic rifle to the Springfield mall and in a span of less than 15 minutes killed...

Episode 13 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about spree killing and gun violence About 10 miles outside of Philadelphia sits the Springfield Mall in Springfield, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1974 and was a hangout for thousands of Gen Xers through the 80s. The Springfield Mall was frequented by Sylvia Seegrist, a young woman the locals called “Ms. Rambo&...

Episode 12 – Originally Released in 2016 I love a good legend.  I believe the legends hold some element of truth to them. For example I don’t believe in unicorns today, but is it possible that hundreds or even thousands of years ago there was some weird horse like creature with a horn on it’s head?  Sure I think that’s possible. Recently I’d been researching some Philly and Pennsylvania lege...

Episode 11 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about murder including the murder of a child. In Part 2 you’ll learn more about the investigation of Lisa and Devon Manderach’s murders, including charges against Caleb Fairley. Fairley made a deal with prosecutors – it’s a deal that lead investigators to Lisa, but some people felt it was a...

Episode 10 Part 1 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning – discussions about murder including murder of a child. On September 10, 1995, Lisa Manderach and her 19 month old daughter Devon, left their Limerick, PA, home around 3:30 to check out a new children’s clothing store in a nearby shopping center and never returned. This is their story, and the story of Caleb Fairley...

Episode 9 – Originally Published in 2016 It’s 1838.  A struggling writer moved to Philadelphia in the hopes of skyrocketing his career.  It’s hard out there for a writer, especially one who is brilliant and unusual, with personal demons like Edgar Allen Poe. Poe lived in Philadelphia for almost 7 years in the late 1830s to early 1840s.  These were some of his most successful and...

Episode 8 – Originally Published in 2016 When Roy Kirk purchased the abandoned home adjacent to Anne Hoover in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 1992, no one suspected their new neighbor would become the neighbor from hell. What started out as an amicable relationship between neighbors, with Roy joining a local homeowner’s club focused on beautifying the community, first turned...

Episode 7 – Originally Published in 2016 America’s first hospital was built in 1751, the Penn Medicine Hospital in Philadelphia. The city was a hub for young medical students. If you wanted to be a physician, and you weren’t able to study in Europe, you came to Philadelphia. With the influx of aspiring doctors and surgeons, the need for test subjects grew. Philadelphia and other...

Episode 6 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger Warning – discussions of murder On June 20, 1996, I drove south on Rte. 476, the “Blue Route,” stuck in traffic.  On the side of the road police walked through brush and weeds near an abandoned car.  This looked like just another car left on the side of the highway, but it was something far worse. Aimee Willard was the defini...

Episode 5 – Originally Published in 2016 The Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia is home to reportedly one of the most haunted houses not only in Pennsylvania but in the United States. When the Easby family first moved into Baleroy Mansion in 1926, their youngest son Steven, only 5 at the time, looked into a fountain on the property with his brother George.  George’s reflection peere...

Episode 4 – Originally Published in 2016 Trigger warning for this episode: discussions of abuse and murder. Joseph Kallinger endured a life of abuse, neglect and torture at the hands of his adoptive parents. Unable to break generational trauma, Kallinger continued the cycles of abuse the families he built as an adult. As a young adult he suffered delusions that lead him to believe a higher p...

Episode 3 – Originally Published in 2016 Built before the Revolutionary War, the General Wayne Inn was America’s oldest operating restaurant and inn before it closed in 2002.    The inn’s history dates back to 1704, cropping up in early American history over and over for centuries. It’s believed Edgar Allen Poe wrote portions of “The Raven” while sippin...

Episode 1 Originally published in 2016; featuring a new introduction about TwistedPhilly Podcast . In August of 1987, Harrison “Marty” Graham lived in his North Philadelphia apartment for about four years.  On August 9 Marty was evicted because of horrific odors emanating from his third floor apartment.  When his landlord’s son was unable to open Marty’s bedroom t...

What happens when you’re up at 3AM, researching future podcast episodes and find the most twisted publication about the city of Brotherly Love?  You create a mini episode! The Strangers’ Guides were like Yelp in the 1800s, advising visitors to TwistedPhilly where to go, and in some cases where not to go.  One little Strangers’ Guide is a veritable map of Victorian whorehouses fro...