Historical True Crime

A routine Post Office investigation in 1889 led to the discovery of a male brothel on Cleveland Street, involving telegraph boys and high-profile clients linked to the royal household. As the case unfolded, key figures escaped prosecution—raising questions about power and accountability.Source MaterialsH. Montgomery Hyde, The Cleveland Street ScandalH. Montgomery Hyde, The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name: A Candid History of Homosexuality in BritainKatie Hindmarch-Watson, “Male Prostitution and the London Telegraph Boys,”Theo Aronson, Prince Eddy and the Homosexual UnderworldBritish Newspaper Archive, “Unlock the Story of the Cleveland Street Scandal” https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2023/08/01/unlock-the-story-of-the-cleveland-street-scandal/Rictor Norton, “The Cleveland Street Scandal (1889)”https://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1889clev.htmContemporary newspaper reports from The Times (1889–1890)Contemporary newspaper reports from The North London Press (1889–1890)

Anna Marie Hahn was a German immigrant living in Cincinnati in the 1930s. She cooked for people, spent time with them, and became part of their daily lives. And over time, the men she grew close to began to die.Source MaterialFranklin, Diana Britt. The Good-bye Door: The Incredible True Story of America’s First Female Serial Killer to Die in the Electric Chair. Kent State University Press, 2006. Hunt, Amber. “Queen City Crime: How serial killer Anna Hahn rocked Cincinnati, made Ohio history.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 6, 2024. Contemporary newspaper coverage, including:The Cincinnati Enquirer (1937–1938) The Cincinnati Post (1937) The Pittsburgh Press (execution coverage, 1938) Telfer, Tori. Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History. HarperCollins, 2017. Vronsky, Peter. Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters. Berkley Books, 2007. Queen, Chelsea. “Anna Marie Hahn: The Deadly ‘Arsenic Widow.’” Medium, 2024

In 1893, Sicilian banker and former mayor Emanuele Notarbartolo was murdered on a train traveling along the northern coast of Sicily. What followed was a case that moved through multiple trials, convictions, and acquittals, raising questions about political influence, financial power, and the limits of the legal system.Source materialsJohn Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004)https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/john-dickie/cosa nostra/9780340935262/ Salvatore Lupo, History of the Mafia (Columbia University Press, 2009) https://cup.columbia.edu/book/history-of-the mafia/9780231131346“Raffaele Palizzolo Describes the Mafia,” The New YorkTimes, July 12, 1908 https://www.nytimes.com/1908/07/12/archives/raffaele-palizzolo-describes-the-mafia-the-noted-sicilian.html“Emanuele Notarbartolo: Banker and Politician,” Italy OnThis Day https://www.italyonthisday.com/2023/02/emanuele-notarbartolo-banker-and.htmlChelsea Queen, “Emanuele Notarbartolo: The Sicilian Mafia’sFirst Victim in 1893,” Medium, December 31, 2024 https://medium.com/@chelseaqueen/emanuele-notarbartolo-the-sicilian-mafias-first-victim-in-1893

In December 1811, two households on London’s Ratcliffe Highway were brutally murdered within days of each other. As panic spread through the East End, investigators searched for a killer moving through the dockside streets. A sailor named John Williams soon became the prime suspect but his death would leave the truth uncertain.Source MaterialsP. D. James and T. A. Critchley. The Maul and the Pear Tree: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders, 1811. Faber & Faber, 1971.Judith Flanders. The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime. Thomas Dunne Books, 2011.John Fairburn. Fairburn’s Account of the Dreadful Murder of Mr. Marr and Family, Who Were Barbarously Murdered in Their House on Ratcliffe Highway. London, 1811.Peter Ackroyd. London: The Biography. Nan A. Talese / Doubleday, 2000.The Proceedings of the Coroner’s Inquest on the Marr and Williamson Murders, London, December 1811. The OldBailey Proceedings Online. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org Radzinowicz, L. “The Ratcliffe Murders.” The Cambridge Law Journal 14, no. 1 (1956): 39–66. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4504366

In October 1949, aspiring Hollywood actress Jean Spangler left her Los Angeles apartment and never returned. Despite a major police investigation and decades of speculation,Jean Spangler was never found. In this episode, we examine the evidence behind one of Hollywood’s most enduring unsolved disappearances.Source MaterialsLewis, Jon. Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles. University of California Press, 2017.Charles River Editors. The Disappearance of Jean Spangler: The History of One of Hollywood’s Most Enduring Mysteries. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016.Gilmore, John. Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder. Amok Books, revised edition.Lyons, Arthur. “The Mysterious Disappearance of Jean Spangler.” Palm Springs Life.Patmore, Neil. “Inside The Haunting Hollywood Mystery Of Aspiring Actress Jean Spangler’s Disappearance.” All That’s Interesting.Contemporary reporting from the Los Angeles Times archive.

In 1922, six people were murdered at the remote Hinterkaifeck farm in rural Bavaria. Despite an extensive investigation, the killer was never identified. This episode examines the historical context, evidence, and enduring mystery behind one of Germany’s most famous unsolved crimes.Source MaterialsPeter Leuschner, Hinterkaifeck: Germany’s Most Mysterious Murder Case.Bill James & Rachel McCarthy James, The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery. Scribner, 2017.Jack Rosewood, True Crime Stories, Vol. 4 (2017).Katie Serena, “The Gruesome True Story Of The Unsolved Hinterkaifeck Murders,” All That’s Interesting, August 3, 2023 (updated October 20, 2023).https://allthatsinteresting.com/hinterkaifeck-murdersSonya Vatomsky, “The Chilling Story of the Hinterkaifeck Killings, Germany’s Most Famous Unsolved Crime,” Mental Floss, July 24, 2023.https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502044/chilling-story-hinterkaifeck-killings-germanys-most-famous-unsolved-crimeRob Shapiro, “How The Hinterkaifeck Tragedy Remains Germany’s Biggest Unsolved Case.”Tharun, “The Hinterkaifeck Murders: My Personal Theories as an Aspiring Forensic Investigator,” Medium.https://medium.com/@tharun318106/the-hinterkaifeck-murders-my-personal-theories-as-an-aspiring-forensic-investigator-5627395ce924If you’d like, I can also give you a shortened “mobile-friendly” version (many podcasters now use one optimized for Spotify’s collapsed show notes).Historical True Crime | Historical true crime podcast | Patreon

In 1857, a prominent New York dentist was found murdered in his Bond Street office. Suspicion fell on Emma Cunningham, the widow who ran the boardinghouse and claimed to be his wife — and heir. Her acquittal did not end the scandal. Adisputed marriage, a claimed pregnancy, and a staged birth kept the city riveted and raised new questions about truth, reputation, and inheritance in mid-19th-century New York.Source Materials:Duke, Franklin. Celebrated Criminal Cases of America. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1910.Serratore, Angela. “The Murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell and the Scandal That Gripped 1857 New York.” Smithsonian Magazine.Roberts, Sam. “The Murder That Gripped Bond Street.” The New York Times.The New-York Daily Times (1857), contemporary coverage of the Burdell murder and Emma Cunningham trial.Contemporary inquest and trialreporting in New York newspapers, 1857.

In 1629, the Dutch merchant ship Batavia wrecked on a remote reef off Western Australia. What followed was not just a struggle for survival, but a calculated campaign of violence that left more than one hundred people dead. Drawing on survivor testimony and historical records, this episode examines one of the most disturbing episodes in maritime history.Source MaterialsPelsaert, Francisco. The Journal of Francisco Pelsaert. 1629.Dash, Mike. Batavia’s Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History’s Bloodiest Mutiny. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002.Drake-Brockman, Henrietta. Voyage to Disaster. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1964.Edwards, Hugh. Islands of Angry Ghosts. New York: William Morrow, 1966.Western Australian Museum — Batavia Collectionhttps://museum.wa.gov.au/This episode was researched using both primary historical documents and modern scholarly works.

The 1612 Pendle witch trials remain among the most famous in English history. What began with a single accusation soon expanded into a prosecution that would send ten people to the gallows.Source MaterialsPotts, Thomas. The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (1613)Almond, Philip C. The Lancashire Witches: A Chronicle of Sorcery and Death on Pendle Hill.Poole, Robert (ed.). The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories.Sharpe, James. Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in Early Modern England.Gibson, Marion. Witchcraft and Society in England and America, 1550–1750Gaskill, Malcolm. Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy.

In 1937, three girls left home for a day at the park and never returned. Their disappearance sparked a frantic search, a shocked community, and a murder case that moved with remarkable speed. This episode traces the investigation intothe deaths of Melba Everett, Madeline Everett, and Jeanette Stephens, the arrest of Albert Dyer, and a trial shaped almost entirely by his confessions.Everett, Pamela. Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That BecameAmerica’s First Celebrity Crime. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2018.People v. Dyer, 9 Cal. 2d 317 (Cal. Sup. Ct. 1938).“Three Little Girls.” Time, July 12, 1937.Contemporary newspaper reporting, including coverage from the Daily Breeze and Los Angeles–area papers (1937).

In September 1907, Emily Dimmock was found murdered in her rented rooms in Camden Town, her throat cut while she slept. Known to some as “Phyllis,” she lived a double life in Edwardian London, moving between respectability and survival.This episode explores Emily’s final days, the trial that followed, andwhy the Camden Town Murder remains unsolved more than a century later.Source MaterialsNapley, Sir David. The Camden Town Murder. In Great Murder Trials of the Twentieth Century. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion.Barber, John. The Camden Town Murder. Barber, John. “The Camden Town Murder.” Ripperologist, no. 44 (December 2002). Reprinted at Casebook.org.Grant, Thomas. Court Number One: The Old Bailey, the Trials and Scandals. London: John Murray, 2019.Oates, Jonathan. Unsolved Murders in Victorian and Edwardian London. Barnsley: Wharncliffe, 2007.Melville, Elizabeth. “The Camden Town Murder.” Medium.com.Tilstra, Elizabeth. “A Killer in London: The Camden Town Murder.” The Line-Up.Contemporary newspaper coverage including The News of the World, Illustrated Police News, and The Penny Illustrated Paper (1907).

In 1799, Elma Sands vanished from a New York boardinghouse. Her body was later found in a well, and the trial that followed — defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr — left more questions than answers. This episode examines the Manhattan Well murder and the limits of justice in early America.Source MaterialsColeman, William. The Trial of Levi Weeks; or, The Manhattan Well Mystery. New York: Printed for the author, 1800.Kleiger, Estelle Fox. The Trial of Levi Weeks: Sex, Seduction, and Murder in the Early Republic. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1989.American State Trials: Being a Collection of the Most Interesting Criminal Trials Which Have Ever Occurred in the United States. Vol. 1. New York: Printed andpublished by G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1849. Murder by Gaslight: A Victorian Anthology of True CrimeThe Paris Review —“The Well on Spring Street,” Angela Serratore“Death in the Manhattan Well.” Crime Magazine. https://www.crimemagazine.comNew York Gazette and General Advertiser. New York, various issues, 1799–1800.The New-York Daily Advertiser. New York, various issues, 1799–1800.

Three deaths. No obvious violence. No immediate suspicion.An 1886 poisoning case that unfolded quietly inside the home — until it didn’t.Source Materials:Berry,James. My Experiences as an Executioner.Berry, James. The Hangman’s Thoughts Above the Gallows.Shannon, Issy. Infamous Lancashire Women.Stratmann, Linda. The Secret Poisoner: A Century of MurderWatson, Katherine. Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and Their Victims.Contemporary newspaper reports relating to the Britland case (1886).

In February 1567, an explosion destroyed a house in Edinburgh but the body of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was found outside the ruins, untouched by the blast. His murder was never solved. This episode examines Darnley’s death within thepolitical world of sixteenth-century Scotland and the pressures facing Mary, Queen of Scots. A story of power, perception, and suspicion without proof.Source Materials  Darnley: A Life of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley — Caroline Bingham. Constable & Robinson, 1995. Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley — Alison Weir. Vintage Books, 2008.Criminal Trials in Scotland, Volumes I–III — edited by Robert Pitcairn. Bannatyne Club, 1833.My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots — John Guy. Fourth Estate, 2004. “10 February 1567 – The Murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley” — Claire Ridgway, The Tudor Society.“Murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley of Scotland” — Historic Mysteries.Calendar of State Papers, Scotland, Volume 2 (1563–1569) — edited by Joseph Bain. London, 1900.

In 1924, bones emerging from the River Leine exposed the crimes of Fritz Haarmann—the “Butcher of Hanover”—who had been operating in plain sight. This episode traces the missing boys, the fractured systems that failed them, and how one city finally uncovered a killer hidden in its midst.Source MaterialsAlexander Gilbert — The Hanover Vampire: Fritz HaarmannMark Pulham — “The Monster of Hanover,” Crime MagazineMaria Tatar — Lustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar GermanyCrime Stories, Criminalistic Fantasy, and the Culture of Crisis in Weimar GermanySexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicide, Annals of Forensic ResearchMorgan Dunn — “Fritz Haarmann Was a Popular Butcher…” (All That’s Interesting)Hannover Police Records (as cited through secondary sources)Hannoverscher Kurier reporting (as cited through secondary sources)

A quiet border town, a sudden illness, and a solicitor accused of poisoning both his wife and a rival. This episode examines the Armstrong case and why, even 100 years later, it remains one of Britain’s most debated convictions.Sources & Further ReadingStephen Bates, The Poisonous Solicitor (2022)Martin Beales, The Hay Poisoner: Herbert Rowse Armstrong (2001)Robin Odell, Exhumation of a Murder (1975)“Herbert Rowse Armstrong,” The History Room (history-room.co.uk)Polly Botsford, “The incredible true story of the only solicitor ever to hang for murder,” Legal Cheek (legalcheek.com)Stephanie Almazan, “Herbert Armstrong,” The Line-Up (the-line-up.com)Nicola Bryan, “Fresh doubt cast on solicitor’s murder conviction 100 years on,” BBC News (bbc.com)

A 1932 Stockholm murder becomes one of Sweden’s strangest cold cases. When 32-year-old Lilly Lindeström is found dead in her apartment, unusual details spark rumorsof a “vampire” killer. What’s fact, what’s myth, and why was the case never solved?Source Materials https://gizmodo.com/swedens-most-bizarre-unsolved-murder-was-maybe-commit-1706115395https://londonpress.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/the-disturbing-unsolved-case-of-the-atlas-vampirehttps://medium.com/@marvelinemerab/she-was-killed-in-broad-daylight-and-drained-like-a-horror-story-de41701dd6bfhttps://www.ranker.com/list/atlas-vampire-murder/april-a-taylorhttps://strangeremains.com/2019/10/24/stockholms-unsolved-vampire-murderhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201211/vampire-personality-disorderhttps://polismuseet.sehttps://stockholmskallan.stockholm.se

A woman posing as Andrew Carnegie’s secret daughter scammed banks out of today’s equivalent of $20 million—armed with nothing but forged notes and absolute confidence. This is the rise and unraveling of Cassie Chadwick, one of the boldest fraudsters of the Gilded Age.Source MaterialsCrosbie, John. The Incredible Mrs. Chadwick. 1975.Hazelgrove, William Elliott. Greed in the Gilded Age: TheBrilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick. Lyons Press, 2021.Wade, Carlson. Great Hoaxes & Famous Impostors. 1976.Hayek, Caroline C.; Gates, Sandra; Rankin, Robert J. “TheSocial Construction of Fraudulent Identity.”“Cassie Chadwick: The Female Wizard of Finance.” Ohio History Connection, June 22, 2022.“The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance.” SmithsonianMagazine.Newspaper coverage quoted from: Cleveland Plain Dealer;Clinton Republican; Oberlin Review.

A young woman in rural Tipperary falls suddenly ill in 1895—and within days, fear, folklore, and family pressure spiral into one of Ireland’s most disturbing murder cases. This episode unravels the death of Bridget Cleary, the beliefs that shaped it, and the legacy she never asked for.Source Materials Bourke, Angela. The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story. Penguin, 2000.The Tipperary Witch Case (1895 court and newspaper reporting).McGrath, Thomas. “Fairy Faith and Changelings: The Burning of Bridget Cleary in 1895.” Ruxton, Dean. “The Story of the Last ‘Witch’ Burned Alive in Ireland.” The Irish Times, 2016.“The Charred Remains of Bridget Cleary Were Found in a Bog…” History Collection.“The Murder of Bridget Cleary: Ireland’s Last Witch and the Fire of Superstition.” Secret Ireland.National Archives of Ireland images and records related to the Cleary case.

In 1920s Los Angeles, prophecy, greed, and death collided in the hills of California. This episode unravels the story of the Blackburn Cult—a mother-daughter prophecy, a girl kept on ice, and a courtroom that tried to make sense of itall.Historical True Crime was named one of Feedspot’s Best 1920s Podcasts, coming in at #4. Feedspot highlights top podcasts across history, true crime, and culture — you can find their full 1920s list on their site. https://podcast.feedspot.com/1920s_podcastsSource MaterialsBlackburn, May Otis. The Origin of God. Los Angeles: DeVross & Co., 1936.Young, Paul. L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2002.Introvigne, Massimo. “Beth Sarim: Princes, Slander, and the Millennium.” The Journal of CESNUR 6, no. 6 (2022): 12–17. “Believe Child Sacrificed in Ritual of Cult.” Associated Press, October 7, 1929.“Los Angeles Authorities Probe Deaths of Cult Members.” Associated Press, October 9, 1929.“Mary Otis Blackburn Convicted in Grand Theft Case.” Associated Press, March 3, 1930.“Cult Leader Sentenced to San Quentin.” Associated Press, March 14, 1930.Divine Order's Tale Smacks of Cult Fiction - Los Angeles TimesTake It On Faith: A Press Photo of Members of the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven, Los Angeles, 7 October 1929 -The Homestead BlogFemale Justice Recap: “Persons Believing They Have Divine Power are Entitled to Assert It”: Religious Freedom in the May Otis Blackburn Theft Trial -The Homestead BlogThe Blackburn Cult - HistoricalCrimeDetective.com