True Crime Historian

The Horrible Horner-Simpson AffairJump To AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 404 is jam-packed with crazy when a fun-loving dentist is charged with the double-barrel shotgun murder of his father-in-law. The family dynamic seems to go off the rails in the lead-in to the trial, and there are a couple of interesting subplots to keep things going, including a long-lost relative and the sad story of the only eye-witness to the affair.Hear More Stories About FEMMES FATALEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Eugene Burt Flees From JusticeJump To AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 403 explores the story of a man who leaves his family battered and murdered in a cistern under their Austin home, and heads out of town on the midnight train. He thinks he can disappear in a big city, but Chicago has another story.Hear More Stories About The Death Of INNOCENTSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Lynching Of Lloyd WarnerJump To The AD-FREE Safe House EditionPlus transcripts and deep-dive research for Safe House residentsEpisode 449 tells the story of civil unrest sparked by reports of a young white woman being sexually assaulted by a young black male, a story all too common in American history, and like many of the others, it appears likely that the unruly mob lynched and incinerated the wrong man.Hear more stories about MOBS & RIOTSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

A Fake Hold-Up Murder PlotJump To AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 402 tells the story of a discontented wife and her young paramour, who set in motion a plan to stage a robbery to get money for a quick Reno divorce. The victim, her husband. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well. There are some intense personalities in this story and a lot of theatrics, including a murder victim testifying from beyond the grave.Hear More Stories About ROBBERIES GONE AWRYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Clara Smith Hamon Takes The StandJump To The AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 401 tells the salacious story of a leading politician who shows up at a private hospital with a gunshot wound. He tells the doctor it was self-inflicted, but that turns out to be a cover story. Why the big lie? You guessed it: There’s a woman in the case, and what she has to say will blow your mind.Hear More Stories About FALLS FROM GRACEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Josie Kensler’s Delicate ConditionJump To Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 400 employs a trope we’ve seen before: the cranky old farmer whose wife takes up with the farm hand and well, it just doesn’t end well for anybody. But this one, taking place near the turn to the twentieth century in rural Idaho, has its own particular set of twists, turns, and complications, and conflicting testimony between the two accused.Hear more stories about LOVE TRIANGLES GONE AWRYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Axe Murder Of Alice MallettAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 450 begins with a scream in the night as the beautiful Miss Alice Mallett, her body brutally defiled, found in a bloody pool. The town of Jackson, Michigan, reels, a mob thirsting for vengeance. The twisted trail of an axe points to the fiendish George Straub, an ex-con with a dark past. But wait! Did he act alone? Or did another shadowy figure lurk in the night? With tear gas exploding and fingers pointing, justice hangs by a thread as a city demands blood!NOW! Free to all Safe House Scoundrels: Read along with True Crime Historian by viewing or downloading a PDF file of a transcript of this episode.Or, you can take a deep dive in the case by reading up on the entire case file that we assembled during our research.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Life And Death Of Jennie E. CramerJump To The Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 397 tells the story of a young girl in late 1800’s New England who falls in with a fast crowd with fatal results. Three people were tried for her murder, but it’s up to you to decide whether she was the victim of her own shame, or if the victim of an unjust patriarchal society.Hear About More UNSOLVED CasesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Astounding Disappearance Of Benjamin Collings On Long Island SoundJump To The Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 396 relates the puzzling story of a family apparently attacked on their cabin cruiser on an inky summer night. The husband is missing and the wife and five-year-old daughter have an amazing tale to tell. But can her story hold water as well as the 26-foot cruiser?Hear More UNSOLVED CasesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Fiendish Slaughter Of An Innocent ChildJump To The Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 394 relates the tragic tale of an eight-year old girl who fell into the clutches of a degenerate murderer. The hero of this story is a Louisville, Kentucky, detective who not only pieces together the crime, but embarks on a cross-country chase for the alleged murderer, who proves to be slippery even behind bars.Hear More Murders of THE INNOCENTSBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Brothers Face Gas Chamber TogetherJump To The Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 392 explores the case of two brothers charged with the murder of a Colorado farmer and his “chore boy.” The chief witness against them is the farmer’s wife, who made a miraculous getaway and recovery.Hear More Stories About CAPITAL CRIMESBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Coming October 15!!!The Work Of The Mormon ButcherEpisode 451 begins in the summer of 1902, when a woman’s mutilated body is pulled from the Morris Canal, and the trail leads to a blood-soaked missionary’s flat in Manhattan. The suspect: William Hooper Young, grandson of Mormon patriarch Brigham Young, whose notebook bore the chilling phrase “Blood Atonement.” This is a rich episode about the strange descent of a scholar turned tramp, and the murder that made headlines thunder with scandal, scripture, and slaughter.Available for advance ad-free listening now at The Safe House!Just a buck a week reserves your bunk at the Safe House and give you early access to all new episodes of True Crime Historian, plus full access to the dusty vault where you can listen to over 400 vintage episodes and whatever personal services you require.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

Our long international nightmare is over! True Crime Historian is coming off hiatus with a block of brand new episodes. The first new release comes October 1 with "A Bloody Scream In The Night: The Axe Murder Of Alice Mallett.Episode 450 begins with a scream in the night as the beautiful Miss Alice Mallett, her body brutally defiled, found in a bloody pool. The town of Jackson, Michigan, reels, a mob thirsting for vengeance. The twisted trail of an axe points to the fiendish George Straub, an ex-con with a dark past. But wait! Did he act alone? Or did another shadowy figure lurk in the night? With tear gas exploding and fingers pointing, justice hangs by a thread as a city demands blood!But you can get an advance listen now by joining us at THE SAFE HOUSE, where you will not only get a first listen of this new slew of episodes, but full access to THE DUSTY VAULT where you can enjoy over 400 chilling and thrilling episodes of True Crime Historian!Just a buck a week give you all that! You can't even buy a cup of coffee for a buck anymore.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Real ‘Chicago’ MurdersEpisode 352 explores the two murders that inspired the hit musical “Chicago,” which was based on a play by Maurine Watkins, who did some reporting on both cases as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. I’ll be joined by my colleague Susan Ferman, whose own podcast Catastrophic Calamities, will premiere next week on the Pulpular Media network. Susan will read about the case of Beulah Annan, who became Roxy Hart on stage. I will read the case of Belva Gaertner, who became Velma Kelly.Culled from the historic pages of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and other newspapers of the era.This episode includes a reference to a fellow murderess Sabela Nitti, whose story you can hear about in True Crime Historian 230, The Ugly Duckling Murderess.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Brutal Murder Of Mayme ShermanA True Crime Short Story by Richard O JonesAd-Free Safe House EditionOne of the factors behind my interest in historical true crime is that my hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, seems to have a particularly rich history of crime--murder in particular, but not just murder. I’ve done several local programs about the safecrackers, bandits, and other notorious characters. This short story, “Bacon On The Table,” concerns the third of three “bluebeard” killers in the first decade of the 20th century. The first was the murder of Hannah Knapp by Alfred Knapp in December, 1902. This is the subject of my book, “The First Celebrity Serial Killer.” But even before this crime came to light, Samuel J. Keelor tried to decapitate his wife on Valentine’s Day, 1903. You can read more about that story in my ebook, “The Sleepwalking Slasher.”The following year, just a week after Knapp paid the ultimate penalty for his crime, Charles Victor Sherman commits the horrible crime detailed in this episode.In more recent days, Hamilton is the hometown of “the Cross Country Killer” Glen Rogers, who murdered at least five people in 1994 and 1995, and probably more than that. He is currently on death row.And perhaps the most sensational of all Hamilton stories is the Easter Massacre of 1975, in which James Urban Ruppert gunned down his mother, his brother, and his brother’s wife and eight children. But friends, this was not Hamilton’s first mass family murder, but our third. In 1925, Francis Lloyd Russell shot eight members of his family one hot summer night (see the Two-Dollar Terror “Massacre On Prospect Hill”). And in October, 1929, the barber Charlie King opened the gas pipes in his house while his wife and five sons slept, then hopped on a northbound freight train (see the Two-Dollar Terror “The Gas Fume Fugitive”).I am also descended from murderers, although their crimes weren’t in Hamilton but in various Kentucky locations. Maybe I’ll tell you about those someday.More Hometown HorrorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Saga of the Scoundrel Thomas McGehanA true crime short story by Richard O JonesAd-Free Safe House Edition-Episode 28 takes place on Christmas Eve 1870, when three men attack a local politician with boulders and slungshots, and at least a dozen men scramble for the door while five shots pepper the faro room at the American Saloon in Hamilton, Ohio, the hometown of True Crime Historian Richard O Jones. One of the bullets kills the politician, Thomas Myers, but in their haste none of the gamblers see who fired the shot. The blame falls on the leader of the gang of thugs who attacked Myers, his political rival Tom McGehean. At his trial, the famed former Congressman, exiled Copperhead, and gubernatorial candidate, Clement Vallandigham literally gives his life for McGehean's defense.Read-Along (more or less. It's not the exact same text)More Hometown HorrorsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Atrocities Of Albert FishI'D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU!!!Episode 191 is without a doubt the vilest case you'll ever hear on this program because I don't think I could find a worse one if I tried. There's a lot of evil discussed here: torture, cannibalism, and more. Consider this your trigger warning: I'd turn back if I were you! Or at least put the kids to bed and plug in your ear buds. Keep this between us.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Murder Of Mary PhaganEpisode 183 tells of one of the most infamous cases of an innocent man wrongly accused. When a teenage factory girl is found dead in the basement of an Atlanta pencil manufacturer, blame falls on the mild-mannered Jewish superintendent of the plant, and the jury takes the word of a drunken janitor. It’ll take 70 years for the truth to come out.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Reily Mattock MurderEpisode 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 Journal-News and other newspapers of the era.Ad-Free EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.

The Trial Of Rattlesnake James, The Red-Headed BluebeardEpisode 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/support.CLICK HERE to reserve your bunk at The Safe House, where the past is present and the rent is just a buck a week but gives you access to ad-free editions of over 400 episodes in the dusty vault, early access to all new episodes, exclusive content, access to the big boss, and whatever personal services you require.