This famous kidnapping/murder case made headlines numerous times over a period of 50 years. In December of 1957 young Maria Rudolph was kidnapped from her neighborhood in Illinois by a young man who introduced himself as Johnnie to she and her friend. Her body was found by a roadside some weeks later 90 miles away. Not long after, a neighbor named John Tessier was arrested on suspicion of murder, and from that a series of twists and turns led to his conviction and,years later,his release as investigations turned up new evidence which verified his timeline alibi. The killer, as far as justice was concerned, was never found. 

The great depression was setting in. In Eastern North Dakota families were suffering from the effects of money shortages, and it wasn't unusual to see entire families packing up and gheading west toward what they hoped was a beter future. So when the Haven family, consisteing of two adults and 4 kids between the ages of 18 and 2 months, disappeared, no one in the small community of Schafer really missed them. When they asked, the a 22 year old man who they had hired as farm help said they had gone to Oregon and left him there to take care of things.  

But the facts were quite different. The young man, named Charles Bannon, was hiding a deadly secret.

Join us at www.bestof1001stories for all of of shows and episodes and leave a few reviews- and we'll share them!

On Dec 10, 1971, Middelbury College freshman Lynn Kathryn Schulz was last seen at 2:10 pm standing across from a small health food store and bus terminal on Court Street in Middlebury VT. Despite continuing investgation, the killer was never found, but a person of interest named Robert Durst, a convicted murderer, now deceased, is believed by many to have been the killer. He was present in the health food store then in Middlebury and was believed in years after to have been a serialkiller.   If you were in Middelbury in 1971 the Middlebury Police would like to speak with you.

Catch all of our shows and episodes at www.bestof1001stories.com

On December 10th, 1971, Middlebury VT college fresman Lynne Schulz failed to attend a final exam and was seen standing across from a health food store on Court Street in Middebury.One witness would later say they saw her walking down the main route that led out of town. That was the last anyone ever saw her. Investigations continued but nothing turned up until 2012 when the police received an anonymous call suggesting they loook into the fact that a suspected murderer named Robert Durst had owned that health food store which Lynne was known to have frequented.  Durst was suspected for a number of murders, and convicted for one.He died in prison but the search continues for the body of Lynne Schulz.  This is Part One of her story

Listen to all our shows at www.bestof1001stories.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Ratcliffe Hwy murders were attacks on two separate families-the Marr and Williamson families-living within a few blocks of each other in the East End of London-that resulted in 7 deaths. The attacks occurred only 7 days apart and were very similar, although no reason was ever given as to why the two families were chosen. Both were doing well in business, but no money was shown to have been stolen.  the main suspect in the slayings, John Williams,was found hanged in jain before he could be put on trial. This crime has been followed by many but William's guilt was never absolutely provenand no motive has been assigned.

To enjoy all our 12 podcasts and their episodes check out our new website at www.bestof1001stories.com.

The Lizzie Borden trial made a huge splash in the newspapers of the time,not only in Fall river, Massachusetts, where the double axe murder occurred, but across the country.  Police investigations of families with any kid of social status were not known for suspecting upright citizens- they tended to think immigrants or low-lifes were responsible. And investigations were limited- very poor when held up to today's standards. Lizzie was declared not guilty by a jury- even when all the evidence led to her murder of her stepmother and father.

This is the story-

Also called #Route29Slaker and #theshenandoahmurders, the Rte. 29 murders in Virginia terrified citizens and travelers beween 1996 and 2014.According to witnesses on Route 29, the unidentified stalker would flag down womwn who appeared to be driving alone on a stretch of rte 20 between Manassas and Charlottesville. Some women escaped from him and were able to provide sketch artists with his face and profile. He was never caught nor identified over a period of 20 years. Of the nine murders/disappearances only the cases of Morgan Dana Harrington (2009), Alexis Murphy (2013) and Hannah Graham (2014)were solved,ending in convictions of their murderers- the other cases are still unsolved. The search forand investigation of Alicia Showalter Reynolds (1996) still continues.

Browse episodes from our 12 1001 podcasts at www.bestof1001stories.com.

It was the Hearst newspaper story of the new century in 1902. Everybody loved Jolly Jane Toppan- the loving, caring nurse- until her patients, friends, enemies, and relatives started dropping like flies.  When they finally caught up with her, she copped the insanity plea, and told the whole story, admitting to at least 31 deaths she had caused. But many believed she had done away with 100 souls in her 5 years of killing.

Catch all our episodes and podcasts at www.bestof1001stories.com.

From 1871 to 1873 a loose-knit "family" of serial killers opened up a general store and inn on a popular travelers's route in frontier Kansas.Using a pretty "daughter" they lured single male travelers in and soon murdered them for their money, letting them bleed out under the house and later burying them in their orchard. It is believed they killed 20 people before evidence was found and they were able to flee. Laura Ingalls Wilder, in a public speaking event in 1937.acknowledged that her family stopped at the Bender Inn to water their horses, but as they could not afford anything, they moved on. 

Check out our website at www.bestof1001stories.com and explore our 12 podcasts there.

In October of 2009 the Jamison Family (Bobby, aged 44, Sherilynn, aged 40, and Madison, age 6), packed thir pickup truck into drove into a nearby state forest, apparently to camp. Three days later their pickup truck was discovered by hunters with their malnourished dog inside and all their belongings, including ID and phones, as well as $32,000 in cash. Their remains were discovered 4 years later 2.7 miles from their truck. This remains one of the most perplexing unsolved cases in the country. We provide the details- you have been assigned to solve the case.

Leave reviews/comments at www.bestof1001stories.com, at the episode at 1001 True Crime From Another Time.