Assassinations Podcast

In the conclusion of our look at the assassination of John Lennon, we discover that it is a virtual impossibility that the man who has spent the last 44 years behind bars for the crime, Mark Chapman, could have done it. While Chapman confessed to the crime — and may truly believe he committed murder — the evidence simply does not support this, as Niall discusses with David Whelan, the author of Mind Games: the Assassination of John Lennon.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com 

There, you can find a map of the entrance area of the Dakota Building, taken from David Whelan’s book.

You can order David’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Games-Assassination-John-Lennon/dp/B0CPMYSK9Z

You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!

And you can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPod

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

In the first of a two-part look at the murder of John Lennon, we look at the life and work of the former Beatle, and the strange story of the man who was convicted of killing him, Mark Chapman.

Host Niall speaks with author David Whelan about his fascinating new book Mind Games: The Assassination of John Lennon, which contains important and surprising fresh insight on the case.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com

While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag.

You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!

You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPod

And you can order David’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Games-Assassination-John-Lennon/dp/B0CPMYSK9Z

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

A Fairfax, Virginia based computing journalist who had turned his hand to deep-dive investigative journalism, in the early-1990s Casolaro was looking into an alleged theft of cutting-edge software by the US Government, which led him down a rabbit hole of seemingly bizarre conspiracy theories — thanks to disinformation fed to him by a shady self-professed tech expert — a project that Casolaro called “The Octopus”. His dead body was found in the bathtub of a hotel room in a small town in West Virginia on August 10th, 1991. He had gone there to meet at least one contact who was helping with his investigation. While police assumed it had been a suicide, not everything added up to that conclusion — not least the strange circumstances leading up to Casolaro’s death.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com

While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag.

You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!

You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPod

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, videos, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Alexander Odeh was a Palestinian who had moved to the United States in the 1970s. While engaged in political activism in support of Arab people, both in the Middle East and in the USA, he was killed in a bombing attack widely attributed to a Jewish American terrorist cell. The alleged perpetrators subsequently fled to Israel in order to evade murder charges. One of the potential murderers, Andy Green / Baruch Ben-Yosef, is back in the news as he seemingly leads protests aimed at preventing essential aid from reaching starving Palestinians in Gaza.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com 

While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. 

You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!

You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPod

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, videos, stickers, merch store credit, and more! 

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast 

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

A legend and a mystery in his own lifetime, the decades following his death have only added to the mystique — and confusion — about who Jan Erik Hanussen really was and what his role in the rise of the Nazis might have been. We find out about the various dubious accounts that have shaped public perception about this once-famous mesmerist and clairvoyant, and how an entire subcategory of popular history was born — Occultism and the Nazis.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Blown up while sailing on his fishing boat along the coast of County Sligo in Ireland in 1979, the assassination of Lord Mountbatten resulted in international condemnation of the IRA, which claimed responsibility for the blast. Three other people — two teenaged boys and a woman in her eighties — were also killed. Many wondered why the IRA had chosen to kill Mountbatten, an old man who had long ago retired from public life, and who regularly summered in Ireland. It was especially strange that the Irish Republican group would choose to carry out the assassination on the same day as, and overshadowing, a bombing attack against a British Army barracks. 

Many years later, it was revealed that there was another aspect of Mountbatten’s life, quite apart from his royal status, that might have put a target on his back. A disgraceful secret that could have made him a liability to the British.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books — including Andrew Lowney’s biography of Mountbatten and his wife, Edwina — and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. 

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! 

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast 

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

On the 5th of November, 1605, a dastardly plot to assassinate King James and the English parliament was foiled. Many of the conspirators, most famously Guy Fawkes, were captured, tortured, and brutally executed. But might they have been mere pawns in some else’s game, part of a devious design to flush out enemies of the state and test the strength of England’s alliance with a foreign power?

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Did Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal single-handedly nearly wipe out his dynasty, including his own parents and siblings? Or maybe he was a patsy, a pawn in someone else’s game … someone who stood to benefit most from one of the bloodiest moments in the country’s history.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

One of the most vocal opponents and the State of Israel, Faisal lavished money on Palestinian causes. Following the 1973 Ramadan / Yom Kippur War, the Saudi king instituted an oil embargo against the United States and other countries that backed Israel. Other Muslim oil-producing countries joined the embargo, leading to the Energy Crisis, which had a damaging impact on the global economy. When Faisal was assassinated in 1975, many in the Muslim world thought that he had been targeted by the Americans or the Israelis in retaliation. Part 2 of 2.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

Long before the House of Saud became synonymous with fabulous wealth flowing from their oil rich kingdom, they were tribal warriors who aspired to unite the Arabian Peninsula — and control the holy cities of Mecca and Medina — under their flag and guided by their obscure interpretation of the Islamic faith. Before we look at the details of the assassination of King Faisal, this episode considers the origins of the Saudi royal family, including their connection to British intrigues in the Middle East. Part 1 of 2.

To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag.

The sponsor of today’s show is Athletic Greens. Head on over to athleticgreens.com/EMERGING

If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more!

Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast

Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.