Crimes We Forgot

On December 26, 1908, the nude body of a woman was found in Lampblack Swamp along the Passaic River in Harrison, NJ. Police determined she was murdered on Christmas night. For eight days she remained in the morgue unidentified, until police tracked down a piece of clothing found near the body and her sister identified her as Lena Whitmore, even though just a day earlier Lena's husband, the last person known to see her, claimed it wasn't his wife.

Hear the full story of the murder of Lena Whitmore, and her husband's two murder trails, on this episode of Crimes We Forgot.

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REDRUM True Crime is a podcast focusing on the true victims of crime. Each episode focuses on a new story. Real life, real victims, real crime. This is REDRUM. Written and presented by Grace Cordell.

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In the dark, early morning of May 29th 1928, a man entered a room shared by three sisters, when he left he held 7-year-old Dorothy Selangowski tightly in his arms, his hand over her mouth. A search soon started, with police and neighbors

Hear the full story of the taking of Dorothy Selangowski and how police and a female reporter were able to track down the one who abducted and murdered her on the latest episode Crimes We Forgot.

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Lancaster New Era – May 29, 1928 – Stolen from Her Home, Strangled Beaten to Death

The Cincinnati Post – May 29, 1918 – Kidnaped Girl Found Slain Near Home

Petaluma Daily Morning Courier – May 30, 1928 – Girl, 7, Victim of Fiend

The Daily Times – May 30, 1928 – Police Hold 3 Relatives of Dead Girl

The Herald Press – May 30, 1928 – City Aroused Over Kidnaping, Slaying of Girl

Sapulpa Herald – May 31, 1928 – Chauffeur Admit He Slew Girl

The Belleville News Democrat – May 31, 1928 – Trap Fiend Who Kidnaped, Killed Girl

The Daily Advocate – June 1, 1928 – Young Victim of Kidnaper Buried Today

The Daily Times – June 1, 1928 – Fear Slayer May End Life

The New Messenger – June 1, 1928 – Insanity Plea to be Used by Child Slayer

Wichita Falls Times – June 3, 1928 – Accused Denies Guilt as Slayer of Child

The Gailon Inquirer – June 7, 1928 – Attorneys Threatened

The Brownsville Herald – June 8, 1928 – Kidnaping Case is Solved by Quick Work of Girl Reporter

Marysville Journal Tribune – July 5, 1928 – Hoppe Trial is Delayed

The Daily Advocate – July 6, 1928 – Charles Hoppe Admits Series of Brutal Clubbings

The Piqua Daily Call – July 7, 1928 – Defense Will Strive to Prove Confessed Club Killed Insane

Lancaster Eagle Gazette – July 16, 1928 – Confesses to Killing Lily Croy

The Portsmouth Times – July 16, 1928 – Charles Hoppe Is Found To Be Sane

The Dayton Herald – July 17, 1928 – Killer Breaks Down in Prison; Weeps in Night

The Evening Review – October 20, 1928 – Toledo Girl’s Killer Given Lease of Life

Troy Daily News – November 9, 1928 – Clemency is Refuse Slayer of Ohio Child

Troy Daily News – November 16, 1928 – Child Slayer Doomed to Die November 30

The Piqua Daily Call – November 30, 1928 – Chair to Kill Two Ohio Men

Sidney Daily News – December 1, 1928 – Rucker and Hoppe Pay the Penalty

The Plain Dealer – November 4, 1929 – Toledo Girl Is Missing

In January 1928, 18-year-old Wash Smith walked into a small country store in Banks County, Georgia. By the time he walked out, the store’s owner was dead, and Wash was being hunted down by a posse. It is a story of an interrupted love affair and the vicious retribution by both sides that followed, while bootlegging, hidden witnesses, and recanted testimony point to something almost sinister. 

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

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The Atlanta Constitution – January 4, 1928 – Posse Is Seeking Farmer’s Slayer

The Atlanta Constitution – March 22, 1928 – State Demands Death for Smith

The Macon Telegraph – March 23, 1928 – Smith To Die

The Atlanta Constitution – December 16, 1928 – Supreme Court Grants Retrial to Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – February 26, 1930 - State High Court Denies New Trial for Wash Smith 

The Atlanta Journal – March 28, 1930 – Prof. Wells Urges Death Penalty for Slayer of Brother

The Macon Telegraph – March 29, 1930 – Youthful Slayer Seeks Clemency

The Atlanta Constitution – March 29, 1930 – Youth Under Death Sentence Says Girl Witness Kidnaped

The Valdosta Daily Times – April 1, 1930 – Wash Smith Gets His Life Saved

The Macon Telegraph – April 1, 1930 – Fate of Youthful Slayer Undecided

The Atlanta Constitution – November 8, 1930 – Doomed Prisoner Makes Escape Try

The Atlanta Journal – November 9, 1930 – Wash Smith Pleads for Commutation

The Atlanta Journal – November 12, 1930 – Conscience-Stricken Man’s Confession Despite Threat of Return to Pen Revealed

The Atlanta Constitution – November 14, 1930 – Prison Board Refuses Plea for Mercy for Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – November 14, 1930 – Governor Plans Mind Test for Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – November 22, 1930 – Wash Smith Dies in Electric Chair for Wells Slaying

The Macon News – November 22, 1930 – Youth Directs Own Death in Chair

The Atlanta Constitution – October 12, 1939 – Two Die, One Hurt in Baldwin Crash

On a summer day in 1908, a group of picnickers found an old steamer trunk covered in overgrowth in a ravine in New Jersey. Inside was the partially decomposed body of Solomon Rosenbloom, a merchant from Windber, Pennsylvania, some 240 miles west, who went missing in late 1907. This discovery answered the question of where Rosenbloom went, and also revealed a secret, with Rosenbloom's wife sharing that their youngest son Alex had admitted to killing his father before he himself disappeared.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

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When Roman Luczkowski was married in January 1928, it was likely a surprise to most who knew him, especially considering the 21-year-old was marrying someone nearly 30 years older than him. But the real shock came a little over two months later, when his bride, the former Marie Slade, was found dead and her body crammed into a 3-foot long box.

Roman was quickly identified as the culprit, and an avalanche of secrets followed, such as his intimate relationships with other men and the fact that Marie had never divorced her most recent husband before marrying the man young enough to be her son.

On June 12, 1906, a note was delivered to the Philadelphia classroom of 7-year-old Freddie Muth, claiming the boy's mother was injured and she needed to see the child. None of that was true, and with the boy vanished, with a ransom note soon being sent to the father. Thankfully, the police quickly zoned in on an indebted banker as the kidnapper, which led to a dramatic rescue attempt six days after the boy's disappearance.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

George Dietz was a popular Chicago women’s tailor and cutter, running a successful shop and investing in artwork and real estate, at least until the morning of April 14, 1913, when he was found beaten to death in his bed. Clues found in his pockets and around his body pointed to a revenge killing for his ill treatment of a teenage girl, but the police soon brushed those off as being little more than plants, and George's wife, Augusta Dietz, soon found herself charged for the crime.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

On a warm evening in August 1925, 17-year-old Warren Vandervoort climbed the stairs of the Parkersburg, Iowa Methodist parsonage where he lived with his parents. In his hands he held a .22 caliber rifle, and when his father appeared at the top of the stairs, Warren fired, ending his father's life. Then, as his mother emerged from her bedroom, Warren shot her in the head, then shot her again as she ran to her bed. In the weeks that followed, his mother would recover, while the story of an argumentative family life emerged, and she would go on to sit by his side as he stood trial for his father's murder.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

In the early decades of the 20th century, New York City Policeman Charles Becker strutted the city's streets while building a small fortune from the kickbacks he received from local criminals. But when Herman Rosenthal, the operator of an illegal gambling hall, was gunned down in front of the Metropole Hotel late on July 15, 1912, fingers pointed to Becker, who despite his denials eventually found himself in the electric chair.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

On an evening in March 1922, Utah homesteaders Charles and his nephew George Bradford were in a buggy heading back to their ranch, having gone to the town of Monticello earlier that day on business. But when the buggy finally arrived home, Charles and George weren't with it, and blood was splattered on the seat. A few miles away, the two men laid dead on the road, the victims of a feud dating back a decade.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris