Welcome back, Spooky Squad, to another episode of Scream and Sugar, your true crime coffee hour.
Today's case was suggested to us, and it's a wild one. In April 1943, four boys trespassing in Hagley Wood stumbled upon something horrifying inside a hollow wych elm tree: the skeletal remains of a woman stuffed tightly into its trunk. What followed was a bizarre investigation tangled with witchcraft, wartime espionage, coded graffiti, and occult rumors. In this episode of Scream and Sugar, we unravel the enduring mystery of "Bella"—a woman with no official identity but whose ghost still lingers in chalked messages on brick walls: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? Was she a Nazi spy? A victim of dark rituals? Or someone forgotten by history, hidden in plain sight? Grab your coffee and your curiosity—this one is a trip into the eerie unknown.
Stay spooky, babies!


Case Notes: 
https://topbeercrew.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/a-brief-history-in-time-halesowen-pubs/#:~:text=The%202nd%20half%20of,High%20St%20and%20Whitehall%2C%20Halesowenhttps://calgarycitizen.com/p/rose-and-crown-historyhttps://crimereads.com/who-put-bella-in-the-wych-elm/#:~:text=fate%20as%20he%20was%20executed,Berlin%20hospital%20in%20December%201942https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2023/05/bbc-investigator-asks-museums-for-help-tracing-remains-of-murder-victim/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%E2%80%99re%20hoping%20to%20be%20able,%E2%80%9Dhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-07/mystery-over-who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm-/102171844https://crimereads.com/who-put-bella-in-the-wych-elm/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/is-this-the-bella-in-the-wych-elm-unravelling-the-mystery-of-the-skull-found-in-a-tree-trunk-8546497.htmlhttps://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/mystery-murder-and-half-a-century-of-suspense-745330.htmlhttps://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27Bella%27+murder+mystery+returns+to+haunt+village.-a060491738#:~:text=The%20unidentified%20woman%20was%20dubbed,of%20a%20black%20magic%20executionhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-07/mystery-over-who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm-/102171844


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scream-and-sugar-true-crime-coffee-hour--6015946/support.

This content is not appropriate for all listeners; listener discretion is advised.  PS. Let's just umbrella all our content with a blanket statement: allegedly, supposedly! Stay spooky, squad.