In history, there have been several monarchs known as “Mad Kings” - monarchs who were plagued by erratic and even violent behavior often attributed to mental illness. King Eric the XIV of Sweden is one such ruler. While intellectually brilliant, King Eric suffered from extreme paranoia, which led to erratic, violent, and even murderous behavior.



Sources: 





Disturbed Facts About Eric XIV Of Sweden, The Butcher King - Factinate

Eric XIV, King of Sweden, Britannica.com 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erik-XIV



Karin Mansdotter, wikipedia.com 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Månsdotter



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S8 Ep313: Royal Murders, Scandals, and Secrets: Mad King Eric

Once Upon A Crime is a weekly true crime podcast that tells “the story behind the story” of real life crime. Told in a storytelling style, host Esther Ludlow digs into the details of each case to bring listeners the facts and information they won’t hear anywhere else.

Esther calls on her background in criminal psychology and includes biographical details of both victims and perpetrators to fully explore the circumstances and motivations behind the most heinous crimes.

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In the last chapter of the series “Manipulated to Murder,” I’ll share a story about a predator who hid behind a false identity to manipulate young and impressionable teens into committing the senseless murder of a vulnerable young woman. 







Sources: 

https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2024/011124-Schilmiller.html 



https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6154251/Schilmiller-Court-Docs-061419.pdf



https://lawandcrime.com/crime/catfished-killer-takes-plea-deal-in-2019-death-of-best-friend-murdered-in-exchange-for-9m-from-fake-millionaire/ 



https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2024/021224-Brehmer.html 



https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/content/news/Who-is-accused-killer-Darin-Schilmiller-Cynthia-Hoffman-murder-suspect-511444111.html



https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2023/07/13/indiana-man-pleads-guilty-to-child-porn-charge-linked-to-anchorage-teens-killing-in-catfishing-scheme/ 



https://medium.com/the-legal-beagle/astonishing-case-in-the-unusual-murder-by-denali-brehmer-of-best-friend-beginning-with-social-media-b6ad8c827830



https://www.the-sun.com/news/10406051/cynthia-hoffman-murder-hire-plot-denali-brehmer-sentenced/









Links: 

Our Website - www.truecrimepodcast.com



Travel with me! Click on the link to take a 2-minute survey to help me plan our first adventure! https://trovatrip.com/host/profiles/esther--fr746



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Dr. Phil interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCBOXtwHVg4&ab;_channel=Dr.Phil 






S8 Ep320: Manipulated to Murder: Darin Schilmiller


Pamela Smart became a household name - not for being the next Barbara Walters as she’d hoped but for orchestrating the cold-blooded murder of her husband - using her teenage lover as the trigger man. The case became a media sensation when it hit the news cycle in 1990.  It was such a high-profile case that millions watched the trial unfold live on television.  It was the very first time a murder trial in the U.S. received “gavel-to-gavel” coverage on a newly launched cable television channel dedicated to true crime content - Court TV. 





Sources: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20150215233410/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/1.html



https://www.nhmagazine.com/breaking-silence-cecelia-pierce-speaks/



“Do you remember Pamela Smart? She got four boys to kill her husband 29 years ago. Now, they’re free. She isn’t,” Manuel Roig-Franzi for The Washington Post, Jan 15, 2019.







Links:

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www.crimecon.com  - Get your tickets for CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville happening May 31 to June 2. Use my discount code ONCE for 10% off your registration! 










S8 Ep319: Manipulated to Murder: Pamela Smart

In this month’s series, we’ll look at people who were manipulated into committing murder.  First up, we’ll take a look at a case where a mother pressures her child to kill his father.  That fact alone would make this story truly horrible but it was not the last murder Marie Witte orchestrated.  The next one would be as cold-hearted as it was gruesome.





Sources: 



https://murderpedia.org/female.W/w/witte-hilma.htm 



https://thecinemaholic.com/how-did-paul-witte-die-where-are-eric-witte-and-hilma-marie-witte-now/ 



Snapped: Hilma Marie Witte, Season 31, Episode 19, Oxygen TV, 2022. 

https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/crime-news/hilma-marie-witte-convinced-sons-to-kill-husband-grandmother 



Evil Lives Here: She Made Me Do It, Season 2, Episode 2, HBO MAX,  2017. 

S8 Ep318: Manipulated to Murder: Hilma Marie Witte

In this special bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime, I speak with Michael Wolraich, the author of a new true crime book, The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age. 



In 1931, Vivian Gordon’s body was found in a gully in the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park. She’d been brutally strangled, her body dumped.  The investigation into her murder would uncover blackmail plots, sex scandals, and corruption at the highest levels of the New York government.  



The Bishop and the Butterfly is a fascinating look into this true-life murder mystery from the Jazz Age. 



For more information about Michael Wolraich’s books and articles, go to www.michaelwolraich.com.  



For a chance to win a copy of The Bishop and the Butterfly go to Once Upon a Crime’s Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/onceuponacrimepod.  Like the post for this episode and tag two friends in the comments for your chance to win. Good luck! 



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S8: The Bishop and the Butterfly. A conversation with author Michael Wolraich.

In this final episode of “Tarnished Hollywood,” I’ll share a story about a promising young actor who ran afoul of the law.  His decision to immerse himself in gang culture at the expense of an acting career would lead to a life sentence in a prison cell and a brutal and bizarre end to his life at the age of 36.



Sources: 

https://chicagodefender.com/how-an-infamous-boyz-n-the-hood-cameo-led-to-real-life-murder/

https://www.thetruecrimedatabase.com/case_file/kevin-roby/



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S8 Ep313: Royal Murders, Scandals, and Secrets: Mad King Eric

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