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On July 17, 1938, ten people were living in two small rooms above the Broadway Inn in Leechburg, Pennsylvania. By sunrise, three were dead and seven children were orphaned.

In 1909, a young girl watched her father terrorize a Pennsylvania town with a shotgun. Nearly three decades later, that same girl would die in the doorway of the room where her children slept.

In this Fun-Sized Felony, we examine a double-murder suicide — and the unsettling possibility of intergenerational echoes.

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On January 12, 1935, Amelia Earhart landed safely in Oakland, California after her historic solo flight across the Pacific. The nation celebrated progress, courage, and modern aviation.

That same day, in a Mississippi post office, a man was arrested with a piece of human flesh in his pocket.

This episode traces the story of Alonzo Robinson — known for decades as James H. Coyner— from a mysterious trunk filled with skulls in Michigan to a double murder in Cleveland, Mississippi that stunned the country. Along the way, we uncover what really happened in 1927, why later retellings labeled him a suspected serial killer, and how 600 National Guardsmen were deployed to prevent mob violence at his trial and execution.

The case is remembered—but not always accurately.

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In November of 1913, three-year-old Winifred Byrne vanished from outside her family’s home on West 38th Street in New York City. Her father had looked away for just a moment—and that was all it took.

What happened during the four days Winifred was missing was never fully explained.

In this Fun-Sized Felony, we revisit the brief headlines, the unanswered questions, and the mystery that remains.

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In July of 1912, Emily Antone—a 38-year-old Indigenous woman—arrived at a house in Middleport, Ontario, carrying a trunk and plans to start over. She never left alive.

This Fun-Sized Felony examines the murder of Emily Antone, the failures that surrounded it, and the way her story quietly disappeared from print. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, we trace what was recorded, what was ignored, and what was never followed up on at all.

Because some crimes aren’t remembered for what happened—but for how easily they were allowed to vanish.

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In the early hours of January 27, 1891, John Heslop was murdered inside his home near Ancaster, Ontario. He was a respected township clerk, a longtime pioneer in the area, and a man whose death sent shockwaves through the surrounding countryside.

What followed was an investigation shaped by footprints in the snow, conflicting testimony, and mounting public pressure. Detectives were brought in from outside the region. Suspects were named, arrests were made, a trial was held—and yet, certainty never arrived.

This episode traces the crime as it was experienced by the women inside the house, the evidence uncovered in the cold morning light, and the legal process that promised answers—but ultimately failed to deliver them.

One hundred and thirty-five years later, the case of John Heslop remains unresolved. The questions raised in 1891 are still with us, waiting for a conclusion that never came.

And then there's the burning question that remained on the lips of Hamilton residents for years, "Were you at Katie White's funeral?" 

We would love to know what you think! Are John Bartram, John Lottridge, Samuel Goosey, and George Douglas guilty? What really happened that night?

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This is another Fun-Sized Felony. Look for a full-sized episode next week!

In June of 1912, seventeen-year-old Mabel E. "Dolly" Dorner vanished, leaving her parents frantic and the newspapers full of fear. Three days later, she was quietly returned by a mysterious woman who claimed to be a nurse—along with an explanation that only raised more questions.

This Fun-Sized Felony revisits a brief disappearance—or two—and the unsettling possibility that the most important clues didn't emerge until long after the search ended.

Music:

• My Sumurun Girl, by Fred van Eps
  • Publication date: 1912-08-00
  • Can be accessed here: https://archive.org/details/edba-1549

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Not every story is told in full. This frustrates us, and now it can frustrate you! (You're welcome.)

The towns of Whitman and Brockton, MA, were thrown for a loop in July of 1957 when young boys were being immorally assaulted, battered, and murdered.

What happened to little Dicky Doherty?

Tune in to this fun-sized episode to find out as much as we know!

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In 1954, Melvin Clark was murdered and his body dumped into the depths of the Merrimack River. His wife, Lorraine Clark, would ultimately plead guilty—and for decades, that plea has stood as the official ending to the case.

But the record tells a more complicated story.

In this episode, we take a closer look at the murder of Melvin Clark, the investigation that followed, and the media narrative that quickly hardened into “fact.” We examine the unanswered questions that were never resolved in court: the missing motive, the car mysteriously abandoned in Everett, and the physical realities that never quite lined up with a lone perpetrator.

We also explore how sensational newspaper coverage distorted public understanding of the case, and how those manufactured stories have persisted as "truth" to this very day.

Two years after her guilty plea, Lorraine Clark would repudiate her confession and implicate a man who had hovered around the case from the beginning. By then, the legal system had already decided it was finished listening.

This is the story of Lorraine Clark and the murder of Melvin—not as it was printed, but as it truly unfolded: fragmented, unresolved, and still asking questions no one ever fully answered.

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In the final episode, Isabella J. Martin finally faces trial in a courtroom she cannot control. As the case unfolds, testimony forces the legal system to confront a difficult truth: Baby John was not a criminal mastermind, but a child shaped by coercion and fear.

This episode follows Isabella from conviction, to imprisonment, to retrial, to re-conviction, and back to imprisonment. Then we take a look at the San Quentin prison records that reveal the extent of her unraveling behind bars, which brings a lot of clarity to her entire criminal history. 

This episode also traces what became of Baby John after the trial—showing that survival does not always mean healing, and that escaping control is only the beginning of a far more complicated story.

Sorry for the length—but I didn't want to spill over into 4 episodes! 

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A burning barn in the snow finally breaks Isabella J. Martin’s control over her son. 

In Episode 2, Baby John is arrested—and for the first time in his life, separated from the woman who shaped every moment of his childhood. What follows is chaos inside the courtroom: Isabella acting as her son’s attorney, arguing with the judge, confessing to arson in open court, and then vanishing on the final day of the hearing.

As Baby John remains silent under her command, authorities begin to see the truth—this was not a criminal partnership, but a child forced into crime. And when Isabella disappears, the focus of the case finally begins to shift. The barn fire was only the beginning.