In November 1995, 16-year-old Ruth Wilson vanished after leaving her home in Surrey. She didn't go to school as planned though. Instead she ordered some flowers, and took a taxi to a quiet rural lane near Box Hill. Then...she disappeared without a trace. Thirty years later, her family and investigators are still searching for answers. Was Ruth planning to run away? Did she meet someone that day? And why did she choose that isolated spot? In this episode, Annie and Johanna take a closer look at Ruth’s life, the timeline of her last known movements, the witness statements, and the theories surrounding her disappearance.

Ruth Wilson, Surrey, Box Hill, missing person case, 1995 disappearance, UK true crime, unsolved mystery, teenage runaway theories, Betchworth, cold case investigation, Fresh Hell Podcast, missing teenager, British cold cases, Ruth Wilson case, true crime podcast

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In the final part of our Dr. Crippen series, we’re heading into the Old Bailey for one of the most sensational trials in Edwardian history. We’ll walk you through the courtroom, the personalities, the evidence, the theatrics, the “Saul Goodman–before-Saul-Goodman” defense strategy, and the moment the jury returned in just twenty-seven minutes.

Part 4 brings the story to its end… or at least as close to an end as this case has ever gotten. Because more than a century later, Crippen’s guilt is still being argued, and the science is still being debated!

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In Part 3 of our Crippen series, we follow the case across the Atlantic and back again. After the dramatic arrest aboard the Montrose, Inspector Dew brings Crippen and Ethel to Québec, where the crowds are already waiting and the extradition machinery kicks into motion. We cover their guarded return voyage, the secrecy, and the surprisingly calm behavior of a man accused of murder.

Once back in London, Crippen and Ethel are met with angry crowds, Bow Street is overrun with reporters, and the British press enters full Crippen-mania. Ethel heads to Holloway, Crippen to Pentonville, and the city prepares for one of the most anticipated trials of the Edwardian era. Next stop: the Old Bailey.

Hawley Harvey Crippen, Dr. Crippen, Ethel Le Neve, Inspector Walter Dew, SS Montrose, SS Megantic, Canada extradition, Québec City, Bow Street Police Court, Pentonville Prison, Holloway Prison, Edwardian true crime, Crippen return voyage, early forensic history, London murder case, historical manhunt, Crippen trial, Fresh Hell Podcast.

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In Part 2 of our Crippen series, Scotland Yard finally agrees something isn’t right with Dr Crippen. Inspector Dew talks to Crippen, listens politely, and then decides he needs another look inside the house on Hilldrop Crescent. What he finds there ends any hope that Belle simply packed up and left.

At the same time, Crippen and Ethel are already gone, traveling under new names, dressed as father and son, heading for Canada. They almost make it, too. But this is the moment in history when ships begin using wireless messages, and unfortunately for them, their captain happens to be paying very close attention. Before long, newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic are breathlessly reporting the chase as it happens.

This is the episode where the Crippen case stops being a missing-person story and becomes a full-blown international manhunt!

Hawley Harvey Crippen, Dr. Crippen, Belle Elmore, Cora Crippen, Ethel Le Neve, Inspector Walter Dew, Scotland Yard, Hilldrop Crescent, Edwardian London, early forensic history, historical crime, true crime 1910, Crippen escape, SS Montrose, Captain Kendall, Marconi wireless, first wireless manhunt, transatlantic pursuit, London murder case, Fresh Hell Podcast.

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London, 1910: Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen and his wife, music-hall performer Belle Elmore, seem to have built the perfect Edwardian life... a tidy house in Holloway, polite manners, and a place in London’s social circle. But behind the facade of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, the marriage is falling apart.

In this first part of the story, we look at who the Crippens really were: Hawley’s small-town upbringing in Michigan and his career in homeopathy, and Belle’s ambition to become a star of the London stage.
When Belle disappears, and Dr. Crippen’s quiet secretary, Ethel Le Neve, suddenly takes her place, friends get suspicious.

Dr Crippen, Hawley Harvey Crippen, Cora Crippen, Belle Elmore, Ethel Le Neve, Walter Dew, 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Holloway, London 1910, Edwardian era, homeopathy, Munyon’s Remedies, missing persons, true crime history, historical murder case, Fresh Hell Podcast, British true crime, Edwardian London, Music Hall Ladies Guild, P. T. Barnum comparison, Victorian morality, Crippen case part 1.

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They’ve delivered love letters and war messages, carried microfilm across battlefields, worn tiny backpacks full of XTC, and been accused of international espionage! Yet somehow, pigeons have become one of the most hated animals in modern cities.

In this episode we take a closer look at the humble pigeon...a bird that’s been by our side for thousands of years. 

You’ll hear about decorated pigeon war heroes like Cher Ami and G.I. Joe, White Vision or Paddy, but also about the surprising science behind their intelligence, memory, and self-awareness.

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On Halloween night, 1973, nine-year-old Lisa Ann French left her home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, dressed as a hobo and planning to trick-or-treat with a friend. She never made it back. What followed would not only shatter their community, but also forever change Halloween for American families, and spark one of the most shocking parole controversies in Wisconsin history.

In this episode, Annie and Johanna tell the heartbreaking story of Lisa’s murder, the investigation that led to her neighbor, Gerald Turner, and the decades of legal battles that followed — from his 1975 conviction to the 1992 parole, and the eventual creation of Turner’s Law. 

Lisa French murder, Gerald Turner, Fond du Lac Wisconsin, 1973 Halloween murder, Turner’s Law, Wisconsin Chapter 980, sexually violent person law, Waupun Correctional Institution, Racine Correctional Institution, Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, Mauston Wisconsin, Maryann French, Halloween safety, child murder case, Wisconsin true crime, Fresh Hell Podcast, American true crime, 1970s true crime, parole controversy, Halloween killer, Wisconsin legal history, child safety law, Wisconsin justice system, crime in Fond du Lac, Lisa Ann French case, Wisconsin Department of Justice, civil commitment law, preventive detention, Turner parole, missing child 1973.

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This week, Johanna takes us back to 18th-century Austria, when terrified villagers were convinced the dead were refusing to stay buried...and the Habsburg Empire responded the only way it knew how: with paperwork!

Hear all about Petar Blagojević and Arnold Paole, and how it lead to Maria Theresia’s no-nonsense vampire ban. This is the true story of Europe’s first documented vampire epidemic. We’ll talk superstition, bureaucracy, and why the Empress’s personal physician, Gerard van Swieten, might have been Bram Stoker’s real-life inspiration for Van Helsing.

Of course we also try to figure out the possible medical explanations behind the legend: tuberculosis, rabies, and much more

Austria, Austrian vampire panic, Habsburg Empire, Petar Blagojević, Peter Plogojovitz, Arnold Paole, Gerard van Swieten, Maria Theresia, Enlightenment, Aufklärung, vampire history, vampire epidemic, Milzbrand, anthrax, tuberculosis, rabies, porphyria, premature burial, Medvegia, Kisilova, 18th century, superstition, folklore, Bram Stoker, Van Helsing, vampire myth, Viennese history, Christian Reiter, historical medicine, grave exhumation, Visum et Repertum, Habsburg Monarchy, true crime history, Fresh Hell Podcast, Spooky Fuckery Month.

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For our 300th episode, we’re boarding one of the most famous ships in the world: the RMS Queen Mary. Once the epitome of 1930s luxury and wartime resilience, she now sits permanently moored in Long Beach, California… and she’s said to be home to over 150ghosts.

We talk about the tragic story of Door 13 and the splendor of the first-class swimming pool, as well as the anger and rage in the infamous Stateroom B340. Hear all about the elegant Woman in White who never left the dance floor, explore with us the ship’s history, hauntings, and the very thin line between legend and marketing.

Join us as we celebrate 300 episodes of Fresh Hell Podcast with a deep dive into the glamour, the ghosts, and the real-life horror story of keeping the Queen Mary afloat.

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