Historical True Crime

By LizzieTrue Crime

Historical True Crime episodes

July 14, 2023 The Atlanta Ripper
At least 20 African-American women, all of whom were young, were murdered between 1911 and 1915. Their throats were cut, and nearly all of
the victims sustained crippling head injuries from blunt objects. No one has ever been found guilty of the murders that are mainly thought to have been the work of the city's first serial killer. Eventually, local publications started calling the killer the Atlanta Ripper.
Source Materials:
https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2736.html
https://loriajohnston.medium.com/the-unsolved-atlanta-ripper-case-2e9e73c67ef1
https://www.oxygen.com/the-real-murders-of-atlanta/crime-news/the-atlanta-ripper-serial-killer-terrorized-city-in-1900s
https://crimecapsule.com/who-was-the-atlanta-ripper/
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/01/17/atlvault-atlanta-ripper-terrorizes-city-100-years-ago/
https://www.fabledcollective.com/the-atlanta-ripper/
https://www.ranker.com/list/scary-atlanta-ripper-facts/sabrina-ithal
https://www.clermontsun.com/2021/06/03/marc-hoover-the-atlanta-ripper
https://www.grunge.com/482805/the-untold-truth-of-the-atlanta-ripper/
20 min
July 07, 2023 The Werewolf of Bedburg: Peter Stumpp
Accusations of being a murderer, a cannibal, and a werewolf were levelled against Peter Stumpp. While there are few records of his life before the crime, his murders and horrifying execution are somewhat well-recorded in history books.
Source Materials:
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/10/a-german-werewolfs-confessions-horrified-1500s-europe
https://benkageyama.medium.com/the-werewolf-of-bedburg-4352774f9804
https://modernfarmer.com/2013/08/peter-stubbethe-werewolf-of-bedburg/
https://www.history.com/news/werewolf-trials-europe-witches
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/german-werewolf-009397
https://exemplore.com/paranormal/Peter-Stumpp-The-Werewolf-of-Bedburg
https://danarehn.com/2022/05/04/werewolf-petter-stump/
https://theravenreport.com/2017/09/18/how-the-werewolf-of-bedburg-passed-from-man-to-myth/
https://the-line-up.com/werewolf-of-bedburg
20 min
June 30, 2023 The Last Hangman: Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint hanged a record number of individuals between 1932 and 1956. Although the precise number is still unclear, popular estimates place it at 435, but the man once asserted 550. As a young child, he was inspired by his father and uncle, both of whom carried out executions, and helped his uncle in the early stages of his career.
Source Materials:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/albert-pierrepoint
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/32976
https://www.lancs.live/whats-on/pierrepoint-preston-pub-owner-who-16407483
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/albert-pierrepoint-50229.php
https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/02/albert-pierrepoint-the-last-official-executioner-in-britain-shares-his-methods.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-65562086
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/18/albert-pierrepoint-ian-sansom
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1992/07/13/albert-pierrepoint-87-dies/7be3f85f-6ce4-4f62-aabd-86f2128e3992/
https://headstuff.org/culture/history/the-pierrepoints-a-deadly-family-business/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11731191/Kit-used-Britains-executioner-Albert-Pierrepoint-set-fetch-thousands-auction.html
19 min
June 23, 2023 Serial Poisoner: Martha Needle
Martha Needle appeared to be a loyal housewife and a loving mother, but she harboured a dark secret. Martha methodically and painstakingly poisoned her entire family a little over a century ago. Drop by deadly drop, one by one, she killed her husband, three daughters, and the brother of her new fiancé, appearing to be loyal to her suffering loved ones as they died at her hands.
Source Materials:
https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/martha-needle/
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/mentally-ill-or-clever-and-calculating-the-thrilling-story-of-aussie-woman-who-poisoned-her-entire-family/news-story/929c1a55323b325bd71fefddd4d3251c
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/from-the-archives-1894-the-last-days-of-martha-needle-the-richmond-poisoner-20201016-p565sn.html
https://prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-blog/martha-needle
https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/martha-needle-melbournes-19th-century-serial-poisoner/
https://australiasdarkheart.weebly.com/martha-needle.html
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/168966386
https://indaily.com.au/arts-culture/books-and-poetry/2019/04/17/re-examining-the-life-and-crimes-of-a-serial-poisoner/
https://vagrantsandmurderesses.com/record/featured/516/11/409
http://ladieshandbook.com/martha-needle/
https://murderpedia.org/female.N/n/needle-martha.htm
21 min
June 16, 2023 The First Celebrity Scandal: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was in his prime in the summer of 1921. He was paid an extraordinary $3 million over three years by
Paramount Pictures to star in 18 silent pictures, and he had just agreed to a new million-dollar deal with the company, which is equivalent to nearly $13
million today. The 266-pound comic was advertised on movie posters as "worth his weight in laughs." But before the year was up, he was charged with an awful crime, and life would never be the same.
Source Materials
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-skinny-on-the-fatty-arbuckle-trial-131228859/
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/fatty-arbuckle-and-the-birth-of-the-celebrity-scandal
https://www.thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roscoe-Arbuckle
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-sexual-assault-case-that-shocked-hollywood-almost-a-century-ago
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/who-was-virginia-rappe-the-true-story-of-the-rising-career-and-shocking-death-of-a-1920s-star-and-the-fatty-arbuckle-trial-b405039.html
https://movieweb.com/hollywoods-first-scandal/
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=constructing
https://www.grunge.com/467333/the-tragic-real-life-story-of-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle/
https://www.thecut.com/2017/11/before-harvey-weinstein-virginia-rappe-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle.html
https://allthatsinteresting.com/virginia-rappe-fatty-arbuckle
20 min
June 09, 2023 The Lynching of Leo Frank: Innocent Man
Leo Frank's trial and lynching have long captivated historians and audiences. Factory manager Frank, a Jew from the North, was charged in 1913 with the murder of Mary Phagan, a thirteen-year-old local White employee who worked for him in Atlanta. Two deaths are intertwined in this case– one would lead to the rise of the Klu Klux Klan, and the other, the creation of the anti-defamation league.
Source Materials:
https://www.famous-trials.com/leo-frank/27-home
https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/leo-frank-lynching
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/leo-frank
https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/leo-frank-trial-1913
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/did-leo-frank-kill-mary-phagan-106-years-later-we-might-finally-find-out-for-sure/
https://history.msu.edu/files/2010/04/Nancy-MacLean.pdf
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/education-outreach/people-v-leo-frank-teachers-guide-the.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/22/leo-frank-was-lynched-for-a-murder-he-didnt-commit-now-neo-nazis-are-trying-to-rewrite-history/
https://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2014/03/26/the-story-of-the-jews-the-leo-frank-case
https://allthatsinteresting.com/leo-frank
19 min
June 02, 2023 The Starvation Doctor: Linda Hazzard
Women who wanted a quick and simple solution for their
health issues visited Dr. Linda Hazzard in the early 1900s. Socialites
came to Hazzard and her cutting-edge sanatorium, Wilderness Heights, to spend weeks relaxing and cleansing their bodies. They had no idea that Linda Hazzard was a con artist. In addition to the fact that none of her remedies worked, she was a serial killer. At Linda Hazzard's sanitarium, torture, forced starvation, and even death were commonplace. It was even known locally as Starvation Heights.
Source Materials:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/doctor-who-starved-her-patients-death-180953158/
https://www.historylink.org/File/7955
https://seattleterrors.com/dr-linda-hazzard-starvation-heights/
https://www.historicmysteries.com/linda-hazzard/
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/natural-medicine-starvation-and-murder-the-story-of-linda-hazzard/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/history/1721352/starvation-heights-doctor-weight-loss-method-death
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Linda-Hazzard-The-Starvation-Doctor
https://medium.com/@lisariggio1994/deadly-women-daily-linda-hazzard-f015bcf10f00
https://forgottenminnesota.com/forgotten-minnesota/2018/07/starvation-doctor-quack-healer-serial-killer
19 min
May 26, 2023 Demon of the Belfry: Theo Durrant
Just seven years after the horrific Whitechapel murders, the startling violence of "The Demon of the Belfry" killings prompted immediate comparisons to Jack the Ripper. Contrary to the Ripper, however, Durrant targeted young middle-class ladies by luring them into the church where they all worshipped, raping, and killing them.
Source Materials
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Theodore-Durrant-Demon-of-the-Belfry-SF-murders-10418597.php
https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/theo-durrant-trial-1895
https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/killer-theodore-durrant/
https://murderpedia.org/male.D/d/durrant-theodore.htm
https://the-line-up.com/theo-durrant-the-demon-of-belfry
http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2009/11/theodore-durrant-demon-of-belfry.html
https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/history/theo_durrant/index.html
https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-body-in-the-belfry-2fcf94a5c803
19 min
May 19, 2023 Serial Killer: The Axeman of New Orleans
By August 1918, terror had paralyzed the city of New Orleans. The Axeman of New Orleans, as he became known, broke into several Italian grocery stores in the middle of the night and attacked the store owners and their families. He killed four individuals and left four more wounded. The assaults were brutal. All of the murders that bear The Axeman's signature are cold cases, as he was never caught or identified.
Source Materials:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/axeman-new-orleans-preyed-italian-immigrants-180968037/
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/la-axeman/
https://nolaghosts.com/the-axeman-of-new-orleans/
https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Axeman_of_New_Orleans
https://www.lsureveille.com/entertainment/louisiana-true-crime-the-new-orleans-axeman-who-murdered-italian-grocers-unfond-of-jazz/article_0a263482-8744-11ec-85de-7b60c0b7252f.html
https://www.openculture.com/2018/10/story-axeman-new-orleans-serial-killer-loved-jazz.html
https://countryroadsmagazine.com/art-and-culture/history/the-axeman-new-orleans/
https://heathermonroe.medium.com/unsolved-the-axeman-murderer-of-new-orleans-2580c0fa59b
https://thecrimewire.com/true-crime/The-Unsolved-Case-of-the-Axeman-of-New-Orleans
19 min
May 12, 2023 The Massie Trials: Infamous Case - Race, Honour and Murder
The course of Hawaiian race relations and politics was permanently altered by two highly public criminal cases, one for rape and the other for murder, both involving several defendants. The trials have all the makings of a good mystery—twists and turns, unsolved questions—and they are full of them. Clarence Darrow, America's best defense lawyer, ends his judicial career during the second of the infamous "Massie Affair" hearings. No trials in history have had more of an impact on Hawaii than the ones that startled and shook the nation in 1931 and 1932.

Source Materials:
https://www.famous-trials.com/massie
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/island-murder-five-men-accused-assaulting-thalia-massie/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/thomas-massie-trial-1932
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/hawaii-s-scandalous-thalia-massie-trial-a7921741.html
https://www.grunge.com/397874/the-tragic-true-story-of-hawaiis-massie-murder/
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2343&context=facpub
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/Joseph-Kahahawai-murder-Thalia-Massie-Hawaii-15934391.php
21 min

About Historical True Crime

From the publisher's feed

Step into the shadows of the past with "Historical True Crime," the podcast that takes you on a gripping journey through some of history's most captivating and chilling criminal stories. Each episode…