Historical True Crime

A young woman in rural Tipperary falls suddenly ill in 1895—and within days, fear, folklore, and family pressure spiral into one of Ireland’s most disturbing murder cases. This episode unravels the death of Bridget Cleary, the beliefs that shaped it, and the legacy she never asked for.

Source Materials

 Bourke, Angela. The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story. Penguin, 2000.

The Tipperary Witch Case (1895 court and newspaper reporting).

McGrath, Thomas. “Fairy Faith and Changelings: The Burning of Bridget Cleary in 1895.”

 Ruxton, Dean. “The Story of the Last ‘Witch’ Burned Alive in Ireland.” The Irish Times, 2016.

“The Charred Remains of Bridget Cleary Were Found in a Bog…” History Collection.

“The Murder of Bridget Cleary: Ireland’s Last Witch and the Fire of Superstition.” Secret Ireland.

National Archives of Ireland images and records related to the Cleary case.

In 1920s Los Angeles, prophecy, greed, and death collided in the hills of California. This episode unravels the story of the Blackburn Cult—a mother-daughter prophecy, a girl kept on ice, and a courtroom that tried to make sense of itall.

Historical True Crime was named one of Feedspot’s Best 1920s Podcasts, coming in at #4. Feedspot highlights top podcasts across history, true crime, and culture — you can find their full 1920s list on their site. https://podcast.feedspot.com/1920s_podcastsSource Materials

Blackburn, May Otis. The Origin of God. Los Angeles: DeVross & Co., 1936.

Young, Paul. L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2002.

Introvigne, Massimo. “Beth Sarim: Princes, Slander, and the Millennium.” The Journal of CESNUR 6, no. 6 (2022): 12–17.

 “Believe Child Sacrificed in Ritual of Cult.” Associated Press, October 7, 1929.

“Los Angeles Authorities Probe Deaths of Cult Members.” Associated Press, October 9, 1929.

“Mary Otis Blackburn Convicted in Grand Theft Case.” Associated Press, March 3, 1930.

“Cult Leader Sentenced to San Quentin.” Associated Press, March 14, 1930.

Divine Order's Tale Smacks of Cult Fiction - Los Angeles Times

Take It On Faith: A Press Photo of Members of the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven, Los Angeles, 7 October 1929 -The Homestead Blog

Female Justice Recap: “Persons Believing They Have Divine Power are Entitled to Assert It”: Religious Freedom in the May Otis Blackburn Theft Trial -The Homestead Blog

The Blackburn Cult - HistoricalCrimeDetective.com

Between 1894 and 1897, a scarred drifter named Joseph Vacher wandered the French countryside, leaving a trail of murdered shepherds and farmhands in his wake. Dubbed “The French Ripper,” his crimes terrified rural France—and helped give birth to modern forensic science. This episode traces his life, his trial, and the work of Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the scientist who proved that evidence could speak louder than fear.

Source Materials

Starr, Douglas. The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010).

Tracking a 19th-Century Serial Killer | BU Today | Boston University

Joseph Vacher: Serial Killer Known as "The French Ripper" - geriwalton.com

The 'French Ripper' Killed Dozens — So Why Don’t You Know His Name?

Joseph Vacher: The French Ripper’s Brutal Killing Spree – True Crime Archives

Joseph Vacher: The Killer of Little Shepherds

Joseph Vacher, the “French Ripper” - HeadStuff

In 1803, a ghost was said to haunt the lanes of Hammersmith.
By the time the truth emerged, one man was dead—and another stood trial for murder. This is the story of the Hammersmith Ghost: where fear, rumor, and justice collided in the dark.

Source Materials

Proceedings of the Old Bailey,11 January 1804 – Trial of Francis Smith for the murder of Thomas Millwood.

Burton, Paul J. “The Hammersmith Ghost and the Rule of Law.” SSRN Scholarly Paper, 2015.

Davies, Owen. The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Westwood, Jennifer, and Jacqueline Simpson. The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends, from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys. Penguin Books, 2005.

“The Newgate Calendar: The Trial and Execution of Francis Smith.” (Contemporary 19th-century account).

A Deadly Scare? The Hammersmith Ghost Murder Case - Historic Mysteries

The Hammersmith Ghost and a Murdered Man

The Hammersmith Ghost and the Strange Death of Thomas Millwood Crime Magazine

The Case of a Ghost Haunted England for Over Two Hundred Years | In Custodia Legis

A nobleman’s drunken murder. A trial before the Irish House of Lords. And the scandal that gave rise to Ireland’s most infamous secret society — the Hellfire Club.

Source Material

 Neal Garnham, “The Trials of James Cotter and Henry, Baron Barry of Santry: Two Case Studies in the Administrationof Criminal Justice in Early Eighteenth-Century Ireland”, IrishHistorical Studies, Vol. 32, No. 128 (2001).

Neal Garnham, “The Trials of James Cotter and Henry, Baron Barry of Santry”, Irish Historical Studies, 2001.

F. Elrington Ball, The Judges in Ireland, 1221–1921 (London: John Murray, 1926).

Geoffrey Ashe, The Hell-Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality (The History Press, 2000).

Evelyn Lord, TheHellfire Clubs: Sex, Satanism and Secret Societies (Yale University Press, 2008).

Hellfire Clubs (Pamphlet / Irish National Library Collection, c. 18th century).

Abarta Heritage, TheHellfire Club Archaeological Project – History and Folklore, Abarta Heritage (https://www.abartaheritage.ie/hellfire-club-archaeological-project/hellfire-club-history/hellfire-club/).

John D’Alton, Historyof the County of Dublin (Dublin, 1838).

 “The Hell-Fire Club: Sex, Satanism andSecret Societies,” History Is Now Magazine, 2018.

“The Hellfire Club Murders”, Dublin Penny Journal, archival reprint.

In 1566, a widow from a quiet Essex village was accused of feeding her cat with drops of her own blood—and of using it to kill. This is the story of Agnes Waterhouse, the first woman in England whose witch trial was captured in print. A story offear, faith, and the birth of the English witch.

Source Material:

In 1900, Texas millionaire William Marsh Rice was found dead in his New York apartment. Within hours, forged checks, a suspicious will, and a hasty cremation order set off one of the most sensational murder cases of the Gilded Age. This is thestory of greed, betrayal, and the crime that nearly derailed the founding of Rice University.

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Source Materials

Rice's Attorney and Valet Face Criminal Charges, newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

Face the Law Murder Conspiracy and Forgery newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

"Confessed Murder Forgery" - Rice University Digital Collections

Scrapbook page of New York news clippings announcing the mysterious circumstances of the death of William MarshRice - Rice University Digital Collections

Evidence of Guilt newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

Murdered man's estate founds great university, newsclipping regarding Rice Institute - Rice University Digital Collections

The Murder of Millionaire William Rice by Albert Patrick, 1900 - HistoricalCrimeDetective.com

William Marsh Rice: A Story of Money, Poison, and Murder – Kathy M. Slaughter

William Marsh Rice and His Legacy — The Heritage Society

 Martin L. Friedland, The Death of Old Man Rice: A True Story of Criminal Justice in America (University of Toronto Press, 1996).

Thomas Duke, Celebrated Criminal Cases of America (1910), Part III: “The Murder of Millionaire William Rice by Albert Patrick.”

Glamour, scandal, and an unsolved death. When torch singer Libby Holman married into the Reynolds tobacco dynasty, she stepped into a world of wealth and whispers. Whatfollowed was a mystery that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Source Material

The Notorious Libby Holman | Vanity Fair | March 1985

This Month In Rockingham County History: August - 'Libby Holman Reynolds Turns Herself In at Rockingham County Courthouse' - Museum & Archives of Rockingham County

Libby Holman | Jewish Women's Archive

Daily Iowan (Iowa City, Iowa), 1932-10-20

Daily Iowan (Iowa City, Iowa), 1932-10-25

Carolina watchman (Salisbury, N.C.). 1932-12-16 [p ].

Daily Iowan (Iowa City, Iowa), 1932-07-10

Daily Iowan (Iowa City, Iowa), 1932-07-14

Daily Iowan (Iowa City, Iowa), 1932-08-09

Coroner's Report in the Matter of the Death of Z. Smith Reynolds – Works – Reynolda House

Dreams that money can buy : the tragic life of Libby Holman : Bradshaw, Jon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Passing Strange: Radical Chic, Race, Sex, Song, and Dance in “Moanin’ Low” - Article (Preprint v1) by Thomas F. Connolly | Qeios

In July 1908, the body of 20-year-old Hazel Drew was discovered face-down in Teal’s Pond near Sand Lake, New York. Rumors of secret lovers, missing letters, and powerful suspects turned her death into both a ghost story and, decades later, the inspiration for Twin Peaks.

Source Materials

Jerry Drake, Hazel Was a Good Girl (Clash Books, 2023).

David Bushman & Mark Givens, Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks (Thomas & Mercer, 2022)

Murder mystery haunts Rensselaer County 116 years later - WNYT.com NewsChannel 13

Before the Black Dahlia: The Unsolved Murder of Hazel Drew — and What It Reveals About Race, Crime, and Memory | byLawson Brooks | Certifiable | Aug, 2025 | Medium

Who Killed Hazel Drew? The 1908 Murder Case That Inspired Twin Peaks

Murder that inspired ‘Twin Peaks’ solved 100 years later: Book

A Pair Of Amateur Sleuths Believe They've Solved The Century-Old Murder That Inspired 'Twin Peaks'

The murder victim who inspired Twin Peaks haunted me for years... and helped me expose her TRUE killer | Daily MailOnline

Hazel’s brutal murder was all but forgotten. Until she inspired ‘Twin Peaks.’ - The Washington Post

For our 150th episode, we revisit one of history’s most infamous names: H. H. Holmes. Behind the myths of the ‘Murder Castle’ lies a story of fraud, fear, and fact stranger than legend. Step inside Chicago’s 1890s underworld—and separate truth from folklore.

Source Materials

The Enduring Mystery of H.H. Holmes, America's 'First' Serial Killer

The Toronto link to America's bloodiest serial killer - Spacing Toronto | Spacing Toronto

H.H. Holmes: Biography, Serial Killer, Murderer

Murder Castle - H.H. Holmes, Chicago World's Fair & Layout | HISTORY

H. H. Holmes: Master of Illusion — Swindler — Crime Library

Selzer, Adam. H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017.

Geyer, Frank P. The Holmes-Pitezel Case: A History of the Greatest Crime of the Century and of the Search for the Missing Pitezel Children. Philadelphia: Publishers’ Union, 1896.