In the spring of 1853 the ill-fated William and Mary, an American sailing ship captained by the incompetent Timothy Stinson, departed from England carrying over 200 Dutch, Scotch, Irish and English emigrants, all bound for New Orleans. The voyage was an absolute disaster, replete with illness, bad weather, starvation, a shipwreck, and ultimately the captain's betrayal - in the form of an attempted mass murder.

My guest, Gill Hoffs is an expert on Victorian-era shipwrecks, and she shares details from her book, "The Lost Story of the William and Mary: The Cowardice of Captain Stinson".

She can be found on Twitter @GillHoffs

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Do you have a criminal from your family's past that you've always wanted to learn more about, but don't know where to start? On this special episode of Most Notorious, prolific British author Stephen Wade offers helpful tips on how to maneuver through what can be both a daunting and thrilling experience - digging up sordid details of long-lost villainous ancestors.

His book is called "Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians", and more information about him and his work can be found here: https://stephen-wade.com/

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Of all of the Jack the Ripper suspects, Montague Druitt is the most maligned in modern times, my guests argue, despite the fact that many of his contemporaries believed him to be the murderer of the Canonical Five before drowning himself in the Thames.

Jonathan Hainsworth and Christine Ward-Agius are the authors of "The Escape of Jack the Ripper: The Full Truth About the Cover-up and His Flight from Justice", and they make their case, on this week's episode of Most Notorious, that Montague Druitt was indeed Jack the Ripper.

More information about their book can be found here: https://hainsworthwardagius.com/buy/

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The Cherry Mine in Cherry, Illinois was built to be one of the safest in the United States. However on November 13th, 1909, it caught fire, killing 259 boys and men who were trapped inside, hundreds of feet below ground. A few miners eventually escaped - and later told the tale of their experiences battling darkness, thirst, fire and the ominous "Black Damp".

My guest, bestselling author Karen Tintori, whose grandfather who escaped death that day, shares details of this heartbreaking tragedy. Her book is called "Trapped: The Story of the Cherry Mine Disaster".

Additional information about Karen and all of her books can be found at her website, here: https://karentintori.com/

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Roanoke Island is host every year to the famous "Lost Colony" outdoor drama. It was during the 1967 production that a young makeup artist named Brenda Joyce Holland went missing - her body eventually discovered floating in Albemarle Sound. A murder investigation ensued, with important evidence being mishandled and a slew of suspects to sort through, including her boyfriend and an abusive dentist.

My guest on this episode of Most Notorious is investigative reporter John Railey, who has followed the case since the beginning. His book is called "The Lost Colony Murder on the Outer Banks: Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland".

More information about his book can be found here: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467147392

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On the evening of December 23rd 1881, three teenagers, alone in a farmhouse in Ashland Kentucky, were savagely murdered and the house set afire to cover the crime. What followed would be an investigation, trials, a lynching, and a massacre of Ashland citizens by state militia, in this fascinating and tragic series of events.

My guest is Joe Castle, author of "The Ashland Tragedy: Murder, a Mob & a Militia in Kentucky". More information about his book can be found here: https://theashlandtragedy.com/

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At the tail end of World War Two, a serial killer named James Waybern "Red" Hall, stalked the roads of Arkansas, Kansas and other middle American states, remorselessly murdering kind people who made the unfortunate decision to offer him a ride.

My guest, Janie Nesbitt Jones, is the author of “The Arkansas Hitchhike Killer: James Waybern ‘Red’ Hall." She talks about Hall's murders, how investigators eventually caught up to him, and theorizes on why he did what he did.

More information about Janie Nesbitt Jones and her book can be found here: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467148177

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When sheriff's deputies arrived at David and Allene Lamson's Palo Alto home on Memorial Day, 1933, they found David frantic over what he said was a terrible accident in their bathroom. Allene, he explained, had slipped when getting out of the bathtub and bashed her head on the sink, resulting in her death. Investigators, however, believed something far more sinister had taken place.

My guest is Tom Zaniello, and he shares details from his book "California's Lamson Murder Mystery: The Depression Era Case that Divided Santa Clara County".

More information can be found here: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467136532

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In November of 1912, a young woman named Ella Barham journeyed home, on her horse, to her family farm in Boone County, Arkansas, but never arrived. After her body was discovered, murdered and dismembered, suspicions quickly centered on a neighbor, Odus Davidson, who was rumored to have been in love with Ella, a love never returned.

My guest, Nita Gould, has a very personal connection to Ella, one that led to her write the book she joins us to discuss today, called "Remembering Ella: A 1912 Murder and Mystery in the Arkansas Ozarks."

More information can be found on her website, here: https://www.rememberingella.com/

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Imprisoned in a Turkish war camp during WW1, two British officers pull off an unbelievable con against their captors involving a Ouija board, an angry ghost and feigned madness - leading to a truly astonishing escape.

My guest is bestselling author Margalit Fox, author of "Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History."

More information about Margalit Fox and her work can be found at: http://margalitfox.com/

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