Murderous Roots with Denise & Zelda

At 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, as people lined the streets of Elm Street in Dallas, Texas to watch the presidential motorcade drive by, shots rang out. Shots that would kill the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Who could possibly do this to a beloved president and a new Camelot? Before the day was up, the world would know the answer, the lone shooter was Lee Harvey Oswald. 48 hours after the death of Kennedy, Oswald would be shot and killed by Jack Ruby.

But who was Oswald? In this episode, we explore what is known about the events leading up to the assassination of Kennedy and Oswald himself. Then, we go one step further. We discuss his fascinating family tree, including his French, German, and Dutch roots, a family history of slavery, and much more.

Listen to The Lone Shooter to learn more about Lee Harvey Oswald and his genealogy. Then, we’d appreciate it if you leave us a rating, review, and subscribe to the podcast.

In the early evening hours of November 13, 1974, a young bearded man burst into a local bar in Amityville, New York in a panic. He believed his parents might have been shot, and he didn’t know what to do. Several patrons at the bar followed him home in order to help. What they found would horrify the community. In the home on 112 Ocean Avenue, six bodies lay dead, all shot to death. The police were called and the investigation began. It didn’t take long for detectives to come to the conclusion that Ronald Joseph DeFeo, Jr. had killed his own family hours before bursting into the bar.

But the story wouldn’t stop there. It didn’t stop once Ronald, or Butch as he was known, was convicted. The house itself would become infamous. A month after DeFeo’s conviction, George and Kathy Lutz would move into the home only to leave 28 days later. They claimed the house was possessed. This claim led to a book and then a series of popular horror films.

In this episode, we discuss the claims by the Lutzes, the murders committed by DeFeo, and then go deep into his Italian immigrant roots where we found family ties to the Genovese crime family.

Listen to our latest episode as we discuss the murder Harry T. Hayward arranged, his later confession to his cousin, and what happened to his family after his death. Then continue listening as we explore a tree that goes back to the Mayflower, New Netherland, a murdered family member, and how a member of his family was tied to the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.

Between 1982 and 1984, over 20 bodies of young men were found in fields, often near near interstates, murdered. All of the victims had stab wounds at the chest and abdomen; several victims disemboweled after death. Who was the monster killing these men?Well-known in the gay community of Indianapolis, Larry Eyler was considered a good guy, but he had a dark, sadistic streak in his sexual relations. It would be a past lover’s suspicions that would help lead to his arrest.In this episode, we discuss the crimes of Eyler and then dig into his dysfunctional family and his family’s deep Indiana roots. What we found was even more murder.

In 1872, young boys were lured away and attacked. The perpetrator sent to a reform school for boys. Soon after he was released, in 1874, it happened again. First a young girl went missing then a young boy was found murdered.

Who would do these crimes? 14-year-old Jesse Harding Pomeroy. In this minisode, we discuss his crimes and his ultimate punishment. Then we find out what happened to his family and go back into his deep Massachusetts roots.

The List family seemed perfect from the outside: three active children in the community, a mother who stayed at home, a doting, involved professional father, and a grandmother living with the family.

But all was not as it seemed, something that became readily apparent in December 1971 when friends realized they had not seen or heard from the family for nearly a month. When the police arrived, they were horrified to discover the bodies of the entire family, save one, the father, John List.

Listen to our latest episode as we discuss the horrible murders carried out by John List, and then as we discuss his family tree ..

TRIGGER WARNING:
In this episode we discuss issues that may serve as a trigger for those suffering from eating disorders. If you want to avoid this content, skip ahead to the 30 minute mark.

Linda Burfield Hazzard did not go to medical school, but she called herself a doctor. Despite her lack of degree, Linda, along with her husband Samuel Hazzard, opened a sanitarium offering simple cure for all those who were ill, fasting. Her "cure" led to death as she enriched herself.

In celebration of the podcast’s first anniversary, Denise and Zelda spend an hour answering questions asked by listeners and each other.

Accused of murdering Belle Starr, Edgar Artemus Watson went before a judge to face the charges. Ultimately, though, the charges were dismissed and the murder never solved. Little did the judge know, Edgar had murdered before and would murder again.

Growing up in South Carolina to an abusive father likely shaped Edgar into the man he became. Despite the efforts of his mother to take him and his sister away from that violence, Edgar would become even more violent than his father.

In this episode, we explore how Edgar’s past shaped him as well as what happened after he left his accusers in Arkansas, changing his name to Edgar J. Watson soon after.. Listen as we discuss his multiple wives, lovers, and children, and as well as the number of bodies he left Chokoloskee, Florida.

In April 1908, authorities responded to a fire in LaPorte, Indiana, and what they found in the ashes horrified them. Three children dead, and 11 more bodies buried around the property, a pig farm.

In this minisode, we discuss the crimes of Belle Gunness and learn more about her family as well as the shocking discovery involving a family member and another serial killer.

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