Prash's Murder Map: True Crime Podcast

How do you catch a serial killer who picks his victims at random, and whose only motive is to taunt the police? In Part 1 of this 2-part investigation into California’s Zodiac Killer, I’ll present the story of one of the most bizarre yet compelling unsolved cases in criminal history. Coincidences, letters, ciphers, phone calls and costumes – they’re all here. Join me again next time for Part 2 where we’ll do some more analysis and a review of the suspects.

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]

Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

With the amazing voice acting talents of Ben (The Zodiac, Brian Hartnell and police officer), Mariah (Nancy Slover), lunamist (Cecilia Shepard and disclaimer) and Steven (Mike Mageau)



Sources

Bauer, Craig P, 2018, “The Zodiac Ciphers: What We Know”, History.com https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-ciphers-what-we-know



Butterfield, Michael,Zodiac Killer Facts website http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/case.htm



Calhoun, Bob, 2018, “Yesterday’s Crimes: The Zodiac Killer’s First Known Victims Died 50 Years Ago”, SF Weekly, https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-news/yesterdays-crimes-the-zodiac-killers-first-known-victim-died-50-years-ago/



Graysmith, Robert, 2007, “Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer”, Titan Books



Grinell, Richard, Zodiac Ciphers website https://www.zodiacciphers.com/



Officer Down Memorial Page for Eric A Zelms, https://www.odmp.org/officer/14665-officer-eric-a-zelms



Schillemat, Brandon, 2012, “Has the code of the Zodiac Killer been cracked?”, Neighbor News, Patch, https://patch.com/california/fostercity/has-the-code-of-the-zodiac-killer-been-cracked



Voigt, Tom, Zodiac Killer website http://www.zodiackiller.com/index2.html



Was Donald Gene Harden the Zodiac Killer Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/pg/Was-Donald-Gene-Harden-the-Zodiac-Killer-189393988058502/posts/



Zodiac film, 2007 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/



ZodiacKillerIdentified YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Zeppelin196818/videos



ZodiacKillerVideos YouTube channel, “Lake Herman Road – The Funeral of David Faraday” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwPMg8XfOck



Zodiac Killer Wiki https://zodiackiller.fandom.com/wiki/Zodiac_Killer_Wiki

Two murders. Two sisters. One mind.

Journey with me back to the 1930s to examine one of the most grotesque and brutal double slayings in the history of France. This is not for the faint-hearted, because true crime just got even bloodier.

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]

If you enjoyed the show, please consider supporting Prash’s Murder Map on Patreon; take a look at the rewards on offer for as little as $1 a month.

Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio editing by Prash

French song at the beginning: Jess

Sources:

Budanovic, Nikola, “The Papin Sisters and the murder case that still haunts France after more than 80 years,”, 2017, TheVintageNews, https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/05/12/the-papin-sisters-and-the-murder-case-that-still-haunts-france-after-more-than-80-years/

Silent Twins: Without My Shadow, YouTube Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtP1qC61s

Strange Matters podcast, 2019, https://www.strangematterspodcast.com/the-papin-sisters/

In this episode, I examine five lesser-known murder cases from the Victorian era. Although each case is too brief to warrant a full episode, together they offer a fascinating glimpse into nineteenth-century crime and punishment. Among the stories featured are a mass murder on a German farm, the shooting of a station master in Kent, a double murder in Chelsea, a strange killing linked to superstition in the Black Country, and the notorious case of Henry Wainwright, whose attempts to conceal a murder only deepened the scandal. These short cases reveal recurring themes of deception, greed, failed cover-ups, and the often harsh realities of Victorian justice.

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Board a plane with me and fly to one of the most beautiful countries in the world, forever bloodstained by the murders of at least 38 women by the South African Strangler, or, as I call him, the Black Ted Bundy. How did the injustice and brutality of apartheid contribute to a child growing up to shed the skin of his humanity and becoming a monster?

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]

Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

“This is For Black Men & Women Of South Africa” poem written by Prash

Character Voices: Nicholas Mannie, Prash and Ian

Special Thanks to Nicole from True Crime South Africa. You can check out her amazing podcast here:

https://truecrimesouthafrica.com/



Music:

https://www.dl-sounds.com/

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/moses-sithole

https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sithole-moses.htm

https://truecrimesouthafrica.com/blog-episode-9-the-abc-killer/

True Crime Magazine By Detective Monthly (hard copy)

Murder mystery novels would have you believe that crimes only happen in dark, dreary places in the dead of night, but today we’re examining the tragic killing of a young girl in broad daylight on a sunny August afternoon in 1867. How did this happen in such a small, quiet town?

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]

Sources:

Bondeson, Jan; “Victorian Murders”, 2017, Amberley Publishing
Hoskins, John; Southern Daily Echo, “Brutal Slaying of Sweet Fanny Adams”, 7th February 2008
Journal of the Hampshire Genealogical Society, Volume XII, No. 4, February 1986
Mukerji, Jenny: “Who was Sweet Fanny Adams?” Hampshire Genealogical Society website

https://www.hgs-familyhistory.com

In 1989, students at the Ecole Polytechique in Montreal were looking forward to their Christmas break. But the hopes and dreams of 14 ambitious young women were shattered that day by a gunman on an ideologically driven rampage. We’ll pay tribute to the dead and we’ll also look at why he did it. Marc Lépine wanted to be a martyr, but he made himself into a monster. As we’ll learn, things are rarely black and white.

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]



Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

Disclaimer read by Jessica

Character Voices: Jessica and Eric

Recommended Podcasts:

True Crime Island https://www.truecrimeisland.com/

Music:

https://www.dl-sounds.com/



Night Break by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4125-night-break

Dark Times by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3611-dark-times

Stay The Course by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5048-stay-the-course

Screen Saver by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5715-screen-saver

A Very Brady Special by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5760-a-very-brady-special

All music by Kevin Macleod as per License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sources:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada website https://bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/about-us/



Chauvin, Pierre, “Let hate go, says mother of Montreal Massacre shooter Marc Lépine”, 2015, The Globe and Mail Newspaper



Deseret News, “Canadian Gunman’s Father beat wife, kids, divorce papers show,”, 1989, https://www.deseret.com/1989/12/10/18836121/canadian-gunman-s-father-beat-wife-kids-divorce-papers-show



Dowson, Anne Lagacé, “Ecole Polytechnique: Legacy of a Hate Crime”, 2014, Ricochet, https://ricochet.media/en/245/legacy-of-a-hate-crime



Gaysina, Darya & Thompson, Ellen Jo, 2017, “Are your parents to blame for your psychological problems?”, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/are-your-parents-to-blame-for-your-psychological-problems-81203



LeBlanc, Daniel & White, Patrick, 2020, “Canada set to ban assault style weapons, including AR-15 and the gun used in Polytechnique massacre,” The Globe and Mail, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawas-gun-ban-to-target-ar-15-and-the-weapon-used-during/



“Marc Lépine”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_L%C3%A9pine



Mellor, Lee, “Rampage: Canadian Mass Murder and Spree Killing,” 2013, Dundurn Press, Canada



Patel, Arti, “11 Canadian Women Who Were ‘Firsts’ In Their Fields”, 2016, Huffington Post, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/06/30/famous-canadian-women_n_10758238.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADcoU_CoVeBJXmhwHnIwe6eoaDZVjsy0DzspJKlphuQZL6E20IjagIALE5MLfsPUT8ZnIcBfl01TcYqcMhumTQgE3FZbo7hIJEsoeYSzRKtgwLbn78G44hTs4z5qJB_uWhUway1u1g9ReLeW42MhSV4RTZhdgF6vReXDZe1axWRK



“Polytechnique” film, 2009, directed by Denis Villeneuve https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194238/



The Fifth Estate Montreal Massacre Legacy Of Pain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spsAJ76rP3I





“True North: 12 Amazing Canadian Women”, 2019, A Mighty Girl Blog https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12590



Wallace, Bruce, “The Making of A Mass Killer”, 1989, Maclean’s Archive, https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1989/12/18/the-making-of-a-mass-killer



“Women at War”, 2019, Veterans Affairs Canada, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/historical-sheets/women

He said he hated women…but then he became one. In this episode, we delve deep into psychology, profiling and gender dysphoria in the case of the Frankston Killer, who terrorised a quiet suburb of Australia in the early 90s but could be released in 2023. We’ll look at nature versus nurture and what could have turned Paul Denyer into a serial murderer.

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap
Email: [email protected]
Visit www.prashganendran.com

Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

Character Voices: Simon, Jack Timothy, Tanya O’Sullivan

Music:

https://www.dl-sounds.com/

Sources:

Booker, Chloe, 2015, “Someone must know: cold case murder probe into disappearance of Sarah MacDiarmid”, The Age, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/someone-must-know-cold-case-murder-probe-into-disappearance-of-sarah-macdiarmid-20150711-gia1rg.html

Catter, 2008, “Paul Denyer Police Interviews”, Crimblog

http://wwwcrimblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/paul-denyer-police-interviews.html

Deery, Shannon, 2011, “Family of Paul Denyer tell of killer’s death threat”, Daily Telegraph

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/killers-family-dont-let-him-out/news-story/59e38892e8170309ccd633d1da3ffca4

Denyer, Julie, “True Story of Serial Killer Paul Denyer”, Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/True-Story-of-serial-killer-Paul-Denyer-195830497244618/?hc_ref=ART1CQmM_dfTjuZvIXUTT9BierabnDWenYn-rtwks7kzJA1Zx0khkVQS7-m8fdnAHT4&fref=nf&__tn__=kC-R

Denyer, Paul, 2003 – 2004, letters from prison

http://media.heraldsun.com.au/multimedia/2013/april/denyerletters/index03.html

Evil Clown TV, 2014, “Serial Killer Paul Denyer – Australian Killer – Documentary”, YouTube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGqBApTjWk

Hull, Megan, 2019, “Gender Dysphoria Statistics,” The Recovery Village

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/gender-dysphoria/related/gender-dysphoria-statistics/#gref [medically reviewed by Paula Cookson LCSW]

Kennard, Julia, 2010, “Carshalton couple haunted by their serial killer relative”, Sutton and Croydon Guardian

https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/5015765.carshalton-couple-haunted-by-their-serial-killer-relative/

Pelly, Julia, 2019, “What is disorganized attachment?”, Healthline Parenthood

https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/disorganized-attachment [medically reviewed by Karen Richardson Gill, MD, FAAP]

What do we really know about the poignant death of the girl who inspired one of Edgar Allan Poe’s novels, The Mystery of Marie Roget? Join me in New York in 1838 to investigate the unsolved murder of the enigmatic Mary Rogers, loved by all and remembered as the Beautiful Cigar Girl.

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Poe’s ‘The Raven’



Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]



Credits:

Research, writing, original Mary Rogers poem(“The Beautiful Cigar Girl”), narration and audio arrangement by Prash

Character Voices: Ben(Daniel Payne, LaForge), Steve (Edgar Allan Poe)

Sources:

“Edgar Allen Poe: Was Mary Rogers his muse or his victim?”, 8 October 2015

https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena-history-famous-people/edgar-allan-poe-was-mary-rogers-his-muse-or-his-murder-020557



Duke, Thomas; “The Mysterious Murder of Cigar Girl Mary Rogers”, 1910, Celebrated Criminal Cases of America Part III Cases East of the Pacific Coast

http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/ccca/the-mysterious-murder-of-cigar-girl-mary-rogers-1841/



Geary, Rick; “A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium II”, 2015, NBM Publishing Inc. New York



Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” 1978

https://www.eapoe.org/works/mabbott/tom3t001.htm



“Murder of Mary C. Rogers”, New York Tribune 12 August 1841, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19483347/murder_of_mary_c_rogers/



Nickell, Joe; “Historical Whodunnit – Spiritualists, Poe, and the real Marie Roget”, Skeptical Inquirer July/August 2010



Poe, Edgar Allen; “The Mystery of Marie Roget”, 1842 (Audible version)



Semtner, Chris; The Poe Blog, November 16 2016

http://www.thepoeblog.org/poe-museum-announces-loser-of-its-latest-poll/



Stashower, Daniel; “The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allen Poe, and the Invention of Murder,” 2006, Dutton Books



Steiner, Henry John; “The Ghosts and Mr Anderson,” October 15 2014, Headless Horseman Blog

http://headlesshorsemanblog.com/ghosts-edgar-allen-poe-john-anderson/



Various articles from archived New York newspapers

https://stupit.github.io/text/Mystery_of_Mary_Rogers/The_Mystery_of_Mary_Rogers_in_newspapers.htm#1837-09-18

The American frontier could be a perilous place, but most stout-hearted travellers were expecting nothing worse than tumbleweed, rattlesnakes and boredom on their long ride. When people started to go missing in the Osage area, suspicion fell on a family who were not all that they seemed. A local legend says red corn grows on the prairie to this day as the very land is saturated with the blood of their innocent victims, so join me as we investigate one of the greatest puzzles of the Old West.



Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]



Credits:

Research, writing, original Benders Song, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

Character Voices: Natasha and Ben

Sources:

Cappello, Nile; “The Bloody Benders: America’s First Family of Serial Killers”, August 2019

https://crimereads.com/the-bloody-benders-americas-first-family-of-serial-killers/



Geary, Rick; “A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium II”, 2015, NBM Publishing Inc, New York



Kansas Historical Society; “The Bender Knife”, December 2006, Kansapedia



https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bender-knife/10106



Martin, Michelle M; “Dinner with Death: Kate Bender, Murder and Mayhem on the Kansas Prairie”, August 2019

https://nursingclio.org/2019/08/15/dinner-with-death-kate-bender-murder-and-mayhem-on-the-kansas-prairie/



Rivenes, Erik; “The Bloody Benders”, June 2016, Most Notorious Podcast



“The Bloody Benders, America’s First Serial Killer Family”, January 2018

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/53672/bloody-benders-americas-first-serial-killers

Seeing as I enjoy writing lyrics and poems, I thought i'd write a song for Mike & Gibby at True Crime All The Time. Incorporating some of the cases they've covered. My small way of saying thanks to them to keep doing what they do so well and spreading a little joy during dark times. I really hope you enjoy listening to this as I did writing it.