PULP NONFICTIONA reading from the pioneers of True Crime

The Murder of Edith May Thompson Woodill

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True crime history is not just about reviving the stories of America's scandals, scoundrels and scourges, but also about exploring the history of true crime as a genre.

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Apart from the lurid newspaper accounts of crimes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some of the earliest writers of true crime grew out of the pulp magazine tradition.

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This story revolves around the friendship between a pretty socialite and an erudite, seemingly scholarly man who came to live in her hometown on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The residents of Talbot County were shocked beyond belief when a pair of crab trappers pulled the body the newly-married young woman from the Chesapeake Bay and the newcomer disappeared.

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The following story is adapted from the April, 1930 edition of True Detective Mysteries Magazine, a first-person account from the Sheriff on the case, told twenty years after the fact.

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This episode runs a little longer than usual, but I promise you it is worth the time to follow the winding trail of deceit and the exciting manhunt in the shallow Maryland waters.

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Please visit www.truecrimehistorian.com for source information on this story, and a few clippings from the original reporting, including the map that the Sheriff referred to. On the website, you can also find additional stories about America's famous and forgotten scandals, scoundrels and scourges as well as information about how to purchase my true crime books and Two-Dollar Terror novellas.

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Musical direction and theme music by Chuck Wiggins