A murder mystery solved by… a sweet potato? In 2011, a bizarre clue at a Massachusetts crime scene went cold for over a decade — until DNA in 2023 cracked the case. We trace the sweet potato’s journey from Indigenous fields to Southern kitchens, exploring sweet potato pie, its pumpkin cousin, and even forgotten carrot pie along the way. Flavor, history, and true crime collide in the strangest ways.

Sources & Further Reading

• ABC News — “Sweet potato helps solve Massachusetts cold case murder”

• Oxygen True Crime — “DNA on sweet potato silencer links man to Cape Cod cold case”

• Newsweek — “Devarus Hampton and the sweet-potato smoking gun”

• KPBS — “The Great Pie Debate: Pumpkin vs. Sweet Potato”

• Smithsonian Magazine — “A Brief History of Sweet Potatoes and Their Cultural Roots”

• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture — “Sweet Potato” entry (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003)

A knock at the door. A bowl of candy. And one Halloween night in 1957 that turned deadly. In this episode, we unwrap the story of Peter and Betty Fabiano, the so-called “Trick-or-Treat Murder”, and trace how the sugary ritual behind it evolved from ancient offerings to candy corn.

Sources include:

National Museum of Scotland, “Souling, Guising, and the Origins of Trick or Treat”

One man hiding from police in a California corn maze accidentally leads us down a different path—into the 9,000-year story of corn itself. Featuring Indigenous perspectives, culinary history, and a side of humor, this episode uncovers how one ancient grain shaped our plates, our past, and one very strange police report.

Sources include:

An interview from KTVU

An interview from ABC 7

Ancient DNA Continues To Rewrite Corn’s 9,000-Year Society-Shaping History from the Smithsonian

Historical Indigenous Food Preparation Using Produce of the Three Sisters Intercropping System

When Aron Ralston was trapped by a boulder in Utah’s Bluejohn Canyon, two burritos became his last link to life. This episode dives into his 127-hour fight for survival—and the fascinating history of the burrito, from Mesoamerica to modern-day.

Sources include:

• Bluejohn Canyon

• Outside Online – “Between a Rock and the Hardest Place”

• The Guardian – “The Story Behind 127 Hours”

• All That’s Interesting – The True Story of Aron Ralston

• Wikipedia: Aron Ralston

• Nuestro Stories

• DishHistory – Burrito Origins (YouTube)

• Wikipedia: Tex-Mex

A prune cake. A smile. A string of poisoned husbands. Meet Nannie Doss — the “Giggling Granny” whose deadly dessert shocked America. In this episode of True Crime Culinary, Leah Llach unpacks the sweet, sinister story of love, arsenic, and domestic deception.

Sources include an article from all that’s interesting, an analysis from the YouTube show Observe, and our friend Wikipedia.