Best John Redfield Podcasts (2025)

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407: The Thames Torso Murders w/ Sarah Bax Horton 1:01:54

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19h ago1:01:54

1:01:54

Victorian London is often remembered for the Ripper murders, yet at the same time another equally chilling series of slayings unfolded. Between 1887 and 1889, the dismembered bodies of four women appeared along the Thames. The river itself became the killer’s cover, its tides and hidden corners serving as a macabre dumping ground. Overshadowed by t…

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406: The Murder of Jujube Heiress Ruth Quinn w/ Taylor Kiland 56:40

7d ago56:40

56:40

The small Southern California island of Coronado rarely makes news for violent crime. But in the spring of 1975, World War II widow and retired librarian Ruth Quinn was murdered, execution-style, in her cottage. Her death sent a shock wave through the community. The granddaughter of Jujubes and Jujyfruits creator Henry Heide, Ruth was found fully c…

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MoNo Encore: The Murder of Dr. W.D. Broadhurst w/ Patrick Gallagher 1:15:26

11d ago1:15:26

1:15:26

(Orig pub date: 2/15/22) In October of 1946, a chiropractor and rancher named Willis "W.D." Broadhurst was beaten with a wrench and finished off with a shotgun on a lonely eastern Oregon road. Investigators would soon accuse his wife Gladys of plotting the doctor's murder with the help of his young cowhand and her lover, Alvin Williams. Stunning de…

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405: A History of Eugenics in America w/ Mark A. Torres 1:06:50

14d ago1:06:50

1:06:50

In the early twentieth century, eugenics captivated scientists and the public alike, giving researchers license to exploit the infirm, the mentally ill, prisoners, Native communities and many others considered "defective" or "feebleminded" under the guise of genetics. At its center stood the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, directed by…

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404: Gunfighter Clay Allison w/ Donna Blake Birchell 1:04:17

21d ago1:04:17

1:04:17

Clay Allison was both liked and loathed in his lifetime, embodying the contradictions of the American frontier. He could show moments of kindness for the downtrodden, but also carried deep hatred for Northerners and Black people. Dangerously unpredictable, he was capable of generosity one moment and chilling violence the next, a quality that made h…

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403: The Madman of Crystal Beach w/ M.F. Gross 1:23:19

28d ago1:23:19

1:23:19

In the sultry summer of 1949, a sleepy Florida beach town was rocked to its core. A brutal home invasion, a shocking murder, and a desperate, month-long manhunt captivated and terrified an entire region. At the center of the storm was John Calvin “Rastus” Russell, a cunning ex-con and former asylum patient who unleashed a wave of fear unlike anythi…

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402: The Reno Redfield Heist w/ Gavin Schmitt 1:03:10

1M ago1:03:10

1:03:10

The 1952 burglary of eccentric multi-millionaire LaVere Redfield’s mansion in Reno, Nevada was the largest of its time, but also a comedy of errors. "Masterminded" by a French-Canadian woman with a questionable relationship to Redfield, it also included a failed safecracker and a crew of Italian-American hoodlums from the Milwaukee underworld. My g…

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401: The First Forensic Hanging w/ Summer Strevens 55:12

1M ago55:12

55:12

The First Forensic Hanging: The Toxic Truth That Killed Mary Blandy by Summer Strevens tells the story of Mary Blandy, executed in 1752 for poisoning her father Frances Blandy with arsenic. Her trial was the first in Britain to use toxicology as evidence in an arsenic poisoning case, marking a turning point in forensic history. Drawing on period ne…

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MoNo Encore: The Bermondsey Horror w/ Gavin Whitehead 1:17:12

2M ago1:17:12

1:17:12

(Orig pub date: 2/3/24) On August 17th, 1849, London police officers made a grisly discovery at the home of George and Maria (born Marie de Roux) Manning. Her former beau, Patrick O'Connor, had been buried under the floor. A nationwide hunt for the couple would follow, and after that a trial and executions. The murder case would grip London so ferv…

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400: The Legend of Belle Starr w/ Michael Wallis 1:08:09

2M ago1:08:09

1:08:09

Myra Maibelle Shirley, better known as Belle Starr, was one of the most notorious female outlaws of the Old West (if you believe period newspapers, anyway). My guest, bestselling and award-winning author Michael Wallis, made it his mission to tell the true story of Belle Starr, and in the process dispels many of the myths that surround her. He shar…

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399: The Life & Crimes of Robert Spears w/ Jerry Jamison 1:45:48

2M ago1:45:48

1:45:48

"Doctor" Robert Spears was arguably one of the greatest con artists of the twentieth century, and very likely a mass murderer. In thirty nine years of grift, he had 25 aliases, 28 arrests in 20 cities, and was imprisoned close to a dozen times. He performed, without any medical degree, abortions on countless women, and in 1959 tricked his best frie…

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398: John Wilkes Booth & the Last Year of the Civil War w/ Scott Ellsworth 58:54

2M ago58:54

58:54

My guest this week is Scott Ellsworth, author of Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America. He talks about President Lincoln's turbulent last year in office, the Confederate secret service's attempts to create chaos in the north, and John Wilkes Booth's ties to the Confederacy's s…

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397: The Hazel Drew Murder Revisited w/ Jerry C. Drake 1:25:57

3M ago1:25:57

1:25:57

In July of 1908 the body of twenty-year-old Hazel Drew was found floating in a mill pond in Upstate New York. Her death captured headlines across the nation and around the world, but after a whirlwind investigation lasting less than thirty days (despite a myriad of suspects), the District Attorney abruptly closed the case. Joining me is Jerry Drake…

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MoNo Encore: The 1912 Murder of Ella Barham w/ Nita Gould 1:22:39

3M ago1:22:39

1:22:39

(Original pub date: 6/16/21) 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 nev…

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396: The 1951 Murder of Clarence Pellett w/ Clem Pellett 1:18:22

3M ago1:18:22

1:18:22

Clem Pellett grew up knowing very little about his grandfather, Clarence Pellett, who was murdered along Montana's iconic Hi-Line in April of 1951. Pellett's father had cut ties with the family, and Pellett didn't even know his grandfather's first name until he started investigating the case as an adult. Through extensive research over many years, …

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395: The 1917 Murder of Beatrice Epler w/ Allie Seibert 1:29:13

3M ago1:29:13

1:29:13

On the morning of September 5th, 1917, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Epler was found dead just steps from her home in Alma, Michigan. The investigation into her murder would soon entangle a brothel madam, a traveling theater owner, a local farmer, and a French-Canadian amateur detective. My guest is Allie Seibert, author of Bloodstained: Exploring Mich…

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394: The Castleton Massacre with Margaret Carson & Sharon Anne Cook 1:22:22

3M ago1:22:22

1:22:22

On May 2, 1963, Robert Killins, a former United Church minister, slaughtered every woman in his family but one. She (and her brother) lived to tell the story of what motivated a talented man who had been widely admired, a scholar and graduate from Queen’s University, to stalk and terrorize the women in his family for almost twenty years and then mu…

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393: The Man Who Shot J.P. Morgan w/ Mary Noé 1:13:02

4M ago1:13:02

1:13:02

On the morning of July 3, 1915, John Pierpont Morgan Jr., one of the most famous names in finance, was entertaining guests at his sprawling Long Island estate when the doorbell unexpectedly rang. An armed man forced his way inside. At the same time, authorities in Washington, DC, were investigating a shocking bombing at the US Capitol. While no one…

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392: Golden Age Pirate George Lowther w/ Craig Chapman 1:07:00

4M ago1:07:00

1:07:00

George Lowther was a mutineer and a pirate, one of the most prolific during the golden age of piracy. His first mate, Edward "Ned" Low, went on to establish himself as perhaps the most sadistic and depraved of all pirate captains. Virtually all popular sources specify Lowther's death being by suicide in 1723, while marooned on the small island of B…

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MoNo Encore: The Murder of Kitty Genovese w/ Catherine Pelonero 1:06:35

4M ago1:06:35

1:06:35

(Original pub. date: 9/27/2018) Catherine Pelonero, author of "Kitty Genovese: A True Account of a Public Murder and its Private Consequences", is my guest. She walks us through the murder of Kitty Genovese in Kew Gardens, New York in 1964 and its aftermath. The horrific crime is especially infamous because no one called police or stepped in to hel…

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391: Civil War Era & Gilded Age Con Artist Charles Cowlam w/ Frank W. Garmon Jr. 58:11

4M ago58:11

58:11

Charles Cowlam stands out as one of the most remarkable con artists of nineteenth-century America. He talked his way into receiving pardons from both President Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Through deception, he secured a role investigating Lincoln’s assassination. He preyed on lonely widows, attempted to manipulate a Florida election, and c…

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390: Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder w/ Greg Lilly 1:07:01

4M ago1:07:01

1:07:01

In November 1945, James Newton, a young World War II veteran, was shot four times—twice in the back—in his room at an Abingdon, Virginia boardinghouse owned by Helen Clark. She would soon stand trial for his murder, as speculation swirled about the true nature of their relationship. Was she a protective, motherly figure trying to prevent Jimmy from…

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389: A History of Axe Murder w/ Rachel McCarthy James 1:05:41

5M ago1:05:41

1:05:41

Much like the wheel, the boat, and the telephone, the axe is a transformative piece of technology―one that has been with us since prehistory. And just as early humans used the axe to chop down trees, hunt for food, and whittle tools, they also used it to murder. Over time, this particular use has endured: as the axe evolved over centuries to fit th…

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388: The Adriatic Affair w/ Jennifer Sellitti 1:10:52

5M ago1:10:52

1:10:52

The American sailing vessel Adriatic collided with the French steamship Le Lyonnais on November 2, 1856, off the coast of Nantucket in what can best be described as a maritime hit-and-run. Adriatic’s captain, Jonathan Durham, rendered no aid and left the passenger steamship to fend for herself. 114 people died in the collision and in the days that …

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Introducing the Slaycation Podcast 24:25

5M ago24:25

24:25

Just in time for summer! This is an introduction and excerpt from the Slaycation Podcast, hosted by Kim and Adam "Tex" Davis and Jerry Kolber. Pack your body bags for a darkly comic, true crime podcast that looks at murders, mysterious deaths and whodunits that happened while people were on vacation. More here! https://www.slaycation.wtf/ Spotify l…

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MoNo Encore: The Murders of Stringbean and Estelle Akeman w/ Taylor Hagood 1:43:35

5M ago1:43:35

1:43:35

(original pub date 7/19/23) David "Stringbean" Akeman was a singer, clawhammer banjo player and an early Grand Ole Opry star, known for his lanky build and comedic personality. And as a cast member of the nationwide television show Hee-Haw, he was at the height of his popularity when he and his wife Estelle were murdered in their rural Tennessee ho…

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387: The Beatle Bandit w/ Nate Hendley 54:55

5M ago54:55

54:55

On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario. The intelligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentally ill mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and a hazy plan for violent revolution…

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386: America's Nazi POW Murders w/ William Geroux 1:09:51

5M ago1:09:51

1:09:51

The American government was faced with an unprecedented challenge: where to house the nearly 400,000 German prisoners of war plucked from the battlefield and shipped across the Atlantic. On orders from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Department of War hastily built hundreds of POW camps in the United States. Today, traces of those camps—which …

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385: The 1870 Murder of A.P. Crittenden w/ Gary Krist 1:05:33

6M ago1:05:33

1:05:33

Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. T…

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384: The 1943 Murders of Dr. Roy & Mae Hunt w/ Christena Stephens 54:26

6M ago54:26

54:26

On a nearly moonless night in October 1943, a single gunshot rang out in Littlefield, Texas. A prominent Texas doctor and his wife were found bound, shot, beaten, and murdered. The only witness: their five-year-old daughter, who was bound to silence and refused to speak about what happened for 70 years. Christena Stephens is my guest, and her book …

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MoNo Encore: The Murder of Carol Thompson w/ Bill Swanson 1:01:21

6M ago1:01:21

1:01:21

(Original pub date: 3/11/20) While the Coen brothers refuse to confirm it, many believe that their movie "Fargo" was inspired by the Carol Thompson murder case. She was viciously killed in her comfortable Saint Paul home by a hitman hired by her eccentric husband, T. Eugene Thompson, in March of 1963, leaving behind four small children. It was an a…

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383: The Mysterious Disappearance of Molly Zelko w/ Rod Kackley 54:54

6M ago54:54

54:54

Molly Zelko was the crusading editor and publisher of the Spectator, a newspaper devoted to battling local gangsters operating slot machines and other rackets in Joliet, Illinois. In the late night hours of September 25, 1957 she vanished, with only her shoes and signs of a struggle left as evidence that something sinister had likely happened to he…

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382: The Notorious Nancy Clem & the Cold Spring Murders w/ Wendy Gamber 1:15:31

6M ago1:15:31

1:15:31

On September 13, 1868, the bodies of Jacob and Nancy Young were discovered brutally murdered along the bank of the White River in Cold Spring, Indiana. Police would eventually set their sights on a charming and fascinating confidence woman named Nancy Clem, who happened to be involved in some extremely shady business dealings with Jacob Young at th…

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381: Alabama's Kilpatrick Shooting w/ Lesa Carnes Shaul 1:23:48

7M ago1:23:48

1:23:48

Close to midnight on May 17, 1951, four north Alabama lawmen drove to a bootlegger’s home to serve an arrest warrant. Before the clock struck twelve, the bootlegger lay dead in front of the house he shared with his wife and eight children, and three of the four officers were also dead. Afterward, a sixteen-year-old boy would face a series of trials…

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380: Murder in Blackout London w/ Amy Helen Bell 56:27

7M ago56:27

56:27

My guest today is Dr. Amy Helen Bell, author of "Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London". She shares accounts of the terror, tragedy and crime experienced by Londoners during the blackout and the blitz in 1940s wartime Britain. More about the author here: https://amyhelenbell.com/ Interested in revisiting the serial killers mentioned i…

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379: The Pan Am Flight 7 Seven Crash w/ Ken Fortenberry 1:20:07

7M ago1:20:07

1:20:07

My guest this week is award-winning journalist Ken Fortenberry, author of "Flight 7 Is Missing: The Search for My Father's Killer". He walks us through the ill-fated flight of Pan Am's luxurious "Romance of the Skies", a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser that mysteriously crashed into the Pacific Ocean in November of 1957. Forty-four people were killed, inc…

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MoNo Encore: The Villisca Axe Murders - The Reverend Lyn George Kelly w/ Edgar Epperly 1:14:58

7M ago1:14:58

1:14:58

(Original publish date: 6/7/22) In this third and final part of my interview with Dr. Edgar Epperly, the "little minister" Lyn George Jacklin Kelly is examined as a primary suspect in the 1912 Villisca Axe Murders. Although Kelly spoke obsessively about the case and even confessed to the murders, many believed that the confession was the result of …

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MoNo Encore: The Villisca Axe Murders: Wilkerson Vs. Jones w/ Edgar Epperly 1:14:07

7M ago1:14:07

1:14:07

(Original Publish Date: 5/31/22) Frank Fernando (F.F.) Jones seemed to be one of the most obvious suspects in the aftermath of the horrific 1912 Villisca Axe murders. He had a contentious business rivalry with the patriarch of the slain Moore family, Josiah (Joe) Moore, intensified further because Moore was having an affair with his daughter-in-law…

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MoNo Encore: The Villisca Axe Murders: Crime Scene w/ Edgar Epperly 1:12:30

7M ago1:12:30

1:12:30

One of my absolute favorites! This is the first of a three part interview I did with Dr. Ed Epperly about the notorious 1912 Villisca Axe Murders. (Original publish date 5/23/2022) This episode is sponsored by Strawberry .me. Get a $50 credit when you use our link: https://strawberry.me/notorious On June 9th (or) 10th, 1912, America experienced of …

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378: The Murder of "Elvis Girl" Jenny Maxwell w/ Buddy Moorehouse 1:12:57

8M ago1:12:57

1:12:57

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jenny Maxwell was one of Hollywood's "it girls", appearing in countless television shows and films. Arguably her most memorable role was that of Ellie Corbett in Elvis Presley's 1961 movie "Blue Hawaii", where she stole every scene she was in. But despite her professional success, her personal life was a mess, muc…

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377: The Murder of Anna Wilkens & The Birth of the Lie Detector w/ Amit Katwala 55:01

8M ago55:01

55:01

Late one evening in the summer of 1922, Henry Wilkens burst through the doors of the emergency room covered in his wife's blood. But was he a grieving husband or a ruthless killer who conspired with bandits to have her murdered? To find out, the San Francisco police turned to technology and a new machine that had just been invented in Berkeley by a…

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376: Erie's Mausoleum Mystery w/ Justin Dombrowski 54:34

8M ago54:34

54:34

On February 8, 1911, the Scott Mausoleum, a symbol of wealth for the Scott and Strong families in Erie, Pennsylvania, was desecrated by unknown vandals, coined by nationwide papers as ghouls. With the inside of the mausoleum heavily damaged - and a body missing - the crime set off shockwaves throughout the country during a time in which grave robbe…

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375: The Murder of Virginia Olson w/ Brian & Cameron Santana 1:21:10

8M ago1:21:10

1:21:10

On April 15, 1973, the body of Virginia Olson was discovered near the campus of the University of North Carolina-Asheville in an area known as the Botanical Gardens. She had been raped and stabbed to death in horrifically brutal fashion. Police would investigate this crime for decades, and even hone in one one particular suspect, but it still remai…

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American Criminal: John Gotti - Making a Man 44:34

8M ago44:34

44:34

This is the first episode of Airship's new series about John Gotti on their American Criminal podcast. "Living in poverty as a young kid, John Gotti takes up mafia work very early on. He knows that the Gambino family is his ticket out, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to climb the ranks. Even if it means killing a guy." For more information…

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374: The Mafia, the Kennedys & Hoover w/ Louis Ferrante 1:27:53

8M ago1:27:53

1:27:53

Louis Ferrante is back on the show, sharing more of his extensive research into the history of the American Mafia. In volume two of his trilogy, called "Borgata: Clash of Titans", he focuses on the Mafia during the height of its power in the 1960s and 70s. In our interview he talks about the origins of the animosity between the mob and Bobby Kenned…

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373: The Murder Case that Inspired The Scarlet Letter w/ Kate Winkler Dawson 1:01:57

9M ago1:01:57

1:01:57

On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah’s death a suicide...or something much darker? Determined to uncover the real …

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MoNo Encore: Catch Me If You Can's Frank Abagnale - Perpetrator of the Ultimate Hoax? w/ Alan C. Logan 1:31:02

9M ago1:31:02

1:31:02

Happy New Year everyone! This Most Notorious Encore episode revisits my conversation with Alan Logan, originally released on May 19, 2021. Most of us are familiar with the critically acclaimed film called Catch Me If You Can, based on the autobiography of legendary confidence man Frank Abagnale. It's the story of a brazen teenage imposter who throu…

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372: Rhode Island's Last Execution w/ Paul F. Caranci 1:13:32

9M ago1:13:32

1:13:32

On a frigid day in 1843, Amasa Sprague, a wealthy Yankee mill owner, left his mansion to check on his cattle. On the way, he was accosted and beaten beyond recognition, and his body was left facedown in the snow. What followed was a trial marked by judicial bias, witness perjury and societal bigotry that resulted in the conviction of twenty-nine-ye…

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371: The Barbara Graham Murder Case w/ Marcia Clark 56:18

9M ago56:18

56:18

Unwanted and neglected from birth, Barbara Graham had to overcome the odds just to survive. Her beauty was both a blessing and a curse—offering her too many options of all the wrong kind. Her innate sensitivity left her vulnerable to the harsh realities of the street, where she was left to fend for herself before she reached double digits. Her reco…

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370: Britain's Notorious Hawkhurst Gang w/ Joseph Dragovich 1:00:30

10M ago1:00:30

1:00:30

South-east England, 1740s: War and heated politics bring the old practice of smuggling to new and dangerous heights. Violent gangs of smugglers terrorize communities and confound government attempts to stop them. The most famous of these, the Hawkhurst Gang, operate like a modern drug cartel fueled by illegal tea. They threaten witnesses and author…