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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-year-old Irish-Catholic John Gordon. He was sentenced to hang. Despite overwhelming evidence that the trial was flawed and newly discovered evidence that clearly exonerated him, an anti-Irish Catholic establishment refused him a new trial. On February 14, 1845, John Gordon became the last victim of capital punishment in Rhode Island.
My guest is Paul F. Caranci, author of "The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island's Last Execution." He walks us through the murder, investigation, trial and execution, and also shares some of the theories regarding who might have killed Amasa Sprague and why.
More about the author and his books: https://www.paulcaranci.com/
The podcast "Terror In Wichita" can be heard here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4oNsjI7FzlZ2z9k6aK1IGs?si=mY-xavJISBK2egMHTlsT2Q
iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-terror-in-wichita-248480833/
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/90ce0921-037e-4e6a-ad62-25f08a4b9b33/terror-in-wichita
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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 record of petty crimes spoke to a life that constantly teetered on the brink of disaster. But in 1953, a catastrophic twist of fate would catapult her out of obscurity and into the headlines.
When a robbery spiraled out of control and escalated into a brutal murder, Barbara became the centerpiece of a media circus. Her beauty enraptured the press, and they were quick to portray her as a villainous femme fatale despite abundant evidence to the contrary—a fiction the prosecution eagerly promoted.
My guest is noted criminal lawyer and bestselling author Marcia Clark. Her latest book, "Trial By Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham" came out on December 1st.
Marcia Clark's website: https://marciaclarkbooks.com/
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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 authorities, brandish weapons in public, and fight battles in the streets, murdering and kidnapping those who get in their way.
My guest, Joseph Dragovich, is author of "Hawkhurst: Murder, Corruption, and Britain's Most Notorious Smuggling Gang." He gives us a brief history of this very notorious group of smugglers and the people who helped put an end to their terror.
The author's website: https://hawkhurst-book.co.uk/
The author on Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/joedragovich.bsky.social
The author on Twitter/X: https://x.com/joedragovich/
The book's link tree: https://lnk.to/Hawkhurst
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On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emeline Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home—and then covered up the crime with hellfire.
When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin’s sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new “penny press” explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she’s a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials—in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh—for the “Christmas murders.”
My guest is Alex Hortis, author of "The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice." He shares with us some of the incredible twists and turns in this absolutely fascinating case.
The author's website: https://alexhortis.com/
Register here for the author's online "History of the New York Mafia Class", through The Gotham Center for New York City History (Starting 1/29/2025): https://www.gothamcenter.org/gothamed-january/history-of-the-new-york-mafia
Visit https://strawberry.me/notorious for 20% off your first month's membership!
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My guest this week is John Oller, author of the new book "Gangster Hunters: How Hoover's G-men Vanquished America's Deadliest Public Enemies". He walks us through the evolution of J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau in the early 1930s, highlighting some of the unsung federal agents that battled America's Depression Era bank-robbing outlaws and the pivotal crimes that helped shape the country's most storied law enforcement organization.
The author's website: https://www.johnollernyc.com/
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On this month's Most Notorious Encore episode, we revisit the "Autumn of Terror" with a popular interview first released on 11/21/2019, five years ago today.
One of the world's most preeminent Ripperologists, Tom Wescott, author of "The Bank Holiday Murders" and "Ripper Confidential" is my guest on this episode of Most Notorious.
His extensive research into Jack the Ripper/Whitechapel murders give his a unique perspective into this truly iconic true crime cold case. Focusing on some of the more intriguing peripheral players in the events, including a suspicious prostitute named "Pearly Poll", he offers a fresh take and new theories on who might have murdered the "Canonical Five" (and likely more) in Victorian-era London.
The author's website: https://ripperbooks.wordpress.com/
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Summer 1948. In the scenic, remote river town of Oregon, Illinois, a young couple visiting the local lovers’ lane is murdered. The shocking crime garners headlines from Portland, Maine, to Long Beach, California. But after a sweeping manhunt, no one is arrested and the violent deaths of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla fade into time’s indifference.
Fast forward fifty years. Eccentric entrepreneur Michael Arians moves to Oregon, opens a roadhouse, gets elected mayor, and becomes obsessed with the crime. He comes up with a scandalous conspiracy theory and starts to believe that Mary Jane’s ghost is haunting his establishment. He also reaches out to the Chicago Tribune for help.
My guest, Ted Gregory, is the Chicago Tribune reporter who responds to Michael Arians' letter. He is the author of "Mary Jane's Ghost: The Legacy of a Murder in Small Town America".
More about the author and his work here: https://tedcgregory.com/
Sergio Mendes and Brasil '77 perform the haunting song "After Sunrise": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-4WAh9Kjk0
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In early 1900s Indiana, John Terrell was the wealthiest man in Wells County, thanks to oil discovered on his farm. But when his youngest daughter, Lucy, became pregnant and entered into a forced marriage to abusive Melvin Wolfe, Terrell’s life and fortune unraveled in a tumultuous spiral of murder, a dramatic trial, and a descent into madness.
My guest is Stephen Terrell, who has a very personal connection to this story (as you might guess from his last name). His book is called "The Madness of John Terrell: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland".
The author's website: https://www.terrellwrites.com/
Kent State Press interview: https://kentstatebooks.wordpress.com/2024/09/03/true-crime-from-kent-state-author-stephen-terrell-discusses-the-madness-of-john-terrell/
Buy the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Madness-John-Terrell-Insanity-Heartland/dp/1606354876
Buy the book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-madness-of-john-terrell-stephen-terrell/1144858369
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In December of 1883 Peter Lazier, a traveling farm implement salesman, was shot in the heart during the botched robbery of a farmer and his wife in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Two men would be arrested and tried for the murder, but would the sparse evidence against them lead to freedom, prison or the gallows?
My guest is Robert J. Sharpe, author of "The Lazier Murder: Prince Edward County, 1884". As a Canadian lawyer and judge, he offers unique insight into a controversial case that is still remembered in Prince Edward County today.
The author's publisher page: https://utorontopress.com/9781442644212/the-lazier-murder
The book is available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Lazier-Murder-Osgoode-Society-Canadian/dp/1442644214
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Absinthe is a drink that has been both romanticized and demonized over the centuries. While the spirit was a favorite of avant-gardists like Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Baudelaire, it was also thought to be hallucinogenic and the catalyst for violent crime.
My guest is Evan Rail, author of "The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit". He tells us about the history of the infamous drink and his investigation into a modern-day counterfeiter who imploded the secretive pre-ban absinthe market with his fakeries.
More about the author here: http://www.evanrail.com/
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We revisit an interview from February 2020 in this Most Notorious Encore episode.
In late October of 1928, authorities in the small town of Lake Bluff, Illinois discovered a grisly scene in the village hall basement. They found a young woman named Elfreida Knaak, naked, horribly burned and barely clinging to life, next to a furnace. From that point on, investigators would uncover a bizarre story, including a secret affair, mystical Christian rituals, and contradictory deathbed confessions. My guest is historian Kraig Moreland, who has researched this hometown mystery for years. His book is called "Furnace Girl: The Mysterious Case of Elfrieda Knaak".
The author's website: https://www.thefurnacegirl.com/
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Troy Taylor, host of the American Hauntings Podcast, returns to the show - this time for an interview with a bit of a Halloween theme. He's here to talk about the ill-fated Donner Party, which was was traveling by wagon to California when it became stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter of 1846-47. There, some of its members infamously turned to cannibalism to survive. And in the spirit of the season, he shares some of the ghost stories associated with this incredible American tragedy.
Troy's book is called "Forlorn Hope: A Haunted History of the Donner Party."
Visit his website for information on his podcast, museum, tours and books: https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/
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In 1931, San Diego was left reeling from the brutal murders of ten-year-old Virginia Brooks, seventeen-year-old Louise Teuber, and twenty-two-year-old Hazel Bradshaw. The murders left period investigators flummoxed - and the cases remain unresolved to this day.
My guest is award-winning author Richard L. Carrico. He has meticulously reconstructed their stories in his book, "MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE: The True Story of Three Unsolved Murders in Prohibition Era San Diego" and shares details on his remarkable research into all three of the cases.
More about the author (including his full bio) here: https://wildbluepress.com/richard-l-carrico-author-bio/
The author's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-L.-Carrico/author/B001JS4XNM
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My guest this week is Simon Read, author of "Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force's Most Infamous Murder Cases". He walks us through a number of the notorious murder cases that helped transform London's Metropolitan Police into one of the world's premiere crime-fighting organizations.
More about the author and his work here: https://simonreadwriting.com/
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While on a search for more information on her great-grandmother, my guest Michelle Graff uncovered a fascinating mystery involving the very suspicious 1899 death of a fifteen-year-old girl named Sarah Mumford, whose body had been hit by a train, assumably to cover up a murder. The following investigation, led by the local coroner, would reveal some very dark details about Sarah's relationship to her adoptive family, the Tripps.
Michelle Graff is the author of "Hidden: The Unsolved Mystery of Sarah Mumford."
The author's website: https://whokilledsarahmumford.com/
Purchase on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJQ7PGLT
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On this Most Notorious episode, we revisit a fan favorite interview, originally released on 12/9/2021.
In November of 1971 a man who would come to be known as D.B. Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305, ultimately parachuting out of the Boeing 727 in spectacular fashion, along with $200,000 in ransom money, presumably somewhere in Washington State. Who he was and what happened to him after he jumped is one of the most enduring true crime mysteries in American history.
My guests are Darren Schaefer, creator and host of "The Cooper Vortex" podcast, and George McKeon, author of "The Mystery of D.B. Cooper: A True Crime Adult Coloring Book". They tell the story of the hijacking, discuss some of the tantalizing clues left behind, and ruminate about possible suspects.
Subscribe to The Cooper Vortex on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cooper-vortex/id1439712498
and Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YRiVfMZX7hfVDSezq1aNo
George McKeon's book can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-D-B-Cooper-Crime-Coloring/dp/1737712709
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On January 2, 1800, the body of a young woman was pulled out of a secluded, boarded-up well, horrifying the citizens of New York City's Lower Manhattan neighborhood. The trial that would follow would be a sensational one, with two Founding Fathers representing the main suspect.
Gavin Whitehead, host of The Art of Crime Podcast, returns to share one of the stories he covers on the newest season of his show, The Art of Crime Podcast, starting in October.
Learn more about The Art of Crime Podcast here: https://www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ and catch up on all of his past episodes!
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One of Minnesota's most fascinating unsolved murder cases began on the morning of December 9, 1937, when firefighters discovered the charred body of 31-year-old Ruth Munson in an abandoned Saint Paul hotel. As the investigation deepened, evidence would surface that suggested that Ruth had lived a very secret life.
My guest, Roger Barr, is the author of "A Murder on the Hill: The Secret Life and Mysterious Death of Ruth Munson." He utilized an extensive collection of police files to piece this 1930s-era investigation together.
Purchase the book here through the MNHS Press website: https://shop.mnhs.org/products/a-murder-on-the-hill
Prefer the ebook version? You can get it here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Hill-Secret-Mysterious-Munson-ebook/dp/B0CTPYV2HN
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There are two interviews packed into this week's episode of Most Notorious! First Dale Ross, author of "A Voice for Ira" joins me to talk about the horrific death of Ira Gurley in a bizarre elevator accident in 1932 Arkansas. While it looked to be an tragic accident on the surface, some evidence suggests there may have been something more sinister afoot involving corrupt state government officials and gangsters.
My second guest is Jeremy W. Gray, author of "The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders: Prohibition, Gangsters & Vigilante Justice". He shares stories about a series of brutal murders that frightened citizens of Birmingham, Alabama in the early 1920s.
You can purchase "A Voice for Ira" on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Ira-Dale-Ross/dp/B0BNVH6YJB
You can purchase "The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Infamous-Birmingham-Axe-Murders-Prohibition/dp/1540228487
Victims killed by the Birmingham Axe Murderer(s):
12/24/1919 John B. Belser
11/28/1921 G.T. Ary
12/21/1921 Joseph and Susie Mantione
12/21/1921 Mose Parker
1/11/1922 Clem and Alma Fenn Crawford
3/27/1922 Russell Kellum and Ida Lewis
10/21/1922 Julius Silverburg and Louise Carter
11/6/1922 Abraham Levine
1/6/1923 John Robert Turner and Lilly Bell
1/10/1923 Joseph Klein
1/24/1923 Luigi and Josephine Vitellaro
5/28/1923 Charley Graffeo
10/22/1923 Juliet Vigilante and Elizabeth Romeo
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On October 24, 1588, the city of Bologna, Italy was shaken when a knight named Paola Barbieri stabbed his wife Isabella to death with a sword. He then fled, dressed only in a nightshirt, with his sword in hand, eventually escaping the city. Authorities were torn about his motivation. Did he murder Isabella out of anger or jealousy? Or did he suffer from serious mental illness?
My guest, Mònica Calabritto, addresses those questions in her book, "Murder and Madness on Trial: A Tale of True Crime from Early Modern Bologna."
More about the author here: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/people/monica-calabritto
Purchase the book through it's publisher here: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09508-0.html
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