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PODCAST

True Crime Historian

Richard O Jones

Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told through vintage newspaper accounts from the golden age of yellow journalismBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.

true crime documentary

All Episodes

11:01

February 12, 1950

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/12

Dark History TodayThe Murder of Clayton Dale ElkinsLawton, OklahomaFebruary 12, 1950Two old friends from Seminole — Clayton Dale Elkins and James Albert Collier Jr. — reconnect over bootleg whiskey at the Big 6 bar on a Saturday afternoon. That night, with their wives in tow, the drinking continues through two half-pints of illegal liquor, a stop at Ruth's Drive-In, and a long evening that splits the couples into separate rooms. When Elkins tells Collier's wife something that suggests her husband

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46:36

Sins Of The Seventh Angel

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/11

King Ben and the Curse of the House of DavidJump to the Ad-Free Safe House EditionIn Episode 53 we explore portions of a five-part investigative expose the Detroit Free Press published on the cult House of David, which operated a commune near Benton Harbor Michigan in the 1920s. The leader of the cult was Benjamin Franklin Purnell, in these articles confronted with allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct among young members of his flock. Much of the expose, the parts that we’ll be examining, are

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9:03

February 10, 1886

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/10

Prescott, Arizona TerritoryFebruary 10, 1886In 1881, the Arizona Territory was rocked by the chilling crimes of Dennis Dilda, a man whose outward appearance as a hardworking settler masked a predatory nature. Settling near Prescott with his wife and children, Dilda’s descent into infamy began with the disappearance of several travelers. Suspicion peaked when Deputy Sheriff James Bozarth went missing after visiting Dilda’s ranch to investigate a theft.A subsequent search of the property revealed a

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61:54

The House of Weird Death

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/09

The Chicago Wynekoop ScandalJump to Ad-Free Safe House EditionIn November 1933, Chicago undertaker Thomas Ahern was summoned to the basement surgery of Dr. Alice Lindsay Wynekoop, a respected 62-year-old physician. There he discovered her daughter-in-law Rheta, 22, face-down on the operating table with a bullet in her back—and immediately called police instead.Dr. Wynekoop initially blamed an intruder, but investigators uncovered a damning picture: a family fortune reduced to twenty-six dollars,

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14:03

February 8, 1537

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/08

Fotheringhay Castle. Northamptonshire, England.February 8, 1587.The Great Hall has been transformed into a theater of death. A scaffold, two feet high and covered in black cloth, stands in the center. A fire crackles in the hearth, fighting the winter chill, but it does little to warm the blood of the three hundred spectators crowded into the room.They are waiting for a woman who has been a prisoner for nineteen years. A woman who was Queen of France at sixteen, Queen of Scotland at birth, and

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64:20

The Prophet Vs. The Schoolmaster

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/06

The Murder Of Joseph SmithJump To The Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 466 is the story of John C. Elliott, the Ohio woodcutter turned political assassin who rode 500 miles to execute a prophet. Hiding as a schoolmaster, Elliott was arrested and set free by Joseph Smith himself. Discover the man history forgot.Hear More Stories About CAPERS AND CONSPIRACIESBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.You can pay more if you want to, but

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65:36

The Deathbed Declaration

True Crime Historian ·

2026/02/02

Madge Oberholtzer Kills The KlanJump to the Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 461 takes us to 1925, when Indiana Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon D.C. Stevenson kidnapped and assaulted Madge Oberholtzer, who died from poison she took to escape him. Her "dying declaration" was the key evidence. His murder conviction, based on "proximate cause," shattered the Klan’s immense political power in Indiana and ended the careers of prominent politicians, including a governor.More episodes about FALLS FROM

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60:48

The Black Widow Of Durham

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/17

The Condemnation Of Mary Ann CottonJump to the Ad-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 462 is the tale of the wicked Mary Ann Cotton, one of Victorian Britain's most prolific serial killers, exploiting the era's poverty and the new industrial life insurance market for financial gain. Using arsenic, her crimes were camouflaged by high mortality rates, as symptoms mimicked "gastric fever."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.You can pay

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75:58

Machine Guns And Mules

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/10

The Barrow Gang’s Bloody RampageJump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 460 tells the brutal story of two young lovers and their gang as they escalate from small-time robbery to a bloody, two-year crime spree across the Southwest. With an arsenal of machine guns and other deadly weapons, they left a trail of dead lawmen and merchants in a desperate flight that ended in a deadly ambush.Hear More Stories About PRISON BREAKSBecome a supporter of this podcast:

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96:40

Something Horrible Has Happened In Hawaii

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/09

Kahahawai Shot In The Heart Jump to the Ad-Free Safe House Edition Episode 93 takes you to the island paradise of Hawaii, not yet a state in 1932 when the wife of a naval officer stationed there is allegedly raped and beaten by four natives. A few months later, her mother, her husband and two of his enlisted men face a jury under the counsel of the famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow in a case that both sides claim puts the territory of Hawaii itself on trial. Hear More Stories About MURDER

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76:58

The Purcell Nicotine Poison Puzzle

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/05

Or, Death of a ComposerJump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 86 involves the body of a songwriter and real estate speculator found tied to a chair with an expression of surprise frozen on his dead face and suspicions of suicide. - Wait. What? - Suicide tied to a chair? - The evidence is so jumbled, police are at a loss to explain, but the backstory to the incident and a foray into the worlds of traveling musicians and actors, hints at motives deeply hidden, and possibly scandalous. - This is

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54:45

George Harsh's Great Escape

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/03

From Thrill Slayer To War HeroJump To The AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 459 unlocks the bizarre, true tale of George Harsh, the Oglethorpe "Thrill Slayer," and his partner Richard Gallogly. Bored rich kids trade philosophy for a Colt .45 and a rash of robberies that turn fatal. Harsh's journey spirals from university to death row, then from chain-gang surgeon to hero of the Great Escape. Yeah, Paul Newman’s Great Escape was based on that one...Listen to more stories about ROBBERIES GONE AWRYYou

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72:33

Poison In The Pepper Box

True Crime Historian ·

2025/12/02

The Trial Of Louise VermilyaJump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 80. Although Louise Vermilya of Chicago was never convicted of a crime, history lays around 10 deaths at her door, mostly family members and suitors. She did go to trial once, and we’ll take a pretty close look at the drama, including a suicide attempt, that led up to her acquittal as we look at the wake of mysterious deaths throughout her life. This story features our dear friend the late Emily Simer Braun to read the quotes

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98:13

Bald Knobbers

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/30

Jump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionFor this remastered edition, I’ve dug deep into the vault and combined Episodes 7 and 77, both regarding post-Civil War vigilante action in the Ozark Mountains.The Giant Vigilante Captain Nat KinneyEpisode 7. Captain Nat Kinney was a large man, both in stature and reputation, and both seemed to grow to mythic proportions among the citizens of Taney County, Missouri, deep in the Ozark Mountains. Kinney was the king of the Bald Knobbers, a group of Christian

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59:39

Trail Of The Red Ax

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/28

The Villisca Ax Murders Mystery Jump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 69 starts with a brutal ax murder that scandalized the quiet town of Villisca, Iowa, about 2,000 souls in the summer of 1912, when a family of six and two young visitors were killed in their beds by an assailant wielding a long-handled ax, the family’s own tool, which was left at the scene. Clues were scant, and it took years for the twists and subplots to emerge, including a string of similar murders, implications that it

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50:05

The Bloody Benders

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/21

Roadhouse Of No ReturnJump To The AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 40 takes a look at the legend of a Kansas family that killed at least 11 visitors to their roadhouse in the early 1870s. They aroused suspicion by choosing as a victim a well-known physician, whose family soon pulled out all stops in a search until they uncovered his body, along with 10 missing travelers, on the Bender property. The Bender Family was nowhere to be found, and never were. Sightings and even arrests were regular for

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56:01

Inside The Dalton Gang Part Two

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/19

Train Robberies Bring TroublesAd-Free Safe House EditionEpisode 457 continues a three-episode exploration of the infamous Dalton Gang, who terrorize the Plains states near the end of the nineteenth century. In this episode, the gang strikes it rich with a big haul, and some want to retire, but getting out of the country isn't the piece of cake they thought it would be.Hear more WILD WESTERNS!Become a supporter of this podcast:

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70:02

Quintuple Executions

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/18

The Early Days Of The Electric ChairThis is a combination of two early episodes with a common theme.The Shocking Death Of William Kemmler: The First Electric ExecutionJump to AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 19. Following the brutal murder of his common law wife Tillie Ziegler in Buffalo, New York, March, 1889, the rough character William Kemmler said he was glad he did it was was happy to hang for the crime. He did not quite get his wish, as a newly passed law in the state of New York allowed

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48:11

Naughty Nellie Bailey: Frontier Temptress

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/14

The Bothamley Murder MysteryJump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionEpisode 37 is the story of an 1883 murder that appeared in newspapers across the country in 1905 as "The Bothamley Murder Mystery" under the byline of Captain Patrick D. Tyrrell, who at that time had retired from a career as a detective in the United States Secret Service. His job was mainly to hunt down counterfeiters, but he achieved some fame when he foiled a plot to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln, a case I hope to take up in a

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56:47

Inside The Dalton Gang Part One

True Crime Historian ·

2025/11/12

From Law To OutlawJUMP TO AD-FREE SAFE HOUSE EDITIONWith Deep-Dive Research and Episode Transcripts For Rent-Paying ScoundrelsEpisode 456 begins a three-episode exploration of the infamous Dalton Gang, who terrorize the Plains states near the end of the nineteenth century. Part One, From Law To Outlaw, tells how Bob Dalton and his brother Gratton made the great fall from grace, from U.S. Marshals to bandits on the run from a posse. Culled from the book “Beyond The Law” by Emmett Dalton, the youngest

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278 results

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