Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

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/Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.socialThe author on Twitter/X: https://x.com/joedragovich/The book's link tree: https://lnk.to/HawkhurstSupport the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notoriousVisit https://strawberry.me/notorious for 20% off your first month's membership! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-mafiaVisit https://strawberry.me/notorious for 20% off your first month's membership!Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-4WAh9Kjk0Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/1606354876Buy the book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-madness-of-john-terrell-stephen-terrell/1144858369Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-murderThe book is available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Lazier-Murder-Osgoode-Society-Canadian/dp/1442644214Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/Support the show and ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile’s deal and get 3 months of premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month! https://www.mintmobile.com/notorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices