Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

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/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

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/B001JS4XNMSupport 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 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/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

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/B0CJQ7PGLTSupport 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 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/id1439712498and Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YRiVfMZX7hfVDSezq1aNoGeorge McKeon's book can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-D-B-Cooper-Crime-Coloring/dp/1737712709Support 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 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!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

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-hillPrefer the ebook version? You can get it here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Hill-Secret-Mysterious-Munson-ebook/dp/B0CTPYV2HNSupport 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

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/B0BNVH6YJBYou can purchase "The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Infamous-Birmingham-Axe-Murders-Prohibition/dp/1540228487Victims killed by the Birmingham Axe Murderer(s):12/24/1919 John B. Belser11/28/1921 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 Lewis10/21/1922 Julius Silverburg and Louise Carter11/6/1922 Abraham Levine 1/6/1923 John Robert Turner and Lilly Bell 1/10/1923 Joseph Klein1/24/1923 Luigi and Josephine Vitellaro 5/28/1923 Charley Graffeo 10/22/1923 Juliet Vigilante and Elizabeth Romeo  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-calabrittoPurchase the book through it's publisher here: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09508-0.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a MoNo Encore interview. Original release date: 11/10/2020.On the morning of June 10, 1937, New York heiress Alice Parsons disappeared off the face of the earth. Investigators almost immediately suspected that Anna Kupryanova, the Russian housekeeper, and Alice's husband, William Parsons, knew more than they were letting on.My guest is former NYPD detective and Hot Zone Attribution specialist Steven C. Drielak, and his book is called "Long Island’s Vanished Heiress: The Unsolved Alice Parsons Kidnapping". He shares his research and personal theories about one of New York's greatest unsolved mysteries.The author's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/p/Steven-Drielak-100009174391095/Become a Most Notorious patron at: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices