Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson

It’s been 30 years since the infamous OJ Simpson trial, and the lead prosecutor Marcia Clark has had quite a career since then. She writes fiction and nonfiction books, including the one we’ll talk about today. It’s called Trial by Ambush and it’s a story about a young woman in Burbank, California. In 1953, Barbara Graham was caught-up in a robbery scheme that turned deadly. Marcia Clark investigates the sexism and, ultimately, the tragedy of this case.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights ReservedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that some of the most effective American spies during World War II were librarians and archivists and history professors? Some were locked in the basement of the Library of Congress, analyzing documents. Those documents were being gathered by academics sneaking around Europe, under the noses of the Nazis.  Author Elyse Graham tells me the story at the center of her book, Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We don’t talk a lot on this show about female killers, but author Craig Monson has brought me a fascinating story right out of a Hollywood film. His book, The Black Widows of the Eternal City, centers on a web of women poisoners in 17th century Rome and their male victims.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Wicked Words, we’re traveling to 1856 Ireland for a locked-door mystery. A cashier for a Dublin railway station is found dead, savagely beaten. Nothing appears to have been stolen. Can an experienced detective crack this case? Author Thomas Morris tells us the story in his new book The Dublin Railway Murder: The Sensational True Story of a Victorian Murder Mystery.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode of Wicked Words, we’re traveling to the Texas border town of Laredo. When four vulnerable women are murdered, police suspect that a well-respected U.S. Border Patrol agent has turned into a serial killer. Author Rick Jervis tells me the story behind his book, The Devil Behind the Badge: The Horrifying Twelve Days of the Border Patrol Serial Killer.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When an outspoken journalist in India was assassinated in September of 2017, it shocked the world. The conspiracy that was uncovered by journalists and investigators was disturbing. Author Rollo Romig tells me the story at the center of his book: I Am on the Hit List.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of my most favorite true crime stories in history come from the UK, specifically London. So I was very excited to talk to author Simon Read about his book: Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force's Most Infamous Murder Cases. Read investigated some of Scotland Yard’s most interesting cases and now he’ll tell us about some of them.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police cold-case units have broken some of the country’s most notorious murder cases. Today we're talking to writer Michael Arntfield about Nashville’s cold case Murder Squad and how its lead investigator tracked down the serial killers who terrorized the city in the 80s and 90s. The stories unfold in his book, Monster City: Murder, Music, and Mayhem in Nashville's Dark Age.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I know this sounds like an old story: a woman goes missing and it seems like a cover-up. But when Shelley Watkins’ body was discovered in 1993, floating in a Texas river, her murder really upended the town of Corsicana. Journalist Carol Dawson worked with my buddy Wes Ferguson on the hit podcast, The Unforgotten.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thirty years before the OJ Simpson trial, a different murder case captured the attention of the country. When a successful Florida businessman is brutally killed in the 1960s, his wife and her nephew become suspects. Their disturbing relationship makes headlines. Author Ron Smith tells me about his book: No One is Perfect.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.