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Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told through vintage newspaper accounts from the golden age of yellow journalism
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Transcribed
23 NOV 2024 · The Escapades Of Velma West
https://www.patreon.com/posts/nightclub-girl-30560905
Episode 144 takes us into the scandalous world of a restless young flapper and her secret life. Before it’s over, we’ll have a brutal murder, a scandalous revelation, a sensational confession, a daring prison break, and drama galore. Hang on, everybody... This one’s a roller coaster.
https://www.patreon.com/collection/678688?view=expanded
Transcribed
21 NOV 2024 · The Deadly Trout Creek Land Squabble
https://www.patreon.com/posts/49200240
Episode 281 is dedicated to listener and patron Kimberlee Anderson, who shares a hometown with the defendants in this case. Although first reports said that Mrs. Alice Harris was a widow, it turns out she was a divorcee whose ex-husband was of THE Harris family of Harrisville, Utah. This story seems like it could’ve been a classic John Ford western, a land dispute in the Utah desert that turns deadly. I think maybe Maureen O’Hara as Alice Harris and Robert Mitchum as the wisecracking Tackman.
https://www.patreon.com/collection/85211
Transcribed
19 NOV 2024 · Episode 218 journeys across three continents as we hear the stories of wiley police officers outwitting some very clever criminals.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/116324095
"Strange Murder Of An Aged Romeo" https://www.patreon.com/collection/883997 heads down Argentina way as a family feud gets settled in a grisly way.
"A Black Cat Doomed" by Fred Menagh, travel to England and France as Scotland Yard attempts to track down gangsters that seem to have been taking lessons from their American colleagues.
"Saskatchewan Ki ller" by Maurice Mills, a chase back and forth across the Canadian/American border as a lieutenant in the Royal Mounted Police begins to wonder if he can live up to their motto.
https://www.patreon.com/collection/345671
Transcribed
15 NOV 2024 · Episode 147
https://www.patreon.com/posts/four-freaky-89583472
Spider Attic Ghost Killer: The truly bizarre tale of a man who stalked an elderly couple by living in their attic, sneaking down to forage meals from their fridge.
The Texas Candybar Murder: The justice of the peace called it suicide, but others question how the young mother-to-be came to shoot herself in the back of the head.
The Nurse and Her Nagging Auntie: A botched suicide in which the suicide is not the person who ends up dead.
The Dissection of Antoine DuBlanc: The story of an immigrant who plots a murder before he even gets off the boat. He was from France. Or Switzerland. Or somewhere like that.
Transcribed
13 NOV 2024 · Episode 280 is a reading of "The Black Negligee Murder" By Frederic Holmes
Adapted from True Detective, v.43 no.1
https://www.patreon.com/posts/parasites-21672459
There’s a lot going on in this story. The seams show in the author’s reporting as he occasionally allows glimpses into his process, but at the same time, he makes it seem like he’s telling story from the point of view of the bad guy for most of the first two thirds of the narrative. The really cool nerdy part for me as a writer and a fan of pulp, is that you can hear the author’s disdain and sympathy both for the character as well as his determination to be fair and to let the story unfold no matter how disagreeable he may find it. So this tells me that he might have had a frank, lengthy, detailed interview with Dahlbender, was maybe even charmed by him a little, just as Rose Whitmore was, but also repulsed by his plotting and despicable actions. Still, the author seems to get in Dahlbender’s head and lets him have his say, but his self-pity doesn’t make his actions any less reprehensible.
I checked with some of the newspaper articles of the day, and this story seems to be sticking to the gist of what reporting I found. Dahlbender was quite contrite when he was caught and his confession seemingly heart-felt. True crime magazines have a terrible reputation for not being totally committed to the “true” in the interest of sensationalizing the stories. The do typically veer from newspaper journalism in a lot of ways, such as inventing dialogue and giving people intentions they can’t possibly know, but I have found them to be relatively reliable, at least as reliable as daily newspaper reporting, as far as the general facts of the case go. Before I share a story from the old pulps, I always do at least a cursory check against newspaper reporting to make sure there really was such a case and that the basic facts are accurate if not the details. There’s a big difference between a true story and a story based on a true story, and I try to lean toward the former in my curation. I’ve got some really well-told stories in my back pocket that I can’t yet prove their veracity, mainly because they’re about really old cases and I don’t have access to the right archives to give adequate confirmation. At least not yet. I’ll keep them in my pocket for now.
I’ve known some guys who did this kind of magazine work, and they were always meticulous in their reporting and had an advantage of time that daily newspaper reporters don’t have. This story was written three years after the trial and covers the case not only from the reporter’s and the perpetrator’s points of view, but the last third switches over to the police investigation, which is usually the sole perspective in most pulp stories. So I believe the author did his homework for us and presents us with an interesting, somewhat sympathetic portrait of a sleazy opportunist.
Transcribed
11 NOV 2024 · Episode 252 tells two stories of when the wheels of justice had a blow-out and people were convicted of crimes they didn't commit.
Adhttps://www.patreon.com/posts/115677894
"Uncle Amos Dreams a Dream," by Edmund Pearson, the story of two brothers accused of murder after the discovery of two clipped toenails.
"Twenty-Three Years Skidoo: What Was Justice In This Case," by Peter Levins, about how a deathbed confession made liars out of a whole bunch of witnesses and law enforcement officials.
https://www.patreon.com/collection/853574
Transcribed
9 NOV 2024 · The Kidnapping Of Brooke L. Hart
https://www.patreon.com/posts/42373205
Mob rule threatens the city of San Jose, California in Episode 279 when the scion of a beloved wealthy family, the owners of the town’s biggest department store, is kidnapped by a pair of opportunistic thugs. When the young man’s body is recovered from the waters of the San Francisco Bay, the crowd gathers around the Santa Clara County jail, and the governor of California lets popular justice take its course.
https://www.patreon.com/collection/407694
Transcribed
7 NOV 2024 · The Tri-State Head and Hands Murder Plot
The cast of characters in Episode 147 includes a previously convicted murderer who works as a driver and a “sort of secretary” for an eccentric former opera singer, three thugs that he met in prison, and a fire captain who often bragged of his success in the stock market after his retirement, amassing a fortune of more than $2 million (in today’s money). The inept plot to murder for his papers covers three states and a nationwide manhunt.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/47594086
https://www.patreon.com/collection/345671
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Transcribed
5 NOV 2024 · Episode 233.
"The Case Of The Smoking Corpse" By Peter Levins. When a young man stumbles upon a pair of corpses in a park, police not only solve a murder, but break up a caper to rid all of the banks in Indianapolis of their cash. And it all starts with a clue from a horseshoe.
"A Clue At The Kitchen Window: A Strangulation in Apartment 16" By Quincy Carlton. A young man discovers a young girl he just picked up dead in her apartment. He has an alibi and there are many leads to follow, but the young man's story doesn't sit right with some of the detectives on the case.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/115436637
Supporters Club
Transcribed
2 NOV 2024 · The Approximately 55 Wives of Johann Hoch
Episode 148 tells the unlikely story of a German immigrant who managed to wed dozens of women, mostly widows that he met through personal ads in German newspapers in several American cities. Soon as he could get his hands on their money, he’d run. Sometimes, his cons wouldn’t work, and he’d resort to murder.
Theme Music by Dave Sams “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from the Peer Gynt Suite by The Musopen Orchestra
https://www.patreon.com/posts/38270745
https://www.patreon.com/collection/242717
Supporters Club
Transcribed
5 NOV 2024 · Episode 233.
"The Case Of The Smoking Corpse" By Peter Levins. When a young man stumbles upon a pair of corpses in a park, police not only solve a murder, but break up a caper to rid all of the banks in Indianapolis of their cash. And it all starts with a clue from a horseshoe.
"A Clue At The Kitchen Window: A Strangulation in Apartment 16" By Quincy Carlton. A young man discovers a young girl he just picked up dead in her apartment. He has an alibi and there are many leads to follow, but the young man's story doesn't sit right with some of the detectives on the case.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/115436637
Supporters Club
Transcribed
2 NOV 2024 · The Approximately 55 Wives of Johann Hoch
Episode 148 tells the unlikely story of a German immigrant who managed to wed dozens of women, mostly widows that he met through personal ads in German newspapers in several American cities. Soon as he could get his hands on their money, he’d run. Sometimes, his cons wouldn’t work, and he’d resort to murder.
Theme Music by Dave Sams “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from the Peer Gynt Suite by The Musopen Orchestra
https://www.patreon.com/posts/38270745
https://www.patreon.com/collection/242717
Supporters Club
Transcribed
31 OCT 2024 · Episode 278
Celibate Farmer Ruins The Romance
So what happens when a bachelor farmer is determined that his 52-year-old sister stay a spinster and she falls in love with the farm hand? Nothing good, you can bet on that, especially when the bachelor farmer discovers the suitor slinking around his house. I found this story interesting not only for the unusual disposal of the body, but also for the colorful people with names that sound like they came from a Saturday Night Live sketch or a Coen Brothers movie.
Culled from the historic pages of the Wisconsin State Journal and other newspapers of the era.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/flaming-haystack-66975578
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Transcribed
29 OCT 2024 · Episode 163: Magazine #13
"The Man Who Owned Manhattan" is the story of a determined private detective who sets out to solve one of the classic con game and match wits with "the man with an educated laugh."
"Love And Money: Two Motives," a tale from the 1870s about a blackmail scheme that goes way over the top.
"Mister Bravo's Burgandy" by Edmund Pearson is the scandalous tale of a widow, her doctor, her bosom companion, and her beleaguered second husband.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/114960736
Supporters Club
Transcribed
22 OCT 2024 · Episode 162 concerns a large blond man claiming to be a good Samaritan who brings a badly-beaten man into a hospital. It sparks an intricate game of cat-and-mouse that crosses several states and one international border.
Bonus Stories For Patreon Subscribers:
"https://www.patreon.com/posts/114518649" by Peter Levins, considers the case of a missing family. When the Haven family moves West for the mother's health, they seem to have left their farm in good hands, but where exactly did they go?
"https://www.patreon.com/posts/114518747" revolves around the translation of a suicide note that is both touching and hair-raising.
Supporters Club
Transcribed
14 OCT 2024 · From The Archives Of The Pinkertons
Episode 61 begins with a daring train robbery and tells the story of how one of America's famed detectives, the esteemed William Pinkerton, solves a series of seemingly unrelated robberies while tracking the lone bandit down. The exciting tale is told by Cleveland Moffat, a New York journalist who wrote mystery stories on the side, and in 1905 syndicated a series of articles about the exploits of the Pinkerton Detectives that was published in newspapers across the country.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/113383682
Supporters Club
Transcribed
7 OCT 2024 · Captain Tyrell's Stories Of The Secret Service
Episode 59 turns again to the writing of Captain Patrick D. Tyrell, a former investigator for the Secret Service, who set down many of his adventures for a syndicated newspaper feature that ran in 1905. This is an exciting story about two related investigations. After Tyrell and his men track down some of the Midwest's most notorious counterfeiters, they stumble upon a plot to steal the corpse of Abraham Lincoln by some of the scoundrels in an attempt to have their star engraver released from prison. In the first act, we'll hear about how Captain Tyrell broke the counterfeiting ring, and in the second act, how a pair of Pinkerton detectives botched the sting at the Lincoln Memorial in Sprinfield, Illinois.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/112772858
Supporters Club
Transcribed
30 SEP 2024 · How Mary Rogers Murdered Her Husband
Episode 179 tells the story of a sordid little plot to commit murder in 1902, set in motion by a young married woman of questionable reputation. One boyfriend helps her in her plot, another testifies against her, and when she receives her sentence, she cries for a girlfriend.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/112639322
https://www.patreon.com/collection/678688
Supporters Club
Transcribed
25 SEP 2024 · The Many True Crimes of Tillie Klimek and Nellie Koulik
Episode 100, a man goes to a doctor because he’s not feeling well and the doctor says, “Sounds like arsenic poisoning,” and suddenly there are four women in jail who discovered that arsenic is more effective in getting rid of a husband than divorce. The ringleader of them all, however, not only poisoned her husband, but just about anybody who crossed her, including an annoying dog. Before it was through, more than 20 deaths would be attributed to Tillie Klimek. For our 100th episode, we take a look at one of Chicago’s most prolific serial killers and her disciples.
Supporters Club
Transcribed
23 SEP 2024 · The Peoria Hallmark Sex Murder
Episode 182 tells the story of a young sex fiend, whose aggressive pursuit of his nefarious goals ends up with a body in a ditch. Police find a diary he kept of his exploits, used in court as evidence... FOR THE DEFENSE!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/112323908
https://www.patreon.com/truecrimehistorian
Included in the collection https://www.patreon.com/collection/254169
Included in the collection https://www.patreon.com/collection/450716
Tales of classic scandals, scoundrels and scourges told through vintage newspaper accounts from the golden age of yellow journalism
Information
| Author | Pulpular Media |
| Organization | Pulpular Media |
| Categories | True Crime |
| Website | www.truecrimehistorian.com |
| pulpular@outlook.com |
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