A decade-old murder mystery unravels when a secret is discovered in a Los Angeles attic. Even in 1930, the press declared the mystery of Dolly and the Bat Man Slayer as"Los Angeles' most startling murder story."

Sources:

Hapsis, Emmanuel. "Meet Walburga, the Married Woman Who Hid a Secret Lover in Her Attic for a Decade." KQED. 29 June, 2016. https://www.kqed.org/pop/27643/meet-walburga-the-married-woman-who-hid-a-secret-lover-in-her-attic-for-a-decade

Lardinois, Anna. "The Legend of Milwaukee's Most Infamous Love Triangle." Milwaukee Mag. 13 April, 2021. https://www.milwaukeemag.com/the-legend-of-milwaukees-most-infamous-love-triangle/

Noe, Denise. "Otto Sanhuber: The Man in the Attic Case." Crime Library. https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/classics/otto_sanhuber/1.html

Rabe, John. "The Murderous Lover Who Lived In A Silver Lake Attic. A True Story." LAist. 15 April, 2022. https://laist.com/news/la-history/hidden-history-of-la-the-murderous-lover-who-lived-in-a-silver-lake-attic 

Rasmussen, Cecilia. "'Bat Man' Case: a Lurid Tale of Love and Death." Los Angeles Times. 20 March, 1995. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-20-me-44878-story.html

Startling Detective Adventures. Vol. 5, No. 26. (Fawcett Publications, Inc.: Louisville). July 1930.

Los Angeles Times (Issues from 1922-1930)

Music: Credits to Fesilyan Studios, Holizna, and the original by Virginia Liston.

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

In the summer of 1933, 18-year-old Violette Noziere poisoned her parents before heading out to enjoy the Parisian nightlife. When she was arrested and gave the motive for her crime, Violette scandalized the country.

Sources:

Breton, Andre. Violette Nozieres (Brussels: Editions Nicolas Flamel, 1933).

Maza, Sarah. Violette Noziere: A Story of Murder in 1930s Paris (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011).

Reynolds, Sian. France Between the Wars: Gender and Politics (London: Routledge, 1996).

Traub, Courtney. “La Coupole, a Montparnasse Brasserie Haunted With Artistic History.” Paris Unlocked. 10 October, 2023. https://www.parisunlocked.com/best-of-paris/inside-la-coupole-a-montparnasse-brasserie-haunted-with-artistic-history/

Warner, Judith. “The Murder that Transfixed 1930s Paris.” Book Review - Violette Noziere. New York Times. 3 June, 2011. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/books/review/book-review-violette-noziere-by-sarah-maza.html

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan 

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

The Dark Strangler prowled the streets of Jazz Age San Francisco. His murder spree spanned nine states, two countries, and three years, resulting in the murder of anywhere from 22 to 31 women and children. This is the story of America’s most prolific–and forgotten–serial killer, Earl Leonard Nelson.

Sources:

Esau, Alvin. The Gorilla Man Strangler Case (Altona: Friesen Press, 2022).

And "Murders." Alvin A. J. Esau. https://www.alvinesau.com/murders.html

Gribben, Mark. "Earle Leonard Nelson: The Dark Strangler." Crime Library: Criminal Minds and Methods. https://crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/history/earle_nelson/1.html

Schechter, Harold. Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster (New York: Pocket Star Books, 1998) and 

And Ripped from the Headlines (New York: Little A, 2020).

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan 

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

In the summer of 1874, little Charley Ross disappeared after taking candy from a stranger. This is the story of America’s first kidnapping and the nationwide manhunt that ended in a deadly shoot-out.

Sources:

“Charlie Ross - Gustave Blair - Nelson Miller” https://charleyross.com/

“Court Identifies ‘Charley Ross’ But Family ‘Disowns’ Him.” Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), May 9, 1939, Page A-5. 

Duke, Thomas Samuel. Celebrated Criminal Cases of America (San Francisco: The James H Barry Company, 1910). Pp. 536-546.

Fass, Paula S. Kidnapped: Child Abduction in America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Hagen, Carrie. We is got him: the Kidnapping that Changed America (New York: The Overlook Press, 2011) and “The Story Behind the First Ransom Note in American History.” Smithsonian Magazine. December 9, 2013.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-story-behind-the-first-ransom-note-in-american-history-180948612/ 

Ross, Christian. The Father’s Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child (Philadelphia: John E Potter and Company, 1876).

Schechter, Harold. “The Kidnapping of Little Charley Ross, 1874.” The Yale Review. May 14, 2018. https://yalereview.org/article/kidnapping-little-charley-ross-1874

Zierold, Norman. Defy All the Devils: America’s First Kidnapping for Ransom (Open Road Media, 2018).

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan 

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

In 1897, sausage sales plummeted after the wife of the so-called Sausage King suddenly went missing. Chicago police investigated the factory and a mysterious vat filled with reddish-brown slime. Did the wife run away? Was she ground into sausages? Or perhaps something worse?

Sources:

Duke, Thomas Samuel. Celebrated Criminal Cases of America (San Francisco: The James H Barry Company, 1910). 

"Ghost Supply Thrills for Chicago Flat Dwellers." The Sun, August 31, 1913. p. 14

Loerzel, Robert. Alchemy of Bones: Chicago's Luetgert Murder Case of 1897 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003). (And alchemyofbones.com)

“Sausage Vat Murder.” Chicagology. https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/sausagevatmurder/.

Schechter, Harold. "The 'Sausage Vat Murder,' 1897: Notes on a Killing." The Yale Review. 18 February, 2019. https://yalereview.org/article/sausage-vat-murder-1897

"The Sausage Vat Murder." Murder By Gaslight. 20 November, 2009. http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2009/11/luise-luetgert-sausage-vat-murder.html

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan 

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

It was nearly midnight in May 1911 when crowds left the theater and gathered at the Brown Palace Hotel barroom. Within minutes, shots rang out and patrons scrambled for cover, but two would not survive. What prompted such a brazen shooting in Denver’s most elegant hotel?

Sources:

Faulkner, Debra. Ladies of the Brown: A Women’s History of Denver’s Most Elegant Hotel (Arcadia Publishing, 2017).

Kreck, Dick. Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction & Betrayal (Golden: Fulcrum Publishing, 2003).

The Rocky Mountain News

The Aspen-Democrat Times

The Avalanche Echo

Canon City Record

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan 

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

In the middle of the American Civil War, a horse trader was found in a south Texas river with his head axed in. Following the discovery, the town sheriff arrested an elderly woman by the name of Chipita Rodriguez. Was justice served?

Sources:

Abernethy, Francis Edward. Legendary Ladies of Texas (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1994).

Correa, Tom. “Was Josefa ‘Chipita’ Rodriguez a Patsy?” The American Cowboy Chronicles. September 30, 2021. http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2020/02/josefa-chipita-rodriguez-texas-bandit.html

Davies, Dave. “‘Cult of Glory’ Reveals the Dark History of the Texas Rangers.” NPR. June 8, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/871929844/cult-of-glory-reveals-the-dark-history-of-the-texas-rangers 

Hebert, Rachel Bluntzer. The Forgotten Colony: San Patricio de Hibernia (Burnet: Eakins Press, 1981).

Givens, Murphy. “A black day in San Patricio when Chipita was hanged.” Corpus Christi Caller Times. April 6, 2017. https://www.caller.com/story/news/columnists/murphy-givens/2017/01/17/black-day-san-patricio-when-chipita-hanged/96556038/

Guthrie, Keith. The Legend of Chipita: The Only Woman Hanged in Texas (Austin: Eakin Press, 1990).

Jennings, Rachel. “Celtic Women and White Guilt: Frankie Silver and Chipita Rodriguez in Folk Memory.” MELUS. Vol. 28. No. 1. (Spring, 2003). Pp. 17-37. 

Torres, Alfred. Jr., “The noose plagued Mexican-Americans, too.” My San Antonio. November 25, 2017. https://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/The-noose-plagued-Mexican-Americans-too-12381761.php 

Underwood, Marylyn. “Rodriguez, Josefa [Chipita].” Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/rodriguez-josefa-chipita 

Wills, Matthew. “The Untold History of Lynching in the American West.” JSTOR. March 26, 2019. https://daily.jstor.org/the-untold-history-of-lynching-in-the-american-west/ 

1985 Texas Legislature docs regarding Chipita here: https://thewrongcarlos.net/wp-content/sources/texas-legislature-scr-14-69th-regular-session.pdf 

For more on the lynching of ethnic Mexicans: https://utrgv.libguides.com/SCA/lynching (Research Guide from the University of Texas)

Lynching in Texas: https://www.lynchingintexas.org/ 

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

A killer prowled the streets of London in 1811, 80 years before Jack the Ripper. But in 1811, there were no police to catch the fiend who brutally murdered seven people along Ratcliffe Highway. Would there be a victim eight?

Sources:

“Chapter 1. The Death of a Linen Draper.” Spitalfields Life. December 7, 2021-December 31, 2021. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/12/07/the-ratcliffe-highway-murders/ 

Fairburn, John. Fairburn’s Account of the Dreadful Murder of Mr. Marr and Family. (London: John Fairburn,  1811.) 

James, P.D. and Critchley, T.A. The Maul and the Pear Tree: The Ratcliff Highway Murders 1811 (New York: The Mysterious Press, 1971).

Jeffries, Bob. “The Ratcliffe Highway Murders December 1811.” Thames Police Museum. http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/h_ratcliffehighwaymurders_1.html

Ramsland, Katherine. “The Ratcliffe Highway Murders.” Crime Library. https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/history/ratcliffe_murders/index.html 

“Ratcliffe Highway.” St. George-in-the-East Church. http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/ratcliffhighway.html 

Staveley-Wadham, Rose. “Horror and Hysteria: The 1811 Ratcliffe Highway Murders.” The British Newspaper Archive. April 22, 2021. https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2021/04/22/the-1811-ratcliff-highway-murders/

The Times, December 1811-February 1812

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan and Luke Holizna

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

The Gouffe Affair had attracted international interest by 1890, with the world wondering if Gabrielle’s defense could be true. Could someone really be hypnotized and compelled to commit murder? 

Sources:

Bogousslavsky, Julien and Walusinksi, Olivier. "The forgotten Gilles de la Tourette: Practioner, expert, and victim of criminal hypnotism." Le bâillement. http://baillement.com/recherche/gdt/gdt_hysteria.pdf 

Bogousslavsky, Julien, Walusinksi, Olivier, and Veyrunes, Denis. "Criminal hypnotism at the Belle Epoque: The path traced by Jean-Martin Charcot and Georges Gilles de la Tourette." Le bâillement. July 15, 2009. http://baillement.com/recherche/gdt/criminal_hypnotism.html

Levingston, Steven. Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder and Mesmerism in Belle Epoque Paris (Doubleday: New York, 2014).

Lochouarn, Denis. "XV- L'Affaire Gouffé." Doctor Juris. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722220540/https://sites.google.com/site/doctojuris/Home/pages-professionnelles/etudie/huissiers-de-justice/ici/xv---laffaire-gouff

Poisson, Philippe. Le meurtre  de l'huissier Gouffé. Le blog de Philippe Poisson. September 12, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20150717025115/http://philippepoisson-hotmail.com.over-blog.com/article-35987097.html

Starr, Douglas. "Murder in 19th Century France and the Birth of Forensic Science." Gizmodo. October 14, 2010. https://gizmodo.com/murder-in-19th-century-france-and-the-birth-of-forensic-5662454

Stolze, Dolly. "The Mystery of the Corpse in the Burlap Sack." Sapiens. March 25, 2016. https://www.sapiens.org/biology/alexandre-lacassagne-forensic-anthropology/

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan and Luke Holizna

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

Mysteries collide in 1889 France, as a bailiff goes missing and a bloody trunk is discovered in the countryside. Can Paris’s best detectives solve the case?

Sources:

Bogousslavsky, Julien and Walusinksi, Olivier. "The forgotten Gilles de la Tourette: Practioner, expert, and victim of criminal hypnotism." Le bâillement. http://baillement.com/recherche/gdt/gdt_hysteria.pdf 

Bogousslavsky, Julien, Walusinksi, Olivier, and Veyrunes, Denis. "Criminal hypnotism at the Belle Epoque: The path traced by Jean-Martin Charcot and Georges Gilles de la Tourette." Le bâillement. July 15, 2009. http://baillement.com/recherche/gdt/criminal_hypnotism.html

Levingston, Steven. Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder and Mesmerism in Belle Epoque Paris (Doubleday: New York, 2014).

Lochouarn, Denis. "XV- L'Affaire Gouffé." Doctor Juris. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722220540/https://sites.google.com/site/doctojuris/Home/pages-professionnelles/etudie/huissiers-de-justice/ici/xv---laffaire-gouff

Poisson, Philippe. Le meurtre  de l'huissier Gouffé. Le blog de Philippe Poisson. September 12, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20150717025115/http://philippepoisson-hotmail.com.over-blog.com/article-35987097.html

Starr, Douglas. "Murder in 19th Century France and the Birth of Forensic Science." Gizmodo. October 14, 2010. https://gizmodo.com/murder-in-19th-century-france-and-the-birth-of-forensic-5662454

Stolze, Dolly. "The Mystery of the Corpse in the Burlap Sack." Sapiens. March 25, 2016. https://www.sapiens.org/biology/alexandre-lacassagne-forensic-anthropology/

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan and Luke Holizna

For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com