Episodes

  • 358: The Murder of Ruth Munson w/ Roger Barr

    358: The Murder of Ruth Munson w/ Roger Barr
    Sep 6 2024
    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-hill Prefer the ebook version? You can get it here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Hill-Secret-Mysterious-Munson-ebook/dp/B0CTPYV2HN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • 357: The Strange Death of Ira Gurley w/ Dale Ross & the Birmingham Axe Murders w/ Jeremy Gray

    357: The Strange Death of Ira Gurley w/ Dale Ross & the Birmingham Axe Murders w/ Jeremy Gray
    Aug 29 2024
    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/B0BNVH6YJB You can purchase "The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Infamous-Birmingham-Axe-Murders-Prohibition/dp/1540228487 Victims killed by the Birmingham Axe Murderer(s): 12/24/1919 John B. Belser 11/28/1921 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 Lewis 10/21/1922 Julius Silverburg and Louise Carter 11/6/1922 Abraham Levine 1/6/1923 John Robert Turner and Lilly Bell 1/10/1923 Joseph Klein 1/24/1923 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
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 356: Murder and Madness in Bologna w/ Mònica Calabritto

    356: Murder and Madness in Bologna w/ Mònica Calabritto
    Aug 20 2024
    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-calabritto Purchase 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
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    56 mins
  • MoNo Encore: The Mysterious Disappearance of Alice Parsons w/ Steven C. Drielak

    MoNo Encore: The Mysterious Disappearance of Alice Parsons w/ Steven C. Drielak
    Aug 16 2024
    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
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • 355: New York City Crime Boss Marm Mandelbaum w/ Margalit Fox

    355: New York City Crime Boss Marm Mandelbaum w/ Margalit Fox
    Aug 14 2024
    Best-selling author Margalit Fox returns to the show to talk about Marm Mandelbaum, an extraordinary woman who lived the classic rags to riches story, rising out of immigrant poverty and into wealth and power, but also extreme notoriety. She built her mid-19th century criminal empire by assembling some of the best shoplifters and burglars in the country and putting them to work. They stole millions of dollars worth of silk, jewelry and other valuables for her, which she would fence and sell at incredible profits. Her new book is called "The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss". More about the author and her work can be found here at her website: https://margalitfox.com/ Watch her book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ynn5koWzaA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • 354: The Notorious Reno Gang w/ Rachel Dickinson

    354: The Notorious Reno Gang w/ Rachel Dickinson
    Jul 30 2024
    The Reno Gang is best known for being the first group of outlaws in history to rob a moving train, but their criminal enterprises stretched far beyond that. They were counterfeiters, thieves, safecrackers and murderers as well. Led by John and Frank Reno, they terrorized the town of Seymour, Indiana throughout the second half of the 1860s until they were finally brought down by both Alan Pinkerton and local vigilante groups. My guest this week is Janice Dickinson, author of " The Notorious Reno Gang: The Wild Story of the West's First Brotherhood of Thieves, Assassins, and Train Robbers." Visit the author's Amazon page for more about her books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rachel-Dickinson/author/B0034NKTTC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • 353: The Incorruptibles w/ Dan Slater - A True Crime History Podcast

    353: The Incorruptibles w/ Dan Slater - A True Crime History Podcast
    Jul 24 2024
    In the early 1900s, prior to World War I, New York City was a vortex of vice and corruption. On the Lower East Side, then the most crowded ghetto on earth, Eastern European Jews formed a dense web of crime syndicates. Gangs of horse poisoners and casino owners, pimps and prostitutes, thieves and thugs, jockeyed for dominance while their family members and neighbors toiled in the unregulated garment industry. But when the notorious murder of a gambler attracted global attention, a coterie of affluent German-Jewish uptowners decided to take matters into their own hands. Worried about the anti-immigration lobby and the uncertain future of Jewish Americans, the uptowners marshalled a strictly off-the-books vice squad led by an ambitious young reformer. The squad, known as the Incorruptibles, took the fight to the heart of crime in the city, waging war on the sin they saw as threatening the future of their community. Their efforts, however, led to unforeseen consequences in the form of a new mobster class who realized, in the country’s burgeoning reform efforts, unprecedented opportunities to amass power. My guest is journalist Dan Slater, author of "The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld". Dan' Slater's publisher page (with links to purchase the book): https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dan-slater/the-incorruptibles/9780316427715 Dan Slater on Twitter/X: https://x.com/bydanslater Dan Slater on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bydanslater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 352: The Ward-Peters Murder Case w/ James Polchin - A True Crime History Podcast

    352: The Ward-Peters Murder Case w/ James Polchin - A True Crime History Podcast
    Jul 17 2024
    On the morning of May 16, 1922, a young man’s body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of “shadow men,” blackmailers who extorted their victims’ moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the investigation: What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder? My guest is author and historian James Polchin, whose latest book, "Shadow Men: The Tangled Story of Murder, Media, and Privilege That Scandalized Jazz Age America", is available to purchase in bookstores and online now. Visit the author's publisher page here: https://www.counterpointpress.com/books/shadow-men/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 20 mins