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3D AGO

KILLER: Ana Maria Cardona Part 01 | Miami, Florida 1990

On November 2, 1990, Florida Power and Light workers discovered the emaciated body of a small child hidden in the bushes of a wealthy Miami Beach home. The boy, dressed only in a lollipop-decorated T-shirt and a soiled diaper wrapped in brown packing tape, had been beaten, starved, and systematically tortured. He weighed just eighteen pounds. This is part one of the story of how a mother's resentment turned deadly. VICTIM PROFILE: Lazaro Figueroa was born September 18, 1987, into what should have been a life of comfort. His father, Fidel Figueroa, was a well-connected drug dealer who kept his family in a lavish penthouse overlooking Biscayne Bay. But fate intervened before Lazaro ever drew breath. Just two days after his birth, his father was executed in a gangland-style shooting outside a Miami riverfront bar. The murder was never solved. From that moment forward, Lazaro became the target of his mother's displaced rage, blamed for the loss of everything she had. THE CRIME: Ana Maria Cardona's abuse of Lazaro began shortly after he was returned to her custody from foster care in late 1988. Over the next eighteen months, she systematically starved, beat, and confined her son in conditions the Dade County Medical Examiner would later call the worst child abuse he had ever witnessed. Lazaro spent weeks locked in closets and tied to beds. His arm was broken and left untreated, eventually becoming fixed at a ninety-degree angle. His two front teeth were knocked out. Cardona wrapped duct tape around his diapers to avoid changing them, leaving his skin raw with bedsores. On October 31, 1990, Cardona beat Lazaro with a baseball bat, fracturing his skull. She then dumped his dying body in the bushes of a Miami Beach mansion and fled the state with her girlfriend, Olivia Gonzalez, stopping at Disney World before their arrest. THE INVESTIGATION: Miami Beach police initially could not identify the battered child, dubbing him Baby Lollipops after his T-shirt. Detectives conducted door-to-door interviews in English and Spanish and distributed flyers throughout the community. The break came when a neighbor who had occasionally cared for Lazaro recognized him from police bulletins. The investigation led detectives to Ana Maria Cardona and Olivia Gonzalez, who had fled to central Florida. Both women were arrested within weeks. Gonzalez eventually testified that Cardona had called Lazaro the son of the devil and blamed him for her descent from riches to rags. CURRENT STATUS: Ana Maria Cardona has been convicted of first-degree murder three times. Her first two death sentences were overturned by the Florida Supreme Court on procedural grounds. In 2017, she was convicted for the third time and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Olivia Gonzalez served fourteen years for her role in Lazaro's abuse and has since been released. RESOURCES: Learn more about this case at https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/ Support Obscura: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/ Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

3d ago

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25 min
12/23/2025

KILLER: Tina Brown Part 02 | Pensacola, Florida 2010

Escambia County, FL. March 24, 2010. When Tina Brown invited twenty-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman to her trailer under the guise of reconciliation, the young mother had no idea she was walking into an ambush. What would unfold in the following hours represents one of the most horrific crimes in Florida history. Part 02 of 02. VICTIM PROFILE: Audreanna Zimmerman was just twenty years old, a young mother navigating the precarious landscape of poverty in rural Pensacola. She lived in close proximity to Tina Brown's family, sharing the forced intimacy of a mobile home park where everyone knew everyone's business. Despite the tensions that had developed between her and Brown—accusations of slashed tires, broken car windows, reports to child protective services—Zimmerman believed in the possibility of peace. When the invitation came to clear the air, she accepted it with the trust of someone who had not yet learned that reconciliation can be a weapon. THE CRIME: On the evening of March 24, 2010, Zimmerman entered Brown's trailer expecting conversation. Instead, she was ambushed with a stun gun. Tina Brown, her sixteen-year-old daughter Britnee Miller, and Heather Lee restrained Zimmerman, beat her, and forced her into the trunk of a car. They drove her to a remote clearing in the Florida woods, where the assault escalated to torture. Zimmerman was struck repeatedly with a crowbar, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. The women left her burning in the clearing, believing they had killed her. THE INVESTIGATION: Zimmerman did not die. A third of a mile away, witness Terrance Hendrick heard cries for help and found a figure so badly burned he could not determine her race or whether she wore clothing. Despite injuries that defied comprehension—her skin crackling as she walked, her jaw broken, burns covering the majority of her body—Zimmerman remained conscious. She identified her attackers by name. She told investigators everything that had been done to her. She survived for sixteen days before succumbing to thermal injuries at the University of South Alabama Burn Center. CURRENT STATUS: On June 21, 2012, a jury convicted Tina Brown of first-degree murder. On September 28, 2012, she was sentenced to death. The court found the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated; heinous, atrocious, and cruel; and committed during the course of a kidnapping. Britnee Miller and Heather Lee were also prosecuted for their roles in the crime. Tina Brown remains on Florida's death row. Content warning: This episode contains extremely graphic descriptions of torture, burning, and prolonged violence against a young woman. Real medical and investigative details. Listener discretion strongly advised. Learn more about this case at: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/ Support Obscura: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/ Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/23/2025

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56 min
12/16/2025

KILLER: Tina Brown Part 01 | Pensacola, Florida 2010

On March 24, 2010, nineteen-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman was ambushed by three women she knew from her Pensacola trailer park. What followed was one of the most brutal attacks in Florida criminal history. Beaten with a crowbar, shocked repeatedly with a stun gun, and doused in gasoline before being set ablaze, Audreanna somehow survived the initial attack. Despite burns covering sixty percent of her body, she managed to walk nearly a third of a mile to a nearby house for help. Before slipping into a medically induced coma, she gave authorities the names of her attackers. Sixteen days later, Audreanna died without ever regaining consciousness. She was a mother of two. Part 1 of 2: Before the crime comes the life. This first episode traces the devastating childhood of Tina Brown, the woman who would orchestrate Audreanna's murder and become one of Florida's only female death row inmates. VICTIM PROFILE: Audreanna Redawn Zimmerman was born on April 13, 1990, and was just nineteen years old when her life was taken. A young mother of two, she lived in a Detroit Avenue mobile home park in Escambia County, Florida. Despite the volatile environment of her neighborhood, Audreanna believed she had patched things up with the women who would ultimately kill her. She visited them as a friend on the day she died. THE CRIME: The murder of Audreanna Zimmerman stemmed from escalating disputes between trailer park neighbors. Accusations flew about slashed tires, broken windows, and reports to child protective services. The situation reached its breaking point over a romantic entanglement. On that March evening, Tina Brown, her sixteen-year-old daughter Britnee Miller, and neighbor Heather Lee lured Audreanna into a trap that would end with her burning in the Florida woods. THE INVESTIGATION: Audreanna's dying declaration proved crucial to the case. She identified all three attackers before losing consciousness. Physical evidence corroborated her account, including a bloodied crowbar and stun gun, a piece of hair weave, and DNA evidence recovered from Brown's vehicle. Authorities waited until Audreanna's death to arrest the suspects, ensuring murder charges that could not be plea-bargained down. CURRENT STATUS: Tina Brown was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in 2012 and sentenced to death. She remains the only woman currently on Florida's death row at Lowell Correctional Institution. Her daughter Britnee Miller, who was sixteen at the time, received a life sentence. Heather Lee accepted a plea agreement and received twenty-five years, with a scheduled release in 2031. Brown's multiple appeals have been denied, most recently in May 2024. This episode examines how decades of trauma, addiction, and unresolved rage shaped the woman who would commit this unthinkable crime. Part two will cover the night of the attack in full detail. RESOURCES: Learn more about this case at https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/ Support Obscura: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/ Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/16/2025

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56 min
3D AGO

Edgefield, South Carolina: The Devil's Bargain Murder Trial of 1850

In February 1849, an enslaved sawmill worker named Appling approached his owner with an extraordinary proposal: he would murder Martin Posey's wife Matilda in exchange for a promise of freedom. What followed exposed the brutal mechanics of what historians call "criminal bargains"—informal contracts between enslavers and enslaved people that the legal system barely acknowledged. Martin Posey, a man of modest origins who married into the wealthy Holmes family, had earned the nickname "The Devil of Montmorenci." Contemporary accounts describe him as having "quite the thirst for power and money, coupled with his inconsideration for everyone but himself." When his father-in-law died in 1847, Posey gained control of Matilda's inheritance through South Carolina's coverture laws. But he wanted more—specifically, he wanted Matilda's teenage sister Eliza and her portion of the Holmes estate. The murder occurred on a Friday afternoon in February 1849. Matilda was last seen directing workers on the plantation before Martin asked her to check on the dairy door. There, Appling waited. He bludgeoned her to death while Martin, according to trial evidence, "encouraged him from behind." They buried her body in a shallow grave near a spring. But the "deal" was always a lie. Roughly one month later, workers discovered Appling's decomposing body in neighboring Abbeville County. The coroner's findings revealed death by gunshot—but it was one detail that transformed everything: Appling's hands were still tied together. Martin Posey had simply erased the witness to his crime. Timeline of Events -The Martin Posey case unfolded in "Bloody Edgefield," a South Carolina town where 39 percent of all prosecutions involved violent offenses—the highest rate in the state. Violence wasn't exceptional here; it was routine. Historians have called it "the Deadwood of its day." -1847: Matilda's father dies; his estate is divided among his children -February 1849: Appling murders Matilda; she is buried in a shallow grave -Approximately one week later: Searchers discover Matilda's body -March 1849: Workers find Appling's body with tied hands in Abbeville County -October 10, 1849: Four-day trial begins at Edgefield County Court House -October 14, 1849: Jury returns guilty verdicts on both murder counts -February 10, 1850: Martin Posey executed by hanging Historical Significance The Posey case illuminates the impossible position of enslaved people within antebellum legal systems. South Carolina's Negro Act of 1740 prohibited enslaved people from giving sworn testimony in court, especially against white defendants. Any promise Martin Posey made to Appling existed in a legal void—unenforceable, unwitnessable, and ultimately worthless. Scholars studying this case note that Appling was "neither passively acquiescent nor docile" but entrepreneurial. He demonstrated what historians call "slave agency"—the capacity to negotiate even within brutal constraints. Lacking conventional bargaining chips like money or property, he weaponized the only thing he had: his willingness to commit violence. The execution drew between 4,000 and 5,000 spectators—more than ten times the village population. The Edgefield Advertiser reported it was a spectacle "which even the oldest inhabitants could not recollect" for its size. That afternoon, the town square descended into what newspapers called "drunken brawls"—violence so normalized that even an execution couldn't proceed without it. Sources & Further Reading -This episode draws on scholarly research into antebellum South Carolina's legal system and the intersection of slavery, violence, and criminal law. Primary Sources: -Edgefield County Historical Society Walking Tour documentation, which preserves details of the October 1849 trial proceedings and execution -South Carolina Department of Archives and History records Secondary Sources: -"Race and the Law in South Carolina: From Slavery to Jim Crow" - Academic analysis of the Posey Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hometownhistory/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

3d ago

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21 min
12/09/2025

MURDERED: Paula Thompson | Des Moines, Iowa 2020

On March 13, 2020, a long-simmering domestic conflict in Des Moines, Iowa, erupted into fatal violence. Paula Marie Thompson, a 50-year-old claims processor, was beaten to death with a crowbar by her adult son Christopher inside the home they shared on Pleasantview Drive. Her body would not be discovered until five days later. VICTIM PROFILE: Paula Thompson was 50 years old at the time of her death. She worked as a claims processor and was known among friends and coworkers as hardworking and responsible. Behind closed doors, however, Paula struggled with a volatile home situation. Her 32-year-old son Christopher still lived with her, financially dependent on her despite years of unemployment and sporadic work through temporary agencies. Paula had confided to friends that she was afraid of Christopher, tired of the drinking, and tired of supporting an adult who showed no progress toward independence. CASE SIGNIFICANCE: This case represents a devastating example of domestic violence that did not arrive suddenly. Paula Thompson spent months warning the people around her. She told friends she was afraid. She contacted her son's probation officer multiple times between December 2019 and March 2020, expressing growing fear. She even appeared in a Facebook video whispering to a friend that Christopher was "going to kill" her. Despite these warnings, Paula could not escape the danger living inside her own home. CONTENT WARNINGS: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence, blunt force trauma, and animal cruelty. Listener discretion is advised. KEY CASE DETAILS: • Paula and Christopher argued on March 13, 2020, both having been drinking. Christopher retrieved a crowbar and struck his mother multiple times in the head. He remained in the home with her body for five days before confessing to a friend over the phone. • Christopher also killed Paula's cat with the same crowbar, later disposing of the animal's body in a trash can. He pleaded guilty to animal abuse in addition to the murder charge. • On March 18, 2020, Christopher walked into the Polk County Jail and confessed. He was subsequently found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. RESOURCES: This episode draws from court documents filed in Polk County, Iowa, including criminal complaints and the Iowa Supreme Court opinion in State v. Thompson. Additional sources include reporting from KCCI Des Moines, KCRG, and the Des Moines Register. For anyone experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233. SUPPORT OBSCURA: For extended episodes, bonus content, and ad-free listening, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast. Visit mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura for episode resources, sources, and additional case information. Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/09/2025

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27 min
3D AGO

Hungary: Béla Kiss and the Lonely Hearts Murders

Episode 14 of 15 | Season 36: Serial Killers in History In a locked storage chamber in rural Hungary, seven sealed metal drums waited to reveal their terrible secrets—each containing the perfectly preserved body of a woman who had answered a marriage advertisement. The investigation into Hungary's most prolific lonely hearts killer reaches its chilling conclusion as we trace Béla Kiss's extraordinary escape from justice during the chaos of World War One. VICTIM PROFILE: Katherine Varga sold her dressmaking business for the promise of marriage. Margaret Toth trusted her mother's choice of a husband. These women weren't victims of circumstance—they were successful, independent, and looking for partnership in an era when marriage advertisements represented a respectable path to companionship. They responded to notices in Budapest newspapers, exchanged romantic letters with a successful tinsmith named Béla Kiss, and traveled alone to his home in Cinkota with their valuables and their hopes. The skills that had supported Katherine's independence—her precise needlework—would later identify her remains years after Kiss strangled her and sealed her body in an alcohol-filled drum. THE CRIME: This case changed how Hungarian law enforcement approached missing persons cases and marriage advertisement fraud. Kiss's crimes exposed the vulnerability of women seeking companionship in early twentieth-century society and demonstrated how a charismatic predator could weaponize social conventions for years without detection. The preserved bodies—so pristine that victims remained recognizable years after death—stand as haunting evidence of how ordinary systems can shield extraordinary evil. Béla Kiss remains one of criminology's greatest unsolved mysteries, his ability to disappear so completely ensuring his story continues to captivate researchers worldwide. Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence against women and discussions of serial murder. Listener discretion advised. KEY CASE DETAILS: The investigation into Béla Kiss began in mid-1916 when landlord Márton Kresinszky and pharmacist Béla Takács discovered seven metal drums in Kiss's locked storage chamber. Each drum, professionally sealed with lead solder, contained a woman's body preserved in wood alcohol and strangled with a rope or garrotte. Investigators found seventeen more bodies throughout the property, bringing the total to twenty-four victims—all killed with the same methodical approach. Timeline: Kiss operated between 1912-1914, placing matrimonial advertisements in Budapest newspapers under the alias "Hofmann." Conscripted to the 40th Honvéd Infantry Brigade in 1914, he left his home in housekeeper Mrs. Jakubec's care. The discovery came nearly two years later during renovation preparations. Method: Kiss corresponded with 174 women, actively pursued 74, and lured victims by emphasizing his financial stability and respectable tinsmith business. He requested women travel alone and bring their valuables. After strangling them, he took their assets and preserved bodies in alcohol-filled drums—a technique that astounded medical examiners with its effectiveness. Escape: In October 1916, Detective Chief Charles Nagy traveled to a Serbian military hospital after reports Kiss was alive. He arrived to find a corpse in Kiss's bed—but the face was wrong. Kiss had switched identity documents with a dying soldier and walked out of the hospital into the chaos of war-torn Serbia. Aftermath: In 1932, New York City homicide detective Henry Oswald was certain he spotted Kiss emerging from the Times Square subway station. The sighting was never confirmed. Whether Kiss died in the trenches, lived out his days under an assumed identity, or met some other fate remains unknown. The mathematics of his notebook—174 contacts, 74 pursued, 24 found—leaves terrible questions about fifty unaccounted women. HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SOURCES: This episode draws on contemporary Hungarian police records, the detailed account by Austro-Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy who witnessed the body examinations, court documents from earlier proceedings against Kiss by victims Julianne Paschak and Elizabeth Komeromi, and historical research into World War One-era military hospital conditions in occupied Serbia. The investigation reveals how wartime chaos enabled Kiss's escape and how early twentieth-century record-keeping failures allowed a serial killer to vanish completely. RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING: For listeners interested in exploring this case further, these historically significant sources provide additional context: The Hungarian National Archives maintains police investigation records from the original 1916 Cinkota discovery and subsequent manhuntAcademic research on early twentieth-century matrimonial fraud and lonely hearts schemes in Austro-Hungarian newspapersMilitary hospital records from WWI-era Serbia documenting the typhoid epidemic and identification challenges that enabled Kiss's escapeContemporary newspaper coverage from Budapest publications reporting on the barrel discoveriesRELATED FOUL PLAY EPISODES: If you enjoyed this early twentieth-century Hungarian case, explore these related Foul Play episodes: Season 36, Episode 12: Maria Swanenburg - Another insurance-focused serial killer from the 1880s Netherlands who targeted vulnerable community membersSeason 36, Episode 9: Maria Jeanneret - Swiss poisoner who exploited positions of trust to prey on isolated victimsSeason 36, Episode 15: Karl Denke - German serial killer who evaded detection through community respectability until the 1920s Foul Play is hosted by Shane Waters and Wendy Cee. Research and writing by Shane Waters with historical consultation. Music and sound design featuring period-appropriate Hungarian and Eastern European folk elements. For more forgotten cases from history's darkest corners, subscribe to Foul Play wherever you listen to podcasts. Next week on Foul Play: The season finale explores Karl Denke, the forgotten cannibal of Münsterberg, whose decades of murder remained hidden behind the façade of a respected German businessman. Subscribe now to follow Serial Killers in History to its conclusion. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

3d ago

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23 min
11/25/2025

SERIAL KILLER: Paul Durousseau | Jacksonville, Florida 1997-2003 Part 01

On a humid September day in 1997, a man walking his dog discovered the nude body of 26-year-old Tracy Habersham in a ditch near Fort Benning, Georgia. She had been strangled. What investigators couldn't know then was that her death marked the beginning of a six-year killing spree. Part 1 of 2 VICTIM PROFILE: Paul Durousseau's victims shared heartbreaking commonalities. They were young African American women—many of them mothers—struggling to build better lives. Tyresa Mack was raising three small children. Nikia Kilpatrick was six months pregnant when she died; her two young sons, aged 11 months and 2 years, were found alive but malnourished beside her body two days later. Shawanda McCalister was also pregnant. These women trusted the wrong person, and that trust cost them everything. CASE SIGNIFICANCE: Between 1997 and 2003, Durousseau used his various jobs—security guard, taxi driver—to identify and gain access to vulnerable women. His method was consistent: gain trust, enter their homes, bind them, sexually assault them, then strangle them with whatever cord was available. A phone cord. A coaxial cable. An extension cord tied in a distinctive military-style slipknot. His victims included Tracy Habersham, Tyresa Mack, Nicole Williams, Nikia Kilpatrick, Shawanda McCalister, Jovanna Jefferson, and Surita Cohen. German authorities also suspect him in additional unsolved murders near U.S. military bases during his Army deployment. CONTENT WARNINGS: This episode contains detailed discussion of sexual assault, strangulation, domestic violence, and child endangerment. Listener discretion is strongly advised. KEY DETAILS: Durousseau was born in Beaumont, Texas in 1970 and experienced significant brain trauma in utero and as a toddler. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.After graduating high school in 1989, he enlisted in the Army in 1992 and was stationed in Germany, where he married fellow soldier Natoca Spann.In 1997, while stationed at Fort Benning, he was arrested for kidnapping and rape but was acquitted. Less than a month later, Tracy Habersham was found murdered—DNA would eventually link Durousseau to her death.RESOURCES: For case documentation, sources, and additional information, visit: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/ If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. CREDITS: Research and narration by Justin Drown. Obscura is an independent true crime documentary podcast dedicated to telling the stories of forgotten victims with unflinching honesty and scholarly research. All information presented draws from court records, police reports, and verified news archives. SUPPORT OBSCURA: Join the Obscura community on Patreon for ad-free episodes, extended content, and exclusive behind-the-scenes access: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/ Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

11/25/2025

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48 min
12/02/2025

SERIAL KILLER: Paul Durousseau | Jacksonville, Florida 1997-2003 Part 02

On a humid September day in 1997, a man walking his dog discovered the nude body of 26-year-old Tracy Habersham in a ditch near Fort Benning, Georgia. She had been strangled. What investigators couldn't know then was that her death marked the beginning of a six-year killing spree. Part 2 of 2 VICTIM PROFILE: Paul Durousseau's victims shared heartbreaking commonalities. They were young African American women—many of them mothers—struggling to build better lives. Tyresa Mack was raising three small children. Nikia Kilpatrick was six months pregnant when she died; her two young sons, aged 11 months and 2 years, were found alive but malnourished beside her body two days later. Shawanda McCalister was also pregnant. These women trusted the wrong person, and that trust cost them everything. CASE SIGNIFICANCE: Between 1997 and 2003, Durousseau used his various jobs—security guard, taxi driver—to identify and gain access to vulnerable women. His method was consistent: gain trust, enter their homes, bind them, sexually assault them, then strangle them with whatever cord was available. A phone cord. A coaxial cable. An extension cord tied in a distinctive military-style slipknot. His victims included Tracy Habersham, Tyresa Mack, Nicole Williams, Nikia Kilpatrick, Shawanda McCalister, Jovanna Jefferson, and Surita Cohen. German authorities also suspect him in additional unsolved murders near U.S. military bases during his Army deployment. CONTENT WARNINGS: This episode contains detailed discussion of sexual assault, strangulation, domestic violence, and child endangerment. Listener discretion is strongly advised. KEY DETAILS: Durousseau was born in Beaumont, Texas in 1970 and experienced significant brain trauma in utero and as a toddler. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.After graduating high school in 1989, he enlisted in the Army in 1992 and was stationed in Germany, where he married fellow soldier Natoca Spann.In 1997, while stationed at Fort Benning, he was arrested for kidnapping and rape but was acquitted. Less than a month later, Tracy Habersham was found murdered—DNA would eventually link Durousseau to her death.RESOURCES: For case documentation, sources, and additional information, visit: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/ If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. CREDITS: Research and narration by Justin Drown. Obscura is an independent true crime documentary podcast dedicated to telling the stories of forgotten victims with unflinching honesty and scholarly research. All information presented draws from court records, police reports, and verified news archives. SUPPORT OBSCURA: Join the Obscura community on Patreon for ad-free episodes, extended content, and exclusive behind-the-scenes access: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/ Our Sponsors: * Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA * Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/02/2025

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34 min
12/23/2025

Hagerstown, Indiana: The Blind Engineer Who Invented Cruise Control

In 1896, a five-year-old boy in Hagerstown, Indiana, lost his sight in a workshop accident. Doctors couldn't save his vision, and by age seven, Ralph Teetor would never see again. What happened next defied every expectation of that era—an age when blind children were typically institutionalized and trained only for basket-weaving. Instead, Ralph's parents raised him as if nothing had changed. They let him explore the machines in his family's factory. They sent him to public school. They refused to let anyone else define what was possible for their son. By age twelve, Ralph had built his own automobile—before Henry Ford even founded Ford Motor Company. He went on to become America's first blind engineer, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1912 after memorizing every textbook and constructing three-dimensional mental models of every diagram. He tuned Indianapolis 500 race cars by sound alone. He ran a company with 6,500 employees. And when a lawyer's jerky driving made him carsick one too many times, he invented cruise control. This episode explores how a small-town Indiana boy who spent 86 years in darkness saw possibilities that others couldn't imagine—and created technology that now helps vehicles see the road for themselves. Timeline of Key EventsThe invention of cruise control spans nearly a century of innovation, beginning with a childhood tragedy and culminating in technology that became foundational to self-driving vehicles. March 20, 1896: Five-year-old Ralph Teetor injures his eye in a knife accident at his uncles' machine shop in Hagerstown, Indiana1897: Sympathetic ophthalmia causes complete blindness in both eyes1902: At age twelve, Ralph builds his first gasoline-powered automobile capable of 12 mph1912: Graduates from University of Pennsylvania as America's first blind engineer1936: Becomes president of the Society of Automotive Engineers; begins developing cruise control conceptAugust 22, 1950: Receives U.S. Patent 2,519,859 for his "Speedostat" speed control device1958: Chrysler introduces the technology as "Auto-Pilot" on luxury models1959: Cadillac brands the technology "Cruise Control"—the name that stuckFebruary 15, 1982: Ralph Teetor dies at age 91 in Hagerstown1988: Posthumously inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame2024: Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of FameHistorical SignificanceRalph Teetor's story matters beyond the convenience of highway driving. His life represents a fundamental challenge to how disability was understood in early twentieth-century America. In 1896, the eugenics movement was gaining momentum across the United States. Thirty-two states would eventually pass forced sterilization laws targeting disabled people. "Ugly Laws" barred disabled individuals from public spaces. Eighty to eighty-five percent of blind Americans had no employment. The standard approach to childhood blindness was institutionalization and segregation from sighted children. Against this backdrop, Ralph Teetor's achievements were revolutionary. He didn't just overcome personal obstacles—he redefined what was considered possible. His invention of cruise control became foundational to technologies he never lived to see: adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping systems, and autonomous vehicles. In 2012, when Google's self-driving car project conducted its first public road test, the passenger was a legally blind man named Steve Mahan. The vehicle used technology descended directly from Teetor's original patent. The circle completed. A blind man's invention enabling other blind people to experience independent transportation. Sources & Further ReadingThis episode drew from primary historical sources and biographical accounts documenting Ralph Teetor's remarkable life and inventions. Marjorie Teetor Meyer, "One Man's Vision: The Life of Automotive Pioneer Ralph R. Teetor" (1995) — Biography written by Teetor's daughter, containing family records and firsthand accountsU.S. Patent No. 2,519,859 — "Speed Control Device for Resisting Operation of the Accelerator" (August 22, 1950), available through USPTO.govNational Inventors Hall of Fame Profile — Ralph Teetor's 2024 induction documentation at invent.orgSmithsonian Magazine, "The Sightless Visionary Who Invented Cruise Control" (2018) — Feature article with grandson Ralph Meyer's recollectionsHagerstown Exponent Archives (1896) — Contemporary newspaper accounts of Ralph's accident and subsequent treatment Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hometownhistory/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/23/2025

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16 min
12/23/2025

Marrakesh: The Shoemaker Who Buried 36 Women

Season 36, Episode 13 of our Serial Killers in History series. This episode examines one of North Africa's most notorious crimes and the execution that shocked the world. In the spring of 1906, authorities in Marrakesh make a discovery that will reverberate across continents. Beneath the packed-earth floor of a modest shoemaker's workshop, they uncover the remains of twenty-six women. Ten more bodies lie buried in a garden nearby. Thirty-six victims in total—women who came to a trusted craftsman for help and never walked out alive. What follows is a story of community betrayal, colonial politics, and a punishment so brutal that diplomats from New York to London demanded intervention. But the screaming from inside the marketplace walls continued for two days before... VICTIM PROFILE: The thirty-six women murdered by Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi remain largely unnamed in historical records—a final cruelty in a case dominated by its killer's infamy. They were working-class women from Marrakesh's medina, women who needed help with everyday tasks in a society where female literacy was rare. Some came to dictate letters to relatives in distant cities. Others needed shoes repaired. They were mothers, daughters, sisters who trusted a man their community trusted. They walked into his shop for legitimate business and vanished into the earth beneath his floor, their identities lost to time while their murderer's name lives in infamy. THE CRIME: Between 1902 and 1906, Mesfewi operated his shop near one of Marrakesh's public bathhouses, positioning himself perfectly to encounter women conducting business without male accompaniment. His method was consistent across all victims: he offered tea laced with narcotics, likely opium, rendering women unconscious. Once incapacitated, he killed them with a dagger and buried them beneath his workshop floor or in a garden he owned, using quicklime to accelerate decomposition. His seventy-year-old accomplice, a woman named Annah, assisted in the crimes until her capture in April 1906. KEY CASE DETAILS: The murders unraveled when families noticed a pattern—women who mentioned visiting Mesfewi's shop were never seen again. One young woman named Fatima escaped after growing dizzy from drugged tea, providing the first direct testimony against the shoemaker. When Annah was captured by a victim's family and forced to confess, she revealed the burial sites before dying from her injuries. Authorities excavating Mesfewi's workshop found twenty-six bodies, methodically buried with layers of quicklime. A second property yielded ten more victims. Forensic science in 1906 Morocco was rudimentary—no fingerprinting, no crime scene photography—so investigators relied on shovels, sketches, and eyewitness accounts to document the horror. HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SOURCES: Mesfewi's crimes occurred during Morocco's final years of independence before European colonization. As his victims were being discovered in April 1906, diplomats gathered in Algeciras, Spain, carving up Morocco's future at an international conference. Within six years, the Treaty of Fez would establish the French Protectorate, ending twelve centuries of Moroccan sovereignty. European powers seized on Mesfewi's execution—he was sealed alive inside a wall in the Marrakesh marketplace—as evidence of "barbaric" Moroccan justice requiring European oversight. Contemporary newspapers from The Times and Democrat to the St. John Sun published detailed accounts and illustrations, framing the case within colonial narratives that justified intervention. RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING: For those who want to explore further: Wikipedia article on Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi provides comprehensive case details and contemporary source citations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadj_Mohammed_MesfewiMurderpedia entry includes execution details and victim count documentation: https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/mesfewi-hadj-mohammed.htmYabiladi article examines the case from a Moroccan historical perspective: https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/94637/hadj-mohammed-mesfewi-morocco-serial.html Follow us on social media and visit mythsandmalice.com for more historical true crime. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

12/23/2025

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