Criminalia

Shondaland Audio
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  • TRUE CRIME
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Criminalia

Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?

  1. 8 HR. AGO

    Did Mary Blandy Know the 'Love Powder' She Gave Her Father Was Arsenic?

    Mary Blandy was desperate to marry, but none of her suitors met the stringent standards set by her father -- until she met William Cranstoun, son of a Scottish peer. But her engagement to him turned out to be her downfall; William was already married. When it was divulged, her father did not approve the engagement, but William "had a method of conciliating [her father's] esteem" -- and it involved feeding her father a 'love powder' to soften him up a bit. The love powder turned out to be arsenic, and Mary killed her father by administering it. Though she claimed she didn't know, there were clues she maybe did. The question remains: Was she a partner to this crime, or wasn't she? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    32 min

  2. OCT 15

    Verne Sankey and Gordon Alcorn and Their Depression-Era Kidnappings

    When Verne Sankey told his wife he and his gang were planning a kidnapping, he said, if “I don’t come back, don't identify my body.” Verne and his accomplice, Gordon Alcorn, were a pair of Depression-era outlaws whose successful high-profile kidnappings of Haskell Bohn, heir to Bohn Refrigeration, and millionaire Charles Boettcher II turned them into two of the most wanted criminals in the United States – in fact, their success inspired other gangsters to try kidnapping as a lucrative gig, and prompted FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to name Verne America's very first 'Public Enemy'. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min

  3. OCT 8

    The Story of Suburban Chicago Booksellers and Bank Robbers, Jeff and Jill Erickson

    On January 9, 1990, a bank robber nicknamed the Bearded Bandit entered the First Nationwide Bank in Wilmette, Illinois, disguised with a false beard, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and driving gloves. He carried a gun and police radio scanner, and threatened bank employees that he'd, ”blow their brains out.” While he collected from the vault, his wife prepared their getaway. The Ericksons, a husband-and-wife bank robbing duo, committed a series of armed robberies in the Chicago area in 1990 andd 1991. And when it ended, it was in a dramatic and desperate way.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min

  4. OCT 1

    Public Enemies No. 1 and 2: Bank Robbers Bennie and Stella Dickson vs. the G-Men

    A man walked into the Corn Exchange Bank at Elkton, South Dakota, on the afternoon of August 25, 1938, and announced, quote, “This is a holdup.” Bennie and Stella Dickson were Depression-era bank robbers and outlaws who successfully stole what authorities then estimated to be more than $50,000 over an eight-month period. They were tagged by the FBI as Public Enemies No. 1 and 2., and J. Edgar Hoover, who led the bureau at that time, compared them to other notorious criminals of the era including John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, “Babyface” Nelson, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd. That's quite a cast of crooks. But were they? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    37 min

  5. SEP 24

    Lester Brockelhurst and Bernice Felton and the 'Crime Tourist' Murders

    Lester Warfel Brockelhurst, Jr. was the president of the Mormon church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and he was a Sunday school teacher -- he was generally and genuinely known as a, “good boy.” But in his early 20s, he picked up a new nickname: "crime tourist,” after he and his girlfriend, Bernice Felton, pulled off multiple robberies and killed three men during a six-week crime spree that spanned across more than a dozen states in 1937.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min

  6. SEP 17

    How Her Illicit Love Letters Got Edith Thompson Hanged for a Murder

    This story is one of murder, but it's also a tale of woe. It begins when a young ship's steward named Frederick 'Freddy' Bywaters became involved with a married woman named Edith Thompson. They had known each other growing up in the same London suburb as her husband Percy Thompson; and, it was generally considered that Freddy would marry Edith's sister, Avis. But life doesn't always work out the way you think it will -- and he ended up being executed for Percy's murder. And so did Edith. History now suggests maybe she wasn't a woman who killed for her lover, but, rather, a witness to the event. Were Freddy and Edith partners in murder, or was Edith sentenced to death for adultery? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    41 min

  7. SEP 10

    The Disappearance of Ted Cole and Ralph Roe From Alcatraz: Dead or Alive?

    Joseph Bowers is considered the first prisoner to try escaping Alcatraz, but was killed during his attempt. The next to attempt it was a pair of conspiring inmates named Ted Cole and Ralph Roe. Both men had long rap sheets and were known escape risks -- including from high security facilities. As a last resort, each was sentenced to time at the most inescapable prison in the United States: Alcatraz. With hindsight, and it's easy for us to say with time on our side, maybe they should have been kept apart, because these prisoners-in-crime totally escaped Alcatraz Island, and were never seen again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min

  8. SEP 3

    The Black Widow Murders: The Story of Septuagenarian Killers Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt

    Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were sentenced in July of 2008 to life in prison for the murders of Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid. The women, who were both in their 70s, appeared to be in the business of rescuing down-on-their-luck men in Los Angeles, but it was a deadly ruse. Instead, theymanipulated their marks with offers of free food and housing, and then manipulated them into helping them open life insurances policies – with the women listed as beneficiaries. Helen and Olga then killed these men in staged hit-and-run car accidents, on which they collected payouts totaling in the millions. Let's meet these Black Widow murderers and their victims. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min
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About

Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?

Information

  • Channel
    Shondaland Audio
  • Creator
    Shondaland Audio and iHeartPodcasts
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2024
  • Episodes
    233
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    2024 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    Criminalia

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