Retro Crime Story Time
History hides secrets. Crimes that once shocked entire communities often fade into silence, but retrospect has a way of revealing what was missed. We dig into forgotten cases—walking the places where they happened, examining overlooked details, and asking new questions with fresh eyes. Because when we revisit the past, not everything is as it seemed.
Episodes
Freak The Buckhout
Happy Halloween! On our latest visit to Sleepy Hollow, New York, we researched the village's second most popular ghostly resident. Isaac Van Wart Buckhout killed his wife Louisa and neighbor Arthur Rendall on New Year's Day in 1870. He was …
The Mann Actor
In Clearwater, Florida in 1915, the charred remains of 19 year old Susie Eliot and her mother Bessie were found in a car that had been set on fire. The chauffeur pointed the finger at the Citrus King of Pinellas County, John Mendenhall, who…
Nice Kitty
In September of 1959, Kitty Harrig killed her husband and his mistress in their apartment in the Catskills. The town was shocked because Howard had been philandering for years, and Kitty had always handled it well. What made such a lovely p…
Margaret's Martyrdom
In 1926, Margaret Foley died from an illegal abortion in Washington, Pennsylvania. Who was responsible for her death? If you know a single mother, then her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
The Doctor Is Out
On December 30th of 1918, a woman’s body was found in the James River. Families across the county insisted it was their daughter who had gone missing in that part of Virginia. Clue after clue unraveled a story of extreme selfishness and des…
Big In the Bottoms
In the 1930s, Squire Westwood was the most powerful man in The Bottoms of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. When he was on trial for killing his wife, his alibi was the lead detective on his case and a parade of beautiful women. He was a dirty, p…
Big Nonna's House
In 1957, Lena Trappin was the oldest woman in Pennsylvania to be tried for murder. The 75 year old was charged with strangling her neighbor with a belt and dragged him downstairs into his yard in the middle of the night. What motive could s…
Charged Adams
In East Liverpool, Ohio in 1948, Goldie Adams is found shot dead on Christmas morning by her common-law husband, John Adams. They lived in a shack at the dump. Her ex-husband Ross Adams was sleeping on their couch. All of them had been drun…
Goldie Locked And Loaded
Goldie Mae Richmond grew up in the mountains of West Virginia among alcoholics and violent criminals. In 1959, she became one herself when she shot and killed her father. Was she protecting her child? Or was she no more innocent than the pe…
Angry John
In 1919, Wheeling, West Virginia, Margaret Clator shot her husband John Clator in self-defense. She claimed he caught her trying to kill herself and became so angry that he tried to kill her. Despite evidence against her and a confession, s…
Goodnight, Iron Irene
Before Bonnie and Clyde, there was a less sexy duo of robbers. Irene and Glenn had clean records then quickly escalated to crime once they met. They killed their way to the electric chair, and Irene became the first woman in Pennsylvania to…
Men of Steele
While incarcerated in the 1980s, career burglar Roland Steele met drug dealer Robert McGrogan and pimp Sam Wallace (who trafficked minors). These chance encounters led to the Karate Chop Killings of 3 octogenarian widows, whose lives were d…
I'm All Right, Jack
I discovered the British expression "I'm all right, Jack". It's used to describe another person who is selfish, smug, and doesn't care about anyone but themselves. This episode is about a murder in December of 1916. Jack Nolte shot his youn…
Hammer of the Broads
Thanksgiving of 1935 was peak drama at Chessie Tomlin's home. There was booze, adultery, and murder- all before the meal was ready! In my attempt to find a wild Thanksgiving story outside of my city, Pittsburgh once again proved to have the…
Not-So-Great Caesar's Ghost
For our Halloween episode, we went to the historic Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York to find a ghost. Despite the prison being secretive about the supernatural, we were able to find one. William Caesar killed his common-law wife Mary M…
Kids Those Days
My six year old Zach and four year old Kate join me on this episode about kids who committed crimes in our neck of the woods. We also have a story about ten year old boy who protected his brother from a kidnapper in Washington County, Penns…
Like Mother, Like Daughter
In Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 1949, 15 year old Margaret Bankowski was found murdered on a slag pile off a lovers' lane near the Ohio River. The case went cold until Catherine Smutko was arrested for murder. She allegedly wanted Margaret’s d…
Bang Up Job
In 1925, in the mountains outside of Pikeville, Kentucky, the bodies of two men were recovered from a mine explosion in the middle of the night. Behind the tragedy was a greedy family too dimwitted to fake a death properly.
Say Uncle
In the summer of 1939, the bodies of Eddie Dombrowski and his uncle Ignatz were found outside of Eddie's car on a lone country road in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The crime left the family and community confused. Some things are too tragic to…
Carolinas In My Mind
In 1949, a couple of Southern boys kidnapped and murdered a taxi driver from Myrtle Beach. They were the first white people to die by judicial electrocution in South Carolina. Even though they were guilty of these crimes, they happened to b…
Mister Brown To You
In 19th century Imperial Russia, a young man named Asher Markowitz married his foster mother Rachael Kirsch. Over a year later, he ran away. Rachael was determined to get him back and spent ten years searching. She finally found him in Cano…
Three's A Crowd
In December of 1929, the body of a man in his early 30s was found dumped in the snow in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania. He had two sets of ID on him. A few days later, a young man nearby went missing. The case wasn’t solved until 8 years later …
The Red Rose
In 1950, four young men robbed Rose Palermo in her home in Greentree, Pennsylvania. She didn't take kindly to that. Joining me is my 6 year old Zach.
Cold Turkey Tom
In 1905, cocaine addicted Thomas O'Toole killed his brother-in-law then broke out of jail. He was never caught, so where did he go?
Cross Hart And Hope To Die
In remote Tioga County, Pennsylvania in 1890, bumbling blacksmith Alfred Hart couldn't do anything right. Not murder, not even suicide.
Arline the Teenage Dream
In 1908, 16 year old Arline Knisely and 48 year old Charles Spach were found having been shot in the head. It was ruled a murder-suicide despite that being forensically impossible.
Insane Lila Zane
In 1907, in Wheeling, West Virginia, 19 year old wealthy Lila Zane had boys wrapped around her finger and could manipulate them into doing anything she wanted- even murder. When she got caught, her lawyers said she was insane. But was she?
Killed By Kindness
Martha Grinder was a serial killer who was hanged in Allegheny County in 1866. Known as the "Pittsburgh Poisoner", her ghost is still seen wandering around town. Despite all folklore to the contrary, I don't believe she did it. In fact, I t…
Bored to Death
On Christmas Eve of 1937 in Trumbull County, Ohio, beautiful steel heiress Louise Campbell grew impatiently bored at the family Christmas party. The ensuing events fueled by eggnog led to her mother's death.
Bertha the Beautiful Butcher
What possessed Bertha to murder her mother? Apparently, her dad. He was the local butcher with a thriving business. Right before Christmas in 1897, he died of a heart-attack at the breakfast table. After that, his ghost followed Bertha aro…
Hung Up On Love
Charlotte Jones was the first woman to be executed in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She did anything for love...even that.
This Dude's Afterlife Sentence
Michael Ruminski murdered his wife and almost got away with it in style.
The Invisible Cellmate
The Old Allegheny County jail in Pittsburgh has been haunted for over a hundred years by William Culp. There's a real person behind the ghost, and Willliam Culp never belonged in jail to begin with. Now he can't leave.
He Had Driven Her Crazy
Mamie Leslie shot her husband Frank in a brothel in Wheeling, West Virginia. Was it self-defense? Or was Mamie Leslie calculating and prepared for every detail. It was her word versus the madam's. One of our "Widows of Wheeling, West Virgi…