The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds 722 - Oregon's Unwritten Law - Live
Feb 24, 2026
Live comedy explores dark local history: vigilante honor killings, tarring and feathering, and sensational murder trials. They trace a sex-cult scandal, lynching and courtroom spectacles that swayed juries. The story follows poisonings, revenge shootings, and the rise and fall of an unwritten law in Oregon.
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Unwritten Law Normalized Honor Killings
- The 1900s saw temporary insanity and the informal 'unwritten law' repeatedly used to justify men killing partners' lovers.
- Dave Anthony recounts Daniel Sickles' 1859 murder of Philip Barton Key and acquittal as a model that normalized honor-killing defenses.
Alfred Belding's Public Mass Murder And Hanging
- Alfred Belding murdered his wife Sylvia, her lover George Gip Woodward, and two in-laws, then calmly drank at a saloon and expected acquittal under the unwritten law.
- Dave details the July 1902 murders, Alfred's botched attempt on his son, and journalists printing a jailbreak plan that led to Alfred's hanging.
Edmund's Cult Triggered Lynchings And Suicide
- Edmund Kremhild founded a sex cult in Corvallis, seducing a homeowner's wife and daughters and prompting tar-and-feather vigilante justice.
- Gareth and Dave narrate town outrage, Edmund's brief marriage to the victim's daughter, and later murders related to the cult's fallout.