Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

My guest this week is award-winning author Dean Jobb. He joins me to talk about one of the most colorful criminals of the Jazz Age, Arthur Barry. Barry, who has been called "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived", was a master burglar who specialized in robbing New York's wealthiest citizens. Barry would have encounters with a wide array of interesting figures from the 20s and 30s, ranging from the Prince of Wales to investigators working on the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping case.Dean Jobb's book, out on June 25, is called "A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue."The author's website: https://www.deanjobb.com/Dean Jobb on Twitter/X: https://x.com/DeanJobb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Most Notorious, I'm joined by Dr. Samantha Battams, who documents the life and times of serial killer Martha Needle in her book "The Secret Art of Poisoning: The True Crimes of Martha Needle, The Richmond Poisoner."Martha Needle was accused of poisoning her three children, husband and future brother-in-law in late 19th century Australia.The author's website: https://www.samanthabattams.com/The book is available on Amazon in the United States here: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Art-Poisoning-Richmond-Poisoner-ebook/dp/B07NPQRMXCFor my Australian listeners, you can get the book at Amazon.com.au here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Secret-Art-Poisoning-Richmond-Poisoner-ebook/dp/B07NPQRMXC/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On November 28, 1942, fire roared through Boston's famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub during what was supposed to be a high-spirited Saturday night. By midnight, more than five hundred people were dead, dying, or maimed for life.My guest, Boston historian and author Stephanie Schorow, walks us through the history of the nightclub, the possible causes of the tragic fire, the devastation it caused, and the aftermath. Her book is called "The Cocoanut Grove Nightclub Fire: A Boston Tragedy".More about the author at her website: https://www.stephanieschorow.com/Buy the book (and help independent bookstores) here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-cocoanut-grove-nightclub-fire-a-boston-tragedy-stephanie-schorow/18576557?ean=9781467152877More about the fire here: https://www.cocoanutgrove.orghttps://bostonfirehistory.org/the-story-of-the-cocoanut-grove-fire/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September of 1931, Thalia Massie, a young naval lieutenant’s wife, claims to have been raped by five Hawaiian men in Honolulu. Following a hung jury in the rape trial, Thalia’s mother, socialite Grace Fortescue, and husband, along with two sailors, kidnap one of the accused in an attempt to coerce a confession. When they are caught after killing him and trying to dump his body in the ocean, Mrs. Fortescue’s society friends raise enough money to hire seventy-four-year-old Clarence Darrow out of retirement to defend the vigilante killers. The result is an epic courtroom battle between Darrow and the Territory of Hawaii’s top prosecutor, John C. Kelley, in a case that threatens to touch off a race war in Hawaii and results in one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American history.My guest is attorney and professor Mike Farris, author of "A Death in the Islands: The Unwritten Law and the Last Trial of Clarence Darrow". He shares details from this riveting story with us on this most recent episode of Most Notorious.The author's Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mike-Farris/author/B00BDU8BNYThe author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.farris.756859 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 27th, 1903, thirteen convicts at California's Folsom Prison, led by Richard "Red" Gordon, attacked prison guards, took hostages, emptied the armory and made a dash for freedom. Some would be captured and punished for the murders they committed along the way, some would be killed themselves, and others would forever elude authorities.My guest is Josh Morgan, author of "The Folsom Prison Bloody 13: The Big Escape of 1903". He joins me to share details of this epic escape and it's aftermath. The book is officially out on June 3rd.Pre-order the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Folsom-Prison-Bloody-13-Escape/dp/1467155934More about the author and his book here: https://www.joshmorganauthor.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we revisit another one of my favorite episodes, the sinking of the Eastland.On July 15th, 1915, a steamship with a checkered past called the SS Eastland docked at a wharf on the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, ready to transport 2500 Western Electric employees and their families across Lake Michigan to a company picnic. Once boarding completed, however, terrible tragedy struck when the ship tilted over and into the river, killing over 800 people -mostly women and children- in a horrific, chaotic scene.My guest is Michael McCarthy, author of the New York Times Bestseller "Ashes Under Water: The SS Eastland and the Shipwreck That Shook America". He offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of the ill-fated SS Eastland and recounts the story of the tragic sinking and its aftermath, including famed attorney Clarence Darrow's involvement in the trial that followed.The author's website: https://ashesunderwater.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 20th, 1963, the city of Lorain, Ohio was rocked by the tragic (and odd) death of Florence Bennett. Her husband Casper had found her dead in their bathtub, scalded in its water. He claimed it had been an accident, but police believed he had drowned her.My guest, David Miraldi, author of the acclaimed book "The Edge of Innocence: The Casper Bennett Trial" has a very personal connection to the story. His father was a civil trial attorney who defended Bennett in his sensational murder trial.More about the author and his work at his website: https://davidmiraldi.com/The author's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B074HFMMKV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many saw the dark side of the American dream, but none wrote about it like Jim Tully. Having spent six years of his childhood in a Cincinnati orphanage, Tully returned to his hometown of St. Marys, Ohio before climbing aboard a freight train in 1901. Drifting across the country as a "road kid," he spent his teens, sleeping in hobo jungles, avoiding railroad cops, and haunting public libraries. After six years on the road, he settled in Kent, Ohio where he boxed professionally and began to write. Following a move to Hollywood where he worked for Charlie Chaplin, Tully issued a stream of critically acclaimed books that serve as a dark and astonishing chronicle of the American underclass. Having established himself as a major American author, he turned his attention to Hollywood writing dozens of articles about the movies, often shocking the Hollywood establishment. Along the way, he picked up such close friends as W. C. Fields, Jack Dempsey, H. L. Mencken, and Frank Capra. He also memorably crossed paths with Jack London, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, and Langston Hughes.My guests are Mark Dawidziak and Paul Bauer, authors of "Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler". They not only share details from Tully's wild life, but also talk about two infamous Hollywood murders that he was connected to.Paul Bauer's Archer's Used and Rare Books: https://www.biblio.com/bookstore/archersbookscom-kentMark Dawidziak's website: https://www.markdawidziak.com/Jim Tully Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050314553406The Most Notorious Podcast website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Jay Dolin, returns to the show to share details from his new book, "Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World". It's the true story of a wild and fateful encounter between an American sealing vessel, a shipwrecked British brig, and a British warship in the Falkland archipelago during the War of 1812.Fraught with misunderstandings and mistrust, the incident left three British sailors and two Americans, including the captain of the sealer, Charles H. Barnard, abandoned in the barren, windswept, and inhospitable Falklands for a year and a half.More about the author and all of his books can be found here at his website: https://www.ericjaydolin.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just after midnight on July 6, 1932, twenty-year-old Zachary Smith Reynolds, a renowned aviator and an heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune, was shot in the family's summer home in what is now Winston-Salem, North Carolina. While some believed the moody young man had committed suicide, evidence suggested someone else had pulled the trigger, and eventually Reynolds' wife, Broadway actress Libby Holman, and his best friend, A.B. Walker, would be indicted for murder.I'm joined by Phil Archer, the Betsy Main Babcock Deputy Director at Reynolda House Museum of American Art. He helped create Reynolda's popular exhibition, called "Smith & Libby: Two Rings, Seven Months, One Bullet", which can now be experienced in a condensed form on the very porch where Smith died.More about the Reynolda Museum here: https://reynolda.org/Watch the original exhibition trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVYrVhMK7M&t=5sLibby Holman sings the traditional folk song "House of the Rising Sun": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ZGrlO7JU4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices