Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

One of the more enduring mysteries in true crime history involves Vincenzo Capone, Al Capone's eldest brother, who abruptly left his struggling family in New York City one day, eventually resurfacing as a lawman with a new identity: Richard Hart. His rise to fame - becoming one of the most famous Prohibition agents of the 1920s - coincided with his brothers' rise to power in the violent streets of Chicago. My guest, Jeff McArthur, has extensively interviewed members of both the Hart and the Capone family over the last few years to produce his book, "Two Gun Hart: Law Man, Cowboy, and Long-Lost Brother to Al Capone". He shares how Hart separated from the family, created his own legacy, especially in Nebraska, and how he eventually reunited with his brothers in his later years. More information about Jeff and his book can be found at http://www.bandwagononline.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost a decade before Bonnie and Clyde blasted their way into our collective public consciousness, Richard and Margaret Whittemore, aka "The Candy Kid" and "Tiger Girl" made national news, not only for their participation in deadly robberies in 1920s New York, but also for their romantic love story, played out through newspaper articles and photographs across America. My guest is prolific author Glenn Stout, author of "Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid: America's Original Gangster Couple". He spent fifteen years researching and writing this epic tale about the most infamous gangster duo you've likely never heard of. More information can be found at his website: https://glennstout.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The late 1960s and early 1970s were witness to some of the worst serial killers in American history. Ranking at the top was Gerard John Schaefer, a cop who used his charisma to lure unsuspecting females into his car before torturing and murdering them in brutal fashion. My guest is Patrick Kendrick, who has spent the past 35 years gathering information on Schaefer, and for a time was even the focus of Schaefer's wrath. He is the author of "American Ripper: The Enigma of America's Serial Killer Cop", and his website is: https://www.talesofpatrickkendrick.comBecome a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holmes County, Ohio is one of the largest Amish communities in America. It was here, in the summer of 1957, that an Amish man named Paul Coblentz was murdered by two ex-cons in his family's rural farmhouse. My guests are David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker, authors of the book "A Murder in Amish Ohio: The Martyrdom of Paul Coblentz". They not only share details of the case, but also offer insight into the Amish's unique beliefs regarding justice and forgiveness.For more information on the authors' books, visit their website at: https://www.explodingstove.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sophie Lyons was arguably the most successful (and colorful) female criminal of 19th-century America. She was a trained by her abusive parents at an early age in the art of thievery and scam artistry, and by the end of her life had accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars through her ill-gotten means. And in her wake, she had left a trail of four husbands, estranged children, and spent untold amounts of time in courtrooms and jails across the country. My guest is Shayne Davidson, who shares stories from her book, "Queen of the Burglars: The Scandalous Life of Sophie Lyons". More can be found about the author at: https://capturedandexposed.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the great historical Hollywood mysteries, still unsolved, revolves around the death of silver screen comedienne Thelma Todd. She was found dead in her car on December 16th, 1935, killed by carbon monoxide poisoning according to the Los Angeles coroner. But rumors have circulated for decades that she was murdered, with suspects that have included her live-in boyfriend Roland West, ex-husband Pat DiCicco, and even New York mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano. My guest today is Pat Jenning, who along with co-author Marshall Croddy authored the book, "Testimony of a Death: Thelma Todd: Mystery, Media and Myth in 1935 Los Angeles". He's here to present the facts of the case, and help separate fact from fiction.Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest, Russell Shorto, has a unique connection to the subject of his latest book, "Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob". He is the namesake of his grandfather, a gangster who ran an Italian-American outfit in the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania in the 1940s and 50s. The organization would eventually crumble after the murder of a local bookie in 1960 exposed its underbelly to unwanted attention. He joins us today not only to share details about his grandfather and his business, but also about his own journey as he researched this very personal story. More information about his work can be found at: https://www.russellshorto.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Murder, Inc. was arguably the most ruthless and successful hit squad in American history, killing hundreds of people throughout the 1930s. It was led by a brutal Brooklyn gangster named Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, who under orders from mob bosses like Lucky Luciano, Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia, dispatched his hitmen across the country to kill anyone who threatened the interests of "The Commission", a national federation of Italian-American and Jewish mobsters. Eventually Reles would turn government witness, but before he could testify against the upper echelons of his organization, he would die from a fall from a hotel room. Which leads to an enduring historical mystery: Was it suicide? An accident? Or murder?My guest, Michael Cannell, author of "A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc.", shares details about the deadly organization and the colorful Kid Twist, and offers some theories about what really happened to him in Suite 623 of the Half Moon Hotel on November 12, 1941. More information can be found here: http://www.michaelcannell.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest, Ben Montgomery, tells the story of George Dinning, a former slave who was visited one night in 1897 by a mob, hellbent on driving him and his family off of their Kentucky farm. In an exchange of gunfire, Dinning killed a wealthy white man. Dinning then had to elude lynchers while fighting for his life in court. Unlikely allies would come forward, including a former Confederate officer who believed that Dinning was in the right due to the castle doctrine, and agreed to represent him in a federal case against members of the mob that had terrorized he and his family. Ben Montgomery's book is called "A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South", and more information about him can be found at: https://www.benmontgomerywrites.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the autumn of 1920, two couples pulled into a campsite in Central Park, Montana, but only one left alive. Seth and Iva Danner would eventually turn on each other with their own versions of how John and Florence Sprouse were murdered, but only Seth would be tried, convicted, and put to death. And questions still linger - about whether justice was truly served. My guest, Kelly Suzanne Hartman, author of "Murder Along the Yellowstone Trail: The Execution of Seth Danner" chats with me about the case.More information about her and her book can be discovered at: https://www.mountainstudio308.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices