Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

One of the most enduring historical mysteries of the 20th century is of the missing Sodder children. After a fire in the family home on Christmas Eve of 1945, George and Jennie escaped with four of their children, however five more never made it out of the house. At first, it was assumed that they died in an accidental fire, but a series of strange clues aroused their suspicions that something more sinister happened to them and their home instead. I'm joined by Jennie Henthorn, granddaughter of George and Jennie Sodder, who gives the family's perspective, details and possible theories about the reason for the fire, and the potential fate of her aunts and uncles.Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MostNotorious1Most Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest, David Pietrusza, is the author of "Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius who Fixed the 1919 World Series". He talks about this extraordinary, eccentric man who managed to expertly balance between high society, highbrow intellectual circles, Tammany Hall and the underworld, and had his fingers in just about every racket in Jazz-Age New York City.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 outskirts of France in 1869, an entire family is found dead after being stabbed and then buried alive. G.S. Johnston, author of "The Cast of a Hand", talks about France in the 1860s under Napoleon III, and the events that led up to the terrible, tragic murders of Jean and Hortense Kinck and their six children by Jean-Baptiste Troppmann and possible accomplices.The author's website: http://gsjohnston.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

Just in time for some Halloween, Diane Student, co-producer and host of the "History Goes Bump" podcast, joins me to share her list of the top ten most notorious ghosts in American history. We deviate a bit from our regular author /interview format this week to delve into some of the sightings of ghostly activity attributed to many of the subjects we've covered in past episodes, including The Black Dahlia and Jesse James, and some we haven't, like the infamous H.H. Holmes.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 Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, on a November evening in 1928, Nelson Rehymeyer, a local "powwow" practitioner of Christian folk magic, is murdered in his home. John Blymire soon confesses, telling police that he was trying to lift a hex. Shane Free, the producer and director of the documentary "Hex Hollow" is my guest on this week's episode of Most Notorious, where he explains the details of this strange and terrible crime. Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MostNotorious1Most Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In December 1888, in Bradford, England, a little boy named Johnny Gill disappears and is eventually found murdered, his body mutilated almost beyond recognition. Kathryn McMaster, author of "Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?" tells the tragic story of this most horrific of crimes, and the man who she thinks did the evil deed.The author's website: https://kathrynmcmaster.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 1871, on the outskirts of London, a police constable discovers a young woman, bloodied and battered beyond recognition. She dies, and the police officially have a murder on their hands. They eventually set their sights on Edmund Pook, the son of a wealthy printer, who had employed the woman, named Jane Clauson, as a family servant. Paul Thomas Murphy, author of "Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The Unsolved Murder that Shocked Victorian England" tells the story of the murder, the subsequent trial, and his own ideas on what really happened. The author's publisher page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Paul-Thomas-Murphy/172142068Become 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

Bestselling UK author Kate Summerscale joins me to talk about her book, "The Wicked Boy". Two young boys, Robert and Nattie Coombs, conspire to murder their mother in Victorian-era London. While the murder is gruesome and sensational, an uplifting event years later gives hope that rehabilitation can have a positive effect on a young criminal's life.The author's website: https://www.katesummerscale.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 conversation with author Mark Lee Gardner continues, about his book "Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape". In the second part of the story, we talk about the James-Younger Gang's flight into the Big Woods of southern Minnesota, and the difficulties that they faced navigating through unknown territory, and also the troubles the local posses had finding them. The author's website: https://songofthewest.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

Much has been written about Jesse James, including his gang's ill-fated trip to Northfield, Minnesota, a botched bank raid met with death and tragedy, but never told like this. Mark Lee Gardner, author of "Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid and the Wild West's Greatest Escape", joins me to tell the story of the James-Younger gang's foray north from Missouri and the chaos that followed.The author's website: https://songofthewest.com/Become a Most Notorious patron: https://www.patreon.com/mostnotoriousMost Notorious on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MostNotorious1Most Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices