Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

On October 7, 1964, Debra Miller’s life turns upside down when her mother is arrested for the murder of her father. At only fourteen years old, Debra becomes a ward of the court, grappling with the unfathomable trauma of watching her mother’s trial and conviction—a devastation that is only amplified when her family’s tragedy is splashed across headlines nationwide and featured in Joan Didion’s "Slouching Towards Bethlehem".

Debra is the author of the new book "The Most Wonderful, Terrible Person: A Memoir of Murder in the Golden State". She joins me to share intimate details about her family and the murder case that has so deeply shaped her life — and to wonder whether her mother really killed her father that autumn night so long ago.

The author's publisher page: https://shewritespress.com/portfolio/debra-miller/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first decades of the twentieth century, saloon proprietor Erastus Wallace Scott of Des Moines―with his cousins in the infamous Carter Gang―operated a campaign of murder, fraud, corruption, and prostitution from his bar on East Court Avenue. In 1908, the local paper denounced the neighborhood as “given up almost entirely to houses of prostitution. At one end stands a notorious saloon, the scene of many crimes, even murders, and for years a harbor for criminals and a plotting place for the evil minded."

That reviled enterprise was none other than Scott’s seedy shack of sin. Initially, Scott gained the most notoriety, due to a slaying, numerous assaults, and sex trade associated with his establishment. But a subsequent murder brought cousin Will to the forefront. A land fraud scheme involving all three Carter brothers followed, including grand theft and even more deaths.

Authors David and Rose Donovan, authors of  The Nastiest Saloon in Iowa: Murder, Prostitution, and Corruption in the Heartland, recount the long-forgotten story of a crime family’s nefarious reach beyond the red-light district.

The authors' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574329629177

The authors' publisher page: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/the-nastiest-saloon-in-iowa-9781467170826
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The night before Easter 1905, Miranda Bricker left her sister’s house and made her way through the darkness. Her destination was her living quarters and place of employment, the Maplehurst mansion, the home of Mount Vernon, Ohio’s leading industrialist. Within sight of her destination, an attacker emerged from the darkness, rushing her from behind. Their battle cut across the Maplehurst lawn, ending in Bricker’s death before witnesses could be sure what was happening. The killer melted away into the night.

My guest is Mark Sebastian Jordan, author of "The Maplehurst Murder: Mount Vernon’s Most Infamous Unsolved Crime". He walks us through Miranda's horrific murder, the bloodhound hunt that led to the sheriff's prime suspect, and the suspect's eventual death.

The author's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/marksebastianjordan/

The author's publisher's page: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/collections/vendors?q=Mark%20S%20Jordan&contributorID=18602

Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Orig Pub Date 8/10/2016) 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/

This is the 150th Anniversary of the Raid! Visit the official The Defeat of Jesse James Days website for more about the festivities: https://www.djjd.org/

Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Orig pub date: 8/3/2016) 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/

This is the 150th Anniversary of the Raid! Visit the official The Defeat of Jesse James Days website for more about the festivities: https://www.djjd.org/

Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices