Historical True Crime

In 1937, twenty-year-old dancer Patricia Douglas accused an MGM salesman of raping her at a company convention attended by hundreds of studio employees and guests. When a grand jury declined to indict, she refused to back down, taking on one of Hollywood's most powerful studios in a legal battle that would last for years. In this episode, we examine the assault, the investigation, the court cases, and the woman who spent decades fighting to have her story heard.Source MaterialsStenn, David. Girl 27 (Documentary Film). Red Letter Films, 2007. Stenn, David. “It Happened One Night... at MGM.” Vanity Fair, April 2003.  Stenn, David. “The Systematic Crushing of a #MeToo Pioneer.” The New York Times, January 5, 2018. Abcarian, Robin. “A Hollywood Role She Never Asked For.” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2007. Galloway, Stephen. “How a Hollywood Studio Got Away With Rape in 1937.” The Hollywood Reporter, November 13, 2017. Schatz, Thomas. The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era. Henry Holt & Company, 1988. Contemporary newspaper coverage from June 1937, including The Independent (California) and other contemporary Los Angeles-area newspapers reporting on the investigation and grand jury proceedings.

In 1900, fifteen-year-old Eddie Cudahy Jr., the son of one of Omaha's wealthiest businessmen, was kidnapped and held for a record-breaking ransom. The crime sparked a nationwide manhunt, a five-year search for suspect Pat Crowe, and one of the most controversial trials of the era. In this episode, we examine the kidnapping, the evidence against Crowe, and why a jury ultimately found him notguilty despite widespread belief in his involvement.Source Materials Garneth Oldenkamp Peterson, The Kidnapping of Ed Cudahy: How Pat Crowe Got Away with the Crime Albert S. Ritchie, Address to the Jury by Albert S. Ritchie of Omaha, Nebraska, in the Pat Crowe Kidnapping Case (1906) The Omaha Daily Bee (1900–1906coverage of the Cudahy kidnapping and Pat Crowe trial) The Omaha World-Herald(1900–1906 coverage of the kidnapping, investigation, and trial) The New York Times, “'Pat'Crowe Acquitted; Was Accused of Kidnapping Son of Edward A. Cudahy” (February 17, 1906) The New York Times, “Says He Is Pat Crowe; Man, Apparently Demented, in Custody of Washington Police” (August 16, 1913) The New York Times, “PatCrowe, Once Noted Outlaw, Beggar Now; Sentence Suspended, Purse Made Up in Court” (December 30, 1925) The Herald-Democrat (December 25, 1900) Library of Congress, “The Eye That Never Sleeps: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency Records” (2023) Pinkerton National Detective Agency Records, Library of Congress Manuscript Division Jeff Vasishta, “Andrew Hilleman's World Chase Me Down,” Interview Magazine

In 1901, fourteen-year-old Willie Nickell was shot and killed near his family’s ranch in southeastern Wyoming. Suspicion eventually settled on Tom Horn, former Apache War scout, Pinkerton detective, and one of the most feared men connected to the Wyoming range wars. But more than a century later, historians still debate whether the state truly proved he committed the murder.Source MaterialsBall, Larry D. The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846–1912. University of New Mexico Press, 1978.Carlson, Chip. Blood on the Moon: The Life and Legend of Tom Horn. High Plains Press, 2001.Davis, John W. The Trial of Tom Horn. University of Wyoming Press, 1960.Horn, Tom. Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter. 1904.Krakel, Dean. The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattleman’s War. University of Nebraska Press, 1954.Siringo, Charles A. A Cowboy Detective. 1912.“The Killing of Willie Nickell.” The Lamar Register, August 12, 1903.Additional contemporary newspaper coverage from Wyoming and Colorado newspapers, 1901–1903.

Robert Stroud became one of the most famous prisoners in American history as the “Birdman of Alcatraz” but the real story was far more complicated. This week, we look at the life of Robert Stroud, the violence that shaped his prison years, the mythology built around him, and the reality behind one of the most enduring legends in true crime history.Source Materials Babyak, Jolene. Bird Man: The Many Faces of Robert Stroud.Bruce, J. Campbell. Escape from Alcatraz.Gaddis, Thomas E. Birdman of Alcatraz.Gregory, George H. Alcatraz Screw: My Years as a Guard in America’s Most Notorious Prison.Quillen, Jim. Alcatraz from Inside: The Hard Years 1942–1952.Stroud, Robert. Looking Outward: A Voice from the Grave.Alaska Historical Society — “Robert Stroud: The Birdman of Alcatraz”Encyclopaedia Britannica — “Robert Stroud”

 In the summer of 1483, two boys disappeared inside the Tower of London. Edward V and his younger brother Richard were last seen in the months after their uncle, Richard III, took the throne. In this episode, we examine the Wars of theRoses, the political crisis surrounding the princes, and the centuries of suspicion and debate that followed their disappearance.SourceMaterialsMancini, Dominic. The Usurpation of Richard III. Translated by C. A. J. Armstrong.More, Sir Thomas. The History of King Richard the Third.Pollard, A. J. Richard III and the Princes in the Tower. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1991.Weir, Alison. The Princes in the Tower. London: Jonathan Cape, 1992.Vergil, Polydore. Anglica Historia.Commines, Philippe de. Memoirs.Thornton, Tim. “More on a Murder: The Deaths of the Princes in the Tower, and Historiographical Implications for the Regimes of Henry VII and Henry VIII.” History.Historic Royal Palaces. “The Princes in the Tower.”The National Archives. “Extraordinary New Clue About the Princes in the Tower Found at The National Archives.” 2 December 2024