Crimes We Forgot

In January 1928, 18-year-old Wash Smith walked into a small country store in Banks County, Georgia. By the time he walked out, the store’s owner was dead, and Wash was being hunted down by a posse. It is a story of an interrupted love affair and the vicious retribution by both sides that followed, while bootlegging, hidden witnesses, and recanted testimony point to something almost sinister. 

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

Theme music courtesy of:
Cinematic Epic Emotional | EGLAIR by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Copyright © 2024 Crimes We Forgot - All Rights Reserved.

The Atlanta Constitution – January 4, 1928 – Posse Is Seeking Farmer’s Slayer

The Atlanta Constitution – March 22, 1928 – State Demands Death for Smith

The Macon Telegraph – March 23, 1928 – Smith To Die

The Atlanta Constitution – December 16, 1928 – Supreme Court Grants Retrial to Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – February 26, 1930 - State High Court Denies New Trial for Wash Smith 

The Atlanta Journal – March 28, 1930 – Prof. Wells Urges Death Penalty for Slayer of Brother

The Macon Telegraph – March 29, 1930 – Youthful Slayer Seeks Clemency

The Atlanta Constitution – March 29, 1930 – Youth Under Death Sentence Says Girl Witness Kidnaped

The Valdosta Daily Times – April 1, 1930 – Wash Smith Gets His Life Saved

The Macon Telegraph – April 1, 1930 – Fate of Youthful Slayer Undecided

The Atlanta Constitution – November 8, 1930 – Doomed Prisoner Makes Escape Try

The Atlanta Journal – November 9, 1930 – Wash Smith Pleads for Commutation

The Atlanta Journal – November 12, 1930 – Conscience-Stricken Man’s Confession Despite Threat of Return to Pen Revealed

The Atlanta Constitution – November 14, 1930 – Prison Board Refuses Plea for Mercy for Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – November 14, 1930 – Governor Plans Mind Test for Wash Smith

The Atlanta Journal – November 22, 1930 – Wash Smith Dies in Electric Chair for Wells Slaying

The Macon News – November 22, 1930 – Youth Directs Own Death in Chair

The Atlanta Constitution – October 12, 1939 – Two Die, One Hurt in Baldwin Crash

On a summer day in 1908, a group of picnickers found an old steamer trunk covered in overgrowth in a ravine in New Jersey. Inside was the partially decomposed body of Solomon Rosenbloom, a merchant from Windber, Pennsylvania, some 240 miles west, who went missing in late 1907. This discovery answered the question of where Rosenbloom went, and also revealed a secret, with Rosenbloom's wife sharing that their youngest son Alex had admitted to killing his father before he himself disappeared.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

Theme music courtesy of: Cinematic Epic Emotional | EGLAIR by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US Copyright © 2024 Crimes We Forgot - All Rights Reserved.

Sources:

• Altoona Tribune – November 26, 1907 – A Windber Mystery
• The Central New Jersey Home News – August 17, 1908 – Murder Mystery in Jersey
• Courier-Post – August 21, 1908 – Victim Practically Identified as Missing Windber Merchant
• The Philadelphia Inquirer – August 22, 1908 – Trunk Mystery Now Appears to Near Conclusion
• The Pittsburgh Press – August 23, 1908 – Son of Slain Merchant Has Gone to Camden
• East Oregonian – August, 24, 1908 – Son Murdered Brutal Father
• The Saginaw News – August 24, 1908 – Trunk Victim Killed by Son
• Courier-Post – August 25, 1908 – Altoona Man Gave Police First Clue
• Chicago Tribune – August 25, 1908 – Clerks May Solve Murder
• Pottsville Republican – August 26, 1908 – Rosenbloom, Jr., Left Country
• Republican and Herald – August 27, 1908 – Rosenblooms Out on Bail
• The Republic – August 27, 1908 – Trunk Mystery Was Solved
• The Lafayette Journal – August 28, 1908 – Trunk Crime Clue Leads to Arrests
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette – September 9, 1908 – Gov. Stuart Asks for Return of Eglers
• The Pittsburgh Post – September 4, 1908 – May Release Englers
• Evening Courier – May 7, 1934 – Old City Hall’s Near Murder

When Roman Luczkowski was married in January 1928, it was likely a surprise to most who knew him, especially considering the 21-year-old was marrying someone nearly 30 years older than him. But the real shock came a little over two months later, when his bride, the former Marie Slade, was found dead and her body crammed into a 3-foot long box.

Roman was quickly identified as the culprit, and an avalanche of secrets followed, such as his intimate relationships with other men and the fact that Marie had never divorced her most recent husband before marrying the man young enough to be her son. Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

Theme music courtesy of: Cinematic Epic Emotional | EGLAIR by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US Copyright © 2024 Crimes We Forgot - All Rights Reserved.

On June 12, 1906, a note was delivered to the Philadelphia classroom of 7-year-old Freddie Muth, claiming the boy's mother was injured and she needed to see the child. None of that was true, and with the boy vanished, with a ransom note soon being sent to the father. Thankfully, the police quickly zoned in on an indebted banker as the kidnapper, which led to a dramatic rescue attempt six days after the boy's disappearance.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

Theme music courtesy of: Cinematic Epic Emotional | EGLAIR by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US Copyright © 2024 Crimes We Forgot - All Rights Reserved.

George Dietz was a popular Chicago women’s tailor and cutter, running a successful shop and investing in artwork and real estate, at least until the morning of April 14, 1913, when he was found beaten to death in his bed. Clues found in his pockets and around his body pointed to a revenge killing for his ill treatment of a teenage girl, but the police soon brushed those off as being little more than plants, and George's wife, Augusta Dietz, soon found herself charged for the crime.

Sound Engineering by Dave Harris

Theme music courtesy of: Cinematic Epic Emotional | EGLAIR by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US Copyright © 2024 Crimes We Forgot - All Rights Reserved.