Crimes of the Centuries (Amber Hunt)

Crime is so commonplace that it takes something particularly shocking to be labelled the “crime of the century.” Even so, there are a lot of cases that have earned the distinction. In each episode of Crimes of the Centuries, award-winning journalist Amber Hunt will examine a case that’s lesser known today but was huge when it happened. The cases explored span the centuries and each left a mark. Some made history by changing laws. Others were so shocking they changed society.

Full episodes of "Crimes of the Centuries" premiere on October 26, 2020.

At 3:00 am on April 27th, 1913, the body of 13 year old Mary Phagan was found in the basement of the factory where she worked in Atlanta, Georgia. Her dress was up around her waist and a strip from her petticoat had been torn off and wrapped around her neck. Her face was blackened and scratched, and her head was bruised and battered. Almost immediately, the murder, and the mystery surrounding who would do such a horrible, brutal thing to a child went the 1913 equivalent of viral.

When authorities finally landed on a suspect, their evidence was flimsy at best. The trial was a media spectacle and the outcome not only embedded this story in American history, but also sparked child labor laws.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

On May 21, 1924, 19-year-old Nathan Leopold and 18-year-old Richard Loeb convinced a younger boy, 14 year old Bobby Franks, to get in a car with them. We think Leopold was driving with Loeb in the backseat. 14 year old Bobby sat in the passenger seat. From behind, Loeb struck the younger boy several times in the head with a chisel, and then dragged him into the backseat where he eventually died. 

Leopold and Loeb were wealthy kids who thought they were smarter than everybody else. And they committed this murder to prove it. They believed that they were so intellectually gifted that they could plan and execute a crime so perfect that they would never be caught. They were wrong, of course. And the details of this story and their plan are so terrifying and haunting that it changed the way people raised their kids and thought about psychology.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.  

When a 22-year-old woman living with relatives in a boarding house disappeared on Dec. 22, 1799, her loved ones didn't immediately worry. But when she still hadn't returned days later, all eyes turned to her lover -- whom she'd supposedly been set to marry the last time she was seen alive. Levi Weeks came from a family with money, so his rich brother did something that was unheard of at this point in American history: He hired fancy lawyers. And that's how Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr ended up on the same side defending a man against murder charges in 1800. 

The case, referenced in Lin Manuel Miranda's award-winning musical "Hamilton," marks two firsts: The defense panel was America's first legal Dream Team, and the Weeks' case was the first recorded murder trial in the country's history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When widower Sam Doss was rushed to the hospital with abdominal pains in 1954, his doctor was flummoxed by his life-threatening yet mysterious illness. But Doss got better and came home -- then died the next day. That's what prompted police to look at his matronly, sweet-talking new wife, Nannie. 

Born Nannie Hazle, it turned out this missus had left a trail of dead husbands behind her -- not to mention several relatives, all of whom died of sudden and inexplicable illnesses. By the time Nannie was done confessing, she'd earned nicknames like The Giggling Grandma and The Black Widow.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Thanks to Prohibition, criminal gangs were a dime a dozen in the 1920s and '30s, but the Karpis/Barker Gang became one of the era's longest lived, highest profile, and most consequential. During the Depression, their exploits not only burnished the reputation of the FBI and its director J. Edgar Hoover, but also inadvertently triggered the end to rampant corruption in St. Paul Minnesota. 

While its body count was hefty -- and included lawmen like a sheriff gunned down in cold blood -- its enduring reputation hinges on its supposed matriarch, Ma Barker, who would go on to be depicted in movies and TV shows as a gun-toting criminal mastermind. There's no question three of her sons, and plenty of their friends, were stone-cold killers, but was Ma really pulling all the strings?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

To his neighbors, Bob Berdella was a proactive citizen who helped launch a neighborhood watch group. Sure, he was a bit condescending, but he seemed to have a big heart, using his Kansas City home as a safe haven for young men in trouble. But then, in 1988, a young man jumped from a second-story window of Berdella's house wearing nothing but a dog collar, prompting police to scour the innocuous-looking home on Charlotte Street. What they uncovered would lead to the quaint home being labeled a "House of Horrors," and to a case that both shocked the nation and changed state law. 

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When a headless woman's remains were discovered near Cincinnati in 1896, police had a problem. Long before DNA and fingerprinting, the lack of a head made it tough to identify the victim. Thanks to a sharp-eyed shoemaker, a new kind of detective work was born: The woman was ID'd thanks to a pair of distinctive shoes on the corpse's feet. Pearl Bryan was a 22-year-old Indiana woman who'd recently learned she was pregnant. Her lover, a Cincinnati man named Scott Jackson, suggested she come to town so they could figure out their next steps. After police discovered the "who," they then had to piece together the "how."

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

As a 28-year-old woman screamed for help on an otherwise quiet New York City street, neighbors roused from sleep ... and then largely did nothing. The 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese would soon represent apathy in America and spark the creation of a centralized phone number that ultimately changed how the entire nation reported emergencies. While Kitty's case will go down in history as a driving force that launched 9-1-1, the nuances of the crime -- and people's reactions to it -- have been misunderstood for decades.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

After 4-year-old Charley Ross vanished in a carriage with two men who'd offered him candy and fireworks, police at first told his father to wait it out. Surely the men had no bad intentions. Then came the first ransom letter. And another. And another. In 1874, the Charley Ross case marked the first time in American history that a child had been stolen for money. The case terrified parents, made kidnapping a crime and served as macabre inspiration for future criminals.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

A fire broke out in a stately New Orleans mansion in 1834, leading neighbors to rush to the homeowners' aid. What they discovered inside, however, made them realize that the charming and cultured woman of the house had been hiding a horrifying secret: In an upstairs apartment, enslaved people were weighed down by chains, starved to emaciation and barely recognizable as humans. The case of Delphine LaLaurie and her unfathomable cruelty would outrage the nation and beyond.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

It was one of the most salacious stories the country had ever heard: A famous architect had been gunned down in front of an audience of hundreds by a man who said he was defending his wife's honor. It so happened the wife was the world's first supermodel. The love triangle among architect Stanford White, model and showgirl Evelyn Nesbit and millionaire unhinged man Harry Kendell Thaw reached its climax on June 24, 1906. With hundreds of witnesses, the case was never a whodunit. Rather, it was a gripping tale of sex, lies, and murder. The story made such headlines nationwide that, for the first time in American history, the jury had to be sequestered.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When 52-year-old Bruce Nickell suddenly dropped dead in Washington state, investigators at first thought he'd died of a heart attack. But then a second person collapsed, and police realized that the two victims had both taken the painkiller Excedrin. Suddenly, they realized they were dealing with a copycat of a case that had haunted federal investigators for nearly 15 years. 

In that earlier case, seven people died when someone randomly tampered with the over-the-counter painkiller to replace some of the powder inside capsules with enough cyanide to kill an entire family. Those deaths changed how medication is packaged nationwide and made it a federal crime to tamper with such products -- a legal change that years later came back to bite Nickell's killer.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Edward Rulloff was a genius, speaking seven languages by the time he graduated high school -- no easy feat for someone from a poor farming family. But Rulloff was also arrogant, hot-headed and prone to violence. When his wife and infant daughter disappeared in 1844, Rulloff said they'd simply gone on a trip, though his in-laws were suspicious. Somehow, he managed time and again to slip through authorities' fingers -- once with the help of an undersheriff's son whom he'd smooth-talked into freeing him from jail. When Rulloff was finally caught, some argued that his life should be spared and his brain studied, and he went down in history as one of America's smartest and most slippery criminals.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When wealthy Ginny Piper was kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight inside of her secluded Minnesota home, it put the nation on edge and sent her husband on a macabre scavenger hunt to save Ginny’s life. It also became a pet case for the FBI, which was trying to improve its reputation, but many would later argue that the agency only bungled things further by focusing on the wrong suspects. The Piper case would go down in history as one of the nation’s most baffling.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

In 1932, a group of white men rushed to police to report a group of Black men had roughed them up on as they sneaked a ride on a train. Authorities soon descended and soon even more heinous allegations were lodged: Two women on the train said the group of nine young men had sexually assaulted them. Outraged citizens demanded justice. The rush to try the so-called "Scottsboro Boys" in Alabama led to legal landmark cases that are still cited today.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

On July 14, 1966, Chicago residents awoke to horrific news: Eight young nurses had been brutally killed in their dorm-style housing overnight. The killer had lost count of his victims and left one survivor, and soon, the hunt for Illinois-born and Texas-raised felon Richard Speck was on. The case, which gave birth to the phrase "random mass murder," would "shatter our innocence," according to the lead prosecutor in the highly publicized trial. It remains one of the most horrific crimes in the annals of American true crime.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

In 1859, two of Washington, D.C.'s highest-profile men were in love with the same woman -- and that love triangle would lead to the broad-daylight shooting of one of them just a stone's throw from the White House. The victim had been the first-born son of Francis Scott Key, author of the lyrics to America's national anthem. And his killer would be the first in the country to argue a defense of temporary insanity.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

As actress Rebecca Schaeffer rushed around her apartment to ready for the biggest audition of her career, a disturbed young man was pacing the street below, armed with a gun. Schaeffer's senseless death in 1989 would not only shock the nation, but it would also be the catalyst for the country's first anti-stalking laws.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When a 9-year-old girl failed to return home from school in 1910 Asbury Park, N.J., a local reporter became convinced of a Black man's guilt -- putting that man's life in danger even before an arrest was made in the case. The confounding unraveling of the murder of Marie Smith would not only shock the small town and make headlines nationwide, but it would employ a new type of detective work that had rarely been attempted before -- or since.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When two young girls began suffering from mysterious ailments in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 17th century, townsfolk were baffled. The only explanation they could imagine was that the girls had been bewitched -- and over the next three months, no one in town would be safe from the label.

The notorious trials would go down in history as a cautionary tale about group hysteria, but its impact goes even deeper -- and still affects how our legal system works today.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, Fam! We're so excited to bring you the new show from the Obsessed Network, "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan." We've got the first episode here for you in this feed, and two more available right now wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the first three episodes and follow "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan" on your favorite podcast player HERE.

From Executive Producer Patrick Hinds and the Obsessed Network comes a new podcast about all the weird stuff happening around us.

Do you believe in ghosts? How about bigfoot? Do you think it’s strange and fascinating that a 4 year old in Oklahoma could look at a black and white picture of a man from the 1930s and say ‘that was me. Before.” And then provide actual, verifiable details of the man’s life? If so, “Strange and Unexplained With Daisy Eagan” is about to be your new favorite podcast.

Daisy is a Tony Award-winning actor, writer, and true crime fanatic. But she’s also a skeptic. Each week She looks at real stories of hauntings, disappearances, UFO encounters, the Bermuda Triangle, near death experiences, and anything else that feels just beyond what we can easily make sense of. She is your guide into the inexplicable details of these stories. But she’s also like, “show me the receipts.”

The roaring '20s of last century were fueled in part by a new industry: filmmaking in Hollywood. Directors were rolling in dough, as were the silver screen's first stars. But in 1921, the future of cinema would forever be altered after internationally beloved comedian Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle was charged in the death of a young starlet after attending a boozy Prohibition-era party in Arbuckle's hotel suite.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

He was born Herman Webster Mudgett, a bright boy beloved by his teachers because of his kind demeanor and thirst for knowledge. Later, the world would know him as H.H. Holmes, a man so determined to murder that he designed a home in Chicago complete with torture chambers, trap doors and a crematorium. 

Holmes' tale not only shocked the world, but it forever tainted the legacy of Chicago's 1893 world fair that helped a madman lure an unknown number of victims.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Though 23-year-old Jane Britton had no enemies when she was violently killed in 1969, her case somehow had no shortage of suspects. Who killed the brilliant and feisty Harvard grad student — was it the brooding archeologist rumored to have had an affair with her, the bumbling professor who’d invited her to his apartment or the friend who would years later be suspected in another mysterious death? After decades of speculation, journalists obsessed with the story helped find the shocking answer.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

In the early 20th century, one of the best jobs for a young woman to land in America involved a new discovery: radium. The substance discovered by Marie Curie could be tweaked and turned into glow-in-the-dark paint. 

But as the women working with the paint started falling ill, their employers began a calculated coverup that landed them in court -- and changed laws nationwide regarding the duty employers have to keep their workers safe.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When an Indiana home caught fire and burned to the ground in 1908, townspeople mourned the poor mother and two children believed trapped inside. But then someone started to dig on the property, they realized that the woman of the house had a sinister secret. 

Belle Gunness had been luring would-be suitors to her farm and brutally slaying them in a scheme that lasted years.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, Crimes of the Centuries listeners! We're so excited to bring you the new show from the Obsessed Network, "Murder in Alliance." We've got the first episode here for you in this feed, and two more available right now wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the first three episodes and follow "Murder in Alliance" on your favorite podcast player HERE (https://lnk.to/98BXWuip).

In the podcast, investigative journalist Maggie Freleng reinvestigates the 1999 murder of Yvonne Layne. Though her ex-boyfriend David Thorne was convicted of the murder, evidence points to his innocence. Now, twenty years later, Maggie travels to Ohio to talk with people involved in the case, explore new leads, and try to identify who killed Yvonne.

Follow "Murder in Alliance" on Twitter and Instagram: @Murder_Alliance

The sight that greeted arriving medics in February 1970 was so upsetting that at least one had to rush from the scene to vomit. Inside of Army surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald's home were three dead bodies belonging to his two daughters and pregnant wife. MacDonald, too, was injured. But who really killed the Green Beret's family? Was it a quartet of acid-dropping hippies -- or MacDonald himself?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Charles Lindbergh became an American and worldwide hero after becoming the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.  But five years later, his world was upended when his toddler son was stolen from his nursery.  The ensuing investigation into the kidnapping would involved a host of characters, including an amateur detective named Jafsie and a mysterious man named Cemetery John.  Even the infamous gangster Al Capone volunteered his services to help.  In the end, would the world ever know what happened to the Lindbergh baby?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The Moore house seemed awfully quiet one June morning in 1912, prompting neighbors to investigate. Inside, they discovered a horrific scene: All eight people who'd been inside -- a mother, father, their four children and two young guests -- had been brutally slain in their sleep. The case that followed would be one of the highest-profile, longest-lasting mysteries in the history of the Midwest -- a mystery that a pair of authors think they've finally solved.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The book The Man from the Train describes dozens of axe slayings in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many of which authors Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James believe were committed by what would be the nation's most prolific serial killer. But a 1911 double homicide near Scappoose, Oregon, doesn't fit the mold.

On Sept. 3, 1911, someone entered a cabin and fatally shot Daisy Wehrman and her 4-year-old son Harold. Authorities quickly zeroed in on John Arthur Pender, who was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. Doubts would swirl about his guilt, however, leading some to lobby for Pender's pardon.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When the granddaughter of one of America's best-known publishing magnates was kidnapped in 1974, the news of course grabbed headlines. But that was nothing compared to the attention the case would receive after Patricia Hearst joined forces with her abductors. The group at the heart of the kidnapping was known as the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical group of young adults considered to be the first domestic terrorist group to rise out of the political left.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Tobacco heiress Doris Duke got upsetting news on Oct. 7, 1966. Her longtime friend and art curator, Eduardo Tirella wanted to end their work relationship. Within hours, Tirella was dead, having been hit by a car driven by Duke. 

Though the crash was quickly dismissed by police as an accident, Tirella's family always believed that the volatile billionaire had killed Tirella on purpose. If so, Duke managed to buy her way out of this crime of the century.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, COTC listeners! We're taking a break for the holiday this week, but we wanted to share an episode from another Obsessed Network show with you.  From "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan," this episode tells the tale of the vanishing colony of Roanoke, who came to America in the 16th century and then mysteriously disappeared. Daisy explores all the bizarre elements of the story, but as a skeptic herself, also asks for the receipts on what might have actually happened.

If you enjoyed this episode, you can find and follow "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan" wherever you get your podcasts.

Andrew Kehoe really didn't like the new property taxes being leveled to pay for his community's fancy new school. This was well known throughout his hometown of Bath Township, Michigan. 

What residents didn't know was that his displeasure would turn to murderous rage that culminated on May 18, 1927. To date, the horror unleashed by Kehoe that day remains the deadliest school attack in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When a group of kids cooling off along New York City's East River spotted a parcel in the water, they figured a passing freighter had dropped some goods. When they opened the package, however, they discovered a human torso, its arms still attached. So began a murder mystery that helped ignite a news war and forever altered how journalists covered crime in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Judy Johnson was horrified when her 3-year-old son told her he'd been abused by a teacher at his preschool. So, too, was her community. Soon, hundreds of parents throughout Manhattan Beach, California, heard horrifying tales from their children describing sexual abuse, animal torture and even murder in a case that epitomizes what came to be known as the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

For years, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright had made headlines for his personal life. After all, he'd left his wife and six children for a married woman during the Victorian era, and made no apologies for the two "living in sin" in a home he built on family land in Wisconsin. Then, on a hot August day in 1914, Wright's whole world came crashing down: A murderer had attacked his so-called Love Cottage dubbed Taliesin. The case not only riveted the nation but it also changed the course of architecture -- at least temporarily -- in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

People enjoying a warm, sunny Saturday in New York City first noticed smoke arising from a building at about 4:40 p.m. and rushed to gather at the base of a 10-story building that was quickly engulfed in flames. The scene greeting them was horrific: Dozens of workers were trapped on the building's ninth floor. With the flames closing in, some chose to jump to their deaths. 

More than 100 years later, the 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory remains one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

To outsiders, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg seemed like a typical, if not downright boring, American couple. But then the U.S. government got a tip that the parents of two young boys had provided top-secret information about the nation's efforts to develop the first atomic weapon. Soon, the couple would face trial in one of the highest-profile espionage cases in the country's history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

A distraught young mother pounded on the door of a stranger's house and told a story that riveted the nation: She'd been carjacked while driving an empty stretch of road, and the man who'd held her at gunpoint took not only her car, but her two young sons strapped into the car seats. As Susan Smith publicly pleaded for her boys to be returned unharmed, she hid a terrible secret that would shock the country and horrify her family.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, COTC listeners! We're taking a break for the holiday this week, but we wanted to share an episode from another Obsessed Network show with you.  From "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan," this episode looks at the tragic death of Kendrick Johnson.  On January 11, 2013, the body of the 17-year-old high school student was found inside a vertical rolled up mat in the gymnasium. Was Kendrick's death a terrible accident... or was it murder?

You can find and follow "Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Eagan" wherever you get your podcasts.

As soon as Leonardo da Vinci unveiled the Mona Lisa in the early 1500s, the art world recognized it as a masterpiece. But it wasn't until centuries later that her face became one of the most famous in the world -- thanks to one of the most brazen art heists in history. This crime of the century crosses the pond.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When five college students in Florida were brutally slain in a four-day span in 1990, it sent shockwaves across the nation as newscasters made comparisons to serial killer Ted Bundy. Police frantically worked to stop this new madman before his body count got any higher.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

It's possible no one would have known that Richard Biegenwald was a serial killer if he hadn't shown a dead woman's body to a friend he wanted to enlist as a murderous protege. Once police started digging into Richard Biegenwald, they uncovered decades of horrific crimes -- many of which he said he committed just for the thrill of it.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When members of the incredibly wealthy Osage Nation started dropping dead of mysterious ailments in 1920s Oklahoma, few people in state power paid it much mind. After all, many of those who could do something about it were benefiting from the deaths. Eventually, with the help of a still-evolving agency called the FBI, federal authorities uncovered an unthinkable conspiracy known today as the Reign of Terror.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

On a crisp fall morning in 1935, two young boys made a grisly discovery in Kingsbury Run, an area in southeast Cleveland, Ohio. The boys, ages 16 and 12, had been playing catch but lost control of the ball. To retrieve it, they ran down a hill affectionally called Jackass Hill, and were stopped in their tracks by the sight of a man’s headless body. When police arrived, they'd find another emasculated, decapitated corpse. Officials didn't know it yet, but the two bodies marked the first in the official tally of a serial killer to be dubbed the Cleveland Torso Murderer.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

A fun-loving Chicago teenager convinced his mom to let him visit relatives in Mississippi over the summer of 1955. Three days after his arrival, 14-year-old Emmett Till was viciously murdered. Because his mother insisted that the world see the violence inflicted upon her son, the case made international news and galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When a beloved 3-year-old boy went missing, only to be discovered soon after in an outhouse with his throat slit, suspicion at first settled on the child's nursemaid in a London-area town in 1860. After local police failed to find any evidence, a brilliant detective was dispatched from the Metropolitan Police. Jonathan Whicher turned his attention away from the lower-class servants living in the home, and toward the family of Samuel Kent, a well-respected government official.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Theora Hix was an enigma to those who knew her. She was witty, intelligent, and ambitious, but fiercely secretive. So when she turned up dead in the summer of 1926, investigators at first had no idea who might have been responsible. Within hours, however, Hix's sex life became national news as two of her lovers were arrested on suspicion of murder -- including James H. Snooks, an Olympic gold medalist.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The most popular motives for murder are money and sex. That's as true today as it was in 1903 when Edwin Burdick was found brutally bludgeoned in the den of his home. Soon, the nation would learn that Burdick was an unwilling participant of a love triangle that surely got him killed. But who did it? Was it Burdick's cheating wife or her adoring lover?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Carl Panzram had a rough life growing up, so he decided to make life hell for everyone around him -- especially innocent young boys. When Panzram finally owned up to his crimes, his confession was so outlandish that authorities thought he was full of it. But then one grisly story was confirmed after another, and soon Panzram earned a reputation as a butcher of humanity.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When the groundbreaking book "Peyton Place" hit bookshelves in 1956, the murder tale at its center was so scandalous that many stores banned it outright. But the truth is that author Grace Metallious ripped that tale from the headlines -- and even softened its edges a bit. The real-life story centered on Sylvester Roberts, who was killed in 1946 by the daughter he had raped.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The Roberts murder discussed in last week's episode wasn't the only murder tied to "Peyton Place," the fictional town depicted in Grace Metallious' 1956 book. Just after Hollywood legend Lana Turner earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the film version of the tale, her mobster boyfriend turned up dead.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Ken McElroy was killed outside, in broad daylight, with some 60 witnesses watching -- and yet no one copped to having seen a thing. McElroy, who'd long been known as a town bully in Skidmore, Missouri, was shot dead in 1981 after terrorizing his neighbors, two of whom he shot. When the system seemed to fail at holding McElroy accountable, townsfolk took matters into their own hands.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Almshouses in the 19th and early 20th centuries were meant to help society's most vulnerable, but in the 1880s, one in Tewksbury, Massachusetts was accused of such shocking treatment that the governor ordered a months-long investigation that dominated headlines nationwide. Among the claims: that the skin of patients who died was tanned and turned into curiosities for sale.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

A young woman named Carrie Buck was not only deemed too unfit to raise her daughter in 1927, but the U.S. Supreme Court declared she was too stupid to procreate, period. And that decision, sparked by the so-called eugenics movement, paved the way for hundreds of thousands of people to be sterilized through the 1970s.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

After her niece Ruth died in her care, Mary McKnight -- herself a grieving mother -- worried that the shock would kill her sister-in-law, so she gave her something to calm her nerves. But Gertrude died within the hour, and her husband, John, within two weeks. What could have caused the three mysterious deaths in 1903 Michigan?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, fam!! Season 2 of the Obsessed Network Original Podcast "Strange & Unexplained With Daisy Eagan" launches today!
 
In case you aren't familiar, “Strange & Unexplained” is a podcast about all the things that make us wonder. Each week host Daisy Eagan tells the tale of something strange–sometimes it’s paranormal like a haunting or alien encounter, other times it Earthly like an unexplained disappearance or an unsolved murder. But it’s always a twisted tale of something just beyond what we can easily understand.  And each story is told with Daisy’s trademark blend of humor, sass, and skepticism. 

 In this episode, Daisy investigates what lurks inside the walls - Hidden Rooms: 
 Have you ever had one of those dreams where you discover other rooms in your 
 apartment? Like, suddenly there’s a door you never noticed before, and beyond it
 is all the extra space you always wish you had? Or maybe you’ve had the 
 nightmare version where you open your closet door and instead of your clothes, 
 you’re looking at some kind of medieval torture dungeon. What would you do if 
 you actually found a hole in your home leading to somewhere else. 
 
Find and follow "Strange And Unexplained With Daisy Eagan" wherever you get your podcasts.

It's because of revisionist history that Paul John Knowles might be better known to some listeners at the Casanova Killer, but don't be fooled: This serial killer deserves no romanticization. Knowles went on a murder spree in 1974 that's been tied to the deaths of at least 20 people -- and he apparently did it just to get famous.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When the body of a beautiful and well-dressed woman was discovered in 1877 outside of Jefferson, Texas, residents recognized her immediately -- even though they didn't know her real name. She'd been christened through gossip as "Diamond Bessie" thanks to the jewels she wore, and she'd come to town with a mysterious man who'd promptly disappeared.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

One of the biggest crimes of the 20th century was the type of heist we usually associate with the 1800s: a train robbery. In August 1963, at least 16 people managed to steal more than $7 million from a train in England. And some of them actually got away with it.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Defense lawyer George Remus started to notice a new kind of client in 1919 and 1920: the bootlegger. He also noticed that those bootleggers always paid handsomely in cash. Remus, who had a background in pharmaceuticals, decided he wanted in, and within a year, he owned 35% of America's alcohol. The federal government moved quickly to shut down this so-called King of the Bootleggers.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Pharmacist-turned lawyer-turned bootlegger George Remus had been making headlines for years as one of the richest men in America thanks to his illegal booze-selling operation during the start of Prohibition. Come 1927, however, his legacy was threatened with another title: cold-blooded killer.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

With the issue of slavery dividing America in the early 1800s, Patty Cannon told neighbors curious about the Black people they spotted secreted across her property that she was helping them escape into freedom. In reality, she was leader of a gang that kidnapped free Black people -- often children -- from the streets, forged ownership papers and sold them to plantation owners in the south. And because she was charming and pretty, she got away with it for decades.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

You've probably heard of the controversial Reid interrogation technique designed to extract confessions from suspects, but did you know that the case that put that technique on the map actually elicited a wrongful confession? Rabia Chaudry, co-host of the true crime podcast Undisclosed, helps tell the story of Darrel Parker's 1956 conviction in the murder of his wife, Nancy.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

We're taking a break for the holiday, so we wanted to feature an episode from our first season you may not have heard yet.  We'll be back with a new episode next week!

As actress Rebecca Schaeffer rushed around her apartment to ready for the biggest audition of her career, a disturbed young man was pacing the street below, armed with a gun. Schaeffer's senseless death in 1989 would not only shock the nation, but it would also be the catalyst for the country's first anti-stalking laws.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The Great Depression sparked a desperation in people that led to an epidemic of kidnappings nationwide, including the 1937 abduction of Arthur Fried, a married father of one whose father owned a sand-and-gravel company. As crime writer Sarah Weinman helps explain, Fried's unusual case ultimately led to the state of New York executing two men for the first time on charges other than first-degree murder.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When three members of the Newman family were discovered slain in 1987, residents of Anchorage, Alaska, flew into a panic. Though murders weren't rare there, the slayings were brutal and the potential suspect list uncomfortably long. The case marked the first time that an FBI profiler was allowed to testify to help explain how law enforcers narrowed the suspect pool to a member of the victims' own family.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When the county coroner arrived at Sam Sheppard's house in July of 1954, the pathologist was certain the case was open-and-shut: Sheppard, a headlines-courting doctor and serial philanderer, clearly had murdered his 31-year-old wife, Marilyn. Sheppard faced not one but two trials of the century in a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and continues to stir controversy to this day.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

On Easter Sunday 1937, Ethel Gedeon discovered her sister Veronica and mother Mary murdered in their New York City apartment alongside a third victim, a man who was residing in the apartment as a boarder. As police began to investigate the crime, Veronica's career as a popular artist's model led to a manhunt for one suspect whose bizarre path to the murder highlighted deadly shortcomings in the nation’s mental healthcare system.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When news spread that a high-profile comedian was killed in a murder-suicide in 1998, the response was disbelief: Phil Hartman wasn't just famous for being funny. He was even better known for being a good-hearted guy. The shocking story behind the deaths of Hartman and his wife, Brynn, not only made international headlines, but it shook the entertainment industry and changed how people talked about substance abuse and mental health issues in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The first body discovered on a California hillside in late 1977 didn't make much news, but as the body count kept growing, so did the headlines -- and the sense of panic. The slayings, soon dubbed by the media as the work of the "Hillside Strangler," had Los Angeles-area women on edge day and night. It wouldn't be until a pair of similar murders occurred in Washington state that LA police would finally get a big break in the terrifying case.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

After Kenneth Bianchi was arrested in early 1979 on suspicion he was responsible for the so-called Hillside Stranglings near Los Angeles, he made an outrageous claim: He did kill 10 women in LA and another two in Washington state, he said, but not as Bianchi. He was a split personality and had killed them as his alter-ego, Steve. Not only that, he said, but he'd had help from his older cousin, Angelo Buono. Bianchi's confusing confession led to one of the longest and most sensational criminal trials in California history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Around the same time the first Hillside Stranglers victims were found near Los Angeles, a young man was arrested in Ohio in an unrelated string of robberies and sexual assaults that would have strange bearing over the California cases. Billy Milligan -- who ultimately would be diagnosed as having dissociative identity disorder manifesting in 24 distinct personalities -- would become the first person found not guilty by reason of insanity because of a multiple-personality diagnosis.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

To countless women, Amelia Dyer offered salvation: She was a supposedly married but barren woman who offered to adopt babies whose parents (usually unwed mothers) couldn't afford to raise them properly. Dyer promised to rear the "precious" babies as her own and even offered the biological mothers the chance to visit and stay part of the children's lives -- for a small fee, of course. Eventually, one body surfaced that could be tied to Dyer, and then another. Soon, police realized that Dyer had been running a so-called baby farm, killing dozens of helpless children over a span of decades before her undoing.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

When a haggard Alfred Packer stumbled from the Colorado wilderness in 1874, he at first said he'd been abandoned by five traveling companions who'd left him to fend for himself. But his already-shaky story quickly changed once a search party uncovered the remains of five mutilated men. Packer -- sometimes referred to by the first name "Alferd" thanks to a misspelled tattoo -- went down in history as the so-called Colorado Cannibal, but debate lingers to this day over whether he'd committed premeditated murder or simply found a way to survive horrifying circumstances.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Porter Rodgers and his family was as close as royalty as one could get in the small town of Searcy, Arkansas. He was a successful doctor working at a hospital that bore his name. But on Sept. 26, 1974, everything changed when a housekeeper found Mrs. Rodgers dead in the couple's posh home. The case that unfolded was one to be among the most sensational in state history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The heartbreaking murder of a small-town Pennsylvania police chief seemed like an open-and-shut case in December of 1980. After all, whoever shot Gregory Adams appeared to have left a driver's license at the scene of the crime. But investigators soon learned that the case would prove to be much more challenging to close than they ever could have imagined.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Hey, everyone - for Labor Day, we're re-releasing this episode all about a workplace tragedy that helped spark new regulations in the US to protect workers.  Enjoy the episode and we'll be back with a brand-new story next week!

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People enjoying a warm, sunny Saturday in New York City first noticed smoke arising from a building at about 4:40 p.m. and rushed to gather at the base of a 10-story building that was quickly engulfed in flames. The scene greeting them was horrific: Dozens of workers were trapped on the building's ninth floor. With the flames closing in, some chose to jump to their deaths. 

More than 100 years later, the 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory remains one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Between 1967 and 1969, terror gripped two college towns in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as investigators discovered the mutilated corpses of seven young women and girls. The murderer -- called the Coed Killer by newspapers of the time -- seemed to be so brazen that he was taunting police by returning to crime scenes and leaving behind evidence. The horrified public became so outraged that they took matters into their own hands by hiring a supposed psychic they hoped would finally crack the case.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

In March of 1856, when a visibly intoxicated man of means boarded the Ohio Belle steamboat, the crew immediately worried that they were in for a bad trip. Still, they never could have predicted that the arrival of the man calling himself J.B. Jones would ultimately lead to two dead bodies and headlines in newspapers nationwide.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from the Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

As Hollywood found its footing at the turn of the 20th century, so did a handsome young artist who'd soon be known around the world as Ramon Novarro. In his heyday, the Mexican-born actor was mentioned alongside leading men like Rudolph Valentino. But with the discovery of his battered body decades after his star had faded, Novarro became better known for the personal life he'd spent his whole life trying to keep private.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from the Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

The 1981 shooting death of Paul Witte, a father of two in Indiana, seemed to be an accident: Paul's 15-year-old son Eric said he'd tripped while holding the gun, fatally wounding his dad as he napped on the living room couch. The case was considered closed -- until a few years later when a second accident befell the Witte family. This time, police dug deeper and found that Paul's wife, Hilma Marie Witte, had been the mastermind of two horrific tragedies.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Selena Quintanilla was on the cusp of becoming a worldwide sensation. The Mexican American had already dominated Tejano music charts for years, but as the mid-1990s got under way, so too did her plans for an English-language album that many predicted would make her a superstar. The world was shocked when that all came to a horrifying end in March of 1995, when the beloved singer was fatally shot by a woman who claimed to adore her.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Dr. Linda Hazzard was an extremely unorthodox physician, a so-called "fasting specialist" who believed food to be the cause of disease. After as many as a dozen people died under her care, her sensational trial would make headlines worldwide and expose the dangerously unregulated world of medical quackery.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Inside a modest cabin on the vast prairies of Kansas lived a family, or at least four individuals claiming to be one. The Benders were an odd bunch: grumpy Ma & Pa, mysteriously moody daughter Kate and John, who didn't even share their namesake. The 1870s were a stark time in the yet-to-be-settled, American West. Travelers on long journeys had slim pickings when it came time to seek shelter. The Benders capitalized on this by doubling their home as an inn, where many checked in... but never checked out.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Singing his way through the 1950s and early 1960s, appealing to audiences across a segregated music industry, churning out hits of dreamy quality like “You Send Me” and inspirational fortitude like “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke was more than an artist. He lived – and died – a legend. So how did he end up shot in a Los Angeles motel in 1964? In this episode, we’ll trace the tale: start to finish.

 "Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Film adaptations of true crimes have to strike a tricky balance between authenticity and drama. 1987’s Murder Ordained depicts the 1983 incidents within a small town in Kansas, where the mysterious deaths of a minister’s wife and a secretary’s husband converge. But upon its release, residents and journalists alike argued the movie left some accuracy to be desired. So, what happened in Emporia?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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In the summer of 1964, the first modern lottery was off to the races in New Hampshire. The “Sweeps,” as they were called, were a sensation of national interest, with lawmakers quarreling over the legality of the get-rich-quick horse race scheme and citizens from all over crossing state lines to get in on the action. The craze seemed optimistic, until one man’s attempt at claiming his piece of the pie turned scandalous.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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After the 1984 discovery of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton’s body in the woods, police began their search for a tall, muscular, curly-haired man. Kirk Bloodsworth – fitting that description – was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Then, he was tried again and given two consecutive life sentences. Finally, nine years after first being blamed for the crime, a breakthrough in DNA technology would make history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Hey Crimes of the Centuries listeners! The Obsessed Network has as a brand new podcast from the former hosts and creators of Obsessed with: Disappeared. It's called I Think Not! Enjoy the trailer here and check out the first episode out now wherever you get your podcasts.

NOTE: If you were already subscribed to Obsessed with: Disappeared, STAY subscribed. I Think Not! is taking over that old feed.

And we'll be back in the spring with more Crimes of the Centuries for you!

In Victorian England, a serial killer preyed on sex workers and other vulnerable women. But unlike the infamous Jack the Ripper, this serial killer, Dr. Thomas Cream, used his medical knowledge to devise more insidious methods to claim his victims. But once uncovered, his conviction would set precedent for legal cases for decades to come.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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In Prohibition Era Chicago, competing gangs of bootleggers battled for supremacy.  In February 1929, notorious gangster Al Capone set up a brazen trap to mow down a slew of his rivals in what would become one of the most infamous crimes of the time.  It would also lead to the creation of America's first-ever crime laboratory, and mark the beginning of the end for some of the most powerful criminals in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Months after being named "Playboy Playmate of the Year" in 1980, Dorothy Stratten was poised to make the transition from model to Hollywood actress.  But just as her debut film was about to be released, Dorothy's troubled relationship with her estranged husband ended in one final, tragic encounter.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Nick De Noia dreamed of becoming a successful choreographer, a goal he attained through his sexy yet classy routines for the Chippendales all-male revue.  Unfortunately, that job also brought him into the crosshairs of the dance troupe's controlling owner, Steve Banerjee.  With the story recently revived in the Hulu series "Welcome to Chippendales," we're diving deep into the details to sort out the fact from the fiction in this sordid tale.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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This week we dive into our archives for a look back at one our episodes from the first season of "Crimes of the Centuries." Check out this episode and all our episodes from seasons 1 and 2, and we'll see you next week for a brand-new tale!

When widower Sam Doss was rushed to the hospital with abdominal pains in 1954, his doctor was flummoxed by his life-threatening yet mysterious illness. But Doss got better and came home -- then died the next day. That's what prompted police to look at his matronly, sweet-talking new wife, Nannie.

Born Nannie Hazle, it turned out this missus had left a trail of dead husbands behind her -- not to mention several relatives, all of whom died of sudden and inexplicable illnesses. By the time Nannie was done confessing, she'd earned nicknames like The Giggling Grandma and The Black Widow.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Brothers Herman and Irving Arthur wanted to leave their life as Southern sharecroppers in Texas and move to the North in search of better opportunities.  But after an encounter with the landowners turned lethal, they found themselves on the run from a town setting out for revenge.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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At the height of the space race, the arrival of the Thiokol chemical company was supposed to bring jobs and opportunities for the small Georgia town of Woodbine.  But a tragic explosion in 1971 killed 29 workers and left many of the survivors in the community entangled in lawsuits for decades afterwards.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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