True Crime

What started as an institution to reform young and non-violent criminals became one of the most infamous prisons in American history.

Before 1884, most first-time offenders between the ages of 16 and 30 were housed in the Ohio Penitentiary, where they were likely to be influenced by hardened criminals. That changed when the Ohio Legislature approved the building of a reformatory, a new type of institution that would educate and train these young men. Since its opening in 1896, the reformatory expanded its training programs and became a self-sustaining institution - the largest of its kind in the United States. By 1970, the reformatory had become a maximum-security prison filled with the most dangerous criminals in the U.S., with a death row but no death chamber. It closed on December 31, 1990, but preservation and restoration efforts are ongoing, and it continues to be as infamous today as in its heyday, appearing in numerous television shows and feature films, including The Shawshank Redemption.

Authors Joseph Bilby and Harry Ziegler chart the brief rise of the Ku Klux Klan and how New Jersey collectively stood up to bigotry.

The state, though, was not immune to the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the first half of the twentieth century. Former vaudevillians Arthur H. Bell and his wife used the tactics of public theater to advertise and recruit for the organization. At a massive riot in Perth Amboy, thousands of immigrants besieged a few hundred Klansmen, tossed them out of building windows, burned their cars and ran them out of town. The allying of pro-Nazi German Bund groups and the Klan in the lead-up to World War II marked the end of the Klan’s foothold. Authors Joseph Bilby and Harry Ziegler chart the brief rise of the Ku Klux Klan and how New Jersey collectively stood up to bigotry.

Beginning as a group of delinquents committing petty crimes, they became Detroit's infamous Purple Gang, of one of the most notorious organized crime groups of the 20th century.

The photographs in this fascinating collection chronologically follow the evolution of the Purples from their days as a juvenile street gang through their rise to power and eventual self-destruction. Detroit had a gold rush atmosphere and a thriving black market during the 1920s that attracted gangsters and unsavory characters from all over the country. The gang's reputation for hijacking and terror spread far, and they became associates with Al Capone, their location a perfect midway point to smuggle Canadian whisky across the border and down into Chicago. Their reputation was such that they were even suspected by the FBI for being involved with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Using rare police department mug shots and group photographs, the book transports readers through the dark side of Prohibition-era Detroit history.

The vast mountains and deserts of Arizona hide a multitude of buried treasures and forgotten mines just waiting to be rediscovered.

The Aztecs reportedly hid gold and other valuables worth millions across the Southwest to keep it from the Spaniards hundreds of years ago, but nothing has ever been recovered. The famous Lost Dutchman mine has captured attention and claimed multiple lives since its discovery in the Superstition Mountains, and it’s just one of many mines lost to history and shifting landscapes. More recently, rumors spread that more than $1 million in cash from the 1977 robbery of Marjorie Jackson is still hidden somewhere north of Phoenix.

Author W. Craig Gaines maps out the potential paths leading to lost fortunes.

On July 27, 1903, spurred into action by inmate Richard ‘Red’ Gordon, thirteen men attacked their jailers and made a run for freedom.Folsom Prison had only been open for 20 years and was already one of the toughest and most brutal prisons in the country. It had one major flaw—no walls. A statewide manhunt ensued, following a deadly trail of attacks, kidnappings, and murder. Among the escapees were Joseph Theron and Frank Case, both sentenced to life in prison for robbery, and Joseph Murphy, burglar and poet. Sightings were reported from San Franciso to Reno and in the end, five of the prisoners were never found.Join author Josh Morgan as he recounts the violence and heroism of Folsom Prison’s biggest breakout.

Surveying the sensational newspaper accounts as events unfolded, author and historian Chris Flook recounts this grisly tale of political intrigue and conspiracy .

In the fall of 1902, Indianapolis police uncovered a prolific graverobbing ring operating across the city. At the time, cemeteries across central Indiana were relieved of their dead by ghouls, as they were called, seeking fresh corpses desperately needed by the city’s medical colleges. The ring was also accused of multiple murders. In Hamilton County, a former Confederate soldier named Wade West delivered stolen corpses by floating them down the White River. His counterpart in Indianapolis, Rufus Cantrell, an itinerant preacher and full-time graverobber known as the “King of the Ghouls,” ransacked Indy’s cemeteries for years before being caught./

Often relegated to a footnote, the Archive War almost plunged the Republic of Texas into civil war. Houston’s Archive War began with the Texas Revolution, as the spoils of the battlefield gave way to bitter political strife. Sam Houston didn’t expect a two-year standoff with Austin residents over the location of the new republic’s capital. But if a few things had gone differently, his attempt to shift the seat of government back to the city named after him could have ended with Austin residents in outright rebellion. As it was, the feud between Lamar and Houston over the seat of government escalated into cannon-fire and continued until Texas was a Republic no more. Author Lora-Marie Bernard thumbs through the incendiary files of the Texas Archive War.

Four decades after Jeannette DePalma's tragic death, authors Jesse P. Pollack and Mark Moran present the definitive account of the shocking Springfield township cold case.

As Springfield residents decorated for Halloween in September 1972, the crime rate in the quiet, affluent township was at its lowest in years. That mood was shattered when the body of sixteen-year-old Jeannette DePalma was discovered in the local woods, allegedly surrounded by strange objects. Some feared witchcraft was to blame, while others believed a serial killer was on the loose. Rumors of a police cover up ran rampant, and the case went unsolved - along with the murders of several other young women.

Uncover the details of the most murderous times in Birmingham Alabama's history.

A reign of terror swept the streets of Birmingham in the 1920s. Criminals armed with small axes attacked immigrant merchants and interracial couples, leaving dozens dead or injured over the course of four years. Desperate for answers, police accepted clues from a Ouija board, while citizens clamored for gun permits for protection. The city's Italian immigrants formed their own association as protection against the Black Hand, an organized band of brutal criminals. Eventually, the police turned to a dangerous and untested truth serum to elicit confessions. Four black men and a teenage girl were charged and tried, while copycat killers emerged from the woodwork. Journalist Jeremy Gray tackles one of the most curious and violent cases in Magic City history.

Explore the dark side of small town North Carolina.

Chapel Hill has seen its share of violence and murder, but somehow has been able to push those instances aside and kept the ambiance of a Norman Rockwell style small town. A walk through the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can be inspiring, but the school has a darker side that has been well hidden. Over the years there have been many murders that have taken place among those oak trees, in the dorms and frat houses on campus. Many of the murders are unsolved and remain mysteries to this day.

The victims know the truth, though, that evil has no boundaries. Local historian Rick Jackson narrates the mysteries of one of North Carolina’s quaintest towns.

The Buckeye State is rich in buried treasure stories, but what’s true and what’s not? /

Wild yarns and plausible legends cling to a number of historical events, including the French and Indian War, Confederate general John Morgan’s raid into Ohio, Prohibition, John Dillinger’s bank robbing career, and the California Gold Rush. The hope of finding these riches has inspired treasure hunters since Ohio became a state. But enthusiasm has its drawbacks, for many an Ohioan has been duped by con artists toting everything from divining rods and magic tomes to dubious devices like the “scientific gold compass.”/

Author Mark Strecker dives deep into historical record to test the credibility of these tales and others.

Murder and mystery haunt the shadowy corners of the Victorian Era in Southwest Michigan.

Decades after his supposed death in 1846, a litigious bachelor was discovered to have been buried alive. In 1865, a Battle Creek woman, yearning for her lover, used Spiritualism to conceal poisoning her three children. An 1883 unsolved quadruple homicide near Jackson caused two suicides, one attempted suicide and two assassination attempts. In 1891, a ten-year-old girl adopted from the State School in Coldwater one morning was found dead in an icy river two counties away that same afternoon.

Researcher and author Michael Delaware unfurls these and other stories that shocked Michigan and the nation over a century ago.

On a cold morning in December 1960, sixty-year-old Laura Mutch was found strangled behind a house in downtown Erie....

The city was reaching new heights, including a triumphant run for the coveted “All-American City” award, yet the incident created pandemonium. As investigations progressed, attacks on women continued, sending citizens and seasoned investigators to the brink of chaos. Seventy-two-year-old Clara Carrig was brutally stabbed, and Helen Knost narrowly survived an attempted killing. Mary Lynn Crotty, Eleanor Free and Marian Graham were found murdered, all by strangulation. Women throughout the region locked their doors and avoided the streets at night. The case attracted nationwide attention after the arrest of truck driver John Howard Willman in 1963 yet many questions remain unanswered.

Author Justin Dombrowski charts the harrowing attacks, investigations and mystery surrounding Erie’s 1960s reign of terror.

Put on your life vest and head out for this exciting, entertaining history of Florida’s most-fascinating smugglers!

Think you're a smuggler?   With that box of Cuban cigars or those unclaimed duty-free souvenirs from last summer's trip to Paris? Untaxed and untraced commerce-call it contraband-is a trillion-dollar-per-year global business. New technologies to discover and curb smuggling are met by equally well-equipped perpetrators, determined to stay below the radar.

With its long coastline, hundreds of remote landing strips and airports clogged with sun-seeking tourists, Florida is a superhighway of smuggling. It is easy to move illegal goods like weapons, drugs, slaves, exotic birds and flowers; all while avoiding the best efforts of U.S. and international customs authorities.

Who does this smuggling? Well one Florida governor and the wife of another, for starters. Hardscrabble commercial fishermen, Spanish explorers, Mafia mobsters, crew chiefs for fruit pickers, respected attorneys, just about everybody in Florida is a smuggler.

Smuggling touches every major episode in Florida's history; it's discovery and settlement, the Seminole Wars , and the Civil War  were shaped by smugglers. The state's repeated land booms-including today's-are heavily influenced by smuggler profits. Today's business economy is warped by the manipulation of smugglers laundering their profits.

Stan Zimmerman means neither to vilify nor glorify these entrepreneurs. Nor does he intend to leave any stoned unturned or suitcase unopened. With stories of drug runners and prostitute pushers alongside the exploits and follies of Florida's elite, we are able to see why throughout its long history, Florida has always been a true smuggler's paradise.

Join author & reporter Kelly Sullivan Pezza as she investigates and recounts the murder of 5-year old Maggie Sheffield.

On a summer day in 1893, little Maggie Sheffield was murdered. Maggie's own father did the unthinkable against a backdrop of laughter and barrel organ music at Rocky Point Amusement Park. The tragedy aroused a strange reaction from the peaceable community of Warwick, Rhode Island. Many seemed to be more concerned for the murderer, Frank Sheffield, than for his young victim. Frank was rumored to be insane or addicted to drugs, and after a trial, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The murder did not tarnish Rocky Point's reputation as a premier destination, and the park operated until 1995. Investigating official records and newspaper archives, author Kelly Sullivan Pezza uncovers the facts and oddities behind a grim crime in Rhode Island's summer paradise.

Philadelphia Organized Crime in the 1920s and 1930s explores a little-known but spirited chapter of the Quaker City's history.

The hoodlums, hucksters, and racketeers of Prohibition-era Philadelphia sold bootleg booze, peddled illicit drugs, ran numbers, and operated prostitution and insurance rings. Among the fascinating personalities that created and contributed to the Philadelphia crime scene of the 1920s and 1930s were empire builders like Mickey Duffy, known as Prohibition's Mr. Big, and Max Boo Boo Hoff, dubbed the King of the Bootleggers; the violent Lanzetti brothers, who ran their own illegal enterprise; mobster Harry Nig Rosen Stromberg, a New York transplant; and the arsenic widows poison ring, which specialized in fraud and murder. Bringing to light rare photographs and forgotten characters, the authors chronicle the underworld of Philadelphia in the interwar era. The upheaval caused by the gangs and groups herein mirrors the frenzied cultural and political shifts of the Roaring Twenties and the austere 1930s.

Milwaukee is best known for its beer - and rightfully so. But in the days of Prohibition, the big alcohol suppliers were not Miller, Blatz, Schlitz, and Pabst.

The Mafia had control, and it made its money by running alcohol as far away as Canada and Indiana, as well as with counterfeiting, the numbers racket, and two of the biggest heists in American history. From then on, the sky was the limit, as the Mafia indulged in extortion, protection rackets, and skimming from Las Vegas casinos. The Cream City had its crooked lawyers, corrupt cops, and even a mayor on the take. There was the blood of those who dared to stand in the syndicate's way, who were found dead in ditches or as victims of car bombs. The members of the Mafia included doctors, real estate men, restaurateurs, tavern owners, funeral directors, union presidents, and the most famous Milwaukee gangster of all, Frank Balistrieri. While now considered extinct, the Milwaukee Family was once a dominant force in the Midwest.

Author Alan Brown leads readers on a stomach-churning turn through Florida’s dark side.  Florida sunshine beckons, but in can be unrelenting, too. And in the shadows, tragedy strikes. Ted Bundy leads a cast of serial killers who wrought havoc on the state. Storms spin onto its shores with landscape altering fury. Sharks lurk in the sea, and snakes and alligators lie wait in the swamps. Gangsters like Al Capone hit Miami Beach for a respite, but gangsters like Al Capone take no breaks from their trade. A woman spontaneously bursts into flames in St. Petersburg. Anthrax claims a life in Palm Beach. The Bermuda Triangle disappears vessels off the coast. Indeed, Florida knows boundless leisure, but it’s just as familiar with catastrophe.

Lost and Forgotten Gems of Missouri History

From the mining industry to the shipping industry to the Civil War, Missouri has lost a lot. Emigrants and traders have lost countless values during their travels. The Civil War caused a loss of not only citizens, but numerous valuable historic items. The host of outlaws who traversed the area have hidden loot that has never been found. Join author Craig Gaines as he details the state treasures lost to time.

Explore the international headlines and the little-known crimes, the solved and the wrongly solved, in these tales of the North Carolina mountains.

Western North Carolina is known for mountain vistas and wild, rocky rivers, but remote wilderness and quaint small towns can have a dark side. Learn the truth behind the famous murder ballad Tom Dooley. Delve into the criminal history of moonshine, and the tales of two unexpected bombers in idyllic Mayberry.

Crime writer Cathy Pickens brings a novelist’s eye to Western North Carolina’s crime stories that define the sinister—and quirky—side of the mountains.

On December 26, 1910, Oscar Chitwood lay lifeless on the courthouse lawn in Hot Springs, his wrists shackled together, and his body torn by bullets. The deputies on the scene claimed that masked men had lynched their prisoner and that the lawmen were innocent bystanders to the carnage. Newspapers everywhere proclaimed this killing another example of vigilantism run rampant. Within days, however, the official story fell apart, and these deputies were charged with cold-blooded murder. Authors Guy Lancaster and Christopher Thrasher tell the little-known story of accused outlaw Oscar Chitwood, the authorities he dared defy, and the mysterious resort town of Hot Springs, a place where the Wild West met the epitome of civilization, and where the boundaries between lawman and outlaw were never all that clear.

The kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. and the subsequent arrest, trial, and execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann have intrigued true crime buffs for decades.

New Jersey's Lindbergh Kidnapping and Trial tells the story of the case that never dies through vintage photographs. Rare photographs, many not seen since the 1930s, will allow the reader to experience the massive police investigation led by New Jersey State Police superintendent H. Norman Schwarzkopf and the circus-like trial and execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

Historians Victoria Cosner Love and author Lorelei Shannon uncover the truth behind one of New Orleans' most famous stories and one of America's most haunted houses.

On April 10, 1834 Firefighters smashed through a padlocked attic door in the burning home of Creole society couple Delphine and Louis Lalaurie. The horrible discovery of chained and mutilated slaves spawned a legend that has endured for over 150 years. But what really happened in the Lalaurie home? Who was Mad Madame Lalaurie, and what motivated her to commit such ghastly atrocities, if in fact she really did?

A notorious case of terror and extortion in the Buckeye State

In the early 1900s, a criminal society known as the Black Hand became feared across the United States as it extorted hard-working immigrants. In 1908, Agostino Iannarino received a series of threatening letters and when he refused to pay, a bomb exploded at the entrance of his Columbus home. His family fled to Sicily only to continue receiving threats. The following year, U.S. Post Office Inspectors learned that a Black Hand gang called the Society of the Banana was headquartered in Marion, Ohio, and authorities attempted to put an end to the violent outrages occurring across the Midwest.

Revealing twenty-four extortion letters written by members of the Society of the Banana, author Shane W. Croston details factual and fatal accounts of the Black Hand.

Learn the story behind one of Detroit's most infamous mobs with rare photographs documenting their rise and fall.

Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit chronicles the storied and hallowed gangland history of the notorious Detroit underworld. Scott M. Burnstein takes the reader inside the belly of the beast, tracking the bloodshed, exploits, and leadership of the southeast Michigan crime syndicate as never before seen in print. Through a stunning array of rare archival photographs and images, Motor City Mafia captures Detroit's most infamous past, from its inception in the early part of the 20th century, through the years when the iconic Purple Gang ruled the city's streets during Prohibition, through the 1930s and the formation of the local Italian mafia, and the Detroit crime family's glory days in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, all the way to the downfall of the area's mob reign in the 1980s and 1990s.

Every mass grave in Texas offers morbid proof that at one time, in that place, something went very, very wrong.

Texans have resorted to mass graves out of necessity, desperation and appalling indifference. These sites mark natural disasters or hide unnatural crimes that tested the limits of human endurance and empathy. Because of this, memorializing those who lie in mass graves can be controversial. Not everyone wants to dig up the darkness of the past, much less admit that the dirt is still fresh. Nevertheless, to honor those whose bones lie mixed with others, their stories must be told. In so doing, Kathy Benjamin exhumes essential shards of Lone Star history, from the Alamo to the present day.

Burlington has long been known as the shining jewel in Vermont's crown, but a current of darkness flows beneath this charming port on Lake Champlain.

There is a sordid side to the city that top-ten lists routinely call one of the country's most livable cities,” with stories of dirty cops, notorious ladies of the night, knife wielding psychopaths, lovers off the deep end and famous serial killers.

Author and tour guide Thea Lewis showcases the cunning culprits who would go to any lengths to get what they wanted, and finally got what was coming to them.

While men commit most of Alabama’s crimes, women have written some of the darkest chapters in state history.

Poisoners who murdered dozens. A mob icon who captivated millions. A grandmother cocaine queen. An anti-government cop killer. A madam whose courage lifted her from shame to legend. A mummified woman shrouded in mystery. Whether they enjoyed the spotlight or weaponized their status as unlikely suspects, these infamous women left scandal and misery in their wake. Journalist Jeremy W. Gray digs into the sordid mess left behind by some of the most notorious women in Alabama history.

Malice in a Mining Mecca

Pernicious activity tends to follow prosperity, and the heyday of the Cripple Creek mining district was no exception. Cripple Creek’s first murder spilled out from a saloon in 1892. The 1894 heist at the Victor Hotel took place mere months after opening. Railroad superintendent Richard Newell was gunned down over a construction right of way dispute—a contentious, nationwide issue to this day. By 1893, the area was home to dancehall girls and prostitutes, including the harlot who burned down Cripple Creek in 1896 and the vixen who torched Victor in 1899. From body snatcher “Pretty Jack” McEachern to conman-turned-Roosevelt confidante Ben Daniels, the district played host to a cast of capricious characters. Join author Jan MacKell Collins as she recounts the colorful camps and raucous ruffians that defined the oft-described Wild West. 

One of the most notoriously dangerous and deadly correctional facilities in the US, this history of the legendary penitentiary in West Virginia will make you reconsider a life of crime.

In 1863, the newly formed West Virginia lacked a state penitentiary to house convicted felons. As a result, construction began in July 1866 on the West Virginia Penitentiary, the second public building constructed in the state. The infamous and foreboding West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville was known as one of the bloodiest institutions in the United States. With an extensive history of violence, the prison was ranked on the Department of Justice's Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities list. Nearly 1,000 inmates perished within the stone walls of the prison, many of whom are said to still be serving their sentence, even after death. Many inmates were tortured, executed, murdered, or committed suicide. Plagued by these horrific events, the prison is a hotspot for paranormal activity. Images of America: West Virginia Penitentiary chronicles the fascinating history of a notorious prison from the planning stages to present day.

An intimate introduction to this legendary lawman.

A no-nonsense lawman on a crusade against the mobsters and murderers ruling the state line between Mississippi and Tennessee in the 1960s, Sheriff Buford Pusser was larger than life. The subject of four feature films and a television series, the McNairy County sheriff gained international notoriety as a fearless law enforcement officer who let nothing get in his way. Buford Pusser’s daughter presents the life story of the legendary sheriff from her perspective.

The 1917 book purportedly dictated from beyond the grave by Mark Twain.

Was Jap Herron the work of Mark Twain or a scam that capitalized on the heightened belief in the paranormal during the early 20th century? We invite everyone to read and decide for themselves... or let the Ouija board decide.

Several years after Mark Twain’s death in 1910, Emily Grant Hutchings claimed that Twain dictated this novel from the beyond, letter by letter, over a Ouija board. She went on to publish it with Mitchell Kennerley in 1917. When the Twain estate discovered the book, they took Hutchings to court, demanding that she either declare herself a fraud or surrender all profits and rights to the estate. The lawsuit was dropped when Hutchings agreed to cease publication and destroy the remaining unsold books—but she never retracted her claims. 

Set in the antebellum South, Jap Herron’s title character (Jasper James Herron) rises out of poverty to become a central figure in his small Missouri town. In a lengthy introduction, Hutchings recounts unidentified spirits meddling with the story, apparitions sent by Twain to haunt the medium’s dreams, and insights into Twain’s postmortem personality.

An immigrant woman and her son are accused of murder and witchcraft in this powerful true crime story of corruption in 1930s Detroit.

In 1931, the tensions of the Great Depression took hold of Detroit at every level—even spilling over into the investigation of a mysterious murder at the Delray boardinghouse. Amid accusations of witchcraft, Hungarian immigrant Rose Veres and her son Bill were convicted of the brutal killing and suspected in a dozen more. Their cries of innocence went unheeded—until one lawyer, determined to seek justice, took on the case.

Following the twists and turns of this shocking story, The Witch of Delray explores the tumultuous 1930s in a city notorious for corruption and reveals the truth of Detroit’s own Hex Woman.

Erie's Shocking Turn of the Century Extortion Scandal

On February 8, 1911, the Scott Mausoleum, a symbol of wealth for the Scott and Strong families in Erie, Pennsylvania, was desecrated by unknown vandals, coined by nationwide papers as ghouls. With the inside of the mausoleum heavily damaged - and a body missing - the crime set off shockwaves throughout the country during a time in which grave robbery, extortion and murder reigned supreme. 

Hundreds of reporters and newspaper correspondents throughout the country and world descend upon the Great Lakes port city. Private Detectives from the Perkins Detective Agency in Pittsburgh took charge of the case, pitted against rival detectives from the famous Burns Detective Agency. The case took a sinister turn when a series of letters were sent to wealthy local philanthropist Charles Hamot Strong, threatening to blow up his mausoleum and murder his granddaughter.

Author Justin Dombrowski presents the twists and turns of a historic and shocking crime and coverup in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Stacey Stanton, a beloved resident of Manteo, was found stabbed to death in her apartment on the afternoon of February 3, 1990.

The slaying was the most horrendous crime the town had seen in years. With tourist season coming on and Manteo in the midst of a revitalization, a rushed investigation followed. Overlooked leads and racial tension led to the conviction of an innocent man. This riveting narrative, built on access to the state’s investigative file and multiple interviews with case insiders, delves into the truth behind the murder.

Investigative journalist John Railey explores the mistakes made and finally arrives at the long-hidden truth of what happened to Stacey.

Dive into this riveting tale and discover just how deadly a pen and paper can be when wielded by a master manipulator.

In the 1930s, in the sleepy town of Quiet Dell, West Virginia lonely, wealthy women began to disappear. Under the guise of charming love letters, con man Harry F. Powers lured them into a sinister web of deceit. When correspondence evolved into promises of romance, and then face-to-face meetings, these women would mysteriously vanish. As the number of missing women grew, the authorities finally took notice. Investigators unearthed a murder garage with a custom-made concealed dungeon, revealing the appalling evidence of multiple murders. The horror of Powers’ crimes gained statewide notoriety, and shook the community to its core.

Local author Angela Fielder tells a riveting tale of one of history’s most cunning serial killers.

Gruesome Tales From the Gem City of the Great Lakes

From the French and Indian War to Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie, the city of Erie has a prideful place in the American story, but there also exists a seedy history of crime and murder.

In 1905 Detective James “Jimmie” Higgins was mysteriously killed at Central High School and the drawn-out manhunt for his murderer occupied headlines for months. On a cold January night in 1911, a massive explosion rocked the Erie waterfront when criminals bombed the Pennsylvania Railroad Coal Trestle, leaving it a smoldering mass of steel and debris. The unsolved murder of Manley W. Keene inspired a local newspaper to bring in the “Female Sherlock Holmes,” Mary Holland, who defied gender expectations and reshaped detective work in Erie for generations.

Author Justin Dombrowski uncovers dark stories from Erie’s illicit past.

The disappearance of Horace Marvin, Jr. became a national sensation.

In early March 1907, young Horace, just a few weeks shy of his fourth birthday, was playing in the yard of his father's new farm in a sparsely populated area near Dover, Delaware. The family had just moved from Iowa and this was the first day Horace had to explore their new home. In the farmyard with Horace were his brother John and cousin Rose, all visible to neighbors helping the previous owner move off the farm. Then Horace disappeared without a trace. Within two weeks this heartbreaking event was being reported to hundreds of other families in newspapers across the country and around the world.

Horace's disappearance would be the most publicized missing child story until the Lindbergh kidnapping exactly twenty-five years later. Local author Brian G. Cannon tells the full story of this tragedy for the first time.

Discover the true story of Moll Dyer and the witches of Southern Maryland... if you dare...

Despite the attention that Salem receives, they were far from the only town to organize a witch hunt in colonial America. Rebecca Fowler was tried as a witch in St. Mary’s in 1685, and in 1674, John Cowman became the only man ever charged with witchcraft in Maryland. In Moll Dyer’s case, locals took the law into their own hands. According to legend, Moll Dyer was chased from her burning home by a mob in St. Mary’s County in the year 1697, left to die in the dark and cold. Was she just an ordinary woman blamed for problems beyond her control? Or was she a witch whose curse lingers on? Author Lynn Buonviri uses period records and local lore to discover the truth behind the legend of Moll Dyer and her curse.

The high times, the rubouts, the payoffs -- they're all here in Wayne Klatt’s account of the Windy City’s wildest years.

The entire country -- the world -- was shocked and entertained by what went on in Chicago during Prohibition. Learn how it all happened, from a step-by-step speakeasy set-up to the White Sox scandal to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Pull back the gauzy curtains of the gaudy era when Al Capone contributed to Mayor William Thompson's campaign and Governor Len Small used gangsters to fix his embezzlement trial. After studying every day of the Toddlin' Town’s stint in Prohibition, author Wayne Klatt shows how bootleg gangs came into power and demolishes the myth of a North Side-South Side rivalry.

While legislators were writing the first laws in Alabama, some miscreant citizens were already breaking them, causing disorder and fleeing the hands of justice.

Among these were cult-leader-turned-murderer Bloody Bob Sims, social-activist-turned-anarchist Albert Parsons, the mysterious hobo bandit Railroad Bill and the nefarious outlaw sheriff Steve Renfroe, who was credited with countless prison escapes, thefts and arson. Legendary Wild West figures Frank and Jesse James also appeared in Alabama, along with numerous other well-known gunslingers, pirates, crooks and desperados. Bushwhackers caused widespread chaos during the Civil War and were considered outlaws depending on which side you supported. Join real-life partners in crime Kelly Kazek and Wil Elrick as they recount the atrocities of some of Alabama's most infamous lawbreakers.

On February 5th, 1946, the Ferguson brothers were concluding a night out celebrating Charles Ferguson’s reenlistment in the Army...

Charles, wearing his military uniform, walked with his brothers Alphonso, Joseph, and Richard towards the Freeport Bus Terminal to go home. A provisional Freeport police officer named Joseph Romeika stopped the brothers over a disorderly conduct complaint. Words were exchanged, and Officer Romeika killed Charles, Alphonso and shot Joseph within minutes of the initial stop. Following the unarmed shooting, Romeikia was acquitted despite changing stories of eyewitnesses.

Discover how the shooting became a catalyst for civil rights efforts and immortalized in a Woody Guthrie protest song.

Brooklyn. The most populous borough in New York City. Birthplace of the Dodgers, Sweet‘n Low, and Season 21 of “The Real World.” With more than 400 years under its belt, the borough is filled with a history of both sweet and savory moments.

It’s hard to imagine Brooklyn as anything other than a concrete jungle. Who would guess that that first battle of the Revolutionary War was fought here? Or that the world’s oldest subway is hidden beneath the streets of Boerum Hill? Or how an airplane fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the street in Park Slope?  Hundreds of people pass by the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park everyday. Virtually no one stops to read the plaque. If they did, they would learn that it is actually a grave, holding up to 15,000 bodies.   

Author Allison Huntington Chase, Brooklyn's own Madame Morbid, takes readers on a journey beyond the brownstones, to discover the hidden, macabre and bizarre throughout Brooklyn history.

Documented in film, crime T.V. shows and now captured in this book; read about Larry Gene Bell and his reign of terror in South Carolina.

Former South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) forensic photographer Lieutenant Rita Y. Shuler leads us through the twenty-eight days of terror and shocking events of one of the most notorious double murders and manhunts in South Carolina history. Shuler shares her own personal interactions with some of the key players in this famous manhunt and investigation. Also included are Bell's chilling calls from area phone booths to the Smith family, along with his disconcerting interviews and bizarre actions in the courtroom, which show the dark, evil and criminal mind of this horrific killer. This case has been featured on the Discovery Channel's FBI Files, episode Cat and Mouse, and in the CBS movie Nightmare in Columbia County, which can still be seen on Lifetime TV. It currently runs as the episode Last Will on Court TV's Forensic Files.

Spellbinding cases of mayhem from the Great Lake State

Blanketed by forests, dotted by lakes, crisscrossed by rivers and surrounded by Great Lakes, Michigan is a good place to hide secrets, bury bodies and stash evidence. Dig deep enough, and you will unearth something sinister. Is the suicide note of a prominent Detroit physician also a confession to murder? Were inmates unlawfully released from Jackson State Penitentiary to carry out a contract killing on a politician before he could turn State's evidence? Who silenced a fiery radio personality known as "the voice of the people'?? Did a notorious serial killer stalk women in Lansing during the 1970s?

Join true crime author Tobin T. Buhk as he excavates some of the most vexing unsolved crimes in Michigan history.

Discover sinister stories of Erie's hidden history.

Life on the lake is not always pleasant, as these stories of scandal, robbery, murder, suicide, the mob, and more, reveal. The threatening reign of terror from the Phantom Burglar in the winter of 1926 kept Erie residents living in fear, culminating in a shocking finale. In 1927, bandits stole the payroll of the Erie County Electric Company in a harrowing robbery, and the manhunt and investigation that followed captivated the city. Extortion and blackmail were the purported tactics of local Black Hand gangsters in threatening letters sent to one of Erie’s wealthiest turn-of-the-century citizens. The tragic murder of twenty-two-year-old Mary Sobucki enraged local law enforcement and shined a light on the underworld operations of baby harvesting farms. Author Justin Dombrowski presents narratives of Erie’s wicked past.

Famous and forgotten, they’re all our fabulous ancestors.

From Charles Warren Stoddard, the first openly gay San Franciscan, to Felicia “Flames” Elizondo, the exuberant transgender rights advocate, the LGBT community is integrally woven into the fabric of the city’s history. Household names like Queen Califia, Charley Parkhurst, Elsa Gidlow, Jose Sarria and Harvey Milk are celebrated worldwide, while Bert LaRose, Mabel Edison and Clarence Lockett are now largely forgotten. Whether ’49ers, bohemians, beatniks, boomers, hippies, clones or conformists, their fascinating stories contributed to the development of a vibrant community, many simply by being themselves.

Join Dr. William Lipsky as he recounts their struggles and achievements in the City by the Bay.

An account of the civil rights march that ended in the unlawful incarceration of African American protestors—and the basis for the 2017 documentary.

In October 1965, nearly 800 young people attempted to march from their churches in Natchez to protest segregation, discrimination and mistreatment by white leaders and elements of the Ku Klux Klan. As they exited the churches, local authorities forced the would-be marchers onto buses and charged them with “parading without a permit,” a local ordinance later ruled unconstitutional.

For approximately 150 of these young men and women, this was only the beginning. They were taken to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, where prison authorities subjected them to days of abuse, humiliation and punishment under horrific conditions. Most were African Americans in their teens and early twenties.

Authors G. Mark LaFrancis, Robert Morgan and Darrell White reveal the injustice of this overlooked dramatic episode in civil rights history.

Extreme wealth could buy a mansion in Millionaires' Row but not immunity from unsavory business dealings or shameful behavior.

May Hanna gave her millionaire ex-husband's hired Pinkerton detectives the slip to sneak out of the country. To escape financial embarrassment, James Potter, the manager of a prominent Euclid Avenue apartment building, gave his family cough medicine laced with poison, killing his entire family including himself. Married to a Millionaires' Row doctor, the infamous con woman Cassie Chadwick posed as Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter and forged a fake $5 million check. Author Alan Dutka delves into sixteen tales of anguish and deceit that offer a startling perspective on Cleveland's super-rich.

Discover the untold story of the Windy City’s Ghost Shadows.

Even in a town notorious for gangsters like Al Capone, much of Chicago’s lawless lore has remained uncharted. Chicago’s Chinatown, in particular, was home to a vast criminal enterprise, strictly bound by old country rituals, rules and traditions. Few know of Moy Dong Chew, aka “Opium Dong,” one of Chinatown’s original godfathers, much less Frank Moy, his fedora-wearing predecessor. While incidents like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre dominated newspaper headlines, the Tong Wars were being waged in the shadows. Author Harrison Fillmore relates the long and sordid history of Chinatown’s underbelly from the early 1880s to the late 1980s when a Federal Indictment essentially ended organized crime’s grip on their good citizens

The rich history of the Wolverine State has a serious dark side.

In the Detroit area, the Black Legion outdid the Ku Klux Klan in hate but remained secret until one of its leaders was implicated in a murder. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek was equal parts physician and quack. Then there were the state's two self-proclaimed kings—James Jesse Strang, the leader of a Mormon group on Beaver Island, and Albert Molitor, the reputed illegitimate son of German royalty who established his own kingdom on Presque Isle.

Michigan author and historian Norma Lewis present a gallery of the state’s most despicable criminals, crooks, conmen and more.

Haunted Hoaxes of the Hoosier State

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, newspapers were a major source of ghost stories. Paranormal experiences, no matter how mundane, were newsworthy and entertaining—even when they turned out not to be ghosts after all. A coffin holding a “talking corpse” on a train turned out to be a box of bullfrogs. An overturned automobile carrying white paint resulted in a paint-covered “ghost” wandering the streets, and a spiritualist tackled a phantom haunting a cemetery only to find that it was a fraternity pledge all along.

Revealing that the truth can sometimes be as amusing as the legend, author Ashley M. Watson gathers newspaper clippings about Indiana ghost stories that were not ghosts at all.

GREAT MIDWEST BOOK FESTIVAL'S 2026 HISTORY CATEGORY WINNER

In the nineteenth century, heinous, bloody crimes shocked Michigan’s emerging western frontier.

A farmer, intent on marriage, disappeared after leaving a Leonidas tavern in 1853, culminating in the conviction of three men even though the body was undiscovered. A shooter fatally wounded a beloved sheriff during an 1867 Kalamazoo midnight jailbreak attempt, sparking a nationwide manhunt. The 1897 shooting of a couple in their Van Buren County home famously remains unsolved today. A brutal murder opposite the iconic train depot mortified Niles in 1892, and in 1894, an Okemos woman went mad after losing her husband, poisoned her son and tossed his body down a well.

Author Michael Delaware unfolds these and other true crime stories and mysteries from Victorian western Michigan.

The Dark in the Dark Corner

Years ago, when travelers to northern Greenville County asked a local where the Dark Corner was, invariably their reply was, “Just a little further up the road.” In those days few people wanted to admit they lived in that much storied and much maligned part of the county known as the Dark Corner. The Dark Corner in those days was legendary for its moonshine, murder and mayhem. This is the story of that well-known region. We travel back to the Dark Corner’s earliest days when its only human inhabitants were the Cherokee, and we move into the present where horse farms and multi-million-dollar homes dot the countryside that once contained moonshine stills and cornfields. 

A True Story of Murderous Greed.

The John R. Kizer story is a riveting tale of deception, murder and anxiety in rural Arkansas. Kizer was a doctor who used his knowledge to drive his lustful greed and his standing in the community to evade detection. He would spend hours caring for a sick farm animal but could also poison a dog with no emotion. And he acted the same with humans. Kizer used his wealth, position and social standing to evade detection while committing gruesome crimes, allowing him to recoup much of his ruined finances following the great stock market crash of 1929. His dreams of wealth and social acceptance drove him to murderous heights. Historian Rodney Harris offers the true story of Kizer's life.

This is the horrifying tale of the random crime spree that shocked residents of southwestern Pennsylvania in 1979.

During the winter of 1979, southwestern Pennsylvania was rocked by a series of sensational murders, sparking a thirty-year criminal justice saga. A week of brutal, seemingly random killings culminated in the provocation and fatal shooting of Patrolman Leonard Miller, an officer new to the town of Apollo's police force and only twenty one years old. Little more than a year later, two men were convicted of the rash of homicides and sentenced to death— yet both are alive today. Incorporating details of the central characters' personal lives as well as the state's court system, criminologist Michael W. Sheetz here relays the awful story of the so-called kill for thrill crime spree with the drama of a novelist and the insight of an officer of the law.

With interviews from key witnesses, authors Dave Shampine and Daniel Boyer recount the grisly story of this New Year's Eve North Country nightmare, which is still shrouded in mystery today.

The names Peter, Barbara Ann and Gerald Egan were familiar to Watertown police before December 31, 1964. The police suspected the trio in a long string of burglaries, and they were under investigation by the FBI for grand theft auto. But on that New Year's night, the Egans were shot execution style at a rest stop off Interstate 81. The gruesome gangland-style killings puzzled local and state police. Theories ranged from a simple confrontation gone awry to a premeditated act of retribution by hardened criminals who feared the Egans would turn state's witness.

A Story of Hard Spirits and Defiant Souls

Franklin County, Virginia has long been known as the Moonshine Capital of the World. That history can seem romantic, but the county has a dark and violent past. The descendants of the Scots-Irish who settled its rugged mountains openly defied the law and employed their own notions of justice to defend their traditions and livelihood. During Prohibition, the production of moonshine skyrocketed, but the liquor didn’t stop flowing from the mountains when the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed. County and state officials struggled to maintain order in a region where unsolved murders, strange disappearances, and senseless killings were a way of life. The peak came in 1978, with nine murders linked to moonshine and drugs in the county.

Historian and Virginia native Phillip Andrew Gibbs tells story of that horrific year and the history behind it.

American’s First Drug Runner

In 1886, five men met at San Francisco’s luxurious Baldwin Hotel to discuss a most profitable business: opium smuggling. The exploits of Will Whaley and his partners became the stuff of legend, with tales of landing contraband on deserted shores by the light of the moon, voyages across the Pacific, typhoons, and shipwrecks. Their co-conspirator was the notorious Halcyon, a schooner that novelist once Jack London admiringly wrote “sailed like a witch”.

Join author and career law enforcement agent John Madinger as he uncovers the danger, betrayals, and mysterious deaths of America’s first organized drug trafficking ring.

Lawrence County may seem a sleepy little place, but looks are deceiving.

The red light district in Ironton attracted enough attention for an FBI raid. On the other side of the law, Judge Lloyd Burwell became nationally known for his strict sentencing, which made him the subject for a movie starring Andy Griffith. A 1915 shooting on a shanty boat on the Ohio River sparked a fierce contest between Ohio and West Virginia over who had jurisdiction to prosecute the case. The mob ties of Continental Nite Club in Chesapeake ran all the way to the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas.

Local historian and author Lori Shafer gathers a selection of thrilling and occasionally gruesome tales from Lawrence County’s dark past.

The Eerie and Ominous in Kentucky 

Kentucky is no stranger to strange occurrences. From weird encounters with the Grim Reaper to local graveyard dogs, the Bluegrass State has its share of odd stories. Learn about local ghosts who’ve haunted areas for years. Encounter body snatchers and some very odd modes of death. Go on the hunt for Daniel Boone’s bones and witness the marvelous twisting tombstone. Witness the people who uncannily predicted their own death. Author Keven McQueen details these creepy stories and more. 

Discover the dark corners of Norton, Ohio, history

For such a small city, Norton's past is rife with bloody deeds, tragic accidents, and destructive disasters. This community on the edge of Akron had its share of train wrecks, plane crashes, and devastating fires, but other events were decidedly more sinister in nature. In 1931, a young robber allowed his twelve-year-old brother to ride along on a bank heist--to little brother's great delight. A labor dispute in 1950 resulted in two bombings of a local farm in a single year. In the 1970s and 80s, serial killers Robert Buell and Edward Wayne Edwards left their evil mark on the city. Digging through two centuries of news coverage, local author Lisa Merrick uncovers Norton's most loathsome crimes and heartbreaking calamities.

Discover the South's Most Notorious Murders, Mysteries, and Criminal Masterminds

Journey from Texas to Virginia in this gripping collection of haunting criminal cases. Follow a relentless serial killer as he leaves a bloody trail across Louisiana and beyond, witness a cunning lonely-hearts swindler terrorize Texas, and uncover Arkansas's bizarre wave of strychnine poisonings that baffled investigators. Experience the supernatural when a West Virginia murder is revealed through dreams and meet a one-armed conjure-man whose murder-for-hire schemes shocked North Carolina.

Watch forensic science evolve as crimefighters expand their arsenal of detection tools in this compelling tour of the South's most notorious crimes, where fact proves stranger than fiction.

Crime writer Cathy Pickens brings a novelist’s eye to the sinister South and its defining—and quirky—crime stories.

The coldest cases from Middletown, USA/

With dozens of unsolved murders spanning decades, Muncie and surrounding Delaware County might have more killings without justice than any American community like it. In 1962, Maggie Mae Fleming was shot to death as she sat in her living room. Paula Garrett was bludgeoned in her home in 1979, and her son, who survived the attack, wants justice. Garth Rector, killed in 2008, could have been murdered by any number of people he knew—or dated./ 

Journalists and award-winning true crime authors Douglas Walker and Keith Roysdon shine a spotlight on the victims, and on their loved ones and the investigators still hoping for resolution to long-cold murders./