Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast
Welcome to Fact or Fiction, the podcast about historical crimes with one fictional detail added. Listen carefully because it's not easy to know if something is Fact or Fiction. Ready to play?
Episodes
51 episodes
Fiblett 2.5
Fiblett 2.5 contains three actual articles from newspapers of the past about crimes with a connection to the prestigious Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. I've written one myself. Can you identify which one is my creation? Listen...
Dr. Alice Lois Lindsay Wynekoop: Physician, Social Reformer, Cold-Blooded Killer?
Dr. Alice Wynekoop was a respected physician and social reformer in Chicago in 1933 when her daughter-in-law's nearly nude body was found shot to death in Dr. Wynekoop's basement operating room. Was it possible that the highly esteemed do...
Fiblett 2.4
Today's Fiblett is filled with more Pinkerton adventures! Three of them are from published newspaper accounts, but one is my own creation. Listen closely. Is it Fact or Fiction?
Belle Gunness: Female Serial Killer of La Porte
Belle Gunness purportedly killed scores of victims for financial gain. After her Indiana farm burned to the ground with the bodies of the Gunness family huddled together in the basement, investigators discovered a number of disfigured and...
Fiblett 2.3
This week's minisode features Pinkerton detectives! As always three of the stories are from printed newspaper articles and one is a fictional account of my own creation. Listen closely. Can you tell if it's Fact or Fiction? &n...
Kate Warne: Adventures of a Female Pinkerton Detective
In 1856, a young woman entered the Pinkerton Detective Agency's offices at 80 Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois, looking for employment. According to his own accounts, Pinkerton politely told her he didn’t need a cleaner or a secreta...
Fiblett 2.2
It's February, and love is in the air! Today's minisode is all about romance. In Fiblett 2: Season 2, I read four articles about elopements. Three of the stories are from news articles of the past, but one is my own creation.&...
Adolph Luetgert: Chicago's Sausage King
The public was fascinated by the disappearance of Louisa Luetgert, wife of sausage manufacturer, Adolph Luetgert. When authorities suggested he had disposed of her body in his sausage plant, the nation's imagination went wild...and sausag...
Fiblett 2.1
This is another fun Fiblett episode where Laura reads articles that may or may not have appeared in newspapers of the past. It's up to you to decide which of the articles are Fact or Fiction. Ready to play?
Tillie Klimek: The Black Widow of Little Poland
The first episode of Fact or Fiction’s second season features Tillie Klimek, the black widow of Little Poland. In 1922, Tillie was arrested for poisoning her husband with a steady diet of arsenic-laced stew. Investigators soon disco...
The Murder of Amos Stillwell
In the early hours of December 30, 1888, Mrs. Amos Stillwell ran from the mansion she shared with her husband and young children to request help from her neighbors. Startled to see the respectable Mrs. Stillwell in her nightclothes and ev...
Fiblett #4: Lovebirds Fly the Coop
Fiblett #4 is another minisode of four stories, one of which is my writing. Here are the answers:Choice #1 about the attempted elopement of nineteen year old Cleo Broadhurst and his married lover Mrs. C. J. Ware appeared under the...
Nellie Muench: Socialite, Kidnapper, and Con Artist
During the 1930’s kidnappings were a common occurrence, and wealthy St. Louisans were prime targets for criminals interested in collecting ransom. One dark and stormy night in 1931, a wealthy and respected St. Louis doctor was abducted and held...
Fiblett #3
Fibletts are minisodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts! Today's episode includes four stories, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own...
The Missouri Kid
On a cold December evening in 1902, two good-looking young men robbed a Union, Missouri Bank and escaped with an estimated $15,000 worth of loot. When Pinkerton detective Charles Schumacher tracked them down, the young thieves brutally mu...
Fiblett #2: Four Unusual Cases of Murder
Fibletts are minisodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts! Today's episode includes four stories, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own...
The Case of the Murdered Mayor
On November 20, 1885, former East St. Louis mayor John B. Bowman was gunned down as he crossed the street to his home. Neighbors soon discovered his body. The shooter had disappeared, and the crime remains unsolved to this day. &nbs...
Fiblett #1
Fibletts are mini-episodes of Fact or Fiction that allow you to test your own skills at finding the fiction within the facts! I'll read four paragraphs, three of which are from an article or related articles and one that is my own inventi...
The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair: The Good, the Bad, and the Olympics!
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, more commonly referred to as the St. Louis World’s Fair, opened its gates on May 1, 1904 and throughout its seven months of life, entertained approximately 20 million visitors. It was a remarkable event,...
Francis J. Tumblety: Doctor? Fraud? Ripper?
In May 1903, a shabbily dressed old man checked himself into a St. Louis hospital claiming “the only poor thing about me is my health.” Doctors weren’t sure what to make of this unusual patient who soon died with no mourners at his bedside. Fra...
The Peaceful Village Band
In the early 1920's a group of inmates from the Jefferson City State Penitentiary, the prison's Peaceful Village Band, used their musical talents to rise to national fame. Some of the members leveraged this notoriety to shorten their sent...
The Case of the Single Cuff Button
On the evening of January 31, 1912, a St. Louis police officer noted the business of The Cowperthwait Loan Company uncharacteristically had its lights on at 7:00 p.m., well after its usual closing time. The officer entered to find a distu...
Bertha Gifford, Murderess?
Bertha Gifford was a matronly lady who devoted herself to her sick neighbors out of the goodness or her heart, or did she have another motive for "helping" her neighbors? Listen carefully, because it’s more difficult than you think to dis...