Criminalia

Lester Warfel Brockelhurst, Jr. was the president of the Mormon church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and he was a Sunday school teacher -- he was generally and genuinely known as a, “good boy.” But in his early 20s, he picked up a new nickname: "crime tourist,” after he and his girlfriend, Bernice Felton, pulled off multiple robberies and killed three men during a six-week crime spree that spanned across more than a ...

This story is one of murder, but it's also a tale of woe. It begins when a young ship's steward named Frederick 'Freddy' Bywaters became involved with a married woman named Edith Thompson. They had known each other growing up in the same London suburb as her husband Percy Thompson; and, it was generally considered that Freddy would marry Edith's sister, Avis. But life doesn't always work out the way you think it will -- and he ende...

Joseph Bowers is considered the first prisoner to try escaping Alcatraz, but was killed during his attempt. The next to attempt it was a pair of conspiring inmates named Ted Cole and Ralph Roe. Both men had long rap sheets and were known escape risks -- including from high security facilities. As a last resort, each was sentenced to time at the most inescapable prison in the United States: Alcatraz. With hindsight, and it's easy fo...

Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were sentenced in July of 2008 to life in prison for the murders of Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid. The women, who were both in their 70s, appeared to be in the business of rescuing down-on-their-luck men in Los Angeles, but it was a deadly ruse. Instead, theymanipulated their marks with offers of free food and housing, and then manipulated them into helping them open life insurances policies – wi...

Federal prosecutor Daniel Wenner described the case as, “the bloodiest, most violent betrayal of the badge this city has ever seen.” Two decorated New York City police detectives, Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, committed various illegal activities on behalf of the Five Families of the American Mafia, spanning from the mid-1980s to 1990. This is the story of how their moonlighting gig was discovered by efforts of the FBI, DEA...

Ray and Faye Copeland were husband and wife serial killers and the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States. Their known victims include at least five farmhands -- more men are still considered missing and likely also murdered, though their remains have not been found. This is a story about nearly a dozen hired laborers who disappeared from the Copeland farm in the 1980s. 

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Train robberies are often thought of as a 19th century problem, like when Jesse James and his gang of outlaws famously pulled off the world's first robbery of a moving train, on July 21, 1873, in Iowa. And, of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who liked to rob banks and trains -- and famously blew up the a Union Pacific Railroad train the morning of June 2, 1899. The business of train robbery was BIG business in post-Civi...

One of Truman Capote's most famously told anecdotes about his childhood involves his running away with his neighbor, Martha Seabrook, when he was about 10 years old and she, roughly 15. They made a break to a town near where they lived, but were returned home in a day or two. Thirteen years later, Martha met Raymond Fernandez and became one half of the murderous duo known in the press as, The Lonely Hearts Killers. Welcome to a bra...

Welcome to the final episode of our season exploring worthless and often dangerous remedies that were promoted as good for whatever may ail you – and, by extension, the patent medicine salesmen, a bunch of quacks and rip-off artists, who advertised and peddled those fraudulent goods. We went into this season assuming the worst; and … it was pretty bad news, to be honest. Listen as Holly and Maria share their favorite shows and drin...

Welcome to a brand new season of Criminalia, where we'll be talking about criminal duos. Partners in crime. Now, your partner in crime could be platonic; others may be romantic. They're someone who has your back no matter what. This season's partners in crime wait outside in the getaway car. They plot and commit illegal acts with you.In this season, it's fair to say, it’s someone  you'll probably be arrested and go to prison with. ...

In the Victorian era, the menstrual cycle was considered a disease. A Victorian era woman going through menopause was considered to be emotionally unstable, and a physician would likely have prescribed bloodletting to treat its symptoms. He also would have advised her against reading novels, going to parties, and dancing. If you were a 45- to 50-year-old woman in the 19th century, developing this “madness” was considered inevitable...

In the mid-1890s, Harry Kramer’s Sterling Remedy Co. introduced a product called, Cascarets Candy Cathartic. Cascarets were just laxatives, but the product blew away the competition. And a lot of that had to do with how it was marketed (a stroke of brilliance): Harry advertised the product as candy – and historians believe he may have been the first to have marketed medicine in that way. They were brown tablets – nothing special th...

Talking about the United Society of True Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing – a religious group commonly known as Shakers -- doesn't mean this is an episode about religion. They were disciplined and hard-working, and they were also innovative -- a good combination of characteristics that helped them finance their communal lives in a few successful ways. Their most successful business didn’t come from their famous furniture or i...

Daffy's Elixir was one of the most popular patent medicines in Britain -- and it sold for nearly 300 years, which is amazing considering these types of products were often a flash in a pan. But what makes this product different than others we’ve talked about this snake oil season, other than its longevity, is that its ingredients list wasn’t kept secret -- it was a novel idea to publish ingredients for patent medicines at a time wh...

According to the Vermont State Pharmacy Association in 1921, quote: "Dr. Kilmer's SWAMP-ROOT Kidney, Liver and Bladder Medicine … is a medicine of genuine merit. Thousands of letters we have received from druggists indicate that it has won the confidence of the people. We believe that the druggist who recommends it thereby helps his own reputation for reliability and truthfulness as his customer is usually satisfied with the result...

Many patent medicines may have done more harm than good -- or at the very least, nothing at all -- and we’ve been talking about a good many of them so far this season. Ingredients in patent medicines were unregulated and manufacturers weren’t required to list ingredients on the label. Most didn’t help your problem, but there were several products that originated in that era that we still use to this day, believe it or not, although...

Getting yourself a parasitic buddy will help you lose weight; the idea here is that the tapeworm lives in your intestines and eats whatever you’re eating, meaning you can go for seconds or thirds without feeling guilty about any of the calories. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Until the tapeworm part, that is. Tapeworms shouldn’t be inside your body unless it’s by accident, but if you lived in Victorian England, you might have intenti...