May 1, 2025 • 30 mins
In 1930s Detroit, men checked into Rose Veres boarding house, and never left. Branded “The Witch of Delray” by the press, she was accused of multiple murders. But was she a killer… or a scapegoat?
Uncover the truth behind fear, prejudice, and one of Detroit’s most haunting legends.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Clue Trail , where every story is a mystery
and every clue pulls you deeperinto the unknown.
From unsolved cases and strangedisappearances to hidden
histories and curious twists offate, we piece together
fragments, searching for thetruth or uncovering even bigger
(00:29):
questions.
Some clues reveal answers,others lead to greater mysteries
.
But one thing is certain everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
In 1930s, detroit, on a quietstreet, in the working-class
(00:53):
neighborhood of Delray, therestood a house, a simple
two-story boarding house, wheredesperate men came looking for
shelter, warmth, maybe a secondchance.
But one by one, they died.
Some fell from windows, somecollapsed without warning, some
(01:21):
just disappeared.
And the woman who ran thathouse?
Her name was Rose Veres, butyou might know her by a
different name the Witch of DelRey, accused of murder and
convicted by the headlinespainted as a monster, by a city
(01:41):
gripped with fear and fuelled byprejudice.
But was she truly a killer orjust a scapegoat?
Today, on Clue Trail, weunravel the haunting case of
Rose Veres, a story of power,suspicion and what happens when
a woman doesn't fit the mold andsomeone dies.
(02:04):
To understand her story, first,we need to understand where she
lived.
Detroit in the 1930s was a cityof contradictions.
On the surface, it was thebeating heart of the American
(02:25):
industry.
Home to the automobile giantsFord, general Motors and
Chrysler.
It had become a symbol ofmodern progress, mass production
and the American dream.
But underneath that gleamingimage, detroit was struggling.
(02:51):
When the stock market crashedin 1929, the impact rippled fast
through Detroit.
Factory layoffs skyrocketed,thousands lost their homes.
Entire neighborhoods fell intopoverty.
For working-class people,survival became a daily battle.
For immigrants, especiallywomen like Rose Veres, the odds
(03:12):
were even worse, with so manymen out of work or forced into
transient labour.
Boarding houses became alifeline, a place to sleep, a
meal if you were lucky and noquestions asked.
But they also became a place offear, crime and rumor.
These were homes packed withstrangers, people on the age of
(03:36):
survival.
Deaths, fights, disappearancesthey happened more often than
anyone cared to admit.
Deaths, disappearances theyhappened more often than anyone
cared to admit.
Detroit was also a city shapedby immigration.
Hungarians, italians and othershad flocked there for factory
jobs in the 1910s and 20s, butby the 1930s tensions rose.
(04:06):
Foreign accents drew suspicion,women living independently were
distrusted and anyone whodidn't assimilate was seen as
dangerous or strange.
Rose Varys, hungarian widowed.
Running a house full of men fitno one's idea of normal.
Running a house full of men fitno one's idea of normal, and
(04:29):
that's exactly what made her soeasy to fear.
Long before she became theWitch of Del Rey, she was just
Rose Born in the late 1800s,rose Veres came to the America
with hopes of building a betterlife.
(04:54):
Like many immigrants at the time, she settled in Detroit, a city
that promised work, communityand opportunity.
Rose married Gabor and they hadthree sons together.
And as means of income, roseand Gber had opened their home
to boarders.
All was well for some time, butin 1925 is where Rose's
nightmare starts, as this is thefirst time she is arrested,
(05:21):
after two boarders died undersuspicious circumstances.
No proof was found and theneighbours didn't want to
testify out of fear of her.
So Rose was set free.
In 1927, tragedy struck thefamily again, as Gabor died from
monoxide poisoning in theirgarage, leaving Rose to run the
(05:41):
boarding house by herself.
There were many rumors aroundhis death.
Many suspected Rose shutteredthe door.
But these were just rumors,neighborhood gossip.
So by the time the 1930sarrived, rose was running that
(06:04):
boarding house by herself.
But why was Rose so feared inthe community?
Why was she named a witch,always surrounded by rumor and
gossip?
Rose didn't fit the mold of thatera.
She was tough, she had threechildren to raise and she was
determined.
She spoke little English,didn't host teas or church
(06:26):
socials.
She was very private.
So because of this she wasdeemed peculiar.
People couldn't understand herand when rumors started swirling
, when borders began dying, itwas easy for people to believe
something darker was going onbehind that front door.
(06:48):
Her son, william just 18, livedwith her and helped manage the
home.
The two were rarely seen apartand the younger siblings always
followed William's lead.
So Rose carried on with takingin boarders.
These were men who worked infactories, shipyards, foundries.
(07:13):
She offered them hot meals,basic shelter and a strict house
.
Rose would wake up at the crackof dawn each morning, wake
everyone up as well so they canleave for their jobs, wash their
clothes, make their food, keepa clean house.
(07:33):
It was all around the clock andaccording to the reports, she
ran a tight ship no drinking, nolate-night guests, no nonsense.
Neighbours kept whispering.
She was always deemed to becold.
They said she was judged foralways wearing black.
(07:54):
Some claimed she spoke cursesunder her breath in Hungarian.
Others swore they saw herlighting candles at night,
praying over strange papers,burning things in her stove.
Whether any of it is truedidn't matter.
In 1930s, detroit, a poorimmigrant, widowed, who kept to
(08:15):
herself, was already suspicious.
All it took was one death toturn suspicions into fear.
In the late 1920s and early 30s, men began dying at 1863 West
(08:38):
End Avenue, which was Rose'saddress, not all at once, not
with fanfare or anything likethat, but one by one over time.
First he was blamed onaccidents, then he was blamed on
illness.
But when multiple men, each ofthem warders, died in the same
(09:00):
place, people began to speculate.
One man was found at the bottomof their basement stairs.
Another supposedly fell from asecond-story window.
Another one collapsed in hisroom and never woke up.
The cause of death was oftenvague, sometimes natural causes,
(09:24):
sometimes unknown.
But here's what raisedeveryone's eyebrows.
Some of the dead men had lifeinsurance policies, and in few
of those policies Rose Veras wasnamed the beneficiary.
Unsurprisingly, word began tospread.
(09:44):
If you check into Rose Veris'boarding house, you might not
check out.
And by the time Steve Mack, herlatest tenant, was found dead
in her backyard in August 1931,the city had had enough.
City had had enough.
(10:07):
In the August sun in 1931,detective Whitman, a seasoned
investigator, was tracing thedistance.
Steve Mack would have fell,ricocheting from her attic
window to the neighbor'sclapboard siding to its final
resting place on the muddyground.
It was clear Mac's body had hitthe ground with force.
(10:31):
He didn't die instantly.
He was taken to the hospitalbut there wasn't much of a
chance of survival.
Much of a chance of survival.
Nothing seemed out of place inthe neighborhood of Del Rey and
he knew he might be questioned.
Why is he bringing a full squadto investigate what seemed to
(10:53):
be a handyman, clumsy foal?
But he had a gut feeling whenhe received the call.
He knew this would be at Rose'shouse, the so-named Witch of
Del Rey.
He was hoping this time for aneighbor's help.
Someone must have seensomething.
He worked on many cases duringhis career solved crimes of
(11:17):
passion, gang warfares, you nameit.
He had experience in it.
But what bothered him wereunsolved cases like the deaths
in Rose's house.
So he was determined to get tothe root cause.
He was determined to find whatis happening behind the closed
doors in the Witch of Delray'shouse.
(11:38):
Whitman didn't have to waitlong for neighbours to come
forward this time.
Whitman didn't have to waitlong for neighbours to come
forward this time.
The news of Mac's death spreadquickly, so all neighbourhoods
started whispering.
Witnesses claimed that this wasfoul play, mac's fault being
(12:00):
unnatural.
And having heard Williamarguing with him just before,
whitman knew he was finally onto something.
He needed to act quick talk toMac, which was still alive, but
barely, and then move swiftlyand separate Rose from William.
He knew once he did all thatthe case will unfold as everyone
(12:21):
will start talking.
So he headed to the hospital.
Mac was in bad shape.
He had wounds all over his bodyand he was finding it hard to
talk.
But he started recounting theevents of that day to Whitman
and his colleague.
Mac was at home that day,living in Rose's house, and she
(12:43):
asked him to fix a window.
He wasn't very pleased about it.
He didn't want to help, butRose got upset and told him to
do it.
After all, he was always behindwith the payments.
So he started fixing the window.
Hearing this, whitman stoppedand immediately stated to his
colleague that that's it.
(13:03):
He clearly has enough evidenceof Rose's and William's
wrongdoing.
This is the last piece heneeded.
Mac didn't finish his story.
He didn't say he was pushed.
He didn't say he argued.
He didn't say anything toincriminate Rose and William.
But Whitman's mind was made up.
He wanted the witch of Del Reybehind bars and he wouldn't stop
(13:27):
at anything.
That was the last time Whitmantalked with Mack.
He died two days later, onAugust 25th 1931.
Mack, a widower, came to theUnited States from Hungary in
the hope he will make enoughmoney to help his three
(13:49):
daughters.
Back home he died alone.
His children only found out ofhis death months later.
A full-on investigation nowstarted.
After the initial conversationwith Mac, the neighbours'
testimonies on the fight and themany other suspicious deaths in
(14:09):
the house, he felt he was on tosomething.
In the following days they alsomade another discovery.
Mac had taken a life insuranceand according to the neighbours,
the beneficiary was deemed tobe Rose Varys.
Some interesting police workhere.
All seems to be quitecircumstantial and only based on
(14:32):
what neighbors are saying.
Nevertheless, whitman hadenough details to get the
go-ahead and search Rose's housefor evidence.
Initially, when they enteredthe house, they didn't find much
, not until they reached Rose'sbedroom.
There they found few woodenboxes filled with documents and
(14:55):
a journal in Rose's handwriting,and those documents were all
life insurance policies for themen who were boarding in her
house, the beneficiary, roseVeres.
This was a huge break.
Whitman suspected 12 deaths atthis house.
If that was the case, thatwould have made a really good
(15:18):
payout to Rose, to Rose.
Rose and William were botharrested and from that moment
newspapers painted her somethingmore than a suspect.
They didn't call her by hername, they called her the Witch
of Delray and although thecoroner found nothing unusual
(15:40):
for the deaths of this man orMax's death, rose and Bill were
arraigned on charges offirst-degree murder.
They were charged with themurder of 12 men and held
without bail.
Now it gets even more unclear.
According to the prosecutors,rose was subjected to over 100
(16:01):
hundred hours of interrogations,intense grilling, and she
apparently confessed.
But she didn't confess to allmurders.
She confessed only to onemurder, steve Max.
Now, in their opinion, whitmanand the prosecutors had
everything.
There were the life insurancesand the many testimonies from
(16:25):
the neighbors and those who soldthose to her.
They had Mac's statement which,if you recall, is not much of
an incriminating one, and theyhad her supposed confession.
Lastly, they had the testimonyof a friend of hers to whom she
apparently confessed.
This friend was never named.
(16:46):
So with all this, they've runto trial now.
They described her as cold,calculating, witch-like Her
black clothes, her accent, hersharp features.
Her son, william, was portrayedas her loyal accomplice, her
(17:08):
pawn, even her enforcer.
There was a media frenzy andRose was judged and sentenced by
the newspapers before she evengot to her trial.
The trial started on 1st ofOctober 1931, just over two
months since their arrest.
The prosecutors started strongin their opening statement.
(17:32):
Rose and William conspired tokill their innocent lodger.
First they tried to poison him.
When that failed, they beat himup in their basement, making
him bruised and bloody.
And to cover this up, theydragged him up the stairs and
threw him out of the window.
Mack suffered for two days fromthe injuries.
(17:54):
And all was done for one reasonand one reason only A life
policy worth $4,000.
The prosecution claimed she ranher boarding house like a death
trap.
They said she and William hadpushed Steve Mack out of the
second-story window after tryingto pressure him into naming
(18:15):
them on his life insurance.
But the evidence that was thinno eyewitnesses, no clear
forensic proof.
What the prosecution had wassuspicion, superstition and
stories.
One witness claimed she heardcurses in Hungarian.
Another swore Rose keptmysterious paper in her drawer.
(18:40):
Police testified that Roseseemed unemotional, as if grief
or shock were required to proveinnocence.
But perhaps the most powerfulforce in that courtroom was fear
Fear of those different, fearof powerful women, fear of the
unknown.
The defence tried to refute allthese accusations.
(19:04):
Mac's death was just anaccident.
He had the testimony of aneighbor saying Rose wasn't even
at home when the accident tookplace.
She was talking with him in thecourtyard when another neighbor
came to tell her what happened,and William, he was at the
theater at that time.
So how could he have been intwo places at once?
(19:25):
First witness on the stand wasthe medical examiner.
He was specifically asked ifMack's wounds were consistent
with the blow from an object.
Dr Shapiro responded no, theyweren't.
So this means maybe Mack wasn'tbeaten up first, as the
prosecutors claim.
(19:46):
Next witness brought byprosecutors was Rose Sabo, a
neighbour.
She made a complete spectaclein the courtroom.
Described as being terrified byRose, she ran from the stand.
This was all to paint RoseVarys as a terrifying creature,
a woman up to no good thatinstilled fear in everyone she
(20:06):
met.
Lastly, was their star witness,john Walker.
Him and his family lived in theother portions of Rose's house.
He testified on what hewitnessed that day.
He said he'd seen Rose puttingup a ladder next to the wall
earlier in the day and he wasthe one to come out when Max
(20:28):
fell.
He'd just looked up and seenMax falling from a window.
He was implying Rose set thatladder up next to the wall to
later deter the policeinvestigation.
Basically she was setting upthe scene.
John also testified that whenhim and Rose were taken to the
police station that day to givetheir statements, rose
(20:50):
threatened him not to sayanything about Max Fall.
She said to him that if he diesthere is an insurance of $4,000
and she will give him $500.
The next few witnesses'accounts were contradictory.
One witness would say Mac fellout of a window and Rose and
William were responsible, andthe next one up would say Mac
(21:13):
fell over ladder, confirmingRose and William's account.
This trial was messy, but mediakept going and going.
Both Rose and William weredragged through the mud in the
press.
It's safe to say they hadanything but a fair
investigation.
So, unsurprisingly, rose andWilliam were both found guilty
(21:38):
of murder.
She was sentenced to life inprison.
Her son received a lengthy termas well.
The courtroom erupted,reporters scribbled away and the
name Witch of Delray was sealedinto the headlines of Detroit
forever.
But years later those crackswould begin to show, because the
(22:03):
case against Rose Veras wasnever as solid as the public was
told.
Many years passed, rose Verasremained behind bars.
Forgotten by the public, shewas only remembered by the name
the press has given her theWitch of Delray.
(22:25):
But behind the scenes, her casewasn't finished.
A new defense attorney, klutz,began reviewing the original
trial, and what she found raisedserious doubts.
She appeared in front of ajudge on April 6, 1945, bringing
with her the court reporterfrom the previous trial.
(22:46):
In this note, klutz was able toshow the new judge that at the
time when the verdict was givenby the jury, the judge wasn't
even in the room, and they hadprecedent.
Only a few years earlier,another trial was granted for a
man whose verdict was givenwithout the judge or
prosecutor's presence.
So on April 12, klutz turned inan amended motion for a new
(23:13):
trial based on the fact that thejudge was present at the time
the verdict was released.
One day later, a new trial wasgranted for Rose.
William has already served hissentence.
Therefore no trial wasnecessary at that point.
Rose's new trial began onNovember 27, 1945.
(23:35):
And it wasn't a smooth one.
Many of the original witnessescouldn't be found.
They moved out of state.
Four of them died, but theprosecutors managed to call 15.
In total, the defense wouldalso bring forward 10 witnesses.
The prosecutor started with JohnWalker, which was the star
(23:58):
witness in the first trial, andhe recounted the same story.
He helped Rose with the ladder.
Then, when he went to check ifany of his kids were near the
ladder that day, he witnessedMax falling and noticed Rose's
head sticking out of the atticwindow where, he said, max fell
from.
Next up was another neighborwho originally testified that
(24:21):
Rose asked for some water in atowel after Mac's fall.
That was to clean her faceafter the beating she gave to
Mac.
This time around this neighborrecounted her testimony saying
she didn't remember Rose askingfor a towel or water to wash her
face.
And so it continued, with manywitnesses coming and going, some
(24:44):
changing their testimony, somenot.
But Klatt's biggest day in thecourt was on December 7th when
she brought Rose Veras on thestand to testify.
Rose, with the help of aninterpreter told the court that
she didn't place the ladder, shedidn't see Max falling and she
definitely didn't beat him up.
(25:04):
She also clarified that shedidn't promise any money to John
Walker and the premiums on thepolicies being paid off.
She testified that it wascustomary for a landlady to pay
if the collector came that dayand the boarder wasn't at home.
She said in all instances Macwould pay her back and that she
(25:26):
wasn't aware she was thebeneficiary of his life
insurance.
Both sides rested after this.
The prosecutor's endingstatement focused on Rose
planning to kill Mac to benefitof his insurance, where the
defense focused on telling thejury that Rose was a victim of
persecution at her first trial.
(25:48):
In this trial the defence wasable to put a light on the
proceedings of the previoustrial and how bad it was all
handled.
Witnesses changed their stories.
Police interviews had goneundocumented.
Key testimony the claims thatconvicted Rose had never been
(26:14):
corroborated.
There was no forensic proofthat Steve Mack had been pushed,
no definitive evidence of lifeinsurance fraud, just suspicions
, just narrative.
The jury came back on December10, 1945, with a verdict of not
guilty.
Rose walked out of prison a freewoman.
Rose immediately disappearedfrom public life.
(26:36):
She gave no interviews, shewrote no memoir, she made no
attempts to reclaim her name.
She lived out the rest of heryears in silence.
By the time she left prison shewas 63.
She missed out on seeing herchildren grow, being a
grandmother, being able to livea peaceful life.
(26:58):
And even when the charges weredropped and the courtroom doors
closed, the story of Rose Verasdidn't end.
Detroit remembered her not as afreed woman, but as a legend.
People didn't say Rose Veraswas exonerated.
They said she was the witch ofDel Rey.
Because that's how it works,isn't it?
(27:21):
It doesn't matter what theevidence says, the myth, it's
always louder than the facts.
Rose became a part of Detroitfolklore.
She was a whispered name, acautionary tale, not really for
her crimes, but for the power offear media the power of fear,
(27:41):
media and bias.
Even today, her case is debated.
Was she a killer, a con artist,a misunderstood immigrant woman
caught in the wrong era?
The truth is, we may never know, because the story of Rose
Varys isn't only just aboutbeing guilty or being proven
innocent.
It's also about how societychooses its villains, and also
(28:06):
how easy it is to call a woman awitch when all she does is to
refuse to obey by the rules.
Rose Veris didn't leave a finalstatement.
She never wrote a letter orrecord her truth.
She didn't even ask forsympathy.
She just simply disappeared.
(28:27):
But the story she left behindsays everything.
She was called the Witch of DelRey, but maybe she was just a
woman who never had a chance.
That's a wrap for today'sepisode.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
We appreciate every single oneof you.
(28:48):
If you enjoyed the show.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media to stay updated on
all things Clue Trail.
You can find us on Instagram,facebook and TikTok on Clue
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(29:11):
Just head over to Patreon andlook for ClueTrail.
Thank you.
Welcome to Clue Trail , where every story is a mystery
and every clue pulls you deeperinto the unknown.
From unsolved cases and strangedisappearances to hidden
histories and curious twists offate, we piece together
fragments, searching for thetruth or uncovering even bigger
(00:29):
questions.
Some clues reveal answers,others lead to greater mysteries
.
But one thing is certain everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
In 1930s, detroit, on a quietstreet, in the working-class
(00:53):
neighborhood of Delray, therestood a house, a simple
two-story boarding house, wheredesperate men came looking for
shelter, warmth, maybe a secondchance.
But one by one, they died.
Some fell from windows, somecollapsed without warning, some
(01:21):
just disappeared.
And the woman who ran thathouse?
Her name was Rose Veres, butyou might know her by a
different name the Witch of DelRey, accused of murder and
convicted by the headlinespainted as a monster, by a city
(01:41):
gripped with fear and fuelled byprejudice.
But was she truly a killer orjust a scapegoat?
Today, on Clue Trail, weunravel the haunting case of
Rose Veres, a story of power,suspicion and what happens when
a woman doesn't fit the mold andsomeone dies.
(02:04):
To understand her story, first,we need to understand where she
lived.
Detroit in the 1930s was a cityof contradictions.
On the surface, it was thebeating heart of the American
(02:25):
industry.
Home to the automobile giantsFord, general Motors and
Chrysler.
It had become a symbol ofmodern progress, mass production
and the American dream.
But underneath that gleamingimage, detroit was struggling.
(02:51):
When the stock market crashedin 1929, the impact rippled fast
through Detroit.
Factory layoffs skyrocketed,thousands lost their homes.
Entire neighborhoods fell intopoverty.
For working-class people,survival became a daily battle.
For immigrants, especiallywomen like Rose Veres, the odds
(03:12):
were even worse, with so manymen out of work or forced into
transient labour.
Boarding houses became alifeline, a place to sleep, a
meal if you were lucky and noquestions asked.
But they also became a place offear, crime and rumor.
These were homes packed withstrangers, people on the age of
(03:36):
survival.
Deaths, fights, disappearancesthey happened more often than
anyone cared to admit.
Deaths, disappearances theyhappened more often than anyone
cared to admit.
Detroit was also a city shapedby immigration.
Hungarians, italians and othershad flocked there for factory
jobs in the 1910s and 20s, butby the 1930s tensions rose.
(04:06):
Foreign accents drew suspicion,women living independently were
distrusted and anyone whodidn't assimilate was seen as
dangerous or strange.
Rose Varys, hungarian widowed.
Running a house full of men fitno one's idea of normal.
Running a house full of men fitno one's idea of normal, and
(04:29):
that's exactly what made her soeasy to fear.
Long before she became theWitch of Del Rey, she was just
Rose Born in the late 1800s,rose Veres came to the America
with hopes of building a betterlife.
(04:54):
Like many immigrants at the time, she settled in Detroit, a city
that promised work, communityand opportunity.
Rose married Gabor and they hadthree sons together.
And as means of income, roseand Gber had opened their home
to boarders.
All was well for some time, butin 1925 is where Rose's
nightmare starts, as this is thefirst time she is arrested,
(05:21):
after two boarders died undersuspicious circumstances.
No proof was found and theneighbours didn't want to
testify out of fear of her.
So Rose was set free.
In 1927, tragedy struck thefamily again, as Gabor died from
monoxide poisoning in theirgarage, leaving Rose to run the
(05:41):
boarding house by herself.
There were many rumors aroundhis death.
Many suspected Rose shutteredthe door.
But these were just rumors,neighborhood gossip.
So by the time the 1930sarrived, rose was running that
(06:04):
boarding house by herself.
But why was Rose so feared inthe community?
Why was she named a witch,always surrounded by rumor and
gossip?
Rose didn't fit the mold of thatera.
She was tough, she had threechildren to raise and she was
determined.
She spoke little English,didn't host teas or church
(06:26):
socials.
She was very private.
So because of this she wasdeemed peculiar.
People couldn't understand herand when rumors started swirling
, when borders began dying, itwas easy for people to believe
something darker was going onbehind that front door.
(06:48):
Her son, william just 18, livedwith her and helped manage the
home.
The two were rarely seen apartand the younger siblings always
followed William's lead.
So Rose carried on with takingin boarders.
These were men who worked infactories, shipyards, foundries.
(07:13):
She offered them hot meals,basic shelter and a strict house
.
Rose would wake up at the crackof dawn each morning, wake
everyone up as well so they canleave for their jobs, wash their
clothes, make their food, keepa clean house.
(07:33):
It was all around the clock andaccording to the reports, she
ran a tight ship no drinking, nolate-night guests, no nonsense.
Neighbours kept whispering.
She was always deemed to becold.
They said she was judged foralways wearing black.
(07:54):
Some claimed she spoke cursesunder her breath in Hungarian.
Others swore they saw herlighting candles at night,
praying over strange papers,burning things in her stove.
Whether any of it is truedidn't matter.
In 1930s, detroit, a poorimmigrant, widowed, who kept to
(08:15):
herself, was already suspicious.
All it took was one death toturn suspicions into fear.
In the late 1920s and early 30s, men began dying at 1863 West
(08:38):
End Avenue, which was Rose'saddress, not all at once, not
with fanfare or anything likethat, but one by one over time.
First he was blamed onaccidents, then he was blamed on
illness.
But when multiple men, each ofthem warders, died in the same
(09:00):
place, people began to speculate.
One man was found at the bottomof their basement stairs.
Another supposedly fell from asecond-story window.
Another one collapsed in hisroom and never woke up.
The cause of death was oftenvague, sometimes natural causes,
(09:24):
sometimes unknown.
But here's what raisedeveryone's eyebrows.
Some of the dead men had lifeinsurance policies, and in few
of those policies Rose Veras wasnamed the beneficiary.
Unsurprisingly, word began tospread.
(09:44):
If you check into Rose Veris'boarding house, you might not
check out.
And by the time Steve Mack, herlatest tenant, was found dead
in her backyard in August 1931,the city had had enough.
City had had enough.
(10:07):
In the August sun in 1931,detective Whitman, a seasoned
investigator, was tracing thedistance.
Steve Mack would have fell,ricocheting from her attic
window to the neighbor'sclapboard siding to its final
resting place on the muddyground.
It was clear Mac's body had hitthe ground with force.
(10:31):
He didn't die instantly.
He was taken to the hospitalbut there wasn't much of a
chance of survival.
Much of a chance of survival.
Nothing seemed out of place inthe neighborhood of Del Rey and
he knew he might be questioned.
Why is he bringing a full squadto investigate what seemed to
(10:53):
be a handyman, clumsy foal?
But he had a gut feeling whenhe received the call.
He knew this would be at Rose'shouse, the so-named Witch of
Del Rey.
He was hoping this time for aneighbor's help.
Someone must have seensomething.
He worked on many cases duringhis career solved crimes of
(11:17):
passion, gang warfares, you nameit.
He had experience in it.
But what bothered him wereunsolved cases like the deaths
in Rose's house.
So he was determined to get tothe root cause.
He was determined to find whatis happening behind the closed
doors in the Witch of Delray'shouse.
(11:38):
Whitman didn't have to waitlong for neighbours to come
forward this time.
Whitman didn't have to waitlong for neighbours to come
forward this time.
The news of Mac's death spreadquickly, so all neighbourhoods
started whispering.
Witnesses claimed that this wasfoul play, mac's fault being
(12:00):
unnatural.
And having heard Williamarguing with him just before,
whitman knew he was finally onto something.
He needed to act quick talk toMac, which was still alive, but
barely, and then move swiftlyand separate Rose from William.
He knew once he did all thatthe case will unfold as everyone
(12:21):
will start talking.
So he headed to the hospital.
Mac was in bad shape.
He had wounds all over his bodyand he was finding it hard to
talk.
But he started recounting theevents of that day to Whitman
and his colleague.
Mac was at home that day,living in Rose's house, and she
(12:43):
asked him to fix a window.
He wasn't very pleased about it.
He didn't want to help, butRose got upset and told him to
do it.
After all, he was always behindwith the payments.
So he started fixing the window.
Hearing this, whitman stoppedand immediately stated to his
colleague that that's it.
(13:03):
He clearly has enough evidenceof Rose's and William's
wrongdoing.
This is the last piece heneeded.
Mac didn't finish his story.
He didn't say he was pushed.
He didn't say he argued.
He didn't say anything toincriminate Rose and William.
But Whitman's mind was made up.
He wanted the witch of Del Reybehind bars and he wouldn't stop
(13:27):
at anything.
That was the last time Whitmantalked with Mack.
He died two days later, onAugust 25th 1931.
Mack, a widower, came to theUnited States from Hungary in
the hope he will make enoughmoney to help his three
(13:49):
daughters.
Back home he died alone.
His children only found out ofhis death months later.
A full-on investigation nowstarted.
After the initial conversationwith Mac, the neighbours'
testimonies on the fight and themany other suspicious deaths in
(14:09):
the house, he felt he was on tosomething.
In the following days they alsomade another discovery.
Mac had taken a life insuranceand according to the neighbours,
the beneficiary was deemed tobe Rose Varys.
Some interesting police workhere.
All seems to be quitecircumstantial and only based on
(14:32):
what neighbors are saying.
Nevertheless, whitman hadenough details to get the
go-ahead and search Rose's housefor evidence.
Initially, when they enteredthe house, they didn't find much
, not until they reached Rose'sbedroom.
There they found few woodenboxes filled with documents and
(14:55):
a journal in Rose's handwriting,and those documents were all
life insurance policies for themen who were boarding in her
house, the beneficiary, roseVeres.
This was a huge break.
Whitman suspected 12 deaths atthis house.
If that was the case, thatwould have made a really good
(15:18):
payout to Rose, to Rose.
Rose and William were botharrested and from that moment
newspapers painted her somethingmore than a suspect.
They didn't call her by hername, they called her the Witch
of Delray and although thecoroner found nothing unusual
(15:40):
for the deaths of this man orMax's death, rose and Bill were
arraigned on charges offirst-degree murder.
They were charged with themurder of 12 men and held
without bail.
Now it gets even more unclear.
According to the prosecutors,rose was subjected to over 100
(16:01):
hundred hours of interrogations,intense grilling, and she
apparently confessed.
But she didn't confess to allmurders.
She confessed only to onemurder, steve Max.
Now, in their opinion, whitmanand the prosecutors had
everything.
There were the life insurancesand the many testimonies from
(16:25):
the neighbors and those who soldthose to her.
They had Mac's statement which,if you recall, is not much of
an incriminating one, and theyhad her supposed confession.
Lastly, they had the testimonyof a friend of hers to whom she
apparently confessed.
This friend was never named.
(16:46):
So with all this, they've runto trial now.
They described her as cold,calculating, witch-like Her
black clothes, her accent, hersharp features.
Her son, william, was portrayedas her loyal accomplice, her
(17:08):
pawn, even her enforcer.
There was a media frenzy andRose was judged and sentenced by
the newspapers before she evengot to her trial.
The trial started on 1st ofOctober 1931, just over two
months since their arrest.
The prosecutors started strongin their opening statement.
(17:32):
Rose and William conspired tokill their innocent lodger.
First they tried to poison him.
When that failed, they beat himup in their basement, making
him bruised and bloody.
And to cover this up, theydragged him up the stairs and
threw him out of the window.
Mack suffered for two days fromthe injuries.
(17:54):
And all was done for one reasonand one reason only A life
policy worth $4,000.
The prosecution claimed she ranher boarding house like a death
trap.
They said she and William hadpushed Steve Mack out of the
second-story window after tryingto pressure him into naming
(18:15):
them on his life insurance.
But the evidence that was thinno eyewitnesses, no clear
forensic proof.
What the prosecution had wassuspicion, superstition and
stories.
One witness claimed she heardcurses in Hungarian.
Another swore Rose keptmysterious paper in her drawer.
(18:40):
Police testified that Roseseemed unemotional, as if grief
or shock were required to proveinnocence.
But perhaps the most powerfulforce in that courtroom was fear
Fear of those different, fearof powerful women, fear of the
unknown.
The defence tried to refute allthese accusations.
(19:04):
Mac's death was just anaccident.
He had the testimony of aneighbor saying Rose wasn't even
at home when the accident tookplace.
She was talking with him in thecourtyard when another neighbor
came to tell her what happened,and William, he was at the
theater at that time.
So how could he have been intwo places at once?
(19:25):
First witness on the stand wasthe medical examiner.
He was specifically asked ifMack's wounds were consistent
with the blow from an object.
Dr Shapiro responded no, theyweren't.
So this means maybe Mack wasn'tbeaten up first, as the
prosecutors claim.
(19:46):
Next witness brought byprosecutors was Rose Sabo, a
neighbour.
She made a complete spectaclein the courtroom.
Described as being terrified byRose, she ran from the stand.
This was all to paint RoseVarys as a terrifying creature,
a woman up to no good thatinstilled fear in everyone she
(20:06):
met.
Lastly, was their star witness,john Walker.
Him and his family lived in theother portions of Rose's house.
He testified on what hewitnessed that day.
He said he'd seen Rose puttingup a ladder next to the wall
earlier in the day and he wasthe one to come out when Max
(20:28):
fell.
He'd just looked up and seenMax falling from a window.
He was implying Rose set thatladder up next to the wall to
later deter the policeinvestigation.
Basically she was setting upthe scene.
John also testified that whenhim and Rose were taken to the
police station that day to givetheir statements, rose
(20:50):
threatened him not to sayanything about Max Fall.
She said to him that if he diesthere is an insurance of $4,000
and she will give him $500.
The next few witnesses'accounts were contradictory.
One witness would say Mac fellout of a window and Rose and
William were responsible, andthe next one up would say Mac
(21:13):
fell over ladder, confirmingRose and William's account.
This trial was messy, but mediakept going and going.
Both Rose and William weredragged through the mud in the
press.
It's safe to say they hadanything but a fair
investigation.
So, unsurprisingly, rose andWilliam were both found guilty
(21:38):
of murder.
She was sentenced to life inprison.
Her son received a lengthy termas well.
The courtroom erupted,reporters scribbled away and the
name Witch of Delray was sealedinto the headlines of Detroit
forever.
But years later those crackswould begin to show, because the
(22:03):
case against Rose Veras wasnever as solid as the public was
told.
Many years passed, rose Verasremained behind bars.
Forgotten by the public, shewas only remembered by the name
the press has given her theWitch of Delray.
(22:25):
But behind the scenes, her casewasn't finished.
A new defense attorney, klutz,began reviewing the original
trial, and what she found raisedserious doubts.
She appeared in front of ajudge on April 6, 1945, bringing
with her the court reporterfrom the previous trial.
(22:46):
In this note, klutz was able toshow the new judge that at the
time when the verdict was givenby the jury, the judge wasn't
even in the room, and they hadprecedent.
Only a few years earlier,another trial was granted for a
man whose verdict was givenwithout the judge or
prosecutor's presence.
So on April 12, klutz turned inan amended motion for a new
(23:13):
trial based on the fact that thejudge was present at the time
the verdict was released.
One day later, a new trial wasgranted for Rose.
William has already served hissentence.
Therefore no trial wasnecessary at that point.
Rose's new trial began onNovember 27, 1945.
(23:35):
And it wasn't a smooth one.
Many of the original witnessescouldn't be found.
They moved out of state.
Four of them died, but theprosecutors managed to call 15.
In total, the defense wouldalso bring forward 10 witnesses.
The prosecutor started with JohnWalker, which was the star
(23:58):
witness in the first trial, andhe recounted the same story.
He helped Rose with the ladder.
Then, when he went to check ifany of his kids were near the
ladder that day, he witnessedMax falling and noticed Rose's
head sticking out of the atticwindow where, he said, max fell
from.
Next up was another neighborwho originally testified that
(24:21):
Rose asked for some water in atowel after Mac's fall.
That was to clean her faceafter the beating she gave to
Mac.
This time around this neighborrecounted her testimony saying
she didn't remember Rose askingfor a towel or water to wash her
face.
And so it continued, with manywitnesses coming and going, some
(24:44):
changing their testimony, somenot.
But Klatt's biggest day in thecourt was on December 7th when
she brought Rose Veras on thestand to testify.
Rose, with the help of aninterpreter told the court that
she didn't place the ladder, shedidn't see Max falling and she
definitely didn't beat him up.
(25:04):
She also clarified that shedidn't promise any money to John
Walker and the premiums on thepolicies being paid off.
She testified that it wascustomary for a landlady to pay
if the collector came that dayand the boarder wasn't at home.
She said in all instances Macwould pay her back and that she
(25:26):
wasn't aware she was thebeneficiary of his life
insurance.
Both sides rested after this.
The prosecutor's endingstatement focused on Rose
planning to kill Mac to benefitof his insurance, where the
defense focused on telling thejury that Rose was a victim of
persecution at her first trial.
(25:48):
In this trial the defence wasable to put a light on the
proceedings of the previoustrial and how bad it was all
handled.
Witnesses changed their stories.
Police interviews had goneundocumented.
Key testimony the claims thatconvicted Rose had never been
(26:14):
corroborated.
There was no forensic proofthat Steve Mack had been pushed,
no definitive evidence of lifeinsurance fraud, just suspicions
, just narrative.
The jury came back on December10, 1945, with a verdict of not
guilty.
Rose walked out of prison a freewoman.
Rose immediately disappearedfrom public life.
(26:36):
She gave no interviews, shewrote no memoir, she made no
attempts to reclaim her name.
She lived out the rest of heryears in silence.
By the time she left prison shewas 63.
She missed out on seeing herchildren grow, being a
grandmother, being able to livea peaceful life.
(26:58):
And even when the charges weredropped and the courtroom doors
closed, the story of Rose Verasdidn't end.
Detroit remembered her not as afreed woman, but as a legend.
People didn't say Rose Veraswas exonerated.
They said she was the witch ofDel Rey.
Because that's how it works,isn't it?
(27:21):
It doesn't matter what theevidence says, the myth, it's
always louder than the facts.
Rose became a part of Detroitfolklore.
She was a whispered name, acautionary tale, not really for
her crimes, but for the power offear media the power of fear,
(27:41):
media and bias.
Even today, her case is debated.
Was she a killer, a con artist,a misunderstood immigrant woman
caught in the wrong era?
The truth is, we may never know, because the story of Rose
Varys isn't only just aboutbeing guilty or being proven
innocent.
It's also about how societychooses its villains, and also
(28:06):
how easy it is to call a woman awitch when all she does is to
refuse to obey by the rules.
Rose Veris didn't leave a finalstatement.
She never wrote a letter orrecord her truth.
She didn't even ask forsympathy.
She just simply disappeared.
(28:27):
But the story she left behindsays everything.
She was called the Witch of DelRey, but maybe she was just a
woman who never had a chance.
That's a wrap for today'sepisode.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
We appreciate every single oneof you.
(28:48):
If you enjoyed the show.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media to stay updated on
all things Clue Trail.
You can find us on Instagram,facebook and TikTok on Clue
Trail Podcast.
And if you want to support thepodcast and get even more
content, check out our PatreonMembers.
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(29:11):
Just head over to Patreon andlook for ClueTrail.
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