The Kitchen Table Historian: Recent Episodes
John Brassard Jr
Come sit and listen to all the stories that your grandma never wanted you to hear. Join author and historian John Brassard Jr. as he recounts stories of true crime, bizarre tales, and weird history from the American Midwest.
I know that you tuned in today to listen to another story, but, sadly, that isn’t going to be the case. After six years, I have made the decision to end the Strange and Dreadful Things Podcast. Thank you for being with me and tuning in over the years.
Issac Slater was a bastard. A vicious alcoholic, he beat his wife. He beat his children. That is, until the day that his daughter had enough and shot him.
Hello all. Due to life stuff, the podcast is going to be on a brief break until mid April 2025. I've had to navigate a few things in my personal life and my job, and things are going to be busier than ever for me coming up here in March. However, the goal is to come back strong in April, so be sure to mark your calendars and be ready.
As a raging blizzard tore across the state of North Dakota, Adolph Martel sat warm and safe inside a mental hospital. A former drifter named J.J. Murphy stood talking with him, helping the time to pass. Little did they know it, but a patient’s presence nearby would result in the death of one of them and the near demise of the other.
Devil’s Lake is the second largest lake in North Dakota, covering thousands of acres. For decades, people have claimed to have seen a serpent-like creature gliding through the water there. What is the Devil’s Lake Monster?
Miriam Grinstead loved the swing that her brother John had built in the hayloft above their garage. There wasn't a lot to do in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, and this was something that her and her siblings could all use. One day, Miriam snuck into the hayloft to have the swing all to herself. Little did she know it, but it would be one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.
Fifty years ago, Mary Schlais was murdered and left in a rural Wisconsin ditch. For decades, decades searched for her killer. Now, thanks to a new scientific discipline called Forensic Genealogy, her killer has finally been found.
Halloween is a time for make-believe frights and kids to trick or treat at neighborhood houses. In 1957, the Halloween fun turned into a true crime horror story when the childrens past time resulted in an all-too real murder.
In October 1959, a newspaper near Buffalo, Iowa, reported a bizarre story about what may have been a ghost in a local cemetery. Could the cemetery there actually be haunted, or was something else going on?
The Pfister Hotel is one of the grandest and most historic hotels in the United States. Situated in beautiful downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Pfister has faithfully served its guests for over 130 years. However, several of those guests have reported strange noises, bizarre happenings, and even appartitions while staying there. Who are the ghosts of the Pfister Hotel?
Built in the mid-1800's, the Renwick Mansion is probably the best example of Italianate architecture in the Quad Cities. In short, it's a really cool-looking house. But over the years, many people have claimed to have strange experiences there: footsteps, moving objects, and even apparitions. But is it true? Is the Renwick Mansion really haunted?
When John and Ida Harris didn’t answer their door in 1895, the visitor knew something was wrong. Cautiously they opened the door. The nightmare they saw inside would stay with them the rest of their lives. Come hear a tragic tale of the American West that your grandma didn’t want you to hear.
A few days before Christmas 1939, Stephen Melkey was struck by a car near South Bend, Indiana, and thrown nearly 40 feet through the air before landing. When the police arrived, they found that someone had tied his hands behind his back and taped his eyes and mouth shut. Had someone meant for him to be struck by a car on the highway, or had they left him to die in the freezing temperatures?
Quarters One is the second largest government-owned private residence next to the White House. Over the past 150 years, it has hosted politicians, soldiers, and celebrities in its gilded rooms. Some say that some of them have never left. Do they still walk the halls of Quarters One? Or is it something else?
On a summer day in 2001, Donna Stabile knocked on the front door of Leticia Aguilar. She babysit Leticia's five children nearly every night, but hadn't seen them for a few day. Donna had started to get worried, so she went to the house. On a whim, she opened the front door and stepped inside. Donna immediately knew something wasn't right. What she didn't know was that she had just stumbled upon one of the most brutal crimes in Iowa history.
When it's population peaked at around one-hundred people, Moonville could barely have been called a town. Regardless of it's size, Moonville grew a reputation for being hard to get to and having an unusual amount fo train accidents happen there. However, it's said that not everyone who lost their lives on that stretch of tracks rest easy.
In this remastered version of an earlier episode: In 1958, a legendary flood struck western Iowa that would claim many, and would forever change the lives of all those who survived.
The Lake Hope Furnace has stood for over one-hundred years, a remnant of the former thriving iron industry in southern Ohio. But its more than a historical monument. The furnace is the home of one of Ohio's most famous urban legends: The Night Watchman of Lake Hope Furnace.
In 1937, Howard Long had a good life - a good wife, his own business, and a stable income during the Great Depression. All of that came to sudden halt when he was arrested and thrown in a jail cell with three other men. Right away he wanted to know why he was there. When he was told, he couldn't hardly speak. Several young girls had accused him doing the unthinkable.
In this remastered edition of an earlier podcast: In 1907, henry Warren walked into a local newspaper and placed an ad for a wife. He became a sensation, and was dubbed 'Loving Henry.' But under his charming good looks he was harboring a dark secret that would take decades to reveal itself.
Strawberry Point is known for being home to the world's largest strawberry. But what many people don't know is that it's also home to the Franklin Hotel, a 150-year-old hotel and event venue that has the spirit of a 1920's prostitute still wandering the halls.
In February 1883, dozens of men and boys descended into the depths of the Illinois prairie to mine coal. By noon, the pump man saw water rising in the mine tunnels. Little did he know that something was horribly wrong. In a matter of minutes, a third of the men in the mine that day would meet a terrible end in what would become one of the worst coal mining accidents in Illinois history.
Mabel Moore had just gone to St. Louis with her new husband, Arthur. After just a few days and one bad argument, he left her stranded there. Abandoned in a strange city, Mabel turned to the unthinkable. When police investigated later, what seemed like a straightforward story became unbelievably bizarre.
Carol Eberle was getting married, and she was overjoyed. But no one else really was. Something had happened just a few weeks before that had soured several people toward Carol in their small North Dakota town. She didn't care one bit what they thought, but sometimes karma has a way of catching up with people.
Swift Runner and his family journeyed into the Canadian wilderness in 1878 for the winter. Only Swift Runner emerged the following spring. He said that his entire family starved to death, but there was something off about his story. When police investigated, one of the most infamous tales of murder and cannibalism in Canadian history was revealed.
Henry Kuehl was just trying to do his job. On a warm January night, he rode out to a rural Iowa farm to help settle a dispute between the farmer and his landlord. The night started off normal enough, but soon degeneratedinto an evening that Kuehl would never forget.
Sam Smith was a desperate man. He couldn't find a job, and he had a family to feed. Out of desperation he turned to stealing. But when he died suddenly, did his ghost return to watch over his family?
Imagine driving near Chicago's Mount Carmel Cemetery and seeing a woman wearing a white wedding dress walking along the road. It's rainy and muddy, and yet she seems untouched by all of it. You would be seeing the Italian Bride, one of Chicago's most famous ghosts. But who was she, and why does her ghost still haunt the area?
William Nelson was a private pilot who had just married the beautiful Onaima Nelson, a woman 23 years younger than himself. Then, just after Thanksgiving 1991, he disapeared. He was found in early December, murdered and dismembered by his new bride. But had she killed him out of self-defense, or had she murdered him in cold blood?
In late 1990, the body of Mary Lou Pratt was found in a quiet Dallas, Texas neighborhood. She had been severely beaten and then shot to death. If that wasn't bad enough, it was soon discovered that her killer had expertly removed both her eyes. Mary Lou had just become the unwitting victim of one of the strangest and brutal serial killers in Texas history.
Every Halloween, every village, town, and city dredge up their favorite spooky stories. Where I live is no different. Come and hear some of the legends and stories that I grew up with as I tell you about cursed statues, wailing spirits, and haunted houses.
When Johann Whynack married his Marie, he hoped that they would spend the rest of their lives happily ever after. But Marie loved another man, and saw no reason to stop seeing him even after she was married. As the marriage continued, the love triangle quickly took a toll on their lives as it spiraled into physical abuse and murder.
In 1965, two police officers knocked on the door of a small house in Houston, Texas. They were there to check on Fred and Edwina Rogers, an elderly couple who hadn't contacted their family for a week. Going inside the house, they found no one. On an impulse, they opened the refriderator and discovered one of the most gruesome crimes to ever occur in Texas history.
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In 1996, Bobie and Marilyn Blewer, professional food vendors from Missouri, set up their trailer at the Iowa State Fair. It was - and is - one of the biggest fairs in the country, and had been a regular stop for the Blewers for twenty years. Then, one sunny afternoon, as thousands of people enjoyed the rides and entertainment, word began travelling amongst the other vendors that something had happened to the Blewers. The word was that they had been murdered. What had happened, and who had done it?
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When it was built in 1903, the Claypool Hotel was designed to be the best and brightest of Indianapolis' hotels. And, for forty years, it was. Then, starting in 1943, a serious of tragic events that included two murders and a fire led to the Claypool's dramatic destruction in the 1960's. But does something of the grand old hotel still linger on the site it formerly occupied in downtown Indianapolis?
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In 1954, two maids found a horrible odor coming from a dresser in one of the rooms at the Claypool Hotel. When the dresser was searched, hotel staff found the badly decomposed body of a woman in the bottom drawer. Her name was Dorothy Poore, an 18-year-old trying to build a future in Indianapolis. What had happened to her, and who had put her body in the drawer?
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Maoma Ridings had joined the United States Army during World War II to aid the war effort. A professional nurse turned physiotherapist; she was a young woman who enjoyed a good time. On August 30, 1943, she was found murdered in an Indianapolis hotel room. Who had ended the life of the well-liked nurse from Georgia?
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In 1990, a highway patrolman in Arizona stopped to check on a semi pulled off to the side of the road. Inside he found a woman who was naked, handcuffed, and wearing a horse bridle. While the driver, Robert Ben Rhodes, said that everything was consensual. The patrolman suspected otherwise. The investigation would turn into a nationwide investigation leading to one of the most evil killers to ever prowl America’s roadways.
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In January of 1926, Ed Rinebold was driving his normal newspaper deliver route in western Illinois when he had a strange feeling. The car at the railroad crossing had just been in an accident. He hadn’t heard or seen anything, but just knew that’s what happened. When he went back, the flaming ruins of the car and the bodies on the ground told him he was right. What had happened, and how did Ed know?
On the night of October 9, 1896, the town of Corning, Iowa was awakened by an alarm bell. A fire had broken out near the railroad tracks on the south side of town. As firemen and citizens fought the blaze, little did they know that an even bigger disaster was about to happen right behind them.
No one had seen Percy Smith since he had gone to buy cattle from a man near Council Bluffs, Iowa.
When police were called, their search led to Corliss Bruntlett, a man with a hidden past. They soon discovered that he was concealing an even darker secret that would shock their community.
Christine Leidel thought the fortune teller seemed nice enough, but you couldn’t be too careful in 1808 Bavaria. When he offered to look into her future, she decided to trust him. Christine Leidel had just made an appointment with one of the most infamous murderers in European history.
In 2007, a woman contacted the press with a startling revelation: her father, Donald Studey, was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of as many as 70 young women at his home in Green Hollow, Iowa. As the story began to make headlines across the nation, the case began to make many twists and turns that made people question what was true and what wasn't.
Swede and Fay Lewis had always been a stormy one, and Fay was finally tired of it. When she finally decided to end it and filed for divorce, Swede was enraged. To what depths would he descend when he didn’t get his way?
In this, the second part of the tragic story of the St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital Fire of 1950, people across America were shocked by the disaster that had claimed the lives of 41 people. Fire and police investigators were eager to find out what had caused the blaze. When they did, the truth was almost too shocking and bizarre to believe.
in the early hours of January 7, 1950, flames illuminated the night sky around Mercy Hosptial. An orderly was one of the first to see a mental hospital on the grounds engulfed in fire, but he would be far from the last. By the next morning, it would become one of the worst hospital fires in United States History.
Earl Albert Nead was born on November 13, 1937. By Christmas Day, he was dead, the victim of a horrible accident. But as police looked into things, the more it appeared that Earl’s death was deliberate. What had happened in that small Wisconsin apartment that Christmas?
Line shaft technology may have revolutionized industry, but they posed a very real danger to the workers who toiled around them. In 1922, nine-year-old Frank Nead found that out in a tragic and horrific accident.
Jesse Stanbridge was just another railroad cop doing his job in 1909 when he had an argument with a local farmer. That disagreement set into motion a chain of events that would change both their lives forever.
Mary Stewart had died too young, and her husband, William, couldn't stand the grief. Buying a gun, he set into motion plans of murder and suicide. But after telling a neighbor, nothing went the way he expected, resulting in an unbelievable conclusion.
Happy Halloween, everyone! For our Halloween episode this year, I'll be telling you some personal stories of the paranormal, as well as some from my family and friends. Come with me as we finish out the spooky season and experience the beyond.
The Rock and Roll Mansion in Davenport, Iowa, is a former mortuary that's been converted into the current home of many popular local radio stations. Employees over the years swear they have experienced everything from phantom footsteps to full apparitions. Do some spirits remain after their funeral was held in the building?
Dr. William Stoecks was a dedicated physician and surgeon, treating countless people throughout his career. He died in 1961. But did he stay in his former home and interact with the college fraternity who bought it?
Amelia Rohwedder was a middle-aged woman recovering from heart problems. Without reason or warning, she jumped from her fourth-floor window. Why?
Ever find yourself in a situation where your instincts scream at you to run? Most of us have. I know I did when I encountered the abandoned truck.
Quarters One has sat on Arsenal Island for 150 years. It's seen politicians, soldiers, and celebrities come and go. But some say that some of them may have never left, and they - or something else - still walk the mansion's halls.
James Chapman and his wife, Clementine, had no idea who sent the package to them in late 1922. But when they opened it to find out, one would lose their life and the other's life would be changed forever.
Jim Arpy was a veteran reporter who loved a great story, so when a couple approached him about their haunted house, he was intrigued. But was it truly haunted by a murdered woman's dying screams?
When Reverend Clarence Sheatsley found his wife, Addie, in the parsonage furnace, he believed that she had committed suicide. The county prosecutor thought that it was murder. What really happened to Addie Sheatsley?
In this short story, the assembled crowd at the Saunders, Wisconsin train depot that hot summer day of 1907 just wanted to get a train ride. What they got instead was a show that none of them had ever wanted to see - or could ever forget.
William Engelberg was probably looking for a better life when he came to America. But his efforts were met with tragedy after two of his wives committed suicide only a few years apart.
In 1962, Continental Airlines Boeing 707 Flight 11 crashed in Unionville, Missouri. It had been hit with enough force that a tornado was originally to blame. But was it really a tragic accident, or had something far more sinister caused the crash?
While investigators were dealing with a devastating plane crash near the Iowa-Missouri Border, they had no idea that a man named Gayno Smith was about to commit one of the most horrific crimes in Iowa history only an hour away.
As the Great Depression gripped the nation, two mass murders claimed Iowa families only two months apart from each other. The details are as saddening as they are horrifying.
All Thaddeus Fancher wanted to do was have a drink. But when a group of robbers came into the bar, his night would end in death. Who had killed him, and what ties did they have to one of the most vicious killers in prohibition-era Chicago?
In 1924, Bernice Zalimas was accused of poisoning her husband in Chicago, Illinois. But did she really, or was she the victim of vicious rumors?
During an almost ten-year period, the Botkin family faced two awful tragedies. Today, we take a look at the horrific consequences of suicide and steam.
In this continuation, we find that Dr. Frank Loomis has been freed, apparently innocent of murdering his wife, Grace. But with the discovery of new evidence, Frank would stand trial for first-degree murder. Was he innocent, or would he be found guilty of committing the perfect crime?
In 1927, Detroit police were convinced that Dr. Frank Loomis had murdered his wife. Was he innocent, or had he committed what everyone had begun to call the perfect crime?
Ever been afraid of a stranger hiding in your house? In 1927, Edna Ross might have been, but she had to deal with the one walking through her front door first.
The mansion was a secret hidden in plain sight, overlooking the Mississippi River in Bettendorf, Iowa. Some say that something strange still walks those halls, perhaps from the mansions past of sudden death, madness, and suicide.
In 1912, a horrific murder took place in Villisca, Iowa. Some people say the spirits of the victims still remain. After seeing the ball, I might just be a believer myself.
In this short story that your grandma didn’t want you to hear, a campus security officer has a brush with the supernatural at a midwestern university. What happened to them on that long ago night?
In 1947, a woman’s mutilated body was found on Credit Island, near Davenport, Iowa. Little did investigators know, the case was going to be one of the most brutal crimes in the history of the region.
When two children found a body floating in the river, Fort Wayne, Indiana, police were baffled. The man had clearly been murdered, but there was no identification on the body. Their search for who he was would begin a mystery that lasts to this day.
Courthouses were a big boost for the economies of frontier towns, and they were willing to do nearly anything to get them. When a long-running courthouse feud started again in Clinton County, Iowa, in the mid-1800’s, a group of local citizens decided to not take these insults lying down.
John David owed Arvid Helloian a debt. Arvid was content to wait to be paid back, until a family crisis back in Armenia forced him to ask for immediate repayment. When John David refused, Helloian snapped, leading to one of the most shocking crimes of 1921.
When Olive Funk was killed, nearly everyone saw it happen. While shocking, it would reveal a series of tangled secrets and lies buried beneath the idyllic façade of a small Iowa town.
In 1906, everyone loved Grace Reed. Everyone wanted to be her friend. But one man wanted her too much, and his obsession would drive him to make sure that no one else would ever have her, either.
In 1940, a burning car in rural South Dakota held a terrible secret. One man would serve as a connection between it and one of the worst mass murders in Iowa history.
Guy Gilbert returned to his South Dakota home to find that his visiting son had committed suicide. When the police went to notify his family of his untimely death, they had no idea of the horrors that awaited them inside their quiet house in Iowa.
Mary Schultz was a young, well-educated 20-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. When she married Henry Schultz, she thought that her future would be even brighter. Mary was wrong.
Another collection of short tales from Midwest history, Volume 3 deals with accidents too awful to contemplate, yet too horrible to forget.
Shortly before Christmas 1946, 35-year-old Bessie Moore trip to bake cookies with a friend ended in tragedy. The events of that December day still echo 75-years later.
Heartrending events in the life of Margaretha Nehlsen had brought her to the very depths of despair. No one knew that she was about to cause an even more horrific tragedy.
Mary Schlais was murdered on a cold February morning in 1974, just as a man named Randy was making his way to Wisconsin. Was this soft-spoken monster responsible for her death?
Mary Schlais was a beautiful young artist with her entire life ahead of her. A veteran hitchhiker, one bad ride in 1974 changed her life forever.
Steamboats are an iconic part of the history of the Mississippi River. In the case of the steamboat Lansing, however, that history turned both tragic and terrifying in a split second.
The Death Curve of Cambridge, Illinois, will forever be linked to the story of a woman who committed a horrible crime nearby. What really happened there, and does her ghost still haunt the area?
Horace and Geneva's marriage began to fall apart for all the usual reasons: money, jealousy, and neglect. Their path to reconciliation would quickly take a dark turn through rage and madness, speeding toward a terrible conclusion in the summer of 1920.
Stories of the American West have captivated generations of people. But beyond the tales of cowboy shootouts and outlaw exploits lies the bizarre story of Big Nose George, a notorious outlaw whose name became linked to a very special pair of shoes.
Dr. George Appleby was everything a small-town doctor should be: polite, gentle, and caring. But under the surface seethed hidden secret that would burst forth one dark day in 1900.
In many true crime tales, women are all too often the unfortunate victims. In the 1920’s, Hazel Anderson and Helen Depue turned the tables and showed just how ferocious they could be.
William Koenig came to America with his family for a better opportunity. On a warm August night in 1870, it ended in tragedy and death.
In 1921, 18-year-old Marie Wick checked into a Fargo hotel while travelling to visit her aunt. What happened that night in Room 30 would become one of the most vicious murders to ever occur in North Dakota.
The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic killed hundreds of thousands of people. Old and new funeral traditions went by the wayside as people buried the dead any way that they could. Come and see the heartbreaking and strange way of the American funeral during the pandemic.
In 1918, Americans on the home front were supporting their troops fighting in Europe while waging a war of their own against a deadly pandemic. Does one of the souls lost to the flu still haunt a Midwestern college?
If history is made up of small stories, then some of them fall off and disappear, like table scraps. Come and sample a few of these forgotten tales.
As America prepared to fight World War I, the deadliest pandemic the world has ever seen arrived silently. 50 million people died. Do some of them still wander the earth?
Charles Englehart was attacked outside of his car one dark night in 1935. A harmless 70-year-old man liked by everyone, who would commit such an awful crime?
If history is made up of small stories, then some of them fall off and disappear, like table scraps. Come and sample a few of these forgotten tales.
In the early 1900’s, a Nebraska schoolteacher visited an unspeakable atrocity upon the students under her care in Sarpy County. Or did she?
An early December blizzard chilled Iowa to the bone. It still wasn’t as cold as the heart of a father seeking vengeance for his daughter. But did he know the entire story?
Malone, Iowa, is perhaps the best hidden town in Clinton County, Iowa. In 1921, it also played host to one of the darkest deeds ever committed there.
Paul and Everett Schroeder had just spent eight years in prison. Returning to a life of crime, they quickly found themselves on the run. Their escape not only caused them to clash with police, but led them into the heart of a Midwestern blizzard.
In 1921, two men roared into the middle of Long Grove, Iowa to rob the Stockman's Savings Bank. What unfolded in the next half hour became the subject of a local legend that endures to this day.
The murder of the Spencer family was one of the worst crimes to ever take place in Clark County, Missouri. Justice had to be done, but no one knew what lengths people would go to in order to make that happen.
Willis James was just going to work in 1877. Instead, he found himself part of what would become one of the most horrendous and infamous murders in Missouri history.
George Scott was a loving family man. All of a sudden, he became convinced that his wife was trying to kill him. The drastic steps he took to take care of that would shock his close-knit neighborhood to its very foundations.
In 1927, William Coffey was a middle-aged newlywed on top of the world. His wife's family began to suspect that something wasn't quite right with him when they hadn't heard from her. While they thought he was a con man, they had no idea about the frozen secrets he was keeping.
In 1943, Naomi Cheney was murdered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Six years later, her father, Frank Cheney, Sr., committed a sudden act of violence that no one could understand when he snapped in Birmingham.
Mabel Moore and William Stewart each lost a spouse in the early 20th Century. They also had hidden connections that would drive their drastic actions to cope with that loss miles and years apart.
16-year-old Augusta Bartz was murdered in 1892. Even though her killer, Herman Boek, shotgunned her in the middle of a road in broad daylight, he later claimed that although he had intended to commit murder, he had shot Augusta by accident. Come and learn the strange and tragic story this week at the table.
We all love ghost stories, but not all of them should be believed. Decide for yourself as I tell you some of my own encounters with the beyond, both real and imagined.
In 1933, William Kelly made a horrific decision. He would spend a lifetime haunted by the memories of things he could never undo.
The desecration of human remains and burial sites are regarded as taboo by our society. Regardless, it still happens, and more often than you think. What kind of person would commit such acts? Come and see.
When Indiana police heard that Leonard Grubb had killed a man, they definitely wanted to hear more. Haunted by the victims ghost, Leonard happily confessed, leading to one of the strangest stories in Indiana history.
Some relatives are unwelcome at Christmas. Some are rude. Some look down on you. Some are unwelcome because they’re already dead. In 1937, Henry Nead committed a horrible crime because he said a dead man told him to do it.
When Iowa policemen arrested a robbery suspect in 1947, they thought they had just apprehended the thief responsible for numerous area break-ins. They didn’t suspect that they had just caught a notorious and uncommon criminal.
In 1924, Cora Raber was a young woman who found herself in an undesired position. But she had resolved the issue, and was going to get married. Or so she thought. What happened to the Would-Be Bride?
Charles Strelow couldn’t watch over his hidden fortune all the time, so he bought a dog. Trained to be vicious, it looked like the end when Charles left the farm. But fate intervened. What happened to the hermit’s sentry?
Charles Strelow lived as a virtual hermit. For decades, there were stories of a small fortune hidden on his Nebraska farm. In 1925, authorities were shocked to discover that the legend was true.
Even familiar noises can seem odd in a new house. In 1887, one woman tried to explain away the mysterious footsteps she heard as natural. But when the strange man started to appear, she knew otherwise.
Carl Albright was in his mid-twenties, with his whole life ahead of him. All that came to an end when his charred remains were found near a Nebraska highway in 1924. What happened to Carl Albright?
Locals suspected that something was off when Harry Singer started selling his boss’ belongings. Never would they have guessed the truth. What had happened to the Wesley family, and what did Singer know about it?
When May Lewis came home, no one else was there. Where had her parents gone, and what was behind the bedroom door that wouldn’t open?
Mary and Alonzo Singer were murdered in their rural Indiana home with an axe. What events led up to it, and what did it have to do with a lonely teamster named Charles Clark?
In 1907, Henry Warren walked into a local newspaper and placed an ad for a wife. He became a sensation, and was dubbed ‘Loving Henry.’ But Warren was harboring a dark secret that was only revealed decades later.
Sod houses and dugouts were dwellings that faded away on the prairie. Many pioneers also passed through history, the stories of their lives forgotten. Hear the short tale of how one young couple met their sad end in Nebraska.
August 30, 1945, was a day like any other in DeWitt, Iowa. That is, until the explosions started. What happened that fateful afternoon, and what is its connection to the modern day?
We love getting presents in the mail. But what happens when something so ordinary turns deadly? One unfortunate farm family in 1922 Wisconsin found out first hand when they received a deadly delivery.
In 1943, Lt. Naomi Cheney came to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to serve her country during World War II. Instead, her unsolved murder became the oldest in Sioux Falls history when she took her last walk home.
Judge John Dillon was a self-made, ultra-successful man. He was rational and logical. But when his wife and daughter were about to travel to Europe in 1898, eerie premonitions of impending disaster would change his life forever.
People love stories of buried treasure, but that’s not the only thing that people bury. A group of North Dakota workmen discovered this in 1915 when they uncovered buried secrets no one was ever meant to find.
In 1905, a St. Paul, Minnesota butcher was brutally murdered in his shop. When police began investigating, little did they know that they were on the trail of one of the most cold-blooded killers they had ever seen.
Thomas Clark seemed like an ordinary Indiana farmer until he went away to the asylum. They said he was cured. But, in 1922, he committed a horrible crime that proved that his unseen malady was far from improved.
In the late 1960’s, a fraternity in Davenport, Iowa moved into a comfortable new chapter home. Before long, they discovered that a spectral visitor also came with the property. How would you handle this uninvited guest?
In 1925, a terrible event took place in Wisconsin that literally shook a city and left one man dead. The police were baffled, until the culprit was revealed in an unlikely set of circumstances.
Floods are a terrifying force of nature. They're even more terrifying when they strike seemingly out of nowhere. In the 1950's, a legendary flood struck western Iowa that would claim many, and would forever change the lives of all those who survived.
There is a story from a small town in eastern Iowa about a giant. He was tall and strong, and weighed more than two men put together. All of it's true, and the truth is stranger than any story ever told about him.
In a perfect world, parents are supposed to provide guidance and protection. But we don’t live in a perfect world. In 1901, two people had to deal with awful situations caused by their parents in Indiana.
Winter driving is something that virtually all Midwestern drivers have to face down at some point. One night in 1926, Singleton Gardiner discovered just how bad it could be when he found his car sliding toward the side of a moving train in rural Illinois.
Johann Whynack was married to Marie, the love of his life. He adored her, she hated him. Marie treated him like dirt, but Johann endured out of love. What happened one dark night in 1914 when Johann reached his breaking point?
In 1919, Irene Hoskins burst into her neighbors house, bleeding profusely. The story she told them would change their lives forever. What horrible event took place at the Hoskins' rural Iowa farm?