Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

In March of 1887 a high-class prostitute and two others, including a child, were found stabbed to death in a luxury apartment on the upscale Avenue Montaigne. Police settle on a mysterious immigrant gigolo as their main suspect, named Enrico Pranzini. My guest, Aaron Freundschuh, author of "The Courtesan and the Gigolo: The Murders in the Rue Montaigne and the Dark Side of Empire in Nineteenth-Century Paris" tells the story of the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the role that xenophobia played in its outcome.

Richard Zacks, bestselling author of "Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd" is my guest, and he tells some stories (and breaks some myths) about a man considered one of the most infamous pirates in American history. Go to www.mostnotorious.com and click the Amazon link for all of your online shopping needs!

The 1930s were filled with news of midwest bank-robbers like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie & Clyde, but few know that Boston had its own gang of thieves and killers during the Depression. Murt Millen, a whip-smart but unstable Jewish kid, his mentally challenged brother, Irv, his wife, Norma Brighton (the wayward daughter of a minister), and his MIT graduate friend Abe Faber, formed the Millen-Faber gang in the early 30s. My guest, Nathan Gorenstein, author of "Tommy Gun Winter: Jewish Gangsters, a Preacher's Daughter, and the Trial That Shocked 1930s Boston", tells the tale about the rise and fall of this notorious group of hoodlums.  Go to www.mostnotorious.com and click the Amazon link for all of your online shopping needs!

A Most Notorious Message

Two events in early 1940s L.A. grabbed newspaper headlines almost back to back- The murder of Jose Diaz and following trial of 22 boys, and the race riots between American sailors and zoot-suit wearing Mexican-American kids in downtown Los Angeles. Eduardo Obregón Pagán is a professor at Arizona State University and a co-host of PBS's History Detectives, and he talks with me about his book, "Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A.".

Carl Panzram was a self-confessed serial killer and rapist, who admitted in his autobiography to over 20 murders just before his execution in 1930. My guest, John Borowski, director of the documentary "Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance" talks about this man, who many consider one of most evil people to ever walk the earth, and how childhood traumas and prison torture might have contributed in transforming him into a monster.

Few of us think of 19th century Los Angeles in the same breath as Tombstone, Dodge City, or Deadwood, but in the 1850s it was filled with rampant racism and violent conflict. Vigilantes roamed the streets and lynchings were commonplace. My guest, Professor John Mack Faragher, author of "Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles" talks about this rough and savage time in California history.

In 1913 a PR man named John Gluck successfully petitions the US Post Office for control of New York City's Santa Claus letters. From that point forward, he not only builds the Santa Claus Association into a major holiday organization, but also finds ways to steal large amounts of money in the process. Alex Palmer, author of "The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas In New York", talks about one of the great Christmas cons in American history.

Cory Frye, author of "Murder in Linn County, Oregon: The True Story of the Legendary Plainview Killings" is my guest. He tells two stories. On June 21, 1922, Linn County sheriff Charles Kendall and Reverend Roy Healy drove out to arrest a moonshining farmer named Dave West. By the end of the day, all three men were dead. William Dunlap replaced him, but was also killed on duty within a year.

My interview with Michael Wallis, author of "Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd" continues. We cover the bloody and notorious Kansas City Massacre, as well as the last few weeks, days and hours of Pretty Boy Floyd's life.

Pretty Boy Floyd lit up the late 20s and early 30s Midwest with bank robberies, daring escapes from the law, and cold-blooded murder. My guest, Michael Wallis, author of "Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd", talks about his early life, his first forays into crime, time in a Kansas prison, and an audacious bank heist in his hometown cheered by his friends and grandfather in this first part of a two part series on the legendary social bandit.

Rumors for many years have circulated about the mysterious death of famed boxer Sonny Liston in December of 1970. My guest, Shaun Assael, author of "The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin and Heavyweights" and a former police reporter and sports writer for ESPN Magazine, talks about the suspects and possible scenarios surrounding Lison's demise, and the very strong possibility of his murder.

This is a mini-episode of Most Notorious, with a couple of short stories of historical true crime. First, Jake Bird, a serial killer who places a hex on his Tacoma prosecutors and jailers in 1947, told by Tacoma newspaper reporter Steve Dunkelberger. The second story is one that has haunted the citizens of Waseca, Minnesota for decades. Farmer Julius Schuch and two of his children were murdered on their family farm in 1929. This one researched and told by me. Go to www.mostnotorious.com and click the Amazon link for all your holiday shopping!

One of the most enduring historical mysteries of the 20th century is of the missing Sodder children. After a fire in the family home on Christmas Eve of 1945, George and Jennie escaped with four of their children, however five more never made it out of the house. At first, it was assumed that they died in an accidental fire, but a series of strange clues aroused their suspicions that something more sinister happened to them and their home instead. I'm joined by Jennie Henthorn, granddaughter of George and Jennie Sodder, who gives the family's perspective, details and possible theories about the reason for the fire, and the potential fate of her aunts and uncles.

My guest, David Pietrusza, is the author of "Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius who Fixed the 1919 World Series". He talks about this extraordinary, eccentric man who managed to expertly balance between high society, highbrow intellectual circles, Tammany Hall and the underworld, and had his fingers in just about every racket in Jazz-Age New York City.  Go to www.mostnotorious.com and click the Amazon link for all of your online shopping needs!