Table of Contents

The Corpse in the Shipping Crate                  On September 17, 1841, an expressman picked up a crate on Maiden Lane in Manhattan and delivered it to the docks. The crate was opened revealing a decomposing human corpse.
Delia's Gone, One More Round                      Moses “Cooney” Houston shot his girlfriend Delia Green on Christmas Eve, in Savannah. Georgia. The world has been singing about it ever since.
The Massachusetts Borgia                          Sarah Jane Robinson poisoned seven members of her family for insurance money, earning her the title of "The Massachusetts Borgia."
The Raven Stream Crime                            Rose Ambler said goodnight to her fiancé at the Raven Stream Bridge, the night of September 2, 1883, and started walking home alone as she usually did. She was never again seen alive.
The Arsenic Tragedy                               Mary Ann Wyatt died of arsenic poisoning just eight days after marrying Henry Green. There is little doubt Henry killed her but his motive in doing so is an enduring mystery.
The Poison Fiend                                  "The Poison Fiend," Lydia Sherman, killed three husbands and seven children with arsenic.
The Sleepwalking Defense                          Maria Bickford was found in murdered in her room, her throat cut from ear to ear. Albert Tirrell, charged with the crime pled not-guilty because he had been sleepwalking at the time.
The Girl in Green                                 The murder of courtesan, Helen Jewett, was one of New York City's most shocking crimes.
The Ballad of Frankie Silver                      Frankie Silver chopped her husband to pieces in North Carolina. Was it justifiable homicide?
Lizzie Borden Took an Axe…Or Did She?             Either Lizzie Borden got away with murder or someone else did.
Temporary Insanity                                Blinded by rage, Dan Sickles shot and killed his wife’s lover. Was it premeditated murder or temporary insanity?
Rhode Island Inequity                             Amasa Sprague was beaten to death in Spragueville, Rhode Island. The Gordon brothers were wrongfully accused.
He Done Her Wrong                                 Frankie Baker killed her lover because "he done her wrong."
The Demon of the Belfry                           When the mutilated bodies of two young women were found in Emanuel Baptist Church, Sunday school teacher Theo Durrant was recast as “The Demon of the Belfrey.”
The Madison Horror                                The evidence in Mary Stannard's murder pointed to Rev. Herbert H. Hayden, but would the court find him guilty?
“Old Shakespeare”                                 Carrie Brown, nicknamed "Old Shakespeare," was murdered in New York City in 1891. Some believe she was killed by London's Jack the Ripper.
The Three Thayers                                 The three Thayer Brothers shot John Love. Triple hanging in Buffalo, NY.
A Savage Ruffian!                                 Stephen Arnold beat to death his six-year-old adopted daughter Betsey Van Amburgh for mispronouncing a word.
A Balance of Probabilities                        Priscilla Budge was found in bed with her throat slashed. Was the killer her husband, Rev. Henry Budge?
The Sausage Vat Murder                            Was Louise Leutgert's body dissolved in a sausage vat in her husband's factory?
The Vamp of New Orleans                           Minnie Wallace was married at 15 and widowed at 16. Did she poison her husband?
That Bad Man Stagolee                             “Stack” Lee Shelton shot Billy Lyons on Christmas day, 1895, in St. Louis, during a fight over a Stetson hat.
The Walworth Parricide                            The prominent Walworth family's reputation was tarnished when Frank Walworth murdered his father for abusing his mother.
The Smuttynose Murders                            Maren Hontvet, her sister Karen Christensen, and their sister-in-law Anethe Christensen on isolated Smuttynose Island, were visited by a deranged axe murderer.
Startling Parallelisms                            As Lizzie Borden’s trial for axe murder was beginning in Fall River, MA, Bertha Manchester was the victim of another daylight axe murder in the same town.
“Girl Slays Girl”                                 Alice Mitchel met Freda Ward on Front Street and cut her throat with a straight razor. Was Alice driven by insanity, jealousy, or “an unnatural love?”
The Minister and the Mill Girl                    Sarah Cornell was found hanging in a barn in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Was it murder or suicide?
The Meeks Family Murder                           6-year-old Nellie Meeks survived the murder of her family and testified against their killers.
Murder in the Vale of Tempe                       George Abbot (aka Frank Almy) was infatuated with Christie Warden of Hanover, New Hampshire. When she did not return his love, he took it at a gunpoint in a shady hollow known as the Vale of Tempe.
Found Drifting with the Tide                      Jennie Cramer's body was found on a sand bar in the ocean off West Haven Connecticut. What exactly happened in the last two days of her life remains a mystery.
The Man of Two Lives                              Edward H. Rulloff lived two lives: erudite scholar and murderous thief.
Albany Gothic                                     Domestic tranquility at the Cherry Hill mansion would be disrupted forever when Elsie Lansing and Jesse Strang failed to observe the distinction between upstairs and downstairs.
The Woman in Black                                Laura Fair ended her tumultuous affair with Alexander P. Crittenden with a pistol shot.
The Hart-Meservey Murder                          Sarah Meservey was strangled to death in her home in Tenant’s Harbor, Maine. Was Nathan Hart falsely accused?
“A Most Extraordinary Case”                       The conspiracy to murder Capt. Joseph White, instigated by his two nephews was prosecuted by Daniel Webster.
Clan-na-Gael                                      Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin was murdered for uncovering corruption in Clan-na-Gale, a secret society for Irish independence.
Who Killed Benjamin Nathan?                       Wealthy financier, Benjamin Nathan's murder was a classic "locked-room" mystery that has never been solved.
Little ‘Omie                                      The murder of Naomi Wise has been commemorated in song and story for more than 200 years. But how much of the story is true?
The Boston Boy Fiend                              Fourteen-year-old Jesse Pomeroy murdered two children in Boston before he was captured.
The Pedestrian                                    The murder of George Parkman by Harvard professor John Webster was a shock to the residents of Boston and a fascination to readers across America.
Bloody Woolfolk                                   August 6, 1887, nine members of the Woolfolk family of Bibb County, Georgia – ranging in age from 18 months to 84 years – were hacked to death in their home. "Bloody" Tom Woolfolk was convicted.
The Druse Butchery                                William Druse of Herkimer County, New York, was brutally murdered, dismembered, and burned. His wife Roxalana was the prime suspect.
“I Was Born with the Devil in Me”                 H.H. Holmes, America's most prodigious serial killer, confessed to killing 27 people but may have murdered more than 200 more.
The Bloody Benders                                The Bender family murdered at least ten visitors to their Kansas restaurant.
The Assassination of Jim Fisk                     When Jim Fisk's adulterous relationship turned scandalous, it was an epic scandal filled with blackmail, courtroom drama, and finally murder.
The St. Louis Trunk Tragedy                       Charles Preller's murder was staged to look like a political assassination; it was in fact the tragic ending of a “peculiar relationship.”
The Boston Belfry Tragedy                         The body of five-year-old Mabel Young was found in the bell tower of the Warren Avenue Baptist church shortly after Thomas W. Piper, was seen leaping from the belfry.
Hang Down Your Head Tom Dula                      The murder of Laura Foster by Tom Dula in 1866 as the inspiration of one of America's most popular murder ballads.
The Richardson-McFarland Tragedy                  Daniel McFarland shot the man who stole his wife, but his trial would focus on his wife's adultery.
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