Criminal Records Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Holy Roller Murders Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

A Salvation Army-inspired preacher decided to turn a small Oregon town into a new Eden. His method for achieving this: public nudity, floggings, bonfires, and sex rituals. When the worried families of his victims tried to stop him, they set off a chain of deaths.

Content notes: Murder, sexual exploitation of women and girls, suicide.

In case it's not clear from our discussion in the episode, we don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with the enthusiastic methods of worship that Protestant movements descended from the wider movement once called "Holy Rollers" practice today. However, in this case, Creffield was taking those methods to extremes as a thought-stopping technique in combination with isolating his followers and depriving them of food, sleep, and appropriate clothing. We do, however, want to put the Salvation Army on blast for its history and its current discriminatory practices.

Show notes and sources at this link

No episode this week Sep 30, 2021

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Sorry folks, Isaac is in the middle of a covid scheduling shakeup and Demetria is sick. We should have a new episode for you next week!

Jacques Le Gris Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

What if a legal trial was also a battle to the death? In this episode, we look at the strange phenomenon of the judicial duel, in which a plaintiff and defendant would try to kill each other to win a court case. In the "last duel" of medieval France, one man made his fight for justice into a literal fight, and used his weapons to prove that God was on his side.

Content notes: This episode is about a trial for violent rape. It contains discussion of some of the incorrect assumptions that medieval doctors had about rape and conception. It also contains descriptions of the deaths of animals.

Sources and show notes at this link

Shi Jianqiao Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

We've talked about cultures that had a formalized, bureaucratic process for getting revenge. But what do you do when you're not legally allowed to retaliate against the man who killed your father? Shi Jianqiao devoted her life to revenge, captivating the Chinese populace with her filial piety and her poetry justifying her crime.

Show notes and sources at this link

Jonathan Wild, The Thief-Taker General Aug 19, 2021

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London's greatest thief-taker had a secret: he was also the leader of its best-organized gang of thieves. For years, Wild turned one of the most brutal criminal justice systems in the world to his advantage—but even the self-styled Thief-Taker General ended up on the gallows.

Content note: This episode contains a graphic description of execution by hanging.

Show notes and sources at this link

Marie Antoinette Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

Is it a crime to be well-dressed? In this week's episode, we return to the French revolution to find out why one of the world's most fashionable women became the symbol for everything that was wrong with the aristocratic system. Did Marie Antoinette really bankrupt the country with her dresses and jewels, or was she the victim of an angry, desperate populace looking for a scapegoat?

Sources and show notes at this link

Citizen Louis Capet/King Louis XVI Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

The people of France tried to do just a little bit of revolution, but things got out of hand when their king didn't play along. Louis XVI's accusers needed to convict France's disgraced figurehead to cement the legitimacy of their own government. They just had one little problem: how do you prosecute a man who committed no crimes, because he was the law?

Show notes and sources at this link

The Dreyfus Affair Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

The hunt for a spy within the French military went off the rails when an amateur graphologist fingered the wrong suspect. A closed military trial turned into an national scandal involving forged evidence, multiple moles, and two separate failed assassinations.

Content warnings: Discussions of antisemitism, suicide, pogroms, and the origins of the Zionist movement. The show notes contain several antisemitic caricatures of Dreyfus and his family.

Show notes and sources here

The Assassination of Kim Jong-nam Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

Two women entered Kuala Lumpur International Airport to film a prank show. Their target: an unassuming business traveler. The result: the assassination of the former heir apparent of the North Korean government. How did two aspiring actresses end up caught in the middle of the biggest diplomatic incidents of the decade? And why did Kim Jong-nam go from North Korea's future leader to its top target?

Black Bart/Charles E. Boles/Charlie Bolton Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

One man's quest for vengeance against Wells Fargo turned into a massive crime spree—with occasional poetry breaks. Returning guest Amanda Jean joins us to fall in love with Black Bart, the gentleman robber who bluffed his way through a criminal career with no horse, no accomplices, and no bullets.

Show notes, sources, and guest information at this link

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