Pennsylvania Oddities

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The Unsolved Murder of the Schultz Children Mar 15, 2026

Show notes

Around five o'clock on Saturday evening, March 7, 1953, a TV repairman was at work in his basement workshop, unaware that he was about to step into a nightmare more terrifying than any late-night horror flick that he or his customers had ever viewed on their television screen.

When Paul Schultz went upstairs in his home in Nazareth, his wife, Claire, asked him to go out and look for their two children, who hadn't been seen since two o'clock. The search for the Schultz children didn't take very long at all; Paul found his children partially submerged in the shallow, ice-crusted stream behind their home.

This month marks the 73rd anniversary of the unsolved murder of Gail and Paul Schultz, Jr., who were slain just two hundred yards away from their home-- in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon.

The Disappearance of Marjorie West Mar 01, 2026

Show notes

Of all the missing persons cases in the history of the United States, few have made as indelible a mark as the 1938 disappearance of four-year-old Marjorie West. The mystery surrounding Marjorie's unexplained disappearance from a Mother's Day outing has been the subject of books, television shows and magazine articles. In fact, one British newspaper, The Guardian, has referred to the case one of the "great unsolved mysteries of the missing."

The Bludgeoning of Biddy Quinn Feb 15, 2026

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In 1826, the citizens of Lebanon were horrified to learn that a murder had taken place in their peaceful, idyllic community. In every household throughout the county the crime was discussed, while parents and preachers alike used the murder and the subsequent execution of the killer as a teaching device in order to illustrate the perils of intoxication and the evils of liquor. This is the story of the first execution in the history of Lebanon County.

Farmhouse Hospital of Horror Feb 01, 2026

Show notes

For most of its history, Mechanics Grove was a quiet, unassuming community amid the rolling farmlands of Lancaster County. But things changed in 1935, when authorities went searching for a missing Maryland woman and uncovered a "hospital of horror" inside a farmhouse owned by a disreputable, drug-addicted physician known as as Doc Zimmerly.

The Mysterious Fate of Crazy Lindy Jan 15, 2026

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For most of his 63 years on earth, Hugh Smith was a respected resident of Liberty Valley. Hugh owned 380 acres of land in Perry County, and he earned a handsome living renting out his lands to sawmill operators. And for 28 of those years, the respectable Hugh Smith may have carried with him the belief that he had gotten away with the perfect murder-- of a young "half-witted" woman known to locals as Crazy Lindy.

The Ballad of Iley Tate Jan 01, 2026

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During the Great Depression, there lived in Fayette County a mountain man named Iley Tate who ruled the hill country between Haydentown to the West Virginia line like a feudal lord. Tate, a father of 20, had amassed considerable wealth as a livestock trader, and, because of his influence and steel-cold demeanor, he had a number of local lawmen and politicians in his hip pocket. Like many powerful men in similiar positions, Iley Tate came to think of himself as untouchable; but this was an illusion that came to a shattering end in the fall of 1932.

This is the story of Iley and the Tate family-- a family notorious for feuding, fighting, fornicating... and committing the occasional murder.

The Shohola Mystery Skeleton Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

On April 7, 1930, two men entered a shallow cave near Shohola to escape a sudden thunderstorm-- and discovered the skeletal remains of a murder victim.

The news of the mystery skeleton caught the attention of a probation officer from New York, who had been told a peculiar story a few years earlier about a mountain man who had lured a stranger to his death near Shohola. Though many pieces of the forgotten story fit together perfectly, authorities were never able to identify the victim, or his killer.

The Strange Murder of Louis Schulman Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

On a February evening in 1944, Dr. Louis Schulman, a prominent 42-year-old physician, was gunned down on the streets of Pittsburgh by a former patient. The killer was Martha Ashear, a Syrian immigrant who claimed that she had taken matters into her own hands after no one believed the shocking accusations she had made against Dr. Schulman.

Was Martha telling the truth? Or did Pittsburgh's medical community attempt to protect the reputation of one of their own by discrediting Dr. Schulman's accuser and having her placed into a mental asylum?

Murderous Madam: The Trial of Mary Ridey Nov 15, 2025

Show notes

Known as "Philadelphia's First Suburb", the neighborhood of Northern Liberties existed as a unique and independent city until 1854, when an Act of Consolidation passed by the state legislature made it a part of the City of Brotherly Love. By the time of its consolidation, Northern Liberties had earned a reputation as one of the most infamous red-light districts in the country, with streets were thronged with taverns, gambling parlors, cheap hotels and other establishments where patrons could easily procure female companionship for the right price.

At the time of the Civil War, one such house of ill repute could be found on a tiny thoroughfare known at St. John Street. The madam of the establishment was a 24-year-old woman by the name of Mary Ridey, who made headlines in 1864 after brutally murdering two brothers, Joseph and Isaac Sides, in barroom full of witnesses. Mary's murder trial became of a Philadelphia sensation, but, for years afterward, many wondered if justice had truly been served. This is the true story of Mary Ridey, one of Philadelphia's most notorious madams-- and murderers.

The Martic Murder and the Haunted Sleigh of Barney Short Nov 01, 2025

Show notes

In February of 1884, the rural village of Rawlinsville in Martic Township, Lancaster County, experienced the most noteworthy event in its long history-- the mysterious murder of hotelkeeper Barney Short, whose body was found sprawled across the road with a gaping wound in the skull.

Evidence indicated that the killer, or killers, had crouched behind a roadside tree, waiting for Barney to pass by in his horse-drawn sleigh. But considering that nothing was removed from Barney's pockets, it seemed that the vicious crime was committed for one reason only-- to settle a personal score.

No one was ever convicted of the crime, and maybe that's why Barney made his displeasure known from beyond the grave. A neighbor purchased the sleigh Barney had been driving when he was killed, which he gladly loaned to any friend or neighbor in need of winter transportation. But they all returned the sleigh with the same complaint-- it seemed to be haunted.

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