Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson

A gang in a mountain barrio in Honduras terrorized the people there for years. The police claimed that their hands were tied because witnesses refused to testify. An American sociologist and a Honduran schoolteacher devised a plan to protect their neighbors by taking matters into their own hands. Author Ross Halperin tells me the story in his book: Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land.    Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us have heard about Sherri Papini. She’s the woman who faked her own kidnapping in 2016, which terrified her husband and soon sparked outrage in her Northern California community. Michael Beach Nichols is the director and producer of the Hulu series, “Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini.” He tells US about his experience spending time with Sherri’s husband, Keith, for the documentary series.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve heard from my buddy Bryan Burrough before for one of his Audible books based on a true crime story. His new book is very different. It’s called The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild. Enough said.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our story this week is set in the 1920s in Westchester County, New York…it’s a Jazz Age mystery. A young ex-sailor is found dead on a desolate road. A suspect from a wealthy family admits to the murder, but he claims that he was trying to protect a dangerous secret. Author James Polchin’s book, Shadow Men unravels a mystery more than a century old.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York in the early 1900s was filled with people trying to make their lives better. But for many, the rise of organized crime kept them in constant fear. On the Lower East Side, Jewish criminals from Eastern Europe formed crime syndicates. There were gangs of horse poisoners, casino owners, thieves and thugs. But then a group of Jewish uptowners stepped in and created a vice squad that worked in secrecy. Author Dan Slater tells us the story from his book: The Incorruptibles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever dug deep into your family history, you know that there are sometimes surprises. Author Tanya Talaga discovered that the life of her great-great grandmother Annie Carpenter was mostly unknown because she was Indigenous. It’s a struggle that many Indigenous people in Canada have: how do you learn about your family’s past without crucial records? Talaga’s incredible book, The Knowing lays out Annie’s story and Tanya’s journey to find the truth.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Wicked Words on Exactly Right: in 1999, a woman named Betty Ketani went missing in Johannesburg, South Africa. She just vanished from the restaurant where she was working. Then a letter found 13 years later changed everything. Author Alex Eliseev tells me about his book Cold Case Confession—a real Agatha Christie story.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York Times’ best-selling author Megan Abbott often uses true crime stories as a jumping off point for her wildly popular novels. Now she has a new book out called El Dorado Drive. It’s about three sisters who become entangled in a pyramid scheme that turns very dark. The real story behind the novel is so strange, it’s hard to know what really happened. And luckily, Megan has done a huge amount of research.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s author grew up in the Pacific Northwest with the memories of notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer, who also lived there. But the region wasn’t just home to those two murderers: there were many more. Was there a connection between the Pacific Northwest’s most infamous killers…and its incredible amounts of pollution? Caroline Fraser thinks so and she explains why in her book:  Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1990, a UCLA student was found murdered in a tunnel in LA. Detective Rick Jackson and his partner were assigned to the complicated case. Who had a motive to stab Ronald Baker? Was the pentagram pendant around his neck a clue? Author Matthew McGough and Detective Rick Jackson tell the story in their book, Black Tunnel White Magic: A Murder, a Detective’s Obsession, and ’90s Los Angeles at the Brink.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve had journalist Elon Green on before to talk about his fantastic book Last Call. His new book is about an inspiring young Black artist in 1980s New York. Michael Stewart ended up dead after encountering a Transit Authority police officer at a 14th Street subway station late one night. Witnesses say that police beat him to death, and it made national headlines. Green tells me about his book, The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When an 8-year-old disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. in 2014, nobody noticed for 18 days, even her family. Seven years later, Relisha Rudd has never been found. The Through the Cracks podcast investigates gaps in our society and the people who fall through them. Host Jonquilyn Hill asks what could have been done to find Relisha?  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Wicked Words we’re traveling back to 1923 Harlem and its seedy world of gambling and racketeering. Author Mary Kay McBrayer tells me about Stephanie St. Clair. She was one of the only female crime bosses in the city. Madame Queen was also a Black, self-made businesswoman. And a legend.    Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kuper Island is a remarkable podcast, an investigation into one of Canada’s most notorious so called Indian residential schools. Journalist Duncan McCue explores the unsolved death of a student, a tragedy that sheds light on rampant abuse and exposes the trauma of three survivors.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I love a good spy story. We’ve talked about spies embedded with the American government. We’ve discussed librarians and academics researching in the basement of the Library of Congress during World War II. And now we’re talking with Thomas Maier about a very unlikely spy, a former football player turned spy for Churchill. It’s all in his book, The Invisible Spy.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Occasionally we interview fiction authors who use true crime stories as jumping off points for their novels. Virginia Feito wrote a book called “Victorian Psycho.” And it’s based on several cases you’ve likely heard of. There’s a lecherous head of house, a jealous wife…and a violent governess. Very violent. Feito uses gallows humor to take real stories and craft them into harrowing tales.    Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m so excited about this interview. It’s with Claire St. Amant. She’s a journalist and an author. And she was a TV producer for 48 Hours and 60 Minutes. Now she’s pulling back the curtain on true crime television. I learned a lot from her. She’s talking about her memoir: Killer Story.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We might have our first Pulitzer Prize winner on our show. Author Gilbert King digs into cases of wrongful conviction. Today, we’re talking about his outstanding podcast, Bone Valley Season 2. Gilbert explores the 1987 murder of Michelle Schofield in Florida. It’s a story of justice, forgiveness, and the possibility of redemption.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard was the voice behind the hit podcast “Dirty John.” And now he has a new podcast that covers crimes in Los Angeles that made headlines, stories like the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer at the hands of a stalker. He tells me about his show, “Crimes of the Times.”  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Wicked Words, years ago author Pagan Kennedy wondered about the history of the rape kit, a crucial tool for investigators today. Who designed it? She found out that it was Martha Goddard, a pioneer who wanted to help police catch sexual predators using forensics. But sometime after she made history, Goddard vanished. Listen to Kennedy’s story at the center of her book, The Secret History of the Rape Kit.    Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plane hijackings aren’t very common anymore. But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, armed criminals were forcing commercial airliners to divert their flights, oftentimes demanding ransom. Author Brendan Koerner tells the story of an American couple turned hijackers, whose journey ends with some surprising twists. Koerner’s book is called: The Skies Belong to Us.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, a predator preyed on gay men in Atlanta. He was known as the Handcuff Man. He attacked male sex workers, disfigured them, and then left them for dead. Journalist Hallie Lieberman wrote a fantastic piece for The Atavist Magazine called The Devil Went Down to Georgia.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, the FBI discovered that high level criminals around the world were using encrypted devices to plot intricate crimes. When a powerful, secure new app began courting these syndicates, members of the underworld flocked to it. One problem for the criminals: the app was created by the FBI. Joseph Cox tells us the incredible story from his book, Dark Wire.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1986, 17-year-old Keith Warren was found hanging from a tree in Silver Spring, Maryland. His sister wanted answers—how did he die? It was ruled a suicide, but there were so many suspicious things about Keith’s death. I talked to filmmaker Avril Speaks about her docuseries, “Uprooted,” which covers Keith’s case.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a story about a landmark case in Canada from just a few years ago. A teenager attacked two women in a massage parlor in Toronto in 2020. He killed one and seriously injured the other. When he told investigators why he did it, they settled on trying him for murder…and terrorism. Journalist Lana Hall tells me about her piece in Maclean’s magazine called: The Incel Terrorist.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dean Corll was a serial killer in Houston in the early 1970s. He kidnapped and murdered more than two dozen missing teenage boys before he was murdered by one of his accomplices. Decades later, a forensic anthropologist discovered a box of remains from the case. She spent years using scientific tools to identify some of the unknown victims. Journalist Lise Olsen tells me the story at the center of her book: The Scientist and the Serial Killer.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been 30 years since the infamous OJ Simpson trial, and the lead prosecutor Marcia Clark has had quite a career since then. She writes fiction and nonfiction books, including the one we’ll talk about today. It’s called Trial by Ambush and it’s a story about a young woman in Burbank, California. In 1953, Barbara Graham was caught-up in a robbery scheme that turned deadly. Marcia Clark investigates the sexism and, ultimately, the tragedy of this case.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights ReservedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that some of the most effective American spies during World War II were librarians and archivists and history professors? Some were locked in the basement of the Library of Congress, analyzing documents. Those documents were being gathered by academics sneaking around Europe, under the noses of the Nazis.  Author Elyse Graham tells me the story at the center of her book, Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We don’t talk a lot on this show about female killers, but author Craig Monson has brought me a fascinating story right out of a Hollywood film. His book, The Black Widows of the Eternal City, centers on a web of women poisoners in 17th century Rome and their male victims.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Wicked Words, we’re traveling to 1856 Ireland for a locked-door mystery. A cashier for a Dublin railway station is found dead, savagely beaten. Nothing appears to have been stolen. Can an experienced detective crack this case? Author Thomas Morris tells us the story in his new book The Dublin Railway Murder: The Sensational True Story of a Victorian Murder Mystery.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode of Wicked Words, we’re traveling to the Texas border town of Laredo. When four vulnerable women are murdered, police suspect that a well-respected U.S. Border Patrol agent has turned into a serial killer. Author Rick Jervis tells me the story behind his book, The Devil Behind the Badge: The Horrifying Twelve Days of the Border Patrol Serial Killer.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When an outspoken journalist in India was assassinated in September of 2017, it shocked the world. The conspiracy that was uncovered by journalists and investigators was disturbing. Author Rollo Romig tells me the story at the center of his book: I Am on the Hit List.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of my most favorite true crime stories in history come from the UK, specifically London. So I was very excited to talk to author Simon Read about his book: Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force's Most Infamous Murder Cases. Read investigated some of Scotland Yard’s most interesting cases and now he’ll tell us about some of them.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police cold-case units have broken some of the country’s most notorious murder cases. Today we're talking to writer Michael Arntfield about Nashville’s cold case Murder Squad and how its lead investigator tracked down the serial killers who terrorized the city in the 80s and 90s. The stories unfold in his book, Monster City: Murder, Music, and Mayhem in Nashville's Dark Age.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I know this sounds like an old story: a woman goes missing and it seems like a cover-up. But when Shelley Watkins’ body was discovered in 1993, floating in a Texas river, her murder really upended the town of Corsicana. Journalist Carol Dawson worked with my buddy Wes Ferguson on the hit podcast, The Unforgotten.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thirty years before the OJ Simpson trial, a different murder case captured the attention of the country. When a successful Florida businessman is brutally killed in the 1960s, his wife and her nephew become suspects. Their disturbing relationship makes headlines. Author Ron Smith tells me about his book: No One is Perfect.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2025 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week’s episode, we travel to my hometown of Austin, Texas. An iconic local business is embroiled in a murder for hire case that attracts national attention. Why did Erik Maund hire someone to kill two people? Katy Vine from Texas Monthly tells me about her podcast, The Problem with Erik.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Becky Cooper was a student at Harvard University when she heard a curious rumor about a murdered student in the late 1960s. Cooper was told that the killer was likely a professor…but her investigation uncovered clues that had been buried for decades. Who the real killer was came as a surprise to everyone. The story of Jane Britton’s life and her murder is detailed in the book: We Keep the Dead Close.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, two innocent men were convicted and were in prison for decades. Meanwhile the real killer remained free. Today I’m talking to Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington about their fantastic book, The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acclaimed forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland was one of my first guests on this show. She detailed her time with serial killer Dennis Rader. She’s back, along with co-author Tracy Ullman, to tell me about their book The Serial Killer’s Apprentice. It’s the complicated story centered on the accomplice of the serial killer known as The Candyman.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who killed eight women in a small Louisiana town between 2005 and 2009? And were their murders the work of a serial killer or people connected to a corrupt sheriff’s department? This is a true-life southern gothic mystery. Author Ethan Brown offers us the story at the center of his book, Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1990, a young journalist witnessed a botched execution and it changed her life. Author Ellen McGarrahan found herself haunted by the question of whether she had witnessed the execution of an innocent man. She tells me the story at the center of her book: Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve had this author on before when he talked about his book on serial poisoner Dr. Thomas Neill Cream. Today, Dean Jobb tells us about a different kind of criminal, a man known as the “prince of thieves.” Arthur Barry stole from the rich in the Jazz Age and then offered a detailed confession when he was caught. How did he get away with it for so long? It’s all in the book: A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18   See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I talk a lot about how history repeats itself. This story, unfortunately, feels like it can happen today even though it’s actually 75 years old. Author Ellen Green wrote a book called: Murder in the Neighborhood: The true story of America’s first recorded mass shooting. We’ll be in 1949 East Camden, New Jersey and Green tries to answer: why the shooter did it and if anyone could have stopped him.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Self-made millionaire Lance Herndon was one of Atlanta’s elite in 1996 when he was murdered in his home. Police had a host of suspects, and they soon realized how complicated Lance’s life was. Author Ron Stodghill unravels the story in his book: Redbone: Money, Malice, and Murder in Atlanta.   Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com   Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)   2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most famous crimes in American history was the murder of 14-year-old Bobby Frank. Two young men, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, wanted to plan the perfect murder. And they didn’t. Author Hal Higdon wrote THE book on this case, called Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18  See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com  Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram)  2024 All Rights Reserved   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's our story this week: in the summer of 1988, 16-year-old Shane Stewart and 18-year-old Sally McNelly went missing in the West Texas town of San Angelo. After their remains were found, the mystery began. Texas Monthly reporters Karen Jacobs and Rob D’Amico pick up the cold case of two murders that have haunted their family, their friends, and generations of investigators. I talked with them about their podcast, Shane and Sally. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18 See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram) 2024 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A murdered teenage girl. A suspicious, affluent family. And a lot of sticky social situations. They’re all in our story, which is set in nineteenth century London. Who killed 16-year-old Jane Maria Clouson? Author Paul Thomas Murphy details it in his book: Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The Unsolved Murder that Shocked Victorian England. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18 See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram) 2024 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the height of the Great Depression, an oil mogul from LA decided to escape society with his mistress to create their own utopia on a faraway land. The problems started with other people following them there. My friend, Abbott Kahler, is my guest today. She used to write under the name: Karen Abbott. Abbott tells me the story at the center of her book: Eden Undone A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18 See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram) 2024 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Four years later, a young prosecutor in the Justice Department was drawn into examining a mysterious death after the storm. Henry Glover was found dead in a burned-out car two weeks after Katrina. And who he was last seen with became the center of controversy and reform. Jared Fishman tells me the story from his book: Fire on the Levee. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/4gF2K18See more information on my books: katewinklerdawson.com Follow me on social: @tenfoldmore (Twitter) / @wickedwordspod (Facebook) / @tenfoldmorewicked (Instagram) 2024 All Rights Reserved See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.