Old Blood
Old Blood
The historical true-crime podcast that uncovers old blood with each new episode. Join us as a historian investigates history's most fascinating cases of true crime.
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Top 10 Old Blood Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Old Blood episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Old Blood for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Old Blood episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
The Women of Alexandria
Old Blood
08/23/21 • 42 min
Show Notes
Episode 5 - The Women of Alexandria
Raya and Sakina have become legends in Egypt, infamous for being the sisters who murdered the sex workers of Alexandria and burying them underneath their homes. Parents will no longer give their children the names “Raya” and “Sakina,” fearing they are cursed. Egyptians tell misbehaving children that the sisters will come for them if they don’t do as they’re told. But do the sisters deserve this infamy? And if they don’t, then who were the real serial killers of Alexandria in 1920?
Sources:
Al-Hefnawy, Marwa. “Stinging Sisters.” Arab News. Saudi Research & Publishing Company, May 31, 2007. https://www.arabnews.com/node/299048.
Awad, Mohamed. “The Metamorphosis of Mansheyah.” Edited by Hannah Davis Taieb and Kenneth Brown. Alexandria in Egypt, 1996.
Bizawe, Eyal Sagui. “Sisters Without Mercy: Behind Egypt's Most Infamous Murder Case.” Haaretz. Haaretz Daily Newspaper, December 27, 2014. https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-sisters-without-mercy-1.5352259.
Chiti, Elena. “Building a National Case in Interwar Egypt: Raya and Sakina's Crimes through the Pages of Al-Ahrām (Fall 1920).” History Compass, February 15, 2020.
Esquire Staff. “New Series 'The Alexandria Killings' to Profile Egypt’s Most Notorious Serial Killers.” Esquire Middle East. ITP Media Group, April 20, 2021. https://www.esquireme.com/content/52037-egypts-most-notorious-serial-killers-raya-and-sakina-tv-series-the-alexandria-killings.
Mahmoud, Rasha. “Alexandria’s France Street Still Living in Its Golden Age.” Al-Monitor. Al-Monitor, November 2, 2017. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2017/11/france-st-reflects-alexandias-rich-heritage.htm.
Moger, Robin. “An Excerpt from the Men of Raya and Sakina.” Jadaliyya. Jadaliyya, May 4, 2020. https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/41064.
Mustafa, Marie. “'Raya We Sakina Min Tani' Launches on Aug. 13 in Alexandria.” Egypt Today, August 14, 2019. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/73863/Raya-we-Sakina-min-tani-launches-on-Aug-13-in.
Rizk, Yunan Labib. “The Women Killers.” Al-Ahram Weekly, no. 434 (June 1999).
St. Estephe. “Raya & Sekina Aly Hammam, Egyptian Serial Killing Sisters - 1920.” Unknown Gender History, February 8, 2015. https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2011/09/raya-sakina-ablel-al-egyptian-serial.html.
Takla, Nefertiti Mary. “Murder in Alexandria: The Gender, Sexual and Class Politics of Criminality in Egypt, 1914 - 1921,” 2016.
“THE FITUWA: SALAH EISSA’S RAYA AND SAKINA IN ROBIN MOGER’S TRANSLATION.” The Sultan's Seal, February 3, 2018. https://sultansseal.com/2018/02/03/the-fituwa-salah-eissas-raya-and-sakina-in-robin-mogers-translation/.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
07/22/24 • 55 min
The Great Poison Mystery began in 1898 after two people were killed by poison sent to them by mail. The packages were eventually traced back to the ritzy Knickerbocker Athletic Club, and its secretary, the son of a Civil War hero.
This is PART II of a two-part episode. Be sure to listen to episode 58 first!
Sources:
“How the Molineux Rule Permits Certain Witnesses in the Harvey Weinstein Trial.” NPR.
Jonakait, Randolph N., “People v. Molineux and Other Crime Evidence: One Hundred Years and Counting.” New York Law School. 2002.
Pejsa, Jane. The Molineux Affair (Minneapolis: Kenwood Publishing, 1983).
People v Molineux (Court of Appeals of New York October 15, 1901).
Schechter, Harold. The Devil’s Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007).
“The Lost Manhattan Athletic Club–Madison Avenue and 45th Street.” Daytonian in Manhattan. 2 November, 2015. https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-lost-manhattan-athletic-club.html
Newspapers:
The Evening World (New York)
The New York Journal and Advertiser
The New York Times
The New York Tribune
The New York World
Music: Credits to Holizna, Fesilyan Studios & Virginia Liston
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Tea or Homicide: The Caillaux Affair
Old Blood
04/27/22 • 57 min
While World War I erupted throughout Europe, the Caillaux scandal plunged France into a chaotic murder trial that overshadowed the coming global conflict. What else do you expect to happen when a wife of the former Prime Minister murders her husband’s greatest political rival?
Sources:
Allain, Jean-Claude, Joseph Caillaux, 2 vols (Paris: Imprimerie nationale 1978-81).
Beatty, Jack. “The Cleopatra’s Nose of 1914
The story of the Caillaux affair—a murdered newspaper editor, a web of adultery, and the road to World War I.” Lapham’s Quarterly. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/scandal/cleopatras-nose-1914
Berenson, Edward. The Trial of Madame Caillaux (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992).
“Caillaux, Joseph.” Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/caillaux-joseph
DeWaleffe, Maurice and Dulac, Jean. “L’affaire Caillaux.” Comoedia Illustre. 5 August 1914. https://criminocorpus.org/en/library/page/116658/
Kershaw, Alister. Murder in France (London: Constable and Company Ltd., 1955).
“La Belle Epoque: France and the Rise of Modernism.” Washington & Lee. 25 June 2017. https://my.wlu.edu/office-of-lifelong-learning/alumni-college/la-belle-epoque
Le Figaro, various issues from 1914. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k290183r/f1.image.r=caillaux
Martin, Benjamin. The Hypocrisy of Justice in La Belle Epoque (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984).
Moran, Tracy. “When a Paris Newspaper Pushed a Housewife to Murder.” OZY: A Modern Media Company. 20 August 2016. https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/when-a-paris-newspaper-pushed-a-housewife-to-murder/70987/
Raphael, John. The Caillaux Drama (London: Max Goschen Ltd., 1914). https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52680/52680-h/52680-h.htm
Simkin, John. “Henriette Caillaux.” Spartacus Educational, September 1997. https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWcaillauxH.htm
Udovic, Edward. “Famous Prisoners of Saint-Lazare: Henriette Caillaux.” DePaul Vincentian Collections. https://resources.depaul.edu/vincentian-collections/story/footnotes/Pages/Caillaux.aspx
Wilde, Robert. “Belle Époque or the ‘Beautiful Age’ in France.” ThoughtCo. 30 January 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-belle-epoque-beautiful-age-1221300
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Goodbye, Billy
Old Blood
01/17/22 • 63 min
New York's Adirondack Mountains have long been praised for their tranquility and restorative powers on the body and soul. But in 1906, a tragedy shattered this illusion and brought a girl’s heartbreak to the front page of newspapers across the country.
Sources:
Brandon, Craig. Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited. (Utica: North Country Books, 2003).
Brownell, Joseph W. and Wawrzaszek, Patricia A., Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906. (Heart of the Lake Publishing, 1906).
The Daily Sentinel. “‘Poor Little Girl’ Said the World.” March 26, 1908.
Herman, Susan N., “People v. Gillette and Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy: Law v. Literature.” Judicial Notice. Issue 11. 2016.
The Post Standard. “Made No Effort to Save Drowning Girl, Gillette Confesses.” December 1, 1906.
“Chester E. Gillette Guilty of Murder in First Degree: Verdict Found in Five Hours.” December 5, 1906.
“Chester Gillette Dies To-Day in the Electric Chair.” March 30, 1908.
“First Shock Sends Slayer into Eternity.” March 31, 1908.
Schechter, Harold. Ripped from the Headlines!: The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies’ Most Memorable Crimes. (New York: Little A, 2020).
The Syracuse Herald.“Girl Drowned; Escort Missing,” July 13, 1906
The Washington Times. “Gillette Pays Death Penalty for his Crime.” March 30, 1908.
The Westbury Evening Democrat. March 30, 1908.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
11/21/22 • 75 min
Reports of an American woman slain in Italy's scenic Lake Como circulated across the globe in the summer of 1910. The murdered woman was Mary Scott: socialite, actress, and woman with a past so scandalous that the press blamed her for her own murder. This episode is about the life and death of Mary Scott.
Sources:
Adams, J. Barfield. "The Crime of Porter Charlton [II Delitto di Porter Charlton].
(Il Manicomio, April, 1916.) Valtorta, Dr. Dario." Journal of Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry. October, 1917. p. 600-602. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/889FAF3371DD3716AD9C2CA50F748C1D/S0368315X00180211a.pdf/the-crime-of-porter-charlton-il-delitto-di-porter-charlton-il-manicomio-april-1916-valtorta-dr-dario-the-crime-of-porter-charlton-il-delitto-di-porter-charlton-il-manicomio-april-1916-valtorta-dr-dari.pdf
"Charlton V. Kelly." United States Supreme Court. 229 U.S. 447. CHARLTON v. KELLY. Argued: April 18, 1913. Decided: June 10, 1913. Wikisource. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Charlton_v._Kelly
Colnaghi, Beniamino. "Moltrasio, 1910: un baule sospetto 'pescato' nel lago di Como" Storia e storie di donne e uomini. February 22, 2015. http://colnaghistoriaestorie.blogspot.com/2015/02/moltrasio-1910-un-baule-sospettopescato.html
Duke, Thomas Samuel. Celebrated Criminal Cases of America. (San Francisco:The James H. Barry Company, 1910).
"Extradition of Porter Charlton, an American citizen, from the United States to Italy." PAPERS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH THE ANNUAL MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT TRANSMITTED TO CONGRESS DECEMBER 6, 1910. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1910/ch69
Harding, John W. "The Sealed Trunk: How a Sex Scandal Shaped an American Icon." The Designated Virgin. 2019. http://thedesignatedvirgin.com/the-sealed-trunk/
"Griffith's Secret Scandal." John W. Harding Author. August 2, 2017. https://www.johnwharding.com/griffiths-secret-scandal-part-3/
"Il delitto di Moltrasio (1910)" Bibliotopia. February 16, 2010. https://bibliotopia.forumfree.it/?t=46239137
"Lake Como's Moltrasio Trunk Murder." The Como Companion. November 7, 2019. https://comocompanion.com/2019/11/07/lake-comos-moltrasio-trunk-murder/
"Mary Scott Crittenden Castle Charlton." Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228163753/mary-crittenden-charlton
Newspapers (1897-1901, 1905, 1909, 1910-1913, 1915):
- The Chico Record
- The Colusa Daily Sun
- The Enterprise (Riverside)
- The Humboldt Press
- The Minneapolis Press
- The Los Angeles Herald
- The Press Democrat
- The Morning Press
- The New York Times
- The New York Tribune
- The New York World
- The Sacramento Daily Union
- The San Diego Union & Daily Bee
- The San Francisco Call
- The San Jose Herald
- The San Jose Mercury News
- The Stockton Independent
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
12/12/22 • 58 min
In 1931, a prominent Navy wife stationed near Pearl Harbor accused five locals of assaulting her after leaving a Waikiki club. This is the story of the Massie Affair, in which decades of racial tension surfaced in a sensational murder trial and threatened the Hawaiian Islands with martial law.
Sources:
Black, Cobey. Hawaii Scandal (Waipahu: Island Heritage, 2002).
Creel, H. G. Hawaii: An International Crime (Girard: Appeal to Reason, 1915).
Hannon, Michael. “The Massie Case Territory of Hawaii v. Ahakuelo, et. al. (1931) Territory of Hawaii v. Grace Fortescue, et. al (1932).” University of Minnesota Law Library. http://moses.law.umn.edu/darrow/trialpdfs/MASSIE_CASE.pdf
“A Sailor Confesses to Old Hawaii Killing.” Life Magazine. October 7, 1966. P. 39
Leong, Lavonne. “The Crime That Changed the Islands.” Honolulu Magazine. March 8, 2010. https://www.honolulumagazine.com/the-crime-that-changed-the-islands/
Linder, Douglas O. “The Massie Trials: An Account.” UMKC School of Law. https://www.famous-trials.com/massie/308-commentary
“Massie Case - 1932” The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection. University of Minnesota Law Library. http://moses.law.umn.edu/darrow2/trialsid=5.html#top
“THE NAVY AND THE Massie-Kahahawai Case: THE POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK! (Honolulu: Honolulu Record Publishing Co. Ltd.)
Stannard, David E., Honor Killing: How the Infamous ‘Massie Affair’ Transformed Hawai'i (New York: Penguin, 2006). And “The Massie Case: Injustice and Courage.” The Honolulu Advertiser. October 14, 2001. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Oct/14/op/op03a.html
“American Experience: The Island Murder.” PBS. 2005. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/island-murder/
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Crippen
Old Blood
08/30/21 • 49 min
Show Notes
Episode 6 - Crippen
In 1910, London police discovered human remains underneath the home of a homeopathic doctor. The discovery of the mutilated, decapitated, and deboned corpse ignited a trans-Atlantic manhunt for the suspect they believed guilty of the murder. With the suspect finally caught and executed, London authorities considered the case solved. Yet the evidence never added up to the police’s version of events, leaving everyone who read about the murder with tons of questions. Those interested in the case hoped that a 2007 DNA test would finally provide the answers people have been asking for the past 100 years, but the test results left everyone more confused--and shocked-- than they were before.
Sources:
Bovsun, Mara. “A Question of Murder.” NY Daily News. Tribune Publishing, November 11, 2007. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/question-murder-article-1.258108.
Connell, Nicholas. Doctor Crippen The Infamous London Cellar Murder of 1910. Amberley Publishing, 2013.
“Dr Crippen Murder: Chamber of Horror.” The Unredacted. The Unredacted, February 21, 2018. https://theunredacted.com/dr-crippen-murder-chamber-of-horror/.
“Hawley Harvey Crippen.” The Proceedings of the Old Bailey: London's Central Criminal Court, 1674-1913, n.d. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?div=t19101011-74.
Hodgson, Martin. “100 Years on, DNA Casts Doubt on Crippen Case.” The Guardian. Guardian News & Media, October 16, 2007. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/oct/17/ukcrime.science.
Foran, David R, Beth E Wills, Brianne M Kiley, John H Trestail, and Carrie B Jackson. “Case Report Criminalistics. The Conviction of Dr. Crippen: New Forensic Findings in a Century-Old Murder.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2010.
Larson, Erik. Thunderstruck. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.
Waffinden, Bob. “Mutilating the Evidence.” The Oldie. Oldie Publications, May 30, 2019. https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/mutilating-the-evidence.
“Was Dr Crippen Innocent of His Wife's Murder?” BBC. BBC, July 29, 2010. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-10802059.
Young, Filson, ed. The Trial of Hawley Harvey Crippen. Glasgow: William Hodge & Company, Ltd., 1920.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Bobby Franks (Part 1)
Old Blood
07/26/21 • 36 min
In Chicago in 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb abducted and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. The murder ignited a national backlash against what they saw as a morally bankrupt Jazz Age, and a furor over the two wealthy, psychopathic murderers who killed an innocent child just for the thrill of it. This is part 1 of the 2 episodes that cover “the Trial of the Century.”
Sources:
1924: Leopold and Loeb. The Chicago Historical Homicide Project. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://homicide.northwestern.edu/crimes/leopold/.
“The Leopold-Loeb Case: Biographies of Key Figures.” CrimeArchives. http://www.crimearchives.net/1924_leopold_loeb/html/bios.html.
Barrett, Nina. Leopold and Loeb: 90 Years Later, Finding the Truth. CrimeReads. (2018, August 1)https://crimereads.com/leopold-and-loeb-90-years-later-finding-the-truth/.
deFord, Miriam Allen. Superman's Crime: Loeb and Leopold in True Crime: An American Anthology. Edited by Harold Schechter. New York, NY: The Library of America, 2008. pages 557-577.
Hoermann, Simone, Ph.D., Corinne E. Zupanick, Psy.D., & Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. DSM-5: The Ten Personality Disorders: Cluster A. MentalHelp.net https://www.mentalhelp.net/personality-disorders/cluster-a/
Linder, Douglas O. “Leopold and Loeb.” Famous Trials. UMKC School of Law. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb.
Lybarger, Jeremy. “Reopening the Case Files of Leopold and Loeb.” The Paris Review, July 26, 2018. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/07/26/reopening-the-case-files-of-leopold-and-loeb/.
O'Connell, Cathleen, director. The Perfect Crime. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/perfectcrime/.
Sellers, Alvin Victor. The Leopold Loeb Case: With Excerpts from the Evidence of the Alienists and Including the Arguments to the Court by Counsel for the People and for the Defense. Brunswick, GA: Classic Publishing Co., 1926.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Virago
Old Blood
02/28/22 • 53 min
The 2010 discovery of a skull in broadcaster David Attenborough's backyard finally closed a 130-year-old case that enraged Victorian London. When a box of boiled and mutilated human remains washed up on the bank of the Thames in southwest London in 1879, no one could have imagined who was responsible for the heinous act. When police finally arrested the Barnes Mystery murderer, Victorian Britain became disgusted and enraged, but mostly terrified. How well does anyone really know the people they allow into the safety of their home?
Sources:
"The Jury of Matrons." First Hundred Years. 27 June, 2016. https://first100years.org.uk/the-jury-of-matrons/
"Kate Webster - The 'Barnes Mystery'" Capital Punishment- U.K.. http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/webster.html
Kontur, Daniel, director. Murder Maps: The Richmond Case. Dark Crimes, 2020. 43 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn1r00E5zM
McKinnell, Ellie. "The Victorian murder victim whose skull was found in David Attenborough's Richmond garden." MyLondon News. 2 September, 2019.https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/victorian-murder-victim-whos-skull-16838132
O'Donnell, Elliot. The Trial of Kate Webster. (William Hodge & Company, Ltd.: Glasgow, 1925).
Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 21 February 2022), June 1879, trial of CATHERINE WEBSTER (29) (t18790630-653).
"Trial, sentence & execution of Kate Webster for the murder of Mrs Thomas, at Richmond" London, 1879.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Blood Ink: Greek Murder Trials
Old Blood
06/01/22 • 43 min
How did ancient Greeks obtain justice during a century known for bloodshed and turbulence? And how did the Athenians reconcile such senseless violence with their society's high values of justice and truth? Two ancient Athenian murder trials answer these questions and show how the city’s so-called Golden Age was just as ruthless as the rest of ancient history.
Sources:
Antiphon.
Against the Stepmother For Poisoning. Perseus Digital Library. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0020&redirect=true
On the Murder of Herodes. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0020%3Aspeech%3D5
Dobson, J.F. The Greek Orators (London: Clarendon Press, 1919).
Freeman, Kathleen. The Murder of Herodes: And Other Trials From The Athenian Law Courts. (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1991).
Gagarin, Michael. “Athenian Homicide Law: Case Studies.” Demos. March 27, 2003. https://www.stoa.org/demos/article_homicide@page=3&greekEncoding=UnicodeC.html
Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. (New York: Penguin Books, 2012).
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. (New York: Warner Books, 1999).
“Katharsis & Miasma.” Hellenic Faith. https://hellenicfaith.com/katharsis-miasma/
“Law and Courts in Ancient Athens: A Brief Overview.” The Kosmos (Harvard). September 20, 2018. https://kosmossociety.chs.harvard.edu/law-and-courts-in-ancient-athens-a-brief-overview/
Plutarch and Fowler, H.N. Trans. Lives of the Ten Orators. Attalus.org. 1936. http://attalus.org/translate/orators1.html
Spencer, McDaniel. “Ancient Greek Murder Mysteries.” Tales of Times Forgotten. October 2, 2019. https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/10/02/ancient-greek-murder-mysteries/
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
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FAQ
How many episodes does Old Blood have?
Old Blood currently has 64 episodes available.
What topics does Old Blood cover?
The podcast is about True Crime, History and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Old Blood?
The episode title 'The Little Victims: Cayetano Godino & the Children of Buenos Aires' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Old Blood?
The average episode length on Old Blood is 57 minutes.
How often are episodes of Old Blood released?
Episodes of Old Blood are typically released every 20 days, 22 hours.
When was the first episode of Old Blood?
The first episode of Old Blood was released on Jul 26, 2021.
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