Crimes of the Centuries
Crime is so commonplace that it takes something particularly shocking to be labelled the “crime of the century.” Even so, there are a lot of cases that have earned the distinction. In each episode of Crimes of the Centuries, award-winning journalist Amber Hunt will examine a case that’s lesser known today but was huge when it happened. The cases explored span the centuries and each left a mark. Some made history by changing laws. Others were so shocking they changed society.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 39 minutes
- Episodes
- 223
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
S4 Ep5: Winnie Ruth Judd: The Trunk Murderess
When luggage leaking blood arrived at a Los Angeles train depot in 1931, the woman who'd traveled with the items feigned ignorance -- and then disappeared, leading to a nationwide manhunt that captiv…
00:41:07 |
Mon 25 Mar 2024
S4 Ep4: The Texas Tower Sniper
The morning of Aug. 1, 1966, 25-year-old Charles Whitman called his wife's boss to say she'd be out, then did the same for his mother. After killing the two women, he climbed atop the observatory tow…
00:33:09 |
Mon 18 Mar 2024
S4 Ep3: The Cold-Blooded Killing of the Candy Man
Every parent has worried about their children hauling home tainted candy on Halloween, but not everyone knows where that fear originated. On Halloween in 1974, an 8-year-old boy named Timothy O’Bryan…
00:41:23 |
Mon 11 Mar 2024
S4 Ep2: The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa
Notorious labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa had for decades been a polarizing figure, with his ties to organized crime investigated as early as 1957 by future U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. A jury…
00:36:21 |
Mon 04 Mar 2024
S4 Ep1: Dr. Satan of Occupied Paris: Marcel Petiot
Living in Occupied Paris during World War II was utter chaos, with the Gestapo police constantly changing rules, kidnapping people from the streets and sidelining the Parisian police. A physician nam…
00:38:51 |
Mon 26 Feb 2024
From Grab Bag Collab: Introducing The Catalyst
Hey, Crimes of the Centuries listeners! COTC is now part of Grab Bag Collab, a Patreon-based podcasting network. You can find our other shows available at patreon.com/grabbagcollab
00:39:00 |
Fri 23 Feb 2024
S3 Ep42: Uncovering the True Story of the Tulsa Massacre
For years, the violence that occurred in the area known as "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921 was remembered as the "Tulsa Race Riot" - when it was even remembered at all. But that name…
00:38:27 |
Sun 11 Feb 2024
S3 Ep41: The Death of Bob Crane: A Television Star's Secret Life
Handsome and charismatic, the actor Bob Crane led the cast of the hit sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" for six seasons from the mid-sixties into the beginning of the next decade. The show ended in 1971, and …
00:42:56 |
Mon 05 Feb 2024
S3 Ep40: Anna Marie Hahn: Cincinnati's "Angel of Death"
Her story seemed innocent at first, if not charming. A young immigrant woman from Germany befriending older gentlemen in Cincinnati's German community and providing them memories of home with her Ol…
00:36:29 |
Mon 29 Jan 2024
S3 Ep39: The Lincoln Assassination's Forgotten Conspirators
It's a story every American grade school student learns - how the actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in his box at the Ford's Theater, jumped down to the stage, and fled Washingto…
00:38:32 |
Mon 22 Jan 2024
S3 Ep38: The Defeo Murders: Behind the Amityville Horror - Part 2
After the murder of the Defeo family, the house known as "High Hopes" where the murders occurred was purchased by the George and Kathy Lutz. But the Lutz family soon fled the property, claiming frig…
00:37:05 |
Mon 15 Jan 2024
S3 Ep37: The Defeo Murders: Behind the Amityville Horror - Part 1
The word "Amityville" has practically become synonymous in popular culture with the eerie and supernatural. But behind the books and movies is a true story of the Defeo murders, and in today's episo…
00:35:14 |
Mon 08 Jan 2024
S3 Ep36: American Black Widow Sharon Harrelson
Having one husband die under suspicious circumstances may not cause alarm bells to ring, but what if a second husband also meets an unfortunate fate? The so-called "American Black Widow" Sharon Harre…
00:33:54 |
Mon 01 Jan 2024
S3 Ep35: The Kansas City Union Station Massacre
There were seven men guarding the notorious criminal Frank Nash as he moved through Kansas City Union Station to a car waiting outside. But these officers couldn't stop the onslaught that faced them …
00:40:46 |
Mon 11 Dec 2023
S3 Ep34: Bonnie and Clyde: The Real Story of the Notorious Duo
The story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow is probably familiar to many of our COTC listeners. But this story of young outlaws terrorizing the country is one that has been romanticized and practica…
00:38:32 |
Mon 04 Dec 2023
S3 Ep33: The Scourge of Thalidomide
In March of 1954, scientists from German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal produced Thalidomide for the first time. Thalidomide was a sedative and sleep aid sold in many countries worldwide un…
00:38:29 |
Mon 20 Nov 2023
S3 Ep32: Billy the Kid: The Lincoln County War Part 2
After the five-day Battle of Lincoln, the deputized posse called the Regulators disbanded. The Lincoln County War appeared to be over. Lew Wallace, the newly appointed governor of the New Mexico Terr…
00:34:56 |
Mon 13 Nov 2023
S3 Ep31: The Lincoln County War Part 1
In November 1876, a 24-year-old wealthy cattleman and banker named John Tunstall, arrived in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Together with lawyer Alexander McSween, John Tunstall set up a rival business …
00:36:33 |
Mon 06 Nov 2023
S3 Ep30: The Lattimer Mine Massacre
On September 10, 1897, roughly 300 to 400 unarmed strikers marched peacefully to a coal mine to support a newly formed United Mine Workers union. The miners, mostly consisting of Slovak and German et…
00:37:04 |
Mon 30 Oct 2023
S3 Ep29: Juana Barraza: Mexico's Little Old Lady Killer
Born December 27, 1957 in Epazoyucan, Hidalgo, Juana Dayanara Barraza Samperioa was a 48-year-old single mother with a troubled past. After years of traumatic experiences in her early life, including…
00:32:37 |
Mon 23 Oct 2023
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