Scoundrel: History's Forgotten Villains

In 1645, the English Civil War caused a great divide in England - on both sides, the destruction, violence and famine were all blamed on malevolent witches, cursing towns and villages all throughout the countryside to fulfill their pacts with the devil. Thankfully, King Charles I endorsed a duo of witch-hunters, led by Matthew Hopkins to identify and condemn as many accused witches as they could lay eyes on, leading to national and international fame and infamy. Over their careers, Hopkins and his partner John Stearne torturously forced confessions and sent more people to the gallows than all witch-hunters for the prior 160 years combined, and Hopkins’ book ‘The Discovery of Witches’ eventually became the inspiration for the Salem Witch Trials when it arrived on American shores. History may have forgotten about Matthew Hopkins’ insidious influence, but we sure haven’t!

In January of 1920, as their locomotive headed into Rochester, New York, a group of brakemen happened to spot a corpse lying in a nearby ditch. After a quick police investigation, authorities were able to point their fingers at a rather unusual couple of culprits: A married couple - Pearl and James O'Dell.  Nicknamed "The Honeymoon Murderers," their strange motive, method and mayheim splashes its way all over national papers and popular culture...until time washed their story away.  Join us as we bring them back to life and shed light on their human tragedy. 

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They were two of the most feared outlaws in the Wild West. Known for their crack shots, and overall disregard of Oklahoma law, their names were on most wanted lists from Alda to Tulsa County.  Oh, and the kicker? They were two teenage girls. The world may have forgotten about Cattle Annie and Little Britches, but we sure haven't!

On April 16, 1874, a desperate and frostbitten man wrapped in rags wandered into a basecamp in the frosty Colorado San Juan Mountains. Famished and half-dead, soldiers gathered around to quickly feed the poor guy. As he regained strength, Alferd Packer quickly threaded together a story about how he impossibly survived the winter stranded deep in the unforgiving mountains. His story... would be one giant lie. The truth, as it slowly revealed itself, involved unspeakable acts of violence, murder and perhaps most harrowing, cannibalism. History may have overlooked the disturbing true tales of Alferd Packer, but we sure haven't! 

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On July 17, 1918, Nicholas II, Czar of Russia and his entire family were ushered into a dark basement where they were all killed by Bolshevik revolutionary gunmen. But people around the world prayed that perhaps the legend was true. That his 17-year-old daughter Anastasia Romanov survived the massacre. Well, a Polish woman for several decades preyed upon those false hopes and deviously masqueraded as the late Grand Duchess for sympathy, fame and worst of all money. The world may have forgotten about Franziska Schanzkowska, but we sure haven't,

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He had it all. Good looks, a privileged upbringing, the adoration of women...yet in November 1961, Julian Harvey was responsible for murdering almost an entire family while captaining their vacation vessel off the shore of Florida. What made this villain tick and ultimately do the unthinkable? Take a listen now!

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You may have heard of famous pirates like Black Beard and Calico Jack, but did you know a 19th century former peasant girl assembled a pirate confederation so massive  it made these men's fleets seem like a couple of row boats? Ching Shih was the most successful pirate the world has ever forgotten.... until today. 

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The Wild West after the Civil War was famous for its unruly hooligans. But buried in the headlines under the rowdy shenanigans of Billy The Kid and Jesse James stood the story of a very different outlaw. One many had described as "Gentlemanly." Sure with each of his highway robberies, he'd hold a shotgun to your face, but he never wanted your personal belongings...only the money of certain banks that have wronged him.  Even more, he'd end each heist with a please, thank you and even a charming poem.  Sure the world may have forgotten about Black Bart aka Charles Boles, but we sure haven't.  

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The year is 1911.  In the idyllic beauty of Olalla Washington, sits a sanitarium - a supposed sanctuary for those suffering from health conditions to come and heal under the guidance of a "brilliant medical mind." Little do locals realize, it's in these walls that an unassuming health practitioner named Dr. Linda Hazzard is performing unspeakable horrors on her patients. Her torture and starvation tactics will ultimately results in the deaths of dozens that we know of...and many more we don't. The history books may have forgotten the horrors of Linda Hazzard...but we sure haven't. 

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Everyone knows the Academy award winning film Amadeus, where a dramatic jealous-ridden  Antonio Salieri contributed to the death of Mozart. But what you probably don't know is a man named John Taylor was complicit in the death of two other musical giants;  Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friedrich Handel.  And the greatest irony of all...he was their eye doctor. Join us this week on Scoundrel: History's Forgotten Villains as we dive deep into the scandalous, tumultuous and at times barbaric world of 18th century European ophthalmology to uncover the many blindings and killings of Dr. John Taylor.

Good Cult is an investigative podcast about the dark corners of the New Age self-help movements and the American counterculture. In season one, host River Donaghey will explore his family's group therapy cult to unpack the strange history of the Human Potential Movement, and try to understand how a violent self-help seminar in the 1980s evolved into a global phenomenon, which would capture his own family decades later.

Ever visit the world famous Louvre Museum in Paris?  Ever gaze up at Picassos? How about the Matisses? Well, what if we told you that behind the beautiful colors and brush strokes, a dark history lingers as to why they're in the museum.  You see, many of them used to belong to somebody...some say one of the richest and most ruthless women of 20th century Europe, who besides her art collecting hobby, spent much of 1959 trying to murder her only son. The story of Domenica Guillaume is a masterpiece of greed, hubris and destruction. 

Mediums, Clairvoyants, Psychics. You can't turn on TV these days without seeing a reality show where some self-proclaimed "Communicator" is conversing with dead people. Where did this all come from? Well..it all began with two young sisters from the 1840s named Kate and Maggie Fox. The craziest part?  It all started with a prank. 

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October 15, 1917.  A war criminal is marched before a French firing squad to receive their brutal final punishment.  Their crime... selling secrets to the Germans resulting in the slaughter of 40,000 French officers in one of World War 1's bloodiest battles. As witnesses watch the despicable traitor being pushed before the guns, they are shocked.  The  perpetrator is none other than one of the most famous women of early 20th century Paris: An elegant 41 year old woman named Margaretha Geerthurida MacLeod or as the world knows her: Mata Hari. Join us as we explore the legend of this iconic figure and even beg the question: Was she guilty of the things they said she did...or was she merely a scapegoat.

The turn of the 20th century was a wild and weird time, especially in medicine. New discoveries of radioactive elements created a medical craze with companies putting now-known poisonous substances in medicines with unproven promises to cure everything from arthritis to impotence.  Unfortunately, the only thing these medicines did for people...was eventually kill them. And nobody poisoned more people and pushed more toxic cure-alls than one Dr. William Bailey, a Harvard dropout who wanted to make it big. 

You've heard her name in the same breath as other gun slinging wild west hooligans like Billy the Kid and Jesse James. But who really was Belle Starr? Was she the  pistol-packing bloodthirsty Bandit Queen who delighted in breaking the law as her legend dictates, or... was she more a victim of circumstance and the turbulent times she lived? More importantly, who actually killed her that fateful day on February 3 1889?   There are so many questions lingering about Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr,  and on this week's episode, we attempt to answer them all!

Remember the film, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN with Leonardo DiCaprio about the world's greatest counterfeiter?  Well, this is the opposite. Yup.The world's absolute worst God awful counterfeiter who ever lived. Emerich Juettnner's attempts at counterfeiting one dollar bills were so laughably bad, they looked and felt like what can only be described today as Monopoly money.  But to his amazement, throughout the 1930's and 40's, he was able to elude...and annoy the FBI for over a decade with his heinous bogus bucks .  The history books may have forgotten about Emerich Juettner, but we sure haven't.  

Before there was Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack LaLanne, a very different strong man captured the imagination of the planet. A man so powerful and muscular, he changed his first name to sound like the roar of a lion. In the early 20th century, Bernarr MacFadden introduced the world to not only fitness culture, but health beliefs so controversial and dangerous,  they continue to haunt and hurt us today.  

You might have heard of Anna Delvey, or the Tinder Swindler but  what if we told you, 250 years ago...a lowly English maid named Sarah Wilson made these modern imposters look like a bunch of amateurs. Throughout the 1770's, Sarah Wilson traveled the American colonies ripping off the ultra rich, even rubbing up against our Founding Fathers by pretending to  be her royal highness Princess Sophia Carolina Augusta, sister to the Queen of England. The history books might have forgotten about this fascinating rapscallion, but we sure haven't.  

Tim Miller is a famous search-and-rescuer in Dickinson, Texas, who's helped track down more than 300 missing persons. After 38 years of searching, he’s now convinced that he’s finally solved his own daughter’s murder.  In the first season of VIGILANTE, Allie Conti (New York Times, Vice) explores the human cost of Tim’s singular obsession with the case—from the people he’s falsely accused in the past, to the current girlfriend he’s put in the crosshairs of a possible serial killer. As Allie prepares to interview the suspect in person, she grapples with whether she might be the latest victim of Tim’s vigilantism.

Ten years before the US Civil War, a little revolt broke out in China that was commanded by a 37-year-old former school teacher who believed himself to be a demon-slaying younger brother to Jesus Christ. By the time Hong Xiuquan was done, 30 million people were killed and the world would never be the same.