Forgotten Felonies
Forgotten Felonies revisits historical crimes that were forgotten—or remembered incorrectly. It’s tempting, looking backward, to fill in the gaps with conclusions that feel obvious now. But that isn’t how history works. Through original newspaper reporting, period advertisements from the years the crimes occurred, and a blend of forensic psychology and genealogical research, each episode restores context to cases history left behind—asking not only what happened, but why.
.
Episodes
32 episodes
Agostino Izzo: The Day the Music Stopped — A Fun-Sized Felony
In the Izzo household, music filled every corner of the home. Agostino Izzo had once played in the Seneca Falls Italian Band and worked as a music teacher, passing his love of music on to his children. Several would go on to perform in orchestr...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 32
•
16:46
What Jane Saw: An Intergenerational Family Tragedy in Pennsylvania (1909–1938) - A Fun-Sized Felony
On July 17, 1938, ten people were living in two small rooms above the Broadway Inn in Leechburg, Pennsylvania. By sunrise, three were dead and seven children were orphaned.In 1909, a young girl watched her father terrorize a Pennsylvania...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 31
•
13:24
James H Coyner (Alonzo Robinson): Two names, one rope.
On January 12, 1935, Amelia Earhart landed safely in Oakland, California after her historic solo flight across the Pacific. The nation celebrated progress, courage, and modern aviation.That same day, in a Mississippi post office, a man w...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 30
•
1:18:27
Gone in a Moment: The Disappearance of Winifred Byrne — A Fun-Sized Felony
In November of 1913, three-year-old Winifred Byrne vanished from outside her family’s home on West 38th Street in New York City. Her father had looked away for just a moment—and that was all it took.What happened during the four days Win...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 29
•
11:01
Emily Antone and the Calls That Went Unanswered — A Fun-Sized Felony
In July of 1912, Emily Antone—a 38-year-old Indigenous woman—arrived at a house in Middleport, Ontario, carrying a trunk and plans to start over. She never left alive.This Fun-Sized Felony examines the murder of Emily Antone, the failure...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 28
•
16:00
John Heslop and the Case That Never Closed
In the early hours of January 27, 1891, John Heslop was murdered inside his home near Ancaster, Ontario. He was a respected township clerk, a longtime pioneer in the area, and a man whose death sent shockwaves through the surrounding countrysid...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 27
•
1:18:08
The Mysterious Disappearance and Return of Mabel E. Dorner — A Fun-Sized Felony
This is another Fun-Sized Felony. Look for a full-sized episode next week!In June of 1912, seventeen-year-old Mabel E. "Dolly" Dorner vanished, leaving her parents frantic and the newspapers full of fear. Three days later, she was quietl...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 26
•
19:28
The Attack on Richard Doherty, Jr. - A Fun-Sized Felony
Not every story is told in full. This frustrates us, and now it can frustrate you! (You're welcome.)The towns of Whitman and Brockton, MA, were thrown for a loop in July of 1957 when young boys were being immorally assaulted, ba...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 25
•
10:00
Lorraine Clark and the Murder of Melvin: When the Headlines Hardened into Fact
In 1954, Melvin Clark was murdered and his body dumped into the depths of the Merrimack River. His wife, Lorraine Clark, would ultimately plead guilty—and for decades, that plea has stood as the official ending to the case.But the record...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 24
•
1:14:50
Baby John: The Boy Who Lived Through Fire - Part 3
In the final episode, Isabella J. Martin finally faces trial in a courtroom she cannot control. As the case unfolds, testimony forces the legal system to confront a difficult truth: Baby John was not a criminal mastermind, but a child shaped by...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 23
•
1:37:50
Baby John: The Boy Who Lived Through Fire - Part 2
A burning barn in the snow finally breaks Isabella J. Martin’s control over her son. In Episode 2, Baby John is arrested—and for the first time in his life, separated from the woman who shaped every moment of his childhood. What fol...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 22
•
1:16:37
Baby John: The Boy Who Lived Through Fire - Part 1
In 1907, a judge’s home in Oakland, CA was blown apart by a homemade bomb. For months, the case went unsolved — until a trail of clues led not to a hardened criminal, but to a sixteen-year-old boy known as “Baby John.”Episode 1 uncovers ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 21
•
1:19:52
Zollie Clement - The Boy Bandit
A young boy found himself lost in the pages of adventure-filled dime novels and couldn't get enough. Before too long he brought those adventures to life just to read about his own adventures in the headlines. Zollie Clement became the Boy Bandi...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 20
•
1:28:46
Protecting the Porch: Halloween Prank Horrors
Long before candy and costumes, Halloween was a night of chaos. Young people looked forward to a night of unbridled rebellion while responsible property owners feared for their livelihood. Halloween was a night of anything-goes and, unfortunate...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 19
•
1:01:32
Poison and Pistols: the Treacherous Deeds of John Branton
This is the third and final episode in our series featuring Lane County, OR. This one takes you through the life and crimes of John Branton, older brother of Claude.When Milly Elliott met John Branton, she thought it was a love story to ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 18
•
1:18:21
The Legacy and Murder of Sheriff William Withers
This episode is the second in a series of three covering a wild time in the history of Lane County, Oregon. Be sure to start with the previous episode, "Claude Branton and Courtland Greene - A Murder at Isham's Corral."Sheriff W...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 17
•
1:22:27
Claude Branton and Courtland Greene - Murder at Isham's Corral
This is the first of three episodes that take place in Lane County, OR. It was a wild time...Sheriff Withers had only been sheriff for 4 days when the biggest case of his career fell into his lap. The murder committed by Claude Branton a...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 16
•
1:19:03
The Hill Family Axe Murders
June 9th, 1911 brought a giant shock for the tiny community of Ardenwald, OR. A highly regarded family—William and Ruth Hill, and Ruth's children Philip and Dorothy Rintoul—who had just moved into the area were massacred in a most brutal way in...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 15
•
1:23:05
Albert Applegate - Murder in a Cornfield
In November of 1895, John Nelson would never have guessed that the unassuming stranger standing at his front door would turn his family's life upside down for the next several months. This story goes to show just how trusting we were back in th...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 14
•
1:11:33
Hans Schmidt: The Bloodlust Priest - Part 3
This is the 3rd and final part of the Hans Schmidt series. In this episode we:Explore the investigation into Dr. Muret's true identity, and then reveal his real identity!Discuss what may have happened to Anna Aumuller's bab...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 13
•
1:10:10
Hans Schmidt: The Bloodlust Priest - Part 2
Part 2 of our Hans Schmidt series takes us back to the 1800s in Germany for a look at Hans's childhood and the relatives that came before him. Listen in as we unpack the "clews" from the newspapers and the trial transcripts that might just give...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 12
•
1:13:29
Hans Schmidt: The Bloodlust Priest - Part 1
This is Part 1 of a very in-depth tale that is dark and twisted. (You can't say we didn't warn you!) When pieces of a lady washed ashore along the banks of the Hudson River in 1913, investigators had no idea just what a nightmare ha...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 11
•
1:19:22
The Traumatic Life and Vengeful Death of Charles Alma Sanders
Life wasn't easy for the Mormon refugees flooding into Mexico in 1885, and it was downright terrifying when they fled back out during the Mexican revolution in 1912. Life seemed to be especially hard for one man in particular who was born in Co...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 10
•
1:10:19
George Hassell - The Man Who Erased Two Families
"No one ever lived who loved children more than I did." These are the words spoken by a man who laughed and joked when recounting the murders of 11 children—all of whom saw him as their father figure. George Hassell was a special type of family...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 9
•
1:25:53
Asa Carey: the Bully of Westfall, Oregon
The wild west was alive and well in Westfall, Oregon in 1912. Asa Carey was a mean son of a gun who couldn't stay away from the saloons. Whoever decided he'd make a good town marshal clearly wasn't thinking straight! Asa had his own ideas when ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
1:00:21