Episode 111 The 1912 Hillsville Massacre

The Hillsville Massacre has been described as one of the most bizarre incidents in Virginia criminal and legal history. Floyd Allen, the patriarch of the Allen clan, known for feuding, moonshining and violence, was executed after he stood trial for triggering the 1912 courthouse massacre. But the question remains…who shot first?

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Episode Sources

Gunfight in courthouse after guilty verdict left 5 dead, 7 wounded. New York Daily News. July 4, 2021

Floyd Allen (1856–1913). Encyclopedia of Virginia. 

Courthouse Tragedy. The Carroll County Historical and Society Museum

The Hillsville Massacre. The Roanoker. November 1982

Floyd Allen. Murderpedia

Episode Music

Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallager  Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 110 Mississippi Royalty King and Queen of the Gypsies

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, known as the King and Queen of the Gypsies, have long been a part of Meridian, Mississippi lore but their story is complicated and often misunderstood 

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Episode Sources

Queen of the Gypsies Dead. Our Southern Home. February 10, 1915

The Rose Hill Company of Players. Facebook

Queen Kelly Mitchell: A Slice of Meridian’s History. The Meridian Star. December 26, 2007

Historical tales abound within Rose Hill Cemetery. Today in Mississippi 

Fortune telling ordinance challenged. The Meridian Star. February 13, 2011

Meridian, Mississippi, the Queen City. The Meridian Star. October 28, 2011

Why Being 'Gypped' Hurts The Roma More Than It Hurts You. Code Switch NPR. December 30, 2013

Roma Culture: Customs, Traditions & Beliefs. Live Science. November 26, 2018

Meridian’s Royal Past. Mississippi FolkLife. February 4, 2019

Episode Music

Alone with my Thoughts by Esther Abrami  Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 109 Bloody Bob Sims and The Sims War

In the late 1880s Bob Sims declared himself a prophet with more than 100 followers in his Choctaw County Alabama cult. His belief that no man could establish laws over him led to a bloody chapter in Alabama history

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Episode Sources

Sims War Siege. Choctaw County Geological Society

Robert Bruce Sims. Find A Grave.

The Sims War Connection. Rebellion Leader Robert Bruce Sims. Campbell Family History

Bad Literature. Bob Sims Paper ‘The Veil is Rent’. The Standard Gauge. September 10, 1891

Robert Sims, Thomas and Young Savage. Strange Fruit and Spanish Moss. December 26, 2014

A Southern Terror: Arrest of the Bloody Bob Sims and His Bad Gang. The Pittsburgh Press. December 27, 1891

Stars Fell on Alabama by Carl Carmer. University of Alabama Press (1985)

Episode Music

Argonne by Zachariah Hickman Licensed under Creative Commons

Bring Me Your Sorrows by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 108 The Mysterious Disappearance of Pearl Corens

Pearl Corens disappeared on February 13, 1945. Over the next two weeks mysterious notes perplexed police as they searched for the missing war department employee. Then came a shocking discovery on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

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Episode Sources

Justice and the Case of the Corpseless Head. New York Daily News. March 24, 1946

Judge is Grim in Weird Case. The Spokesman-Review. May 29, 1945.

Wife’s Head Found; Husband Held. The New York Daily News. March 1, 1945

Corens Offers Alibi for Bloodstains in Bethesda Home. The Evening Star. May 25, 1945

Rice, C. (2018). 45 Murderers: A Collection of True Crime Stories. United States: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road.

Episode Music

Falling Rain by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 107 FBI Most Wanted Mean Marie Arrington

In April 1969, Marie Arrington became the second woman ever placed on the FBI’s most wanted list. One year earlier she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter. While awaiting appeal and out on bond she was arrested for the murder of a legal secretary. Then came a trial, Marie’s escape and the FBI’s years long pursuit of one of their most wanted  

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Episode Resources

Mrs. Vivian June Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. April 30,1968

Letter Linked in Killing of Secretary Erased. The Orlando Sentinel. September 18, 1968

State Traces Hourly Steps by Mrs. Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. December 4,1968

Arrington v. State. Supreme Court of Florida. April 1, 1970

Wanted Persons Marie Dean Arrington. The Sheriff's Star. December 1969

Marie Dean Arrington. The Tampa Tribune. March 18, 1973

Is This The Place They Call Hell? The Palm Beach Post. March 18, 1973

Son Remains in Shadow of Mother’s Revenge. Orlando Sentinel. June 27, 1998 

Marie Arrington 1960s Leesburg Killer. South Florida Sun Sentinel. July 1, 2014

30 days of mean marie. Lake & Sumter Style. July 2014

Episode Music

Sense of Loss and Lazy Days by Purple Planet Music. purple-planetmusic.com Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 106 The Singing Slayer of the South

Kenneth Neu loved two things: music and himself. He was a talented singer and dreamed of becoming a star with his name in newspapers and his voice on the radio. Neu would get his wish in the 1930s when people from New York City to New Orleans heard his name on radio reports and saw his name and photos printed in newspapers. The headlines featured news that he had confessed to two murders.

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Episode Resources

Theater Manager Found Murdered. The Wilmington Morning News. September 11, 1933

Slayer of Two Held By Lack of Car Tag. The Gaffney Ledger. September 23, 1933

Crooner Held for Murder Pens Poems in Jail Cell. The Shreveport Times. September 23, 1933

Neu’s Defense at N.O. is Insanity. The Alexandria Town Talk. December 13, 1933

State Demands Death for Penalty for Slayer. The Monroe-Star News. December 15, 1933

Night Club Singer Goes to N.O. Gallows Today. The Shreveport Times February 1, 1935

Girl Pays for Neu’s Funeral. The Alexandria Town Talk. February 2, 1935

State v. Neu, 180 La. 545, 157 So. 105 (La. 1934). Casetext

Singer Kept Singing All the Way to the Gallows. The Ottawa Citizen. October 25, 1980

Fit as a fiddle and ready to hang: depression-era crooner was the ‘singing slayer’. Medium. December 1, 2018

Is Gay Panic Still An Excuse For Murder In The Courtroom? Oxygen True Crime. August 20, 2019

Episode Music

Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallagher Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

Slow Hammers by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 105 The Six Triple Eight

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the "Six Triple Eight", was the only all-black, all-female battalion overseas during World War II. They were dedicated to the mission to boost morale for service members but it would take decades for their country to acknowledge them for their service.

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Episode Resources
Double V Campaign. Newspapers.com

LTC Charity Adams Early. Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. National Museum United States Army 

Lena King, 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion U.S. Army, World War II. Veterans Chronicles. Dec 5, 2019

These Black Female Heroes Made Sure U.S. WWII Forces Got Their Mail. History. February 21, 2019.

Procession, funeral for Bertha Dupre set for Friday morning. The Salisbury Post. March 20, 2019

The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale. National World War II Museum New Orleans. February 10, 2021

Sen. Moran Introduces Bill to Award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WWII “Six-Triple-Eight” Battalion. Jerry Moran United States Senator for Kansas. February 2021

Black female WWII unit hoping to get congressional honor. Associated Press. July 13, 2021

Honoring Veterans of WWII: Women of the 6888th. Burns and McConnell. November 18, 2021

And Still, They Served: Black Servicewomen in World War II. Military Women’s Memorial. 

Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II. Charlie Horse Productions

Episode Music

Sugar Pines by Wes Hutchison Licensed under Creative Commons

Alone With My Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Episode 104 The Legend of the Bloody Mausoleum

A Gothic revival church in downtown Cleveland, Tennessee was built in 1873 and dedicated in memory of 7-year-old Nina Craigmiles who died in 1871. The mausoleum behind the church is home to one of Tennessee's strangest mysteries

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Episode Resources
St. Luke’s Episocopal Church. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. United States Department off the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service

Elegy in Marble. The Tennessean. April 16, 1950

The Red Streaks on the White Mausoleum. Appalachian History. October 28, 2010

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Visit Cleveland Tennessee

Ghosts of Bradley County, Tennessee. Museum Center 5 Points. October 28, 2010

Episode Music

Shadowlands by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

Episode 103 The Sultana Disaster

The worst maritime disaster in US history occurred on April 27, 1865. Overshadowed by the end of the Civil War and assassination of President Lincoln, the death of nearly 1800 souls was not front page news and conspiracy theories of how the ship went down were rampant 

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Episode Resources

Sultana Disaster Museum sultanadisastermuseum.com

The Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends thesultanaassociation.com

Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War. American History Magazine. August 1998

Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War. Mississippi History Now. October 2009

The Shipwreck That Led Confederate Veterans To Risk All For Union Lives. NPR News. April 27, 2015

Episode Music

Waiting Alone in the Dust by Lobo Loco. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Virtues Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com. 

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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