Two women.
Same city.
Different lives — and stories history keeps getting wrong.
In this episode of Deadly Truths, we examine the disappearance of Jean Spangler and the murder of Jeanne French, two Los Angeles cases repeatedly mislinked through rumor, celebrity fixation, and Black Dahlia mythology.
We break down what the historical record actually says — police documentation, timelines, coroner findings, and media distortion — and why these cases are most likely not connected, despite decades of speculation.
This is not a serial-killer episode.
It’s an episode about access, visibility, and how women are rewritten once they’re no longer here to correct the story.
Facts over folklore.
Victims over myths.
If you want true crime grounded in documentation — not recycled theories — follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths.
It’s how these stories stay accurate instead of disappearing.
This episode discusses real cases involving violence, disappearance, and death. Listener discretion is advised.
All information presented is drawn from publicly available records, historical reporting, and documented investigations. No speculation is presented as fact.
Los Angeles Police Department case summaries (1949)
Contemporary reporting from Los Angeles Times (Oct–Nov 1949)
FBI records referencing disappearance (via FOIA excerpts)
Griffith Park recovery reports
Douglas, Kirk — public statements and alibi confirmation (archival interviews)
Los Angeles County Coroner’s Report (Feb 1947)
LAPD homicide files (1947)
Contemporary newspaper reporting (LA Times, Herald-Express)
Re-examination of lipstick message interpretation via coroner documentation
Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger (used for theory context only, not treated as fact)
LAPD wiretap records (George Hodel investigation)
Historical crime reporting analysis, postwar Los Angeles
Secondary scholarly analysis on media distortion in unsolved crimes
Because the past isn’t dead. It’s just doing time in the stories we tell wrong.
In Elizabeth Short: The Black Dahlia Case Without Myths, Suspects, or Hollywood Lies, Deadly Truths strips this case down to verified facts, documented timelines, and behavioral evidence — not tabloid fantasies.
This episode dismantles decades of misinformation, explains why popular suspects don’t hold up under scrutiny, and examines what profilers actually agree on about the man who killed her.
No recycled theories. No sensational nonsense. Just the uncomfortable truth behind one of America’s most exploited murders.This episode discusses homicide, sexualized violence, and post-mortem injury.
All information presented is drawn from historical records, autopsy reports, contemporary journalism, and professional behavioral analysis.
Speculation, myths, and unverified claims have been intentionally excluded.
Listener discretion advised.If you’re tired of true crime that prioritizes shock over substance, you’re in the right place.
Follow, subscribe, and share Deadly Truths for evidence-based storytelling that refuses to romanticize violence or sell lies for clicks.
Because understanding patterns matters more than naming villains.Sources & Research Used
• Los Angeles Police Department case files (1947)
• Autopsy report by Dr. Frederick Newbarr, Los Angeles County Coroner
• Los Angeles Times coverage, January–February 1947
• FBI behavioral analysis literature on sexually sadistic homicide
• John Douglas & Robert Ressler — FBI profiling frameworks
• Contemporary crime reporting on Jeanne French (“Red Lipstick Murder”)
• Historical case records: Cleveland Torso Murders; William Heirens case
• Post-war homicide trend analysis (1930s–1950s)
• Academic research on post-mortem staging and control-based sadism
Lana Turner: Beauty, Abuse, and the Night Hollywood Couldn’t Control
Everyone thinks they know Lana Turner — the blonde bombshell, the MGM fantasy, the face of classic Hollywood glamour.
This episode tells the story most people never learned.
From Lana’s childhood trauma and early fame to a pattern of controlling and abusive relationships, this episode examines how violence was normalized long before April 4, 1958. We explore the warning signs surrounding Johnny Stompanato, the role of coercive control, and why the legal system ultimately ruled the killing a justifiable act of defense.
Through the voices of Lana and her daughter Cheryl Crane, this is not a story about scandal or spectacle.
It’s a story about survival — inside a system that chewed women up and called it fame.
To everyone who has recently followed Deadly Truths — welcome.
And to those who’ve stayed through the show’s evolution — thank you.
This podcast follows American violence where history actually leads — across places, eras, and power shifts. If that kind of storytelling resonates with you:
Follow Deadly Truths on Spotify
Leave a rating or review — it helps more than you realize
Share this episode with someone who values truth over myth
New episodes continue to follow the stories as they move — across American history.
This episode contains discussion of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and homicide. Listener discretion is advised.
This podcast is for educational and historical purposes only and does not provide legal, medical, or mental health advice.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, confidential help is available.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) | thehotline.org
RAINN – Sexual Assault Support
800-656-HOPE | rainn.org
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 | 988lifeline.org
(If you are outside the U.S., local resources are available through your national health services.)
Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth — Lana Turner (Autobiography)
Detour: A Hollywood Tragedy — Cheryl Crane (Memoir)
Los Angeles County Coroner’s Inquest Records (1958)
Contemporary reporting from The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press
Film reference: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Bugsy Siegel helped change Las Vegas — but not in the way history usually tells it.
In this episode of Deadly Truths, we strip away the Hollywood mythology and examine Bugsy Siegel through a psychological lens: his volatility, ego-driven violence, treatment of women, and why the very traits that made him powerful also made him expendable.
This is not a story about glamour or genius.
It’s a case study in emotional dysregulation, narcissistic entitlement, and how organized crime ultimately destroys the people who can’t control themselves.
From Brooklyn street culture to the Flamingo Hotel, from loyalty to betrayal, this episode asks the uncomfortable question most mob stories avoid:
Was Bugsy Siegel ever a visionary — or was he always a liability?
If you want true crime without nostalgia, myth-making, or Hollywood polish, follow Deadly Truths.
Listen, follow, rate, and share — it’s how independent research-driven storytelling survives.
Full episodes drop regularly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
This episode draws from:
FBI files and historical intelligence summaries
U.S. Senate Kefauver Committee hearings
Bugsy Siegel by Larry Gragg
Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life by Robert Lacey
Contemporary newspaper archives (Los Angeles Times, New York Times)
Historical analyses of early Las Vegas organized crime involvement
Interpretations are grounded in documented history and behavioral patterns, not folklore.
This podcast is intended for educational and historical analysis purposes only.
It does not glorify violence, criminal behavior, or organized crime.
Psychological discussion is interpretive, not diagnostic.
Some content may be disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.
Deadly Truths is independently researched and produced.
Meyer Lansky is often called the mob’s accountant—but that undersells what he really was.
Lansky didn’t build his power with street violence or flashy brutality. He built it with math, patience, and ruthless calculation. While others pulled triggers, Lansky moved money, engineered gambling empires, and quietly shaped the financial backbone of American organized crime.
In this episode of Deadly Truths, we strip away the myths and look at Lansky through a psychological lens:
his emotional detachment, strategic empathy, avoidance of direct violence, and the invisible decisions that still left bodies behind.
This isn’t a glorified gangster story.
It’s a case study in how intelligence, restraint, and moral vacancy can be more dangerous than rage.
If you care about real history—not romanticized mob folklore—follow Deadly Truths on Spotify.
New episodes dig into American crime, psychology, and forgotten violence without the Hollywood filter.
Listen, follow, rate, and share if you want the stories most shows won’t touch.
Research for this episode draws from:
U.S. Senate Kefauver Committee hearings
FBI files and historical intelligence summaries
Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life by Robert Lacey
Contemporary newspaper archives (New York, Miami, Havana)
Academic and historical analyses of organized crime finance and structure
All interpretations are grounded in documented sources and historical consensus where available.
This podcast is for educational and historical analysis purposes only.
It does not glorify violence, criminal behavior, or organized crime.
Psychological discussion is interpretive, not diagnostic.
Descriptions of violence may be disturbing and listener discretion is advised.
Deadly Truths is independently researched and produced.
Dutch Schultz is usually remembered as a brutal Prohibition-era gangster.
This episode tells a different story.
In Dutch Schultz: Paranoia, Power, and the Gangster Who Lost Control, Becca examines how violence, fear, and psychological dysregulation turned one of the most feared men in New York into a liability even the mob couldn’t tolerate.
This is not a bootlegging highlight reel.
It’s a deep dive into:
Schultz’s upbringing and environment
How Prohibition amplified his worst traits
When his violence stopped being strategic
Why the Commission chose execution over exile
What his hospital delirium reveals about cognitive collapse
Dutch Schultz didn’t fall because he broke the rules.
He fell because he lost the ability to regulate power — and himself.
If this episode changed how you think about organized crime, follow Deadly Truths and share it with someone who wants more than the surface-level story.
New episodes uncover the cases America forgot — from mob wars and cold cases to the psychology behind violence and power.
This episode is presented for historical and educational purposes.
Descriptions of violence are discussed in context and are not intended to sensationalize harm or glorify criminal behavior. Any psychological analysis offered is interpretive, based on historical records, and not a clinical diagnosis.
Research for this episode draws from:
Contemporary newspaper reporting from The New York Times, Newark Ledger, and Brooklyn Eagle
Court and tax prosecution records involving Dutch Schultz
FBI and law enforcement summaries related to Prohibition-era organized crime
Historical scholarship on the National Crime Syndicate and Murder, Inc.
Medical and historical accounts of Schultz’s final hospitalization and death
Lucky Luciano: The Mob Boss Who Invented Modern Organized Crime
Lucky Luciano didn’t just survive the Mafia — he rebuilt it.
From the night he was beaten, stabbed, and left for dead on a Coney Island beach… to the murders of Joe Masseria (mah-SAIR-ee-uh) and Salvatore Maranzano (mah-rahn-ZAH-no)… to creating the Commission and secretly working with U.S. Naval Intelligence during WWII — Luciano shaped the American underworld more than any other figure in history.
In this episode, I walk you through Luciano’s rise, the Castellammarese War, the hits that changed the Mafia forever, the Havana Conference, his exile, and the criminal system every mob family still uses today. This is the real story — stripped of myth, based on documented history, and told straight.
If you’re listening and you haven’t followed, rated, or shared the show yet… start.
It takes two seconds, and it keeps Deadly Truths growing so I can keep digging into the cases everyone else ignores.
This podcast discusses real historical crime, violence, and sensitive subject matter.
All information is presented for educational and documentary purposes only.
Nothing in this episode is intended to glorify organized crime or the individuals involved.
Some events contain conflicting sources due to the age of the records. Listener discretion is advised.RESOURCES & SOURCES USED
United States Senate Kefauver Committee Hearings (1950–1951) — Testimony on national organized crime structure
New York State Archives – Luciano Trial Documents
The Office of Naval Intelligence Files on Operation Underworld (Declassified)
FBI Vault – Charles “Lucky” Luciano File
“Five Families” by Selwyn Raab (2005) — Modern reference on Mafia structure
“The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano,” by Martin Gosch & Richard Hammer (not fully verified, but historically relevant)
Contemporary NYC newspaper archives (1920s–1950s) including The New York Times & The Brooklyn Eagle
Italian Interior Ministry reports post-1946 deportation
In May 1973, Kansas City mob associate Nick Spero walked out of his home and vanished. No body was ever recovered. No one was ever charged. And inside the Kansas City underworld, everyone immediately understood what had happened.
This episode dives into the internal mob tensions that led to Spero’s disappearance, the power struggle between the Spero brothers and the Civella crime family, and the silent, efficient method the mafia used to eliminate one of their own. No spectacle. No headlines. Just a man erased to maintain the hierarchy.
We explore Spero’s final days, the motive behind the hit, how the disappearance was carried out, and why this silent purge reveals the deeper collapse of the old American mafia structure. This is the story of ambition, paranoia, and a criminal organization fighting to keep control as the world around it evolved.
This is the disappearance of Nick Spero — a mob hit carried out so quietly it almost disappeared from history too.
If this episode gave you a new look into Kansas City’s mob history, follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. Your support helps keep independent storytelling alive and pushes these forgotten cases back into the public eye.
Subscribe for more episodes on organized crime, political assassinations, historical murders, and the hidden corners of American violence.
RESOURCES USED
This episode is grounded in verifiable historical documentation, including:
Kansas City Star archival reporting (1960s–1980s)
FBI surveillance summaries related to the Civella crime family
Federal organized-crime investigations connected to the Las Vegas skim
Historical analyses of the KC Mafia’s internal structure and decline
Public accounts involving the Spero brothers and KC underworld tensions
No fictional accounts. No speculative embellishments. All details trace back to publicly documented sources or widely accepted historical understanding of Kansas City organized crime.
DISCLAIMER
This episode is based on publicly available historical reporting, FBI documents, and archival research. All discussion of motives, internal conflict, or organized-crime involvement reflects documented sources and widely accepted historical interpretation.
No statements in this podcast are intended to accuse, defame, or imply wrongdoing by any living individual. This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. Deadly Truths does not represent any law enforcement agency, political entity, or employer. Listener discretion is advised due to the violent subject matter.
On July 15, 1970, Missouri State Representative Leon Mercer Jordan was gunned down outside his own bar, the Green Duck Tavern. His murder was fast, professional, and executed with the precision of a contract killing. For decades, the case sat in silence—until a cold-case investigation uncovered the names of the likely gunmen, all tied to Kansas City’s criminal underworld.
This episode breaks down the final hours of Leon Jordan’s life, the political power he built, the enemies he made, and the tangled investigation that followed. No myths. No rumors. Only what the documented record shows about one of Kansas City’s most significant unsolved political assassinations.
Who killed Leon Jordan?
Why was he targeted?
And why did the truth take 40 years to surface?
This is the story of power, progress, and the quiet violence that shaped Kansas City.
If you found this episode compelling, follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. It helps push these forgotten histories back into the public record and supports independent storytelling.
For more episodes on Kansas City crime history, political corruption, and untold American violence, subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications.
This episode is based on publicly available historical reporting, archived police documents, and verified cold-case findings. All analysis reflects those sources and is presented for informational and educational purposes only. No statements are intended to accuse, defame, or imply wrongdoing by any living individual or organization not formally charged or convicted.
Deadly Truths does not represent any law enforcement agency, political entity, or employer. Listener discretion is advised due to the nature of the violence discussed.
THANK YOU TO FANS OF THE SHOW
To everyone listening, sharing, and supporting Deadly Truths — thank you. This show exists because of your curiosity, your engagement, and your commitment to preserving the real stories behind American violence. Your support keeps these histories alive and allows independent creators to keep digging, researching, and producing episodes with integrity.
RESOURCES USED FOR THIS EPISODE
All information in this episode comes from verifiable, publicly accessible sources, including:
Kansas City Police Department Cold Case Review (2010)
Kansas City Star archival reporting (1970–2010)
Freedom, Inc. historical documents and public statements
Court filings, police memos, and open-source investigative summaries
Local and state historical society materials on Leon Jordan’s political career
Published interviews with detectives, historians, and political analysts
No fictionalized elements. No embellishments. Every detail is grounded in the documented record.
Bones on the Prairie: Frontier Murders dives into two chilling, true 1880s Missouri–Kansas borderland cases: the Hillyard Double Murder and the Clay County Corpse Mystery. Both crimes emerged from the same frontier era when isolation, post–Civil War tensions, and primitive investigations shaped how violence unfolded — and why so many murders stayed unsolved.
Through original archival reporting, regional history, and an unflinching look at frontier justice, we explore how these victims lived, how they died, and why their stories still echo across the prairie today.
If this episode pulled you into the darker corners of frontier history, follow Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. Your follows, ratings, and shares help keep these long-buried stories alive — and push this independent show further into the algorithm so more listeners can find it.
You can also share screenshots of the episode on social media and tag the show to help others discover it.
This podcast is for educational and documentary purposes. All events discussed are based on historical sources, including newspapers, coroner reports, and archival records from the 19th century. No statements in this episode are intended to defame or accuse any individual beyond what is supported by documented evidence. Interpretations reflect available historical information and are not legal, medical, or professional advice.
All research is grounded in factual, public, historical sources, including:
Missouri and Kansas 19th-Century Newspaper Archives
(Clay County Dispatch, Liberty Tribune, Kansas City Times, Kansas City Journal)
Clay County Historical Society & Regional Frontier History Materials
Documents on Frontier Criminal Investigations
(contemporary studies on 19th-century law enforcement practices, post–Civil War regional violence, and rural homicide patterns)
Publicly available coroner inquests and death reports where applicable
All sources were used for historical accuracy and contextual understanding of the era.
CALL TO ACTIONDISCLAIMERRESOURCES USED
On April 6, 1950, two of Kansas City’s most powerful men—political boss Charles Binaggio and mob enforcer Charles “Mad Dog” Gargotta—were found executed inside the First Ward Democratic Club.
No witnesses.
No suspects.
No charges.
This episode uncovers the documented facts behind the murders, the political machine that protected them, and how their deaths reshaped the Kansas City mob for the next 50 years. From high-level Mafia pressure to federal investigations and the fallout of the Kefauver hearings, this is the true story of the night the KC underworld erased two of its own.
Based entirely on verified historical sources—no fiction, no embellishment.
If this episode pulled you in, follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
Your support helps bring hidden American crime histories back into the light.
This podcast is for educational and documentary purposes only.
All events discussed are based on publicly available historical records, Senate hearings, FBI documents, and established research.
No part of this episode alleges new wrongdoing or assigns guilt beyond what is already documented in official sources.
Deadly Truths does not promote violence, organized crime, or political agendas.
To everyone listening, sharing, and supporting this show—thank you. Deadly Truths is independently written, produced, and researched. Your messages, reviews, and reposts make it possible to keep exploring the forgotten corners of American history.You’re the reason these stories stay alive.
All facts in this episode come from verified, reputable sources:
The Mob Museum — Articles on Binaggio, Gargotta, and the KC mob structure
Crime Magazine — Archival crime reporting and analysis
FBI Records / FOIA Releases — Organized Crime Files (Kansas City Division)
The Kefauver Committee Hearings (1950–1951) — U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime
Contemporary Reporting (1950) — Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Wikipedia (for factual cross-reference only, not narrative sourcing)
Two Kansas City socialites. Eighteen years apart.
Both dead under circumstances the city never fully explained.
In this episode of Deadly Truths, Becca uncovers the parallel tragedies of Mary Virginia Boice, the 24-year-old society woman found dead in a locked hotel room at the Savoy in 1915, and Bonnie Bolding Hester, the wealthy widow discovered strangled inside her upscale home in 1933.
Both cases triggered headlines, scandal whispers, and carefully managed investigations that revealed more about Kansas City’s power structure than they did about the victims. Through coroner contradictions, sanitized press coverage, and quiet pressure from the city’s elite, both deaths slipped into history with more questions than answers.
This episode dives into the forgotten truth beneath the headlines—how high society controlled the narrative, how the city protected reputations instead of women, and how these two cases expose the uncomfortable reality of class, gender, and silence in early Kansas City.
A historical deep dive.
A double mystery.
Two victims who deserve to be remembered.
If this episode resonated with you, follow Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
Rate, share, and spread the word—your support keeps these forgotten stories alive and fuels future investigations.
Historical research for this episode drew from:
Kansas City Star archival reporting (1915–1935)
Missouri State Coroner Records and inquest notations
Savoy Hotel historical documentation
Local Kansas City historical society materials
Public domain case references from the Kansas City Public Library
Contemporary analyses of early 20th-century media handling of high-society crime
For additional reading:
“Kansas City: A Place in Time” – local historical overview
University of Missouri Digital Newspaper Archive
This podcast deals with historical cases researched through surviving documents, newspapers, and public records.
Some elements of these cases remain disputed, incomplete, or lost to time.
Every effort has been made to represent the facts accurately using available historical sources.
This podcast does not accuse, imply, or speculate beyond the documented record.
Thank you for listening and for supporting Deadly Truths.
Your time, your curiosity, and your willingness to look into the past with open eyes make this work possible.
Every download, every share, every rating helps me bring these stories back into the light where they belong.
The past isn’t dead.
See you in the next episode.
Johnny Lazia wasn’t just a gangster — he was KansasCity. Political fixer, mob kingpin, and the man behind Tom Pendergast’s muscle, Lazia controlled bootlegging, gambling, bombings, and election fraud across the city.
On July 10, 1934, his reign ended in a burst of machine-gunfire outside St. Joseph’s Hospital. The hit shocked the city, the newspapers exploded, and the fallout exposed one of the deepest criminal-political networks in American history.
In this episode, we break down Lazia’s rise, his empire, thebetrayal that led to his assassination, and why this murder became the defining moment in Kansas City organized-crime history. Medical records, eyewitness accounts, Senate crime hearings, and FBI files all converge into the truth behind KC’s most infamous hit.
If you’ve never heard the story of the man who built — andlost — Kansas City, buckle up.
📌 CALL TO ACTION
If you want more Kansas City true crime and organized-crimehistory, hit follow, rate, and share. It keeps Deadly Truths alive and pushes these forgotten stories back into the light.Full episodes, sources, and visuals: Spotify / YouTube / Apple Podcasts – Deadly Truths with Becca
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This episode discusses historical violence andorganized-crime activity. All information is sourced from public records, historical documents, and archival reporting. Listener discretion advised.
He walked into quiet shops off America’s interstate… and killed in under ninety seconds.
Between 1992 and 1994, the unidentified I-70 Serial Killer murdered clerks in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and beyond — striking in broad daylight, vanishing onto the interstate within minutes, and leaving one of the most chilling cold cases in American history.
In this episode, we break down:
• The confirmed victims across the I-70 corridor
• Why Kansas City became part of his hunting ground
• Behavioral profile and why he killed so efficiently
• The ballistic links, witness sketches, and investigative gaps
• Possible connected murders across the Midwest
• How he disappeared — and why he was never caught
If you want the truth behind the I-70 Serial Killer — the victims, the patterns, and the investigation failures — this deep-dive is for you.
👉 Listen to the full episode and follow Deadly Truths for more unsolved American cases.
👉 Share this episode so the victims are never forgotten.
• FBI VICAP public alerts
• Kansas City Star archives
• Indianapolis Star reporting
• St. Charles Police archival statements
• Missouri Highway Patrol bulletins (1992–1994)
• Unsolved Midwest Highway Murders case files
• Public interviews with former detectives and profilers
This episode discusses real criminal cases and historical violence. No graphic descriptions are included. All information is based on publicly available records, reputable journalism, and law-enforcement reports. Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty. This content is intended for education, analysis, and historical documentation.
This is Deadly Truths with Becca.
Today we’re going straight into one of the most disturbing cases in Kansas City history — a predator who hid in plain sight, manipulated the vulnerable, and turned an unassuming neighborhood house into a torture chamber. This episode breaks down who Bob Berdella really was, how he blended into KC’s flea-market culture, how he selected victims, and the methods he documented in chilling detail.
We cover his early life, the Art Institute years, the expulsions, the escalation into cruelty, and the double life he maintained behind the façade of a “helpful” shop owner. We dig into the first known victim, the turning point from grooming to abduction, and everything that came cascading after. Finally, we dissect the interrogation, the plea deal, the public reaction, his prison years, and what surfaced long after he died.
This is a hard story, but the victims deserve to be named, remembered, and humanized — not reduced to Berdella’s notes.
If this episode resonates with you, follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. It keeps these stories alive and helps bring visibility to crimes that targeted some of the most vulnerable people in Kansas City.
VICTIM & SURVIVOR RESOURCES
• National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
• RAINN (Sexual Assault Hotline): 1-800-656-HOPE
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988
• Kansas City Anti-Violence Project: Local LGBTQ+ survivor support
DISCLAIMER
This podcast discusses real criminal cases, sometimes including violence, trauma, or sensitive themes. Listener discretion is strongly advised. The intent is educational, historical, and victim-focused. All information is sourced from public records, news archives, and historical documentation.
Primary Sources & Archival Material
• Kansas City Police Department Case Files (1984–1988)
Details from the investigation, evidence logs, interrogation transcripts, and charging documents.
• Jackson County Court Records – State of Missouri v. Robert A. Berdella
Plea deal filings, sentencing documents, psychiatric evaluations, official statements.
• Missouri Department of Corrections Records (1988–1992)
Prison intake, institutional notes, discipline logs, death report.
• The Kansas City Star Archives (1980s–1990s)
Original reporting on disappearances, the arrest, the public reaction, and the aftermath.
• Associated Press Wire Reports (1988–1992)
Contemporaneous national coverage during the case and post-arrest updates.
The Kansas City Two Trunks Murder is one of the Midwest’s most chilling forgotten cases—a woman dismembered, packed into two cheaply made trunks, and shipped through Union Depot in the 1890s. This is not the Kentucky trunk murder. This is Kansas City’s own nightmare, buried in the archives and nearly erased by time.
In this episode, we uncover the victim’s life, the killer hiding in the same boarding house, and the investigation that chased him across the rail lines.
None of the shock. All of the truth.
If this story matters to you, push the show forward. Follow, rate, and share on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and Amazon Music. It keeps these cases alive and tells the algorithm to spread the truth.
DISCLAIMER
This episode is based on historical newspaper reports, municipal archives, and surviving investigative records. Some 19th-century case materials are incomplete or lost; no speculation is presented as fact. All sensitive content has been handled with respect for the victim.
RESOURCES
Primary sources and research for this episode include:
Kansas City regional newspapers (1890s)
Municipal boarding-house records and rail-shipping documentation
Missouri historical crime archives and case summaries
Contemporary analyses of 19th-century trunk murders and victimology
All research and narration © 2025 Deadly Truths Media.
The truth isn’t dead. It’s just being forged in the murder factory.
On June 17, 1933, a burst of gunfire outside Union Station changed American law enforcement forever. The Kansas City Massacre wasn’t just a botched prisoner transfer — it was a deadly collision of mobsters, machine guns, and corruption that exposed how unprepared the FBI truly was.
In this episode of Deadly Truths, we break down the ambush minute-by-minute: the gunmen, the escape attempt, the political cover-ups, and how four men died on the concrete before the sun even came up. We dive into the myths, the suspects, and the violent criminal network operating across the Midwest during the Public Enemy era.
Follow, rate, and share to help keep these forgotten histories alive. New episodes every week.
📚 Resources & References
FBI archival summaries on the Kansas City Massacre
Kansas City Star historical reporting (1933–2024)
DOJ/BOI case files and transcripts
National Archives: Union Station photographs & incident reports
Contemporary analyses of the Dillinger/Barrow era
⚠️ Disclaimer
This episode contains discussion of violence, murder, and historical trauma. Listener discretion is advised. All research is based on publicly available records, historical reporting, and archival materials. This podcast is for educational and storytelling purposes only.
Jesse James didn’t die in a gunfight or on horseback.
He died unarmed, dusting a picture frame in a rented house while the Ford brothers aimed a pistol at the back of his head.
This premiere episode of Season 5: Kansas City’s Darkest Crimes — Heartland Homicide cuts through the Hollywood myth and exposes the real Jesse James: a violent outlaw, a master manipulator of the press, and a man trapped by the legend he created.
We break down his early years as a Confederate guerrilla, the real crimes of the James–Younger Gang, the collapse of his network, and the final moments that led to one of the most infamous back-shootings in American history.
Next week:
The Union Station Massacre (1933) — the machine-gun ambush that turned Kansas City into a national crime headline.
If you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths. Your support pushes these stories forward and keeps the history alive.
📚 RESOURCES & SOURCES
Missouri State Historical Society Archives
St. Joseph Public Records (1882)
The Ford Brothers Trial Transcripts
Kansas City Star Historical Crime Files
“Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War” – T.J. Stiles
Library of Congress: Western Outlaw Newspaper Collections
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This podcast discusses historical violence, murder, and criminal activity. All research is based on documented historical records, public archives, and verified sources. Some details may be graphic or disturbing for listeners.
Listener discretion is advised.
Between 2013 and 2016, the quiet bourbon town of Bardstown, Kentucky became the center of one of America’s most disturbing clusters of unsolved cases. A police officer ambushed. A mother and teenage daughter brutally murdered. A young mother of five who vanished without a trace. And the father who was shot and killed while searching for her.
In this season finale, we break down every major case:
• Officer Jason Ellis (2013) — executed on the Bluegrass Parkway
• Kathy & Samantha Netherland (2014) — a staged and brutal double homicide
• Crystal Rogers (2015) — missing mother of five
• Tommy Ballard (2016) — killed during the search for his daughter
These cases reshaped Bardstown, fueled theories of corruption and organized crime, and ultimately led to a massive FBI takeover that continues today. This episode lays out the timelines, connections, suspects, failures, and the long shadow these tragedies still cast over the community.
This is Bardstown — the town that became a crime scene.
Sources: Court documents, FBI press statements, Nelson County Sheriff’s Office records, archived reporting from WHAS11, WDRB, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and community witness accounts.
If you’ve followed the Kentucky season, thank you. Your support has pushed this show to new heights — 500+ podcast downloads, 42k TikTok views, 600+ followers, and 97k YouTube views with more than 180 subscribers. Follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths to help keep these stories alive and support future seasons.
DISCLAIMER
This episode contains discussions of real violence, murder, and ongoing unsolved cases. Listener discretion is advised.
Twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer thought she was sneaking out to see a friend. Instead, she was walking straight into one of the most brutal and disturbing crimes in American history.
In this episode, we break down the real story behind the 1992 murder of Shanda Sharer—jealousy, manipulation, group psychology, and a night of escalating violence led by four teenage girls who crossed every line of humanity. From the abduction to the torture, the fire, the aftermath, and the shocking decisions made in court, this is the full, unfiltered truth of a case that still haunts Indiana and Kentucky today.
This episode examines the warning signs, the failures, the psychological dynamics, and the hard human cost left behind. Shanda’s life mattered. Her legacy matters. And this case forces us to confront how quickly cruelty can grow when no one intervenes.
Sources: Court transcripts, victim impact statements, police reports, archived local coverage from the Louisville Courier-Journal and Indianapolis Star, and Indiana Department of Corrections sentencing records.
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Disclaimer: This episode contains detailed descriptions of violence involving minors. Listener discretion is strongly advised.