Before the words serial killer ever existed, the frontier already knew their kind.

In the late 1790s, Micajah “Big Harpe” and Wiley “Little Harpe” roamed the Kentucky-Tennessee wilderness with three captive “wives” and a trail of mutilated bodies behind them. They didn’t kill for money or revenge — they killed because it made them feel alive.

This season premiere of Deadly Truths takes you into the birth of American sadism — a land without law, mercy, or conscience.
From the Revolutionary War’s ruins to the first roadside manhunt, this is where America learned what evil really looked like.

Follow Becca as she unearths the true story of the Harpe brothers — the ghostly legends who turned Kentucky’s frontier into a graveyard.

🔗 Follow, rate, and share on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts — it keeps these forgotten histories alive.

📚 Sources: Kentucky Historical Society Archives; Tennessee State Library & Archives Frontier Justice Collection; Bruce McLeod, Bad Men of the Frontier South; Paul I. Wellman, Spawn of Evil (1947).

⚖️ Disclaimer: This episode contains descriptions of graphic violence, including child homicide and historical mutilation, intended for mature audiences only.