JOLLY JANE TOPPAN: AMERICA'S FIRST FEMALE SERIAL KILLER

THE LIZZIE BORDEN MURDER MYSTERY

The Lizzie Borden trial made a huge splash in the newspapers of the time,not only in Fall river, Massachusetts, where the double axe murder occurred, but across the country.  Police investigations of families with any kid of social status were not known for suspecting upright citizens- they tended to think immigrants or low-lifes were responsible. And investigations were limited- very poor when held up to today's standards. Lizzie was declared not guilty by a jury- even when all the evidence led to her murder of her stepmother and father. This is the story-

THE ROUTE 29 MURDERS

Also called #Route29Slaker and #theshenandoahmurders, the Rte. 29 murders in Virginia terrified citizens and travelers beween 1996 and 2014.According to witnesses on Route 29, the unidentified stalker would flag down womwn who appeared to be driving alone on a stretch of rte 20 between Manassas and Charlottesville. Some women escaped from him and were able to provide sketch artists with his face and profile. He was never caught nor identified over a period of 20 years. Of the nine murders/disappearances only the cases of Morgan Dana Harrington (2009), Alexis Murphy (2013) and Hannah Graham (2014)were solved,ending in convictions of their murderers- the other cases are still unsolved. The search forand investigation of Alicia Showalter Reynolds (1996) still continues. Browse episodes from our 12 1001 podcasts at www.bestof1001stories.com [https://www.bestof1001stories.com].

JOLLY JANE TOPPAN: AMERICA'S FIRST FEMALE SERIAL KILLER

It was the Hearst newspaper story of the new century in 1902. Everybody loved Jolly Jane Toppan- the loving, caring nurse- until her patients, friends, enemies, and relatives started dropping like flies.  When they finally caught up with her, she copped the insanity plea, and told the whole story, admitting to at least 31 deaths she had caused. But many believed she had done away with 100 souls in her 5 years of killing. Catch all our episodes and podcasts at www.bestof1001stories.com.

THE BLOODY BENDERS: PROPRIETORS OF THE KANSAS HOTEL FROM HELL

From 1871 to 1873 a loose-knit "family" of serial killers opened up a general store and inn on a popular travelers's route in frontier Kansas.Using a pretty "daughter" they lured single male travelers in and soon murdered them for their money, letting them bleed out under the house and later burying them in their orchard. It is believed they killed 20 people before evidence was found and they were able to flee. Laura Ingalls Wilder, in a public speaking event in 1937.acknowledged that her family stopped at the Bender Inn to water their horses, but as they could not afford anything, they moved on.  Check out our website at www.bestof1001stories.com [https://www.bestof1001stories.com] and explore our 12 podcasts there.

UNSOLVED: THE JAMISON FAMILY DISAPPEARANCE

In October of 2009 the Jamison Family (Bobby, aged 44, Sherilynn, aged 40, and Madison, age 6), packed thir pickup truck into drove into a nearby state forest, apparently to camp. Three days later their pickup truck was discovered by hunters with their malnourished dog inside and all their belongings, including ID and phones, as well as $32,000 in cash. Their remains were discovered 4 years later 2.7 miles from their truck. This remains one of the most perplexing unsolved cases in the country. We provide the details- you have been assigned to solve the case. Leave reviews/comments at www.bestof1001stories.com [https://www.bestof1001stories.com], at the episode at 1001 True Crime From Another Time.