The Axeman of New Orleans

The Pazuzu Algarad Case

In this episode we walk through the case of Pazuzu Algarad, a story shaped by neglect, untreated mental illness, and a community that missed every warning sign. We look at the victims, the failures that allowed the violence to continue, and the impact on the people who lived around that house on Knob Hill Drive. This is not a story about the occult. It is a story about what happens when systems break down and no one steps in. We cover the timeline of the investigation, the pleas from Amber Burch and Krystal Matlock, the questions surrounding Pazuzu’s death in custody, and the demolition of the house that became a symbol of everything that went wrong. We also talk about how the media leaned into satanic panic instead of the real issues at the center of the case. If you want to dig deeper into the themes we touched on, this episode pairs well with discussions about mental health access, community responsibility, and the long term effects of violence on neighborhoods. Find us on TikTok and Instagram at @downthecrookedpath. Send your stories or suggestions to crookedpathsocial@gmail.com [crookedpathsocial@gmail.com]. And check out the Creators Collective on Instagram at @spookysquad.

Canadian Creepies Edition: The Curse of Bird Rock Island

This week, we’re pulling from our Tuesday segment on the Canadian Creepies podcast and heading out to Bird Rock off the coast of Quebec — a place with more trouble than landmass. The lighthouse out there has a long history of bad luck, disappearances, and one story that locals still talk about in lowered voices. Keep in mind, this is a rock barely big enough to stand on, yet somehow it managed to collect more tragedy than most towns. We walk through the early shipwrecks, the lighthouse keepers who didn’t make it home, and the strange run of events that gave Bird Rock its reputation. It’s one of those places where the line between accident and something else gets thin fast. You can find me on Instagram at @downthecrookedpath, and you can follow Canadian Creepies on Instagram as well for updates, behind‑the‑scenes bits, and our weekly Tuesday deep dives.

The Lost Franklin Expedition

In this episode, we look at the Franklin expedition, the search efforts that followed, and how both ships were finally found in the Arctic. We walk through the discoveries of Erebus and Terror, the role of Inuit knowledge, and the strange stories that kept circling long after the expedition vanished. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @downthecrookedpath Send your stories or suggestions to: crookedpathsocials@gmail.com [crookedpathsocials@gmail.com] Shout‑out to the SpookySquad Creators Collective on Instagram — a group of indie creators doing great spooky work.

The Axeman of New Orleans

In this episode, we look at the Axeman of New Orleans and the panic that followed him through the city. We go through the attacks on grocery families, the letter printed in the Times Picayune, the chalk message near the Maggio home, and the suspects who were pulled into the story over the years. We also look at how newspapers shaped the case, how the investigation stalled, and why the Axeman disappeared as suddenly as he arrived. You can find Down the Crooked Path on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram at @downthecrookedpath. If you have your own stories or case suggestions, you can email them to crookedpathsocials@gmail.com [crookedpathsocials@gmail.com]. A shout‑out to The Creators Collective, a group of independent podcasters who support each other’s work. You can find them on Instagram.

The Nahanni Valley and the Mystery of the Headless Men

The Nahanni Valley built its reputation on the sheer number of people who went in and never came back. Prospectors, trappers, outlaws, and travelers moved through that stretch of the Northwest Territories for decades, and many of them were later found under circumstances that didn’t match the usual hazards of the region. Enough bodies turned up without their heads that the place picked up the name Valley of the Headless Men. This episode looks at the pattern that formed around those disappearances. It includes the early prospectors who vanished in the late 1800s, the McLeod brothers found near the Flat River in 1908, and the later deaths that followed the same outline. One of those was Yukon Fisher, an outlaw who hid in the valley after a violent bar fight in the Yukon. He lived alone for years and only surfaced at remote posts like Poole Field’s store for supplies. In 1927, his burned camp was found in the same region where earlier deaths had occurred, and his body was there without a head.