The Bad Taste Crime Podcast

They say "if it bleeds, it leads," but what happens when the blood is eclipsed by the spectacle? In this episode, we’re peeling back the curtain on the cases that stopped being about justice and started being about the ratings. From cable news talking heads to the digital mob, we examine how media frenzies distort the truth, turn victims into props, and transform crime scenes into pop culture events. Grab your popcorn—the court of public opinion is now in session.

Research links below!

EBSCO - "Halls-Mills murder case"
A Little History - "New revelations in the Hall-Mills murder mystery"
TIME - "Under The Crabapple Tree"
The New York Times - "J.E. STRICKER DIES AFTER AND OPERATION; Former Middlesex Prosecutor Began Investigation of Hall-Mills Mystery. SIXTH DEATH DURING INQUIRY Rumor of Suicide Unfounded -- Death In Hospital Due to Peritonitis"
Evening Courier - "All Charges Dropped in Hall-Mills Case"
Press of Atlantic City - "Henry Carpender Dies; Was In Hall-Mills Case"
The New York Times - "'Not Guilty' is Verdict in Hall Case: Plan to Free Prisoners on Bail Today and Probably Quash All Other Charges"

Library of Congress - "Trials of the Century: 1900 to 1950"
PBS - "Murder of the Century"
Famous Trials - "The Trials of Harry Thaw for the Murder of Stanford White"
Historical Society of the New York Courts - "Harry Kendall Thaw Had A Problem"
EBSCO - PlayRead Transcript

Think Hawaii is all pristine beaches and postcard-perfect sunsets? Think again. This week, we’re swapping our beach towels for crime scene tape as we dive headfirst into the dark underbelly of the Aloha State. From high-stakes island syndicates to mysteries buried deep beneath the volcanic soil, we’re proving that even paradise has a body count. Pack your sunscreen—and your skepticism—because it’s about to get shady in the sun.

Research links below!

SFGate - "The FBI warned Hawaii serial killers were coming. Then one struck."
Serial Killer Calendar - "Murders in Paradise"
PBS Hawai'i - "The Honolulu Strangler with Robbie Dingeman"
Medium - "The Honolulu Strangler"
Ke Alaka'i - "The tragic deaths of five women and an escaped murderer known as the 'Honolulu Strangler'"

Hawaii News Now - "20 years ago, a killer shattered the morning calm and changed Hawaii forever"
khon2 - "Xerox Murders"
Star Bulletin - "Carlisle: Uyesugi was in control"
Star Bulletin - "Grand jury indicts Uyesugi for first-degree murder"
Star Bulletin - "7 dead in Nimitz Hwy. Xerox shooting"
Star Bulletin - "Uyesugi's father, brother tell of torment in his head"
State of Hawaii vs. Byrab Uyesugi

The white coat is the perfect camouflage for a killer. This week, we’re exploring the chilling world of medical murders, where the bedside manner is lethal and the "God Complex" is a literal diagnosis. We’re scrubbing in to find out why the person meant to save your life is sometimes the one taking it. One part medicine, two parts malice—no anesthesia required.

Research links below!

National Library of Medicine - "'Doctor' Marcel Petiot: Serial Murderer"
Britannica - "Marcel Petiot"
EBSCO - "Marcel Petiot"
Getty Images - "Marcel Petiot"
TIME - "FRANCE: Long Shot"
All That's Interesting - "Marcel Petiot May Be The Most Despicable Serial Killer Ever"

Murderpedia - "Dr. Morris Bolber"
Billy Penn at WHYY - "Pasta. Arsenic. Mass murder: South Philly's infamous 1930s poison ring"
Find a Grave - "Morris Bolber"
MSN - "A South Philly man was convicted in a prolific arsenic-murder ring on this week in Philly history"

The files are thick, but the leads are paper-thin. This week, we’re ditching the tidy endings for the cases that keep us up at night. No handcuffs, no DNA breakthroughs, and zero closure—just the chilling anatomy of the unsolved. We’re exploring why some mysteries refuse to die and how a trail goes from red-hot to ice-cold.

Research links below!

The Guardian - "The mysterious lunching of Frank Little: activist who fought inequality and lost"
Story of Butte - "The Murder of Frank Little"
Frank's Little Farm - "Who is Frank Little?"
UFCW324 - "Frank Little: A Murder in Butte"

BBC - "MI6 'body-in-a-bag': No new DNA in Gareth Williams review, says Met"
Mirror - "'Unbreakable' code baffled detectives investigating mystery of MI6 spy found dead in bag"
Crime and Investigation - "The bag in the bath: What happened to Gareth Williams?"
The Independent - "Police claim to have solved London 'spy in the bag' mystery"
Firecracker - "The spy in the bag: New revelations - Channel 5"
The Guardian - "Gareth Williams: the key unanswered questions"
"The Independent - "MI6 spy Gareth Williams was 'killed by Russia for refusing to become double agent', former KGB man claims"

When "love" is used as a weapon and "reputation" becomes a motive. This episode explores the devastating phenomenon of honor killings—a practice that turns family members into foes under the guise of tradition. We’re looking at the psychology behind the act, the cultural pressures that fuel it, and why justice is so often hard to find when the crime is kept within the house.

Research links below!


The Guardian - "Banaz Mahmod was murdered 20 years ago; the fight for a law on 'honour'-based abuse goes on"
BBC News - "Banaz Mahmod 'honour' killing cousins jailed for life"
Fuuse - "Banaz A Love Story"
"Criminology Knowledge Organiser: The Case of Banaz Mahmod"
The Guardian - "'Honour killings? It should be called the devil's work': Bekhal Mahmod on the murder of her sister"
Global Citizen - "Child Marriage Survivor Payzee Mahmod Is Fighting to Change the Law"
The Guardian - "The kiss of death"
BBC News - "Lover 'heartbroken' over killing"
Girls Not Brides - "United Kingdom"

Amnesty International - "The Horror of 'Honor Killings', Even in US"
NPR - "Father Found Guilty In Arizona 'Honor Killing'"
Paramount+ - PlayRead Transcript

One minute they’re standing right there; the next, there’s nothing but a cold trail and a lot of awkward questions. This week, we’re diving into the art of the disappearing act—no magic wands, just empty rooms and cases that refuse to stay closed.

Research links below!:


Goodreads - "Ambrose Bierce"
Poetry Foundation - "Ambrose Bierce"
The Paris Review - "Very Trustworthy Witnesses"
Britannica - "Ambrose Bierce"
Reactor - "The Weirdness of Ambrose Bierce: From 'Owl Creek Bridge' to Horror and Satire"
Literary Hub - "No one knows why Ambrose Bierce disappeared, but here are some theories"

Legends of America - "Bennington Triangle, Vermont"
Sharon A. Hill - "Triangle Trope of Vermont: Bennington"
Vermonter.com - "Bennington Triangle: Vermont's Unsolved Mystery Where 5 People Vanished (1945-1950)"
The Bennington Evening Banner - "Monday Combination of Pine and Other Evergreens and a Check Possible Foul Play in Disappearance of Jepson Boy"

The frontier wasn’t just wide open—it was wide-eyed and lawless. This week, we’re trading our forensic kits for spurs as we head back to the era of the Wild West. Before there were fingerprints and DNA, there were just grainy "Wanted" posters and a whole lot of audacity.

Research links below!

History - "The Dead Outlaw Whose Mummy Became a Traveling Show Prop"
Library of Congress Blogs - "Elmer McCurdy: Traveling Corpse"
Broadway - "The Wild, Weird True Story of Elmer McCurdy, Broadway's Dead Otulaw"
NPR: Snap Judgement - "The Long, Strange, 60-Year Trip of Elmer McCurdy"
Travel OK - "Elmer McCurdy Grave Site"

 Utah - "Just Who Was the Outlaw Queen Etta Place?"
Find a Grave - "Etta Place"
True West Magazine - "What happened to Etta Place?"
Historynet - "She was romantically linked to the 'Sundance Kid' - but much about her remains a mystery"
Legends of America - "Etta Place - Hanging With the Sundance Kid"

Deep in the Appalachian heartland, the scenery is breathtaking—but the secrets are buried even deeper. In West Virginia, "Wild and Wonderful" occasionally takes a detour into "Dark and Deadly." From the winding backroads of the hollers to the misty shadows of the mountain peaks, we’re exploring the cases that prove some things are better left unsaid in the hills. Whether it’s a decades-old cold case that the locals still whisper about or a mystery where the truth is stranger than the folklore, this episode proves that in the Mountain State, the quiet can be deafening.

Research links below!

Greenbrier Valley - "Greenbrier Ghost, Zona Heaster Shue"
Dannye Chase - "The Greenbrier Ghost"
West Virginia Ghosts and Legends - "The Green Brier Ghost"
Appalachian History - "The Greenbrier Ghost"
Samsara Parchment - "Spooky Saturday: The Greenbrier Ghost"

The Wall Street Journal - "A Coal CEO's Unusual Pastime: Firing Up West Virginia's Politics"
NPR - "Massey CEO's Pay Soared As Mine Concerns Grew"
NPR - "Mine Probe Examines Airflow, Possible Tampering"
Washington Post - "West Virginia mine has been cited for myriad safety violations"
abc News - "West Virginia Mine Survivor: Blast Felt Like 'Hurricane-Force Winds'"
The New York Times - "No Survivors Found After West Virginia Mine Disaster"
CNN - "12 killed in West Virginia mine blast"
abc News -