Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

In the winter of 1472, the city of Dijon, France, became the stage for a remarkable legal drama. On the mayor’s orders, an investigator named Jaques Borestel went door-to-door questioning his neighbors about an alleged sexual assault and about the victim’s history and place in the community. At the center of Jaques’s inquiry was a woman named Jehanne, who took the unusual step of making a criminal complaint in an age when victims of sexual violence did so at their own peril.

My guest is Sara McDougall, and her book Justice for Jehanne: The Tale of a Medieval Survivor follows Jaques’s investigation as he uncovers one woman’s story of resilience and survival.

More about the author here: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/people/sara-mcdougall

The author's publisher page: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691268910/justice-for-jehanne

The author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saramcdougall_medieval/
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There has been lots of buzz recently about Netflix's gory new series Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, and Cara Robertson, author of "The Trial of Lizzie Borden", joins me once again, this time to share her thoughts on how the case is depicted, separate fact from fiction and to answer some Patreon supporter questions.

Cara's website: https://www.carawrobertson.com/

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(Orig Pub Date 7/19/22) In anticipation of a new interview with Cara, mostly about the recent Netflix Series, here is my original conversation with her about the notorious case.

In August of 1892, one of the most infamous double murders in American history was committed in brutal fashion. Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death in their Fall River house, and their daughter Lizzie, home at the time, became the number one suspect. What followed was a spectacular trial, fought by brilliant attorneys, in a courtroom packed with fascinated spectators and reporters.

My guest is Cara Robertson, author of "The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story". She summarizes this sensational Gilded Age true crime story with a unique legal perspective.

More about the author and her work can be found here: https://www.carawrobertson.com/
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On August 25, 1938, twenty-five-year-old Ben Dickson and his fifteen-year-old wife Stella Mae robbed the Corn Exchange Bank in Elkton, South Dakota, making off with $2,187.64. Two months later they hit a bank in nearby Brookings for $17,593 - after waiting two hours for the vault’s time-lock to open while the bank's manager went on processing loans for customers. Unfortunately for these two small-time outlaws, the FBI was in short supply of public enemies at the time, and a newly minted Bonnie and Clyde was exactly what J. Edgar Hoover needed to stoke the agency's public relations machine.

My guest is Matt Cecil, author of The Ballad of Ben and Stella Mae: Great Plains Outlaws Who Became FBI Public Enemies Nos. 1 and 2. He has been fascinated with the story of Ben and Stella Mae since he was a teenager, and shares his research with us on this latest episode of Most Notorious.

The author's publisher page: https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700623242/

The author's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Matthew-Cecil/author/B00I4BYFRQ
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(Orig Pub Date 11/16/2023) Aaron Kosminski is one of the more well known suspects in the Whitechapel murders. Some of the major police officials of the era, in fact, were seriously concerned about his potential involvement in the brutal Autumn of Terror slayings.

My guest, Robert House, has studied Aaron Kosminski for years, and shares details of his investigation with us. He is the author of Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect.

The author's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100051505763425

You can purchase the book here: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Ripper-Scotland-Yards-Prime-Suspect/dp/0470938994
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