Forgotten Felonies
Forgotten Felonies revisits historical crimes that were forgotten—or remembered incorrectly. It’s tempting, looking backward, to fill in the gaps with conclusions that feel obvious now. But that isn’t how history works. Through original newspaper reporting, period advertisements from the years the crimes occurred, and a blend of forensic psychology and genealogical research, each episode restores context to cases history left behind—asking not only what happened, but why.
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Forgotten Felonies
Latest Episodes
Ellsworth Kelley and the Jones-Murray Gang - Part 2
By 1925, the Jones Brothers Gang had changed. Dewey Jones was no longer part of the outlaw life, Milam Jones had vanished, and Oregon Jones was back in the Oregon State Penitentiary ready to cause more trouble. After the deadly prison break tha...
Ellsworth Kelley and the Jones Brothers Gang - Part 1
Ellsworth Kelley became tangled up with the notorious Jones Brothers Gang — a crew of young outlaws, including the elusive Oregon Jones and 20-year-old escape artist Tom Murray, whose lives became a cycle of burglaries, highway robberies, priso...
The Curious Disappearance of Frank E. Clark - A Fun-Sized Felony
In the fall of 1910, husband and father Frank E. Clark vanished from Oakland, California without a trace.His wife was left stranded in a city where she knew no one. Newspapers across California carried the story of the missing husband, w...
Alfred Knapp: Five Murders and a Confession
A woman’s body floats more than 150 miles downriver before finally being recovered near New Albany, Indiana. By the time she is identified as Hannah Goddard Knapp, her husband—Alfred Knapp—has already confessed to murdering her.But Hanna...
Bertha Boronda: the Mistress of Mayhem - A Fun-Sized Felony
Bertha “Bessie” Boronda attacked her husband, Narciso "Frank" Boronda, in the middle of the night in their San Jose home in 1907.The newspapers called it a violent, deliberate mutilation. The court charged her with mayhem—a crime defined...
Fan Mail
just listened to the first half of you Baby John episode. Very cool. I actually live in Redding which is 40 miles from Weaverville. The irony is, I have a history podcast and have been compiling for an episode about Isabella. She was a real piece of work. Baby John is buried in Junction City near Weaverville (you probably already know that) and I'm going out there to the grave site this weekend hopefully. I followed your instragram -- you'll see me as "Box Number Seven" I'll Also be listening to you from here on out. Impressive level of detail on the early years for Isabella!
Redding, California
