The Kitchen Table Historian

I am an author and historian who writes about long-forgotten and out of the way events and places. I love the bizarre, the unusual, and the downright weird. I write a regular blog at my website, www.johnbrassardjrcom.wordpress.com, and also manage a facebook page about things of historical interest called The Kitchen Table Historian.

Episode 107: Arizona Patrolman Checks on Semi; Finds Nude Woman Handcuffed Wearing Horse Bridle

In 1990, a highway patrolman in Arizona stopped to check on a semi pulled off to the side of the road. Inside he found a woman who was naked, handcuffed, and wearing a horse bridle. While the driver, Robert Ben Rhodes, said that everything was consensual. The patrolman suspected otherwise. The investigation would turn into …

Episode 107: Arizona Patrolman Checks on Semi; Finds Nude Woman Handcuffed Wearing Horse Bridle Read More »

Arizona Patrolman Checks on Semi; Finds Nude Woman Handcuffed Wearing Horse Bridle

  The young teenager was ecstatic. Her and her boyfriend had decided to run away together. It was 1990, a brand-new decade to start a brand-new life in. The truck stop was teaming with people. Some had stopped to get gas, others to take a shower and grab a quick bite to eat. Mostly what …

Arizona Patrolman Checks on Semi; Finds Nude Woman Handcuffed Wearing Horse Bridle Read More »

Episode 106: Delivery Driver Has Premonition of Terrible Accident; Proven Right By Flaming Car and Bodies on Ground

In January of 1926, Ed Rinebold was driving his normal newspaper deliver route in western Illinois when he had a strange feeling. The car at the railroad crossing had just been in an accident. He hadn’t heard or seen anything, but just knew that’s what happened. When he went back, the flaming ruins of the …

Episode 106: Delivery Driver Has Premonition of Terrible Accident; Proven Right By Flaming Car and Bodies on Ground Read More »

Delivery Driver Has Premonition of Terrible Accident; Proven Right By Flaming Car and Bodies on Ground

Ed Rinebold drove his delivery truck carefully down the icy roads toward the railroad tracks at Poppy Crossing, about twelve miles from Moline, Illinois. He had driven that route dozens of times as a driver for the Daily Times, a local newspaper. But he wasn’t taking any chances. The last thing that he wanted to …

Delivery Driver Has Premonition of Terrible Accident; Proven Right By Flaming Car and Bodies on Ground Read More »

Episode 104: Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.”

No one had seen Percy Smith since he had gone to buy cattle from a man near Council Bluffs, Iowa. When police were called, their search led to Corliss Bruntlett, a man with a hidden past. They soon discovered that he was concealing an even darker secret that would shock their community.   Sources Haws, …

Episode 104: Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.” Read More »

Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.”

  Eulalia Smith had been worried about her husband since that Lundgreen man had called her. There was just something not right about that phone call. Looking out the window of their home in Council Bluffs, Iowa, an anxious look crossed Eulalia’s face. Lundgreen – whoever he was – had told her that Percy wanted …

Percy Smith: A “…Cold, Calculated, Premediated Murder.” Read More »

Episode 103: Andreas Bichel: A Fortune Told In Blood

Christine Leidel thought the fortune teller seemed nice enough, but you couldn’t be too careful in 1808 Bavaria. When he offered to look into her future, she decided to trust him. Christine Leidel had just made an appointment with one of the most infamous murderers in European history.   Sources Germany from c. 1760 to …

Episode 103: Andreas Bichel: A Fortune Told In Blood Read More »