In 1962, Continental Airlines Boeing 707 Flight 11 crashed in Unionville, Missouri. It had been hit with enough force that a tornado was originally to blame. But was it really a tragic accident, or had something far more sinister caused the crash? Sources Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, Missouri; Missouri Death …
Episode 83: Was the 1962 Crash of Flight 11 Really An Accident? Read More »
It was just another day for James Clarity. He and his wife, Georgia, lived in Chicago, Illinois, with their five children. Born in Minnesota, Clarity had served in the Navy during the Second World War. After he left the service, he had become an advertising sales representative with Wallace’s Farmer, a prestigious agriculture magazine …
Was the 1962 Crash of Flight 11 Really An Accident? Read More »
While investigators were dealing with a devastating plane crash near the Iowa-Missouri Border, they had no idea that a man named Gayno Smith was about to commit one of the most horrific crimes in Iowa history only an hour away. Sources 45 Die in Iowa Jetliner Disaster. The Courier, 5/23/1962 Massive Hunt for Killer. …
Episode 82: Gayno Smith Massacres Five People in Southern Iowa Read More »
Carefully, the fireman removed the man from the fuselage. He lay on his back, stretched across three passenger seats. Everything inside had been tossed around in the crash, leaving a tangle of seats, luggage, and bodies. Slowly as they could, the rescuers put the injured man on a stretcher and slowly carried him to a …
Gayno Smith Massacres Five People in Southern Iowa Read More »
As the Great Depression gripped the nation, two mass murders claimed Iowa families only two months apart from each other. The details are as saddening as they are horrifying. Sources Mother Kills Six Children, Self. The Des Moines Register, 8/30/1937 Mother Kills Six Children, Ends Own Life. The Gazette, 8/30/1937 Mother Kills Self and …
Episode 81: Two Mass Murders Claim Iowa Families Only Two Months Apart Read More »
August is always hot in Iowa. The sun beats down mercilessly, baking the ground and raising shimmering mirages from the asphalt highways. Worse is the humidity, filling the dry air like water fills a sponge. The only thing that does seem to like the oppressive, unrelenting heat is the corn. Some farmers say that …
Two Mass Murders Claim Iowa Families Only Two Months Apart Read More »
All Thaddeus Fancher wanted to do was have a drink. But when a group of robbers came into the bar, his night would end in death. Who had killed him, and what ties did they have to one of the most vicious killers in prohibition-era Chicago? Sources Two Seized on Girl’s Charge of …
All Thaddeus S. Fancher wanted to do was have a drink. Maybe the 36-year-old lawyer from Crown Point, Indiana just wanted to have a good time. Or maybe he had a long day and wanted to unwind with a drink or two. The problem was that it was 1924, and, technically speaking, just having …
In 1924, Bernice Zalimas was accused of poisoning her husband in Chicago, Illinois. But did she really, or was she the victim of vicious rumors? Sources Blonde Widow Thinks Zalimas Poisoned Self. Chicago Tribune, 12/03/1924 Widow Questioned. Photo, Bernice Zalimas. Chicago Tribune, 12/03/1924 Zalimas’ Widow Held to Grand Jury as Slayer. Chicago Tribune, …
Episode 79: The Accused Poisoner: Bernice Zalimas Read More »
Bernice Martikonis was young when she first came to America, but old enough to remember at least most of it. The only child of Ignatz and Stella Martikonis, they, along with several thousand others, had decided to immigrate from their native Lithuania to the United States. Lithuania had long been subject to the political and …
