A Good Night For a Murder

As you know, each regular episode of A Good Night For a Murder covers a Victorian era true crime case, and that includes scam artists. Since the Victorian era was the golden age of spiritualism, there was no shortage of psychics and mediums floating about. And if you’re a fan of the pod, you know many of them were fraudsters. When fraudulent mediums come up, there is often one person in particular who is mentioned who specialized in debunking mediums and their abilities. That person, is famous magician, Harry Houdini.

To accompany episode 48 about Sally Cochran, who was murdered by sleepwalker, I am going to tell you another story where someone claimed to have committed murder while sound asleep. This is the story of Albert Jackson Tirrell.

Hello everyone, welcome to season 4 of A Good Night for a Murder, a Victorian true crime podcast.

My name is Kim, tonight’s story might leave you a little uneasy as you prepare to climb in to bed tonight. 

This is the story of Sally Cochran, who was murdered by sleepwalker.

What would you make of a psychic medium who used their gift to foretell the deaths of those around them? Pretty spooky, right? But, what if they used this gift to take out life insurance policies shortly before those predicted death dates? Now, it feels a little less spooky, and more suspicious. That is exactly what happened in the case we’re covering tonight. This is the story of fortune teller & murderer Louisa Lindloff.

When I sit down to do episode planning, I do often try to align with the seasons and the holidays, but February, which includes Valentines Day, can be a challenge when one covers historic true crime. So, I had to do it in my own way, which is a bit dark - but, I always find there’s something to learn from those stories too. Earlier this month, I covered two black widow killers, and tonight, for this Good Night Snack, I’m going to cover the famous 17th century Italian poisoner, Julia Tofana, and her signature poison used by possibly hundreds of women to kill their husbands, aqua tofana.

At the end of every episode, I usually ask you, the listening audience, to let me know what you thought about the the story I just told… But tonight, I really want to know what you think. On the surface, it’s a “black widow” story. Or is it? I’m not so sure, but, as usual, I have done my best to separate fact from fiction and give you the full story.

This is the story of black widow, Louise Vermilya.

The bonus content for Patreon members for this episode is another black widow case, and just like the story of Louise Vermilya, I am very divided on if she was actually the villain or the victim.

This is the story of Martha Needle

I realized there’s this entire sub genre of Victorian era true crime that I’ve never really covered before, which is the American Old West! And I wanted to learn more about it! One of my favorite things to do when it comes to historic true crime is to separate fact from fiction. For that reason, I thought what better place is there to focus on than Tombstone, Arizona. So, tonight, I bring you part 1 of Tombstone, Arizona: The Town Too Tough to Die