Jesse James is one of the most famous outlaws in American history—but the real story is more complicated than the movies. In this episode, we map the James-Younger Gang's robberies across the Midwest, discuss how Jesse James used newspapers to forge his legend, and trace his rise to folk hero. Plus: a simulated death match between Jesse James and Al Capone. Yes, really.

Companion Substack Article with images, map, and sources.

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Mountain folk have a code all their own.

In the winter of 1924, deep inside South Carolina’s infamous “Dark Corner,” a prohibition agent and a volunteer constable closed in on a moonshine still at the foot of Hogback Mountain. What happened next would leave one man dead, two families shattered, and a mountain code put to the test in a courtroom.

This is the story of betrayal, loyalty, and a father and son sentenced to die.

Companion Substack Article

• A full timeline of the crime, trial, and appeals
• Sources and documents
• Images

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In 1972, 25 young people camped in the North Carolina mountains on their way to see The Rolling Stones. Sheriff Kermit Banks and six deputies arrived with shotguns. Within minutes, 20-year-old Stanley Aultman was dead. No officer was ever charged. Historian Tim Silver joins us to break down the evidence, the cover-up, and why this forgotten case still matters.

YouTube Video: Death in Briar Bottom

Death in Briar Bottom: The True Story of Hippies, Mountain Lawmen, and the Search for Justice in the Early 1970s by Timothy Silver

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In May 2008, two lifelong friends, Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer, headed into the woods of Giles County, Virginia, for a simple fishing trip. They met a friendly stranger named “Ricky” and shared dinner by a campfire. But within hours, they were fighting for their lives, bleeding from gunshot wounds, and navigating a dark mountain road with one man steering from the passenger seat and the other working the pedals.

This wasn’t the killer’s first time on the trail. Nearly three decades earlier, the same man committed the first documented double homicide on the Appalachian Trail, murdering two hikers from Maine.

In this episode, we unpack both crimes, discuss the bizarre handwritten note that broke the case, and ride along on the frantic escape down Brushy Mountain.

Check out the companion Substack article for this episode. Click Here

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In September 1909, six members of the Meadows family, including three young children, were murdered with an axe and a gun in their remote Virginia log cabin, which was then set on fire. Forty days later and eighty miles away, four members of the Hood family were killed in nearly identical fashion near Beckley, West Virginia. Was Howard Little, a convicted murderer with a questionable pardon, responsible for the Laurel Creek killings? Or did a drifting serial killer known as the "Man from the Train" strike twice and then disappear?

In this episode, we examine the fragmentary newspaper accounts, the role of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, the trial of Howard Little, and an eerie coincidence of gravestones.

Links

Robert Baker’s Laurel Creek Murders Page

Betty Justus Grave

George Hood Grave

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In May 1974, 17-year-old Margaret Harritt set out on the Appalachian Trail with a friend, hoping for an adventure. Days later, she found herself tied to a tree, watching a stranger named Ralph decide her fate. This episode traces the harrowing story of a hike that turned into a nightmare, and the investigation that finally brought a killer to justice.

Podcast Sources

"The Stranger in the Shelter" by Earl Swift, Outside Magazine, November 5, 2018

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When the body of a young girl is discovered in an abandoned Kentucky mineshaft, the small town of Harlan believes they have finally found missing 14-year-old Mary Vickery. A local taxi driver quickly becomes the prime suspect, and a star witness comes forward with damning testimony. The case seems open and shut. But sometimes, justice takes an unexpected turn, and the truth can be stranger than fiction.

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We're heading to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, to uncover the true story of the Mothman. From four teenagers fleeing a winged creature at 100 mph to the bizarre phenomena that followed, including flying saucers and a telepathic alien named Indrid Cold.

We explore whether there was a link between the Mothman and the Silver Bridge disaster that killed 46 people. Plus, we dissect John Keel's chaotic book: The Mothman Prophecies, work to separate fact from folklore, and trace how a local monster became a global icon.

Indrid Cold: The Woodrow Derenberger Interview on YouTube

Podcast Sources

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