Imagine living with a secret so big, if anyone were to find out, it would change everything. From illicit affairs and fake identities to heists and murder — do you think you could take a secret like that to the grave? Every week, discover the most explosive things people have admitted to moments before the end. Deathbed Confessions is a Spotify Original from Parcast.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
In April 1934, an amazing photograph appeared on the front page of the Daily Mail newspaper. For many, the photo proved the existence of the Loch Ness monster. Decades later, investigators track down a man almost as reclusive as Nessie herself. Christian Spurling is the only person still alive who knows the truth about that famous photograph. But by now he is an old man, close to the end of his life. Will he reveal all before he dies? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...
In 1867, 18-year-old Christy Kett was found brutally murdered in her home. Police are shocked by the savagery of the attack, but have little real evidence to go on. The list of suspects ranges from her brother Fred to Christy’s sweetheart and a local bad boy. Even her mother comes under suspicion. But the mystery is never solved — not until 17 years later, when a sick old woman gasps out a stunning confession to her son as she lies dying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...
After the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865, the nation believed federal soldiers killed his assassin on April 26th 1865. Forty-two years later, shocking claims are made that Booth evaded capture and has been living under the fake name John St Helen. Thinking he is dying, St Helen gives a deathbed confession detailing the plot to kill Lincoln and how he evaded capture. He also alleges the conspiracy to kill Lincoln was conceived at the highest levels of his administration. When federal ...
As the American Civil War comes to a close, the renowned stage actor John Wilkes Booth decides it's time to enter the theatre of war. He assassinates President Lincoln, plunging the country into one of its darkest moments. Booth is later shot at a farm in Eastern Virginia and dragged out onto a porch so that everyone can hear his dying words: a final message for his mother. Forty-two years later, a lawyer claims the man shot at the farm was not the president’s assassin. The lawyer gives a detail...
In 1975, the notoriously corrupt union leader Jimmy Hoffa vanished without a trace. Due to his various dirty dealings, the FBI assumed it was a mob hit but could never find evidence to back it up. For decades it seemed the question "Who got Hoffa?" would never be answered — until 1999, when Hoffa's old right-hand man, Frank Sheeran, begins confessing on his deathbed... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
The estranged adult children of “Geri” Kelley long suspected foul play in their father’s death. Though she had told them that John Kelley had died in a road accident, Geri revealed on her deathbed in 2004 that she’d shot him in the head and kept his body in a storage facility freezer for years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 2013, the San Francisco Police Department received a written deathbed confession from a man claiming to be John Anglin — one of the famed fugitives from America's "most inescapable" prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Back in 1962, John, along with his brother Clarence and friend Frank Morris, disappeared from Alcatraz never to be seen again. The FBI has long claimed the three men must have died during the escape… But the letter that police received says they all lived well into old age. I...
Musician Brian Jones was a talented but deeply troubled man. We look into the events leading up to his death in 1969, in particular his difficult relationship with Frank Thorogood, the man who will one day allegedly confess to killing Jones. We also shine a spotlight on the role played by someone close to the heart of the Rolling Stones organization: behind-the-scenes fixer Tom Keylock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
When founding Rolling Stones member Brian Jones was found dead in a swimming pool on July 3, 1969, police immediately ruled his death an accident. One man was in the pool with him that night, a building contractor named Frank Thorogood. Many years later, in his final moments, Thorogood will make a startling confession about the night Jones died. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1988, British police found the remains of a gruesomely murdered woman in a flat in Cardiff, UK. The woman had over 50 stab wounds on her body. The murder went unsolved until 2003, when a man named Jeffrey Gafoor confessed after taking a lethal dose of paracetemol tablets… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ottis Toole is arrested for arson and confesses to a string of murders committed with his lover Henry Lee Lucas. Detectives come from all over to talk to him. Toole confesses to taking a little boy from a mall in Florida, but later denies it. Though Toole takes police to various locations connected with the crime, detectives are unable to discover decisive forensic evidence. Everything hinges on his deathbed confession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
The case takes a dramatic turn with the discovery of a severed head positively identified as Adam's. This is no longer a kidnapping, it's murder. We explore the twisted relationship between Ottis Toole and fellow serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. The sighting of a blue van brings another serial killer into the frame... a certain Jeffrey Dahmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While serving multiple life sentences in prison and dying of liver failure, convicted serial killer Ottis Toole made a deathbed confession to a prison health administrator. He claimed sole responsibility in the 1981 murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh. This was not the first time Toole had confessed to the crime. But this time was different. This time he had no reason to lie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Hollywood historian William J. Mann uncovers new details about Margaret Gibson's criminal past and her potential involvement in William Desmond Taylor's murder, stemming from a blackmail plot that exploited Taylor's secret life. The episode examines the studio's elaborate efforts to protect its image, sacrificing careers and tampering with evidence, while investigators were led astray by a compelling but flawed theory. Ultimately, Gibson's deathbed confession provides a shocking revelation to the long-unsolved mystery.
As the investigation into William Desmond Taylor's murder amps up, lead investigator Detective King examines the evidence and begins to suspect three of the most powerful women in 1920s Hollywood: comedy queen Mabel Normand, ingenue Mary Miles Minter, and notorious stage mother Charlotte Shelby. To get answers, he'll need to go up against one of the most powerful industries in America — the Hollywood movie studios. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
In 1964, Ray Long's elderly neighbor, Patricia Lewis, confesses to murdering famed silent film director William Desmond Taylor on her deathbed. Ray's investigation uncovers her true identity as Margaret Gibson, a forgotten actress. The episode delves into 1920s Hollywood, its scandals, studio power, and the initial chaotic police investigation into Taylor's murder, introducing several star-studded suspects and Gibson's own desperate attempt at a career comeback.
Starting July 21st, Deathbed Confessions brings you into the stories of last-ditch attempts to clear consciences. Crimes are solved. Mysteries become clear. And the cases that haunted collective imaginations are put to rest. Or are they? New episodes weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
