My guest is Steven J. Harper, author of "Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story". His father, Jim Harper, was a member of Minneapolis Teamsters Local 544 who uncovered evidence of corruption within the union. In the late 1950s, he brought this information to the attention of the newly elected Teamsters president, Jimmy Hoffa. But his efforts to confront union leadership and root out corruption were met with severe resistance, including threats and even attempts on his life. More about the book at th...
Oct 27, 2025•1 hr 9 min
One of Minnesota's most fascinating unsolved murder cases began on the morning of December 9, 1937, when firefighters discovered the charred body of 31-year-old Ruth Munson in an abandoned Saint Paul hotel. As the investigation deepened, evidence would surface that suggested that Ruth had lived a very secret life. My guest, Roger Barr, is the author of "A Murder on the Hill: The Secret Life and Mysterious Death of Ruth Munson." He utilized an extensive collection of police files to piece this 19...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 21 min
On June 2, 1916, forty mostly immigrant mineworkers at the St. James Mine in Aurora, Minnesota, walked off the job. This seemingly small labor disturbance would mushroom into one of the region’s, if not the nation’s, most contentious and significant battles between organized labor and management in the early twentieth century. My guest, Gary Kaunoen, is an International Falls labor historian and author of the book "Flames of Discontent: The 1916 Minnesota Iron Ore Strike". He talks about the ori...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 36 min
My guest is prolific author Larry Millett. His knowledge of Twin Cities architecture and history is unequalled in Minnesota, and he has used his knowledge to write some of the best local history books in the last thirty years. We initially discuss downtown Minneapolis' lost crown jewel, the spectacular Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building (which would later become the Metropolitan) and how it was built through the shady dealings of real estate speculator Louis Menage - only to be torn down in 196...
Feb 23, 2024•1 hr 10 min
It was a question asked by many Minnesotans in 1974, including her parents. How could Camilla Hall, the sweet and caring daughter of a small-town Lutheran pastor, become a member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army? The abductors of Patty Hearst? The gun-toting militants who would end up battling police to death in Los Angeles? My guest is award-winning Mankato author Rachael Hanel, author of "Not the Camilla We Knew: One Woman's Path From Small-Town America to the Symbionese Liberation Ar...
Oct 02, 2023•54 min
In August of 1894, a young woman was found brutally murdered on a sand dune at Minnesota Point in Duluth. Over the next two years both Duluth and Minneapolis detectives would hunt for her killer across the country, until finally finding him in the Pacific Northwest. My guest is Jeffrey Sauve, author of "Murder at Minnesota Point". He shares details of the life and death of 32-year-old Norwegian immigrant servant Lena Olson, the con man (and possible serial killer) who seduced and killed her, and...
Jul 22, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Since the mid-19th century one of the great tourist destinations in Minnesota has been Minnehaha Falls. Already known for its beauty, its fame intensified when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized it in his poem "The Song of Hiawatha". But Minnehaha Falls has had a dark side as well. In the late 19th century it became a place synonymous with drunkenness and debauchery. The notorious father and son team of Adelbert and Irwin Gardner (and others) profited from the Minnehaha Midway, where corrup...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Have you ever wondered whether Pig's Eye Parrant's notorious Fountain Cave saloon is accessible to visitors? Was there really a tunnel between Nina Clifford's brothel and the original Minnesota Club? Did Jesse and Frank James hide out in any Minnesota caves before or after their botched Northfield bank raid in 1876? What really exists under downtown Saint Paul and Minneapolis? My guest is Dr. Greg Brick, who arguably knows more about caves and tunnels in Minnesota than anyone alive, and he answe...
Jul 22, 2022•1 hr 40 min
On June 27, 1868, Hole in the Day (Bagonegiizhig) the Younger left Crow Wing, Minnesota, for Washington, DC, to fight the planned removal of the Mississippi Ojibwe to a reservation at White Earth. Several miles from his home, the self-styled leader of all the Ojibwe was stopped by at least twelve Ojibwe men and fatally shot. Hole in the Day's death was national news, and rumors of its cause were many: personal jealousy, retribution for his claiming to be head chief of the Ojibwe, retaliation for...
Jun 05, 2022•54 min
On December 3rd, 1894, a dressmaker named Catherine "Kitty" Ging was found shot to death on a snowy Lake Calhoun road in Minneapolis. Police patched together clues and evidence, which ultimately led them to the front door of a charming, scheming scoundrel named Harry Hayward. My guest is Shawn Francis Peters, author of "The Infamous Harry Hayward: A True Account of Murder and Mesmerism in Gilded Age Minneapolis". He shares insight into this sensational murder case and arguably the greatest 19th ...
Dec 30, 2021•1 hr 23 min
The upscale Highland Park neighborhood in Saint Paul in the late 1940s was a fun place to grow up in. But there was a dark side to the area as well. A trio of gruesome murders of young women happened in a fifteen month period, which shocked the respectable community. The most memorable for the author was the 1948 murder of seventeen-year-old Geraldine Mingo. My guest, David Butwin, shares childhood stories from his memoir, "A Minnesota Kid: In Search of Heroes and Ghosts". Information about his ...
Jul 26, 2021•54 min
On this episode, I get a little more informal than usual, as I chat with Deborah Frethem, long time tour guide at the Wabasha Street Caves (the old Castle Royale Nightclub). We swap tour guide and ghost stories, in honor of the sad, recent closing of the Caves. Deborah, along with Cynthia Schreiner Smith, are co-authors of a book called "Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang in Minnesota". More about the author at her website: https://deborahfrethem.com/# Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr
My guest, Rob Feeney, suddenly found himself the middle of one of the most fascinating criminal investigations in Minnesota history - the theft of one of the famous pairs of Ruby Slippers, worn by Minnesota native Judy Garland in the classic film The Wizard of Oz, out of a Grand Rapids museum in 2005. Rob talks about the historical significance of the shoes, the theft itself, and shares his own experience helping investigators track them down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 15 min
In the summer of 1887, Thomas Tollefson was shot to death as he operated his mule-drawn streetcar in the Cedar Avenue-Lake Street neighborhood of Minneapolis. Police settled on two brothers as the murderers - members of a family that ran a notorious saloon nearby called The Hub of Hell. My guest is Beverly J. Porter, author of "The Hub of Hell: A True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Neighborhood, Murder, and Trial". She offers details of not only the murder itself, but the flimsy investigation, tr...
Sep 05, 2020•49 min
Before the early 1960s, when much of Minneapolis was razed to make way for ugly parking ramps and office buildings, another world existed. Decrepit 19th century buildings in an area of downtown called Skid Row housed lowbrow bars and flophouses, and a man named John "Johnny Rex" Bacich, owner of the Sourdough Bar, reigned supreme over a gaggle of brawlers, migrant workers, prostitutes and drunks. My guest is Star Tribune editor James Eli Shiffer and his book is called "The King of Skid Row: John...
Apr 06, 2020•45 min
The F.B.I. refers to the 1972 Virginia Piper kidnapping as the most successful kidnapping in American history. In July of that year, Virginia Piper, socialite wife of Bobby Piper, the CEO of Piper, Jaffray and Hopwood, was abducted from her home, taken to Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth, and tied to a tree. The ransom demand was one million dollars. My guest, William Swanson, with help from the Piper family, has meticulously researched a case that many Minnesotans still remember in vivid detail...
Mar 11, 2020•1 hr 4 min
My guest is Jerry Kuntz, author of "Minnesota's Notorious Nellie King: Wild Woman of the Closed Frontier". He tells the story of a larger-than-life and beautiful young con-artist, pretend detective, singer and cross-dresser, who lights up Twin Cities papers with her outrageous exploits. He also explains how he was able to track down her elusive past history, and discover her real identity. More about the author here: https://jerrykuntz.org/ Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/most...
Jan 13, 2020•51 min
In this second part of the 1912 Alice Matthews Murder case, a serious suspect finally emerges, a young man named Alfred Driskell, but it takes four confessions for the police to finally him seriously. And throughout his journey to convince authorities of his guilt, many questions arise as to Driskell's sanity. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Dec 14, 2019•36 min
In March of 1912, a brutal murder of a young woman just off of Cedar Avenue rocked the city of Minneapolis. In part one of this episode, I narrate the story of the initial investigation of the slaying of Alice Matthews, just feet from her front door. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Dec 01, 2019•41 min
On this new episode of Minnesota's Most Notorious: Where Blood Runs Cold, I speak with author Jack El-Hai about his book, "The Lost Brothers: A Family's Decades-Long Search". In it, he explores the mysterious disappearance of three little brothers in a Minneapolis park in November of 1951. While the police would consider it a drowning, their parents, Betty and Ken Klein, would never give up looking for their sons. A recent investigation has begun into the cold case, suggesting something far more...
Oct 22, 2019•38 min
The year 1918 goes down as probably the most horrific in Minnesota history. A flu epidemic, a world war and the deadliest fire in the state's history all hit within months of each other, and often the resulting tragedies overlapped for suffering families. My guest is Curt Brown, author of "Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire & War Ravaged the State". He not only shares some sad stories from this disastrous year, but uplifting ones as well. Buy the book here: https://shop.mnhs.org/products/minneso...
Oct 12, 2019•54 min
While most of us know that prostitution existed in Minneapolis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fewer of us know where the red-light districts were, and what life would have been like for the madams and prostitutes who worked in these bordellos. My guest is Penny A. Petersen, author of Minneapolis Madams: The Lost History of Prostitution on the Riverfront. She offers a rare glimpse of a long lost and hidden history, and the struggles and successes experienced by the women who ran these...
Sep 02, 2019•1 hr 23 min
A brief look at some of the wild stories published in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune on August 4th, 1913. True Crime, tragedy and even comedy take a turn. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 05, 2019•18 min
On July 14th of 1901, the remaining members of the notorious James-Younger outlaw gang, Cole and Jim Younger, were allowed to leave the gates of the Minnesota State Prison, where they had been incarcerated for twenty five years, and explore the town of Stillwater for the morning. This is an account of that little expedition, as reported by the Minneapolis Tribune. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 06, 2019•22 min
Minnesota's Most Notorious's first interview in front of a live audience took place at the Warden's House Museum, downtown Stillwater, on Thursday, June 27th, 2019 at 7 pm. My guest was Gibson Stanton, site manager of the museum, which is operated by the Washington County Historical Society. She not only offered a fascinating history of Minnesota's first prison, but told stories of its most infamous inmates, Cole and Jim Younger. She also revealed some of her research into Jim Younger's mysterio...
Jul 04, 2019•1 hr 5 min
My interview continues with Gary Brueggemann, author of "Minnesota's First Murder Mystery, The Case of Edward Phalen: St. Paul's Unsaintly Pioneer". In part two, my guest delves deeper into the death of Sergeant John Hayes, including presenting strong evidence to suggest it was his partner, the brutish Edward Phalen, who murdered him. He also offers his opinion on the Lake Calhoun name change controversy in Minneapolis. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more ...
Jun 23, 2019•1 hr 7 min
My guest is teacher and historian Gary Brueggemann, author of "Minnesota's First Murder Mystery, The Case of Edward Phalen: St. Paul's Unsaintly Pioneer". In part one of this episode, he explains the strange and complicated origin of Saint Paul, and sets the scene for part two, which details the murder of John Hayes, the investigation, and eventual outcome for Edward Phalen, the prime suspect. Also in this episode, notorious river pirate and whiskey peddler Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant's role in t...
Jun 23, 2019•1 hr 3 min
My guest is Tim Mahoney, author of "Secret Partners: Big Tom Brown and the Barker Gang". He shares the story of the tangled relationship between mob bosses, bank-robbing gangsters, breweries and corrupt police officers in 1920s and 30s Saint Paul. More about the book here: https://shop.mnhs.org/products/secret-partners Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
May 20, 2019•1 hr 6 min
I'm tickled, on this episode of Minnesota's Most Notorious, to be joined by author, poet and nonagenarian Betty Gove. She talks about an infamous and tragic Minnesota murder, taken directly from her own family history. Josefina Olson was stabbed to death by her jealous father Ole on the eve before her wedding day in 1902 outside of Aitkin, MN. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on ...
Apr 25, 2019•54 min
My guests are Susi and Todd Adler, Fort Snelling historians who specialize in the history of the Upper Post during World War 1 and World War 2. On this episode of Minnesota's Most Notorious, they tell the story of the gruesome murder of fourteen year old Mary Jane Massey, who disappeared while walking home from the post's swimming pool on a hot summer day in 1940. Become a Most Notorious patron at: www.patreon.com/mostnotorious Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Apr 01, 2019•46 min
