Murderous Roots is not just another true crime podcast. While Denise and Zelda do go through the crimes committed, they explore family history of the criminals, and sometimes the victims, too. What made these men and women commit horrendous crimes? Was it how they were raised or were they born this way? We get to the heart of their murderous pasts and roots.
In Part 2 covering Jeffrey Dahmer, we go deep into the stories of his family history from immigrant origins to broken families. Not only did we find a history of mental illness in his family, but we also discovered that Jeffrey had some famous cousins.
**TRIGGER WARNING** Typically, we do not get too graphic with the crimes of our subjects. However, in this episode, we do. By the evening of July 23, 1991, the evening news in Milwaukee came out regarding the arrest of a man, the night before, with various body parts found in his apartment. Soon, the world would read in horror of the atrocities committed by Jeffrey Dahmer, soon coined “The Milwaukee Cannibal.” Each day after his arrest more details would emerge of his monstrous crimes. In Part 1...
After being gone for several months, Murderous Roots is returning! The lives of Denise and Zelda got hectic. This is particularly true for Denise who not only researches the trees but also produces the podcast. Both Denise and Zelda have missed sharing stories about the lives and family histories of their subjects. They hope you join them as they kick things off again next week!
Julie Dixon Jaxson, genetic genealogist and host of CutOff Genes, joins us to share a shocking story she discovered while researching her family tree. This story takes place on the gold fields in Victoria, Australia and appeared in The Bendigo Advertiser on 1 April 1861. Listen to learn what happened to her distant aunt and uncle. It’s a shocking tale of murder.
In Part 2 of Georgia Tann, Julie Dixon Jackson, from CutOff Genes, Zelda, and Denise continue their conversation about the corrupt head of the Tennessee Children’s Home in Memphis, Tennessee. They explore Georgia’s family tree continuing with their conversation about Tann’s mother Beulah Yates, learning about a murder in the family lines and what happened with her partner Ann and their children. For all information on sources for this episode, go to our website at MurderousRoots.com...
For close to thirty years, Georgia Tann helped families adopt babies. But the truth was much darker. As the person in charge of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis, Tennessee, Georgia used her position to adopt out children to families outside of Tennessee. In doing so, she was able to “sell” the babies and line her pockets. Due to demand, she often stole babies from poor and struggling families. Adoptee rights advocate, Julie Dixon Jackson, from the podcast Cut Off Genes, joins us ...
Happy Thanksgiving all! This week, due to the holiday, we are revisiting an episode from March this year covering the mysterious remains found in a cave in 1979; remains that wouldn’t be identified until 2019. His name was Joseph H. Loveless, and he was no innocent man. Learn more about who he was and his family ties with Joseph Smith and his new religion as they crossed the country to settle in Utah. All episode notes and sources can be found at our website, murderousroots.com...
We are finally here with Part 2 covering the story of Frazier B. Baker, the postmaster lynched in 1898 for the crime of being Black in South Carolina. In this episode, we explore Baker’s family tree and the shocking revelation Denise found in the census records. Then we discuss the villians; who were they and what happened to them? At the end we finish our discussion exploring the lives and family history of the “heroes”, Ida B. Welles and Lillian Clayton Jewett. All references and notes regardi...
All sources and notes are available at our website murderousroots.com
On July 30, 1897, President William McKinley appointed seven Black men to postmaster positions across the state of South Carolina. One town would not react well to the news. One town would see to it that they would run their new Black postmaster out of town, even if it meant killing him. In this latest episode, part one of the story, Zelda and Denise explore the history of reconstruction and how it helped lead to the death of Frazier B. Baker. Then we discuss what happened to the Baker family af...
Last week we discussed all that Marsha accomplished as well as her unsolved death and immediate family. In part 2 covering Marsha P. Johnson, we continue the conversation with her nephew Al Michaels and learn more about her parents and ancestors, including her grandmother, a Voodoo priestess.. To see all our sources and information discussed in the show, you can go to last week’s episode, Queen Marsha . All notes and sources can be found on our website at https://murderousroots.com/episodes/mars...
After a day of festivities and fun at the Gay Pride Parade in New York City, the body of one of its most notable residents who fought for civil rights for all people, was found floating in the Hudson River on July 6, 1992. Marsha P. Johnson, born Malcolm Michaels, Jr, identified herself as a drag queen and was an outspoken activist for gay rights who first gained prominence during the Stonewall Uprising. We may never know the circumstances of her death, but her work lives on today. In this episo...
In this Summersode, we continue our conversation on the family history of Dian Fossey which included two more murders, love affairs, World War II, a British naval hero from the 17th Century, and so much more. All sources can be found at our website, murderousroots.com
Nynyiramachabelli , the woman that lives alone on the Mountain, is a Rwandan word used to describe gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey on her grave in Rwanda. It was the name given to her by Rwandan’s who lived near her in the Virugan Mountains of Rwanda. In 1963, Fossey first arrived on the continent of Africa. It would soon after become her permanent home until her murdered body was found in the early morning hours of December 27, 1985. Listen to Part 1 of The Woman That Lives Alone on the Mou...
On this Summersode, as part of their Summer of Justice Series, Zelda and Denise discuss the events leading up to the horrific lynching of 14-year-old Chicago-native Emmett Till as well as what happened next. Then they explore is fascinating family tree with a history of struggle, success, and heartbreak. For further notes and sources, go to murderousroots.com
On June 12, 1963, a scream permeated the air as Myrlie Evers opened her door to discover her husband, Medgar Evers, a civil rights leader in Jackson, Mississippi, collapsed on the ground. Moments before he had been shot in the back by an assassin’s bullet. Less than an hour later, he would die in an all-white hospital. Evers’s death would shock a nation! His wife would spend decades to get justice for her husband, a struggle later written about in her book and in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi....
We have exciting episodes coming this summer. Listen to the trailer to learn more about who we will be featuring!
In June 1985, the body of a young woman was found naked, wrapped in a sheet, in the trunk of a car. Upon looking at her body, a police officer told the press that it appeared as if she died of a drug overdose. When the autopsy came back, she had no drugs in her system. For reasons unknown to her family, the police spent little to no time investigating what happened to 24-year-old Catherine “Catrina” Mowrey. Her family never got answers or any sense that the Dallas Police Department cared about w...
Betsy Faria thought she made a good friend at work; one who showed support and love during one of the most trying times in her life. She didn’t realize, until it was too late, that her friendship with Pamela Hupp would be more deadly than her terminal cancer diagnosis. In this episode, Zelda and Denise discuss the murder Pam Hupp was convicted for as well as the other two murders she has been accused of committing. Then we dive into a fascinating family tree that leads to encounters with immigra...
After creating over 40 episodes, Denise and Zelda decided to share some outtakes, stuff you’ve never heard before! They are also looking for submissions from listeners for a new series of minisodes starting soon, where our listeners share a story from their tree!
In 1939, playwright Joseph Kesselring wrote a play, a dark comedy called Arsenic and Old Lace. The play would prove to be such a hit on Broadway that film director Frank Capra adapted it for the screen. In 1944, the movie Arsenic and Old Lace was released starring Cary Grant. What many didn’t know at the time was the movie was partially inspired by the real-life home of Amy Archer-Gilligan.In this episode, listen as Zelda describes what happened at Amy’s home in Windsor, Connecticut. Next, Denis...
Introduction of our guest, Bobbi, friend of the show Zelda discusses Dennis Rader’s childhood then gets into his crimes Denise discusses Dennis’s immediate family. Discussion on his maternal family line Discussion on the Rader Family Line Fast Family Facts Conclusion
We have no new episode this week, but we will be back with The Wichita Nightmare next week, on March 10. This week we have a call to action for our listeners and a short preview of next week’s episode.
One summer day in 1979, a family in Idaho decided to explore Buffalo Cave in a search for arrowheads. Instead, they found something no one wants to find—a headless torso inside an old burlap sack. Twelve years later, a girl would find a hand. Who was this person? That question would be answered in 2019 with the help of the DNA Doe Project . The body was that of Joseph Henry Loveless, a prison escapee from 1916 who had been accused of murdering his wife. In this episode. listen as we discuss the ...
Robert Lee Yates, Jr. grew up an idyllic life on Whidbey Island in Washington. But then one day, he decided it was time to start killing. And he didn’t stop until the police caught him. Why did Yates kill? We may never know for certain, but Denise and Zelda explore his family tree to see if there are any clues. What they found left them stunned. He wasn’t the only murderer in his family. Listen to our latest episode, Spokane Serial Killer, detailing the crimes of Robert Lee Yates, Jr. and a fami...
We planned to share a holiday special we recorded with a few others, but technical difficulties prevented that from happening. Instead, we are sharing one of our favorite episodes, from August 20, 2020, Episode 5: Black Dahlia. In this episode we discussed the unsolved murder and family tree of Elizabeth Short. And boy, was her tree amazing! We hope you enjoy the episode. We will be back with new episodes at the end of January 2021.
Happy Thanksgiving! For Thanksgiving, we thought it might be interesting to revisit and combine the two parts of our Jim Jones episodes from October 2020. We discuss the events in Jonestown, Jones himself, then his fascinating family tree and even a slight connection to the Black Dahlia.
Who are we? We are a true crime podcast with a familial twist, where we explore the family tree of a killer. Want to know more? Take a listen to our trailer.
At 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, as people lined the streets of Elm Street in Dallas, Texas to watch the presidential motorcade drive by, shots rang out. Shots that would kill the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Who could possibly do this to a beloved president and a new Camelot? Before the day was up, the world would know the answer, the lone shooter was Lee Harvey Oswald. 48 hours after the death of Kennedy, Oswald would be shot and killed by Jack Ruby. But who...
