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In 2007, Jennifer Mee got her fifteen minutes of fame when she couldn’t stop hiccuping. In 2016, she was once again on TV—this time on a show called “Killer Women.” Fame is a curse, and it had cursed her.

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Sources:

Jennifer Mee advocacy website: jmeefree.com

St. Petersburg Times coverage of Jennifer Mee, 2007-2013, especially coverage from journalist Mary Jane Park

“Fla. ‘hiccup girl’ charged with first-degree murder,” Charleston Daily Mail, 18 Sept 2013

“‘Hiccup Girl’ Charged in Fatal Robbery,” The Ledger, 25 Oct 2010

“Jail Call to Mom Played in Court,” Tampa Bay Times, 20 Sept 2013

“Victim’s brother: Hiccup girl’s Internet trap led to homicide,” Tribune Business News, 25 Oct 2010

Jennifer Mee episode, Killer Women with Piers Morgan, 6 July 2017

Freak Show entry in Encyclopedia Britannica

“Teen Known for Hiccups Now Faces a Murder Charge,” New York Times, 25 Oct 2010

“Facing a New Surge, Florida Prisons Need to Get it Right This Time,” Orlando Sentinel, 4 Dec 2020

“3 on Florida Commission Decide Parole of Thousands of Inmates,” Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 10 Dec 2019

“Florida’s Longest-Serving Inmates: They Get Older, Sicker and More Well-behaved,” Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 17 Oct 2019

“VIDEO: Hiccup girl, Jennifer Mee, breaks silence after going from media darling to convicted killer,” ABC Action News, 17 November 2015

Team:

Jillian Collins, research assistant

Jennifer Longworth of Bourbon Barrel Podcasting, editor

Music: Stereodog Productions (Dan Pierson & Peter Manheim). Intro and conclusion: “Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer.

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Marie Dean Arrington looked out her window, saw a car parked outside, and knew it was the FBI. She’d been running from the law her entire life. And for this last crime—a vanished woman, a ransom note, blood in the trunk of a car—she knew she was going to have to pay.

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Sources:

“Mean Marie” by Gary Corsair, Lake & Sumter Style, 1 July 2014

“30 Days of Mean Marie,” supplement to the above article, Lake & Sumter Style

“Lake Lawyer Bob Pierce Dies at 74,” The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb 1990

“Mother of Accused Woman Takes Witness Stand in Murder Trial,” The Tampa Tribune, 5 Dec 1968

“National Search Started For Lowell Prison Escapee,” The Tampa Tribune, 5 March 1969

“Mrs. Arrington Gone, Not Forgotten,” The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Mar 1971

“Killer Loose,” Spokane Chronicle, 1 Mar 1969

“Mrs. Arrington On FBI’s 10 List,” The Orlando Sentinel, 29 May 1969

“2 Years Later, a Murderess Still at Large,” The Miami Herald, 31 May 1971

“Killer Escapes at Ocala,” Pensacola News Journal, 2 Mar 1969

“Marie Dean Arrington’s Daughter Granted Parole,” The Orlando Sentinel, 4 April 1971

“Arrington Judge Gets Voodoo Doll,” Orlando Evening Star, 16 Oct 1971

“Woman Murderer Transferred,” Tampa Bay Times, 4 July 1981

“Notorious Leesburg murderess Marie Arrington dead at 80,” The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Mar 2014

“Is This The Place They Call Hell?” The Palm Beach Post, 18 Mar 1973

“Segregation Has a Home in Her Stories,” The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Feb 2003

“Judge Names Lake Attorney To Defend Mrs. Arrington,” The Tampa Tribune, 2 May 1968

Team:

Jillian Collins, research assistant

Jennifer Longworth of Bourbon Barrel Podcasting, editor

Music: Stereodog Productions (Dan Pierson & Peter Manheim). Intro and conclusion: “Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer.

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Defending murderers and professional jail-breakers isn't for the faint of heart, but thankfully, 1930s defense lawyer Jessie Levy was anything but fainthearted. In a world where women were almost never seen in criminal defense, Jessie and her fabulous shoes stepped up to the plate to represent some of the most notorious gangsters of the day: John Dillinger's men. Denise M. Testa, author of Defending the Dillinger Gang: Jessie Levy and Bess Robbins in the Courtroom, comes on the podcast to walk us through the story.

 *** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter. Purchase THE SCORPION'S TALE from this episode’s sponsor, Amazon Publishing. And you can preorder my new book Confident Women here, and listen to Red Flags (my latest podcast project) here.***

Sources:

Interview with Denise M. Testa, 16 Jan 2021

Defending the Dillinger Gang: Jessie Levy and Bess Robbins in the Courtroom, by Denise M, Testa

Music:

Intro and conclusion: “Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 Ad break:  “The Great One Step” by Victor Dance Orchestra, via Free Music Archive, licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0

Narration music: Stereodog Productions (Dan Pierson & Peter Manheim)

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Something unbelievably awful was about to happen to Bobbie Jo Stinnett. She was about to live a nightmare. But the nightmare was already with Lisa Montgomery, swirling around her, never letting up. The nightmare had molded her, turning her into the sort of person that would knock on Bobbie Jo’s door with a knife beneath her jacket.

 *** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter. Purchase THE UNQUIET ENGLISHMAN from this episode’s sponsor, W. W. Norton. And you can preorder my new book Confident Women here, and listen to Red Flags (my latest podcast project) here.***

Sources:

“The Tortured Life and Tragic Crime of the Only Woman on Death Row,” 10 Nov 2020, The Huffington Post

“My Sister, Lisa Montgomery, Took a Life. Her Own Was Scarred by Unimaginable Abuse. Spare Her,” 19 Nov 2020, Newsweek

“Punch After Punch, Rape After Rape, a Murderer Was Made,” 18 Dec 2020, New York Times

“Lisa Montgomery, a Kansan who cut a baby from a mother's womb, was executed by the federal government. Here is her story.” 13 Jan 2021, Topeka Capital-Journal

“The Case of Lisa Montgomery,” Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide

“Execution date rekindles memories in Skidmore,” 24 Oct 2020, News-Press Now

“Accused woman’s relatives say warnings were ignored,” 10 Jan 2005, The Associated Press

“Arrest made in death of pregnant woman,” 18 Dec 2004, The Standard

“Fateful Day When Butcher Met Victim,” 21 Dec 2004, New York Post

“Order Granting Motion to Stay Execution Pending A Competence Hearing,” 11 Jan 2021

“Inside the Race To Save The Only Woman On Federal Death Row,” 8 Jan 2021, The Huffington Post

“PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY ON BEHALF OF LISA MARIE MONTGOMERY PRESENTED TO PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, DECEMBER 24, 2020” (prepared by Lisa’s lawyers)

“U.S. Executes Lisa Montgomery for 2004 Murder,” 13 Jan 2021, New York Times

Tweets from journalist Liliana Segura and Michael Tarn, who were at Terre Haute January 12-13, 2021

Music:

Intro and conclusion: “Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 Ad break:  “The Great One Step” by Victor Dance Orchestra, via Free Music Archive, licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0

Narration music: Stereodog Productions (Dan Pierson & Peter Manheim)

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FIRST EPISODE OF 2021 IS HERE. Meet Juana Barraza, who loved wrestling and her children, who hated elderly women and her mother. Our expert for this episode is Susana Vargas Cervantes, author of THE LITTLE OLD LADY KILLER: The Sensationalized Crimes of Mexico’s First Female Serial Killer.

Also, you can preorder my new book Confident Women here, and listen to Red Flags (my latest podcast project) here!

 *** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter. Purchase NOBODY’S NORMAL from this episode’s sponsor, W. W. Norton. ***

Sources:

Interview with Susana Vargas Cervantes, December 30, 2020

THE LITTLE OLD LADY KILLER: The Sensationalized Crimes of Mexico’s First Female Serial Killer, by Susana Vargas Cervantes

“El/La Mataviejitas: Killing genders in Mexico City,: MA thesis, Susana Vargas Cervantes

“Juana Barraza: analfabeta, su madre la regaló a los 12 años, fue violada y le mataron un hijo a batazos,” Crónica, 27 Jan 2006

“El papá de la mataviejitas,” Crónica, 5 Feb 2006

“The Lady Killer,” The Guardian, 18 May 2006

“Dan 759 años de prisión a La mataviejitas,” La Jornada, 1 April 2008

“Mexico's “Little Old Lady Killer” gets life term,” Reuters, 31 March 2008

“Woman Held in Mexico City Serial Killings,” New York Times, 26 Jan 2006

“Little Old Lady Killer handed 759 years in a Mexican prison,” The Guardian, 1 April 2008

“The Mexican serial killer who has found love behind bars,” El País, 28 July 2015

“48 murders later, the “Little Old Lady Killer” files for divorce,” El País, 28 Oct 2016

“Juana Barraza, la mataviejitas | Asesinos Seriales,” Azteca Noticias

Music:

Intro and conclusion: “Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 Ad break:  “The Great One Step” by Victor Dance Orchestra, via Free Music Archive, licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0

Narration music: Stereodog Productions (Dan Pierson & Peter Manheim)

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A quick state of the Criminal Broads union. This is not goodbye forever, but it is goodbye for now. PLUS, some fun (basic? obvious?) quarantine escapism suggestions. And a bit of rambling. LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL.

Stay in touch!

instagram

newsletter

website

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Midnight. A hospital ward. A young woman writhes in her bed in pain. But wait—here comes the night nurse, Jane Toppan, with a cool glass of water, promising to make it all…go…away…

 The story of Jane Toppan will chill you to your core, shake you to your bones, and remind you of the inconvenient truth that female serial killers can be just as deadly as the male ones.

 Want more Criminal Broads? Come to Caveat NYC on October 30 at 70 pm to see me and the host of DIE-ALOGUE talk about female cult leaders!!! Get your tickets here!

 *** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter and get a cool postcard and bonus content on each broad. Snag a free month of weird and entertaining courses at The Great Courses Plus at thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads by entering code FREEMO. And get 10% off your first month of Betterhelp at betterhelp.com/criminalbroads. ***

Sources:

Fatal by Harold Schechter

Music:

“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 “Shake It and Break It” by Lanin's Southern Serenaders, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License”

“The Haunted House” by Haunted Corpse, via freemusicarchive.org.

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On Halloween night, a young woman sneaks her boyfriend into her house…to kill her parents. Meet Suzane Von Richthofen, Brazil’s biggest teen girl psychopath.

Mega-thanks to Luiz Alberto Moura for the research assistance! Read his work on serial killers here.

Want more Criminal Broads? Come to Caveat NYC on October 30 at 70 pm to see me the host of DIE-ALOGUE talk about female cult leaders!!! Get your tickets here!

*** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter and get a cool postcard and bonus content on each broad. Get 30% off all Proverb jewelry with code BROADS. Snag a free month of weird and entertaining courses at The Great Courses Plus at thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads by entering code FREEMO. And check out the new Nevertheless She Existed podcast!***

Sources:

“Sex-and-murder transfixes Brazil,” The Windsor Star, 24 July 2006

“‘Red Baron’ heiress who plotted to murder parents gets 39 years,” The Times, 24 July 2006

“Red Baron Descendant's Murder Trial Is Hot Ticket,” Bloomberg News, June 2, 2006

+ Brazilian sources aplenty!

https://entretenimento.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2019/06/23/carla-diaz-se-inspira-em-silencio-dos-inocentes-para-interpretar-suzane-von-richthofen.htm

https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-noticias/2019/05/08/suzane-von-richthofen-deixa-prisao-para-saida-de-dia-das-maes.htm

https://tvefamosos.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2019/07/12/reporter-da-globo-cita-poder-de-seducao-de-suzane-von-richthofen-em-prisao.htm

https://super.abril.com.br/mundo-estranho/suzane-von-richtofen-o-crime-que-chocou-o-brasil/

https://g1.globo.com/sp/vale-do-paraiba-regiao/noticia/teste-para-aval-a-soltura-de-suzane-richthofen-indica-detenta-egocentrica-e-narcisista.ghtml

http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2017/06/prontuario-diz-que-richthofen-estava-com-higiene-precaria-e-olhar-vidrado.html

https://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/noticia/irmao-de-suzane-von-richthofen-e-internado-em-ala-psiquiatrica-de-hospital-em-sp.ghtml

https://veja.abril.com.br/brasil/daniel-cravinhos-vai-sair-em-lua-de-mel/

https://vejasp.abril.com.br/cidades/romance-suzane-richthofen-sandra-gomes-tremembe-presidio/

https://canalcienciascriminais.jusbrasil.com.br/artigos/323442322/caso-richthofen

https://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/noticia/irmao-de-suzane-von-richthofen-e-internado-em-ala-psiquiatrica-de-hospital-em-sp.ghtml

https://istoe.com.br/promotor-de-justica-e-medico-foram-seduzidos-por-suzane-von-richthofen-diz-jornalista/

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u62515.shtml

Music:

“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 “Shake It and Break It” by Lanin's Southern Serenaders, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License”

“Copo de Veneno” by Karina Buhr, via freemusicarchive.org

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When a young black woman named Joan Little ran from her jail cell, leaving her white male guard dead on the floor—without his pants—the country couldn’t decide who, exactly, Joan Little was. The prosecution said she was a vicious seductress who’d lured the guard in specifically to kill him. The defense said she was an innocent angel who hadn’t even known he was dead. Who in the world was Joan Little, really?

Want more Criminal Broads? Come to Caveat NYC on October 30 at 70 pm to see me the host of DIE-ALOGUE talk about female cult leaders!!! Get your tickets here!

*** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter and get a cool postcard. Get 10% off your first month of Betterhelp at betterhelp.com/criminalbroads. Snag a free month of weird and entertaining courses at The Great Courses Plus at thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads by entering code FREEMO. And check out Harlequin Suspense’s new line of creepy fall books at bit.ly/mustreadsuspense.***

Sources:

New York Times coverage of the Joan Little case, 1975-1989

The Innocent of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery, by James Reston

Joan Little ephemera (including her poem, “I Am Somebody”), from usprisonculture.com

“Free Joan Little: Anti-Rape Activism, Black Power, and the Black Freedom Movement,” by Ashley Farmer, from Black Perspectives by AAIHS

Concluding poem read by Alex Taylor.

Music:

“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

 “Shake It and Break It” by Lanin's Southern Serenaders, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License

“Gospel House Mix 1” by DJ Renay, via archive.org. Public domain.

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Why do women love true crime? Wait, no—why do people love true crime? Author Rachel Monroe comes on the podcast to deconstruct our appetite for horrifying true stories. Also covered: relating to the Manson girls, why true crime is not the same as a bowl of oatmeal, the ethics of crime scene photos, and the murky side of the victim’s rights movement. Check out Rachel’s new book, Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession today!

Want more #content? 1) Subscribe to the new podcast I’m hosting, Why Women Kill, from CBS All Access. 2) Come see me + the host of DIE-ALOGUE talk about female cult leaders in NYC on October 30. Tickets here!

*** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter and get a cool postcard. Get a free month of courses at The Great Courses Plus at thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads. Check out Harlequin Suspense’s new line of creepy fall books at bit.ly/mustreadsuspense.***

Sources:

Interview with Rachel Monroe: August 28, 2019

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession, by Rachel Monroe

Rachel’s con-man article in the Atlantic: “The Perfect Man Who Wasn’t,” April 2018 issue

The article about serial rapists we discuss: “An Epidemic of Disbelief,” by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, The Atlantic, August 2019 issue

 Music:

“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer

“Can You Tame Wild Wimmen?” by Billy Murray, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License

“Shake It and Break It” by Lanin's Southern Serenaders, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License