Podcast
Crimes of the Centuries
Hosted by Amber Hunt and Audioboom · EN
Crime is so commonplace that it takes something particularly shocking to be labelled the “crime of the century.” Even so, there are a lot of cases that have earned the distinction. In each episode of Crimes of the Centuries, award-winning journalist Amber Hunt will examine a case that’s lesser known today but was huge when it happened. The cases explored span the centuries and each left a mark. Some made history by changing laws. Others were so shocking they changed society.
53episodes
Episodes
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S6 Ep22: The Botched Execution of Tony Carruthers: Future COTC?
2d ago00:46:35Tap to summarizeThree people vanished from a Memphis home in February 1994. A week later, they turned up in a local cemetery, buried in a grave dug for someone else's funeral — held the day after they disappeared, with mourners who had no idea what was beneath the casket. Tony Carruthers was convicted of the murders in 1996, representing himself after burning through six court-appointed attorneys. Thirty years, one botched execution, and one recanted medical examiner later, Tennessee still hasn't tested the DNA that might resolve the crime.
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S6 Ep21: The Murder of Leslie Preer
6d ago00:48:38Tap to summarizeInvestigators were certain they knew who killed Leslie Preer. Their main suspect had motive, a suspicious alibi, and a failed polygraph. Investigators had everything they needed — except the right guy. Twenty-three years later with a pair of fresh detectives, a water bottle at Dulles Airport told a very different story.Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.comOrder the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at www.centuriespod.com/book!Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespodEPISODE SPONSORS: Rula: Affordable, insurance-covered therapy with average $15 copays and licensed in-network providers, at Rula.com/COTC. Hims. Simple, 100% online access to affordable ED treatment through licensed providers, at Hims.com/COTC. Home Chef. Fresh ingredients and easy recipes delivered weekly, with 50% off and free shipping on your first box plus free dessert for life at HomeChef.com/COTC. Boll & Branch: Breathable, organic cotton bedding designed to keep you cool all summer, with 15% off your first order at BollAndBranch.com/COTC using code COTC.
Transcribe →S6 Ep20: The Wrong Kind of American
2w ago01:03:10Tap to summarizeTwenty-two-year-old Fred Korematsu was parked on a San Francisco hillside with his girlfriend, listening to music on the car radio, when the broadcast stopped on Dec. 7, 1941. In the weeks that followed, the U.S. government imprisoned 120,000 people based solely on their ancestry. Fred, a California-born welder who had tried to register for the draft on the very first day he could, decided he wasn’t going anywhere. His decision would lead to one of the most consequential civil liberties cases in American history, and a decades-long effort to prove something that should never have needed proving.Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at www.centuriespod.com/book!Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod EPISODE SPONSORS:Home Chef. Fresh ingredients and easy recipes delivered weekly, with 50% off and free shipping on your first box plus free dessert for life at www.HomeChef.com/COTC. BiOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough. Multi-form bioavailable magnesium to support relaxation and recovery, with 15% off and a free Masszymes travel bottle at www.bioptimizers.com/cotc using code COTC. Wayfair. Furniture and home goods for every room and budget, vetted through Wayfair's 10-point inspection, at www.Wayfair.com. DripDrop. Doctor-developed hydration trusted by firefighters, medical pros, and 90% of top sports teams, with 20% off your first order at www.dripdrop.com using code COTC.
Transcribe →S6 Ep19: "Goodnight, Sweet Wife:" Murder in Mission Hill
3w ago00:58:15Tap to summarizeOn the night of Oct. 23, 1989, Chuck Stuart called 911 from a car phone in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood, his voice strained with panic. He said he and his wife Carol had been shot by a Black man. Within hours, Boston police had launched the most intensive manhunt in the city's history — tearing through a predominantly Black neighborhood, stopping and searching anyone who dared answer their door or walk the streets. They were certain they knew what had happened. They were wrong in ways that would take decades to reckon with.Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.comOrder the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at www.centuriespod.com/book!Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespodEPISODE SPONSORS:Home Chef: Get 50% off your first box, free shipping, and free dessert for life at HomeChef.com/COTC.AquaTru: Go to AquaTru.com now for 20% off your purifier using promo code COTC. Talkiatry: Get matched with an in-network psychiatrist at Talkiatry.com/COTC.Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at MintMobile.com/COTC.
Transcribe →S6 Ep18: The Girl Scout Murders on Cookie Trail Road
4w ago00:52:22Tap to summarizeDozens of Girl Scouts arrived at Camp Scott in the Oklahoma woods in June of 1977 expecting songs, crafts and campfires. By morning, three of the girls were dead, their bodies discovered along a dirt path called Cookie Trail Road. The investigation that followed became the largest manhunt in Oklahoma history, fueled accusations of corruption and racism, and left behind a mystery that still divides people nearly 50 years later.Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.comOrder the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at www.centuriespod.com/book!Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespodEPISODE SPONSORS: Rula. Quality therapy covered by insurance, with an average copay of just $15/session. Visit rula.com/cotc Hims. Simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Weight Loss, and more. Visit hims.com/COTC ButcherBox. Premium, responsibly sourced meat delivered to your door. Get ribeyes for a year OR ground beef or chicken breast for life, plus $20 off at butcherbox.com/COTC Quince. High-quality bedding at 50–80% less than similar brands. Free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/centuries
Transcribe →S6: ENCORE: The Forgotten Serial Killer of the Victorian Era
Jul 900:38:29Tap to summarizeIn Victorian England, a serial killer preyed on sex workers and other vulnerable women, targeting the people society was least likely to mourn or protect. But unlike the infamous Jack the Ripper, whose identity remains one of history's great unsolved mysteries, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream had a name, a medical degree, and a chilling willingness to use both. Cream weaponized his professional knowledge, exploiting the trust his victims placed in him as a physician to devise methods that were slower, more calculated, and in many ways more sinister than anything the Ripper was known for. When he was finally caught, the case against him didn't just end his reign of terror — it helped shape the legal landscape for decades to come.
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S6: TRUTH DEFERRED S1E1: Love Lost & Justice Unraveling
Jul 600:58:44Tap to summarizeIn 1884 Cincinnati, a string of brutal murders and a verdict that outraged the public set off a chain of events that would end in one of the darkest moments in American history — the largest massacre of unarmed civilians by National Guard troops on U.S. soil. In Truth Deferred, historians Mike and Amy Morgan investigate what actually happened — and present the truth that was deliberately buried for over 140 years. While Amber's on vacation, we share Episode 1 of Truth Deferred: The story starts on Monday, March 31, 1884. The streets are covered in blood. Over 50 people are dead, and some are dying in the hallways of the hospital. Every window has been smashed out of the jail, and the county courthouse is a smoldering ruin. To find out how we got here, we travel back to an imperfect love story ending in a public murder, and how the case of William McHugh illustrates a growing distrust of the criminal justice system. (Truth Deferred began as a Grab Bag Collab podcast available only at GrabBagCollab.com. After its initial run, it was released wherever you get podcasts, so subscribe today.)
Transcribe →S6: ENCORE: The Manhattan Well Murder
Jul 200:45:52Tap to summarizeWhen a 22-year-old woman living with relatives in a boarding house disappeared on Dec. 22, 1799, her loved ones didn't immediately worry. But when she still hadn't returned days later, all eyes turned to her lover, whom she'd supposedly been set to marry the last time she was seen alive. Levi Weeks came from a family with money, so his rich brother did something that was unheard of at this point in American history: He hired fancy lawyers. And that's how Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr ended up on the same side defending a man against murder charges in 1800. The case, referenced in Lin Manuel Miranda's award-winning musical "Hamilton," marks two firsts: The defense panel was America's first legal Dream Team, and the Weeks' case was the first recorded murder trial in the country's history.
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S6: THE CATALYST: The Traveler
Jun 2900:45:06Tap to summarizeAmber's on vacation, so she's yanking an episode of The Catalyst from behind the paywall over at Grab Bag Collab. Dive deep into the upbringing and backstories of individuals who committed history's most notorious crimes, shedding light on the psychological factors that shaped their paths. With a suspenseful twist, the identities of these individuals won’t be unveiled until the end of each episode. ‘The Catalyst’ will unravel the complex narratives behind these disturbing cases and try to understand what triggered them. This episode is called "The Traveler."To get our back catalog of Catalyst episodes, plus all of our other shows, subscribe at www.grabbagcollab.com.
Transcribe →S6: The Murder of Faith Hedgepeth: Future COTC?
Jun 2600:41:01Tap to summarizeIn September 2012, a 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment. She was a biology major, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, and weeks away from her twentieth birthday. Despite DNA evidence collected from the scene on day one, her case went cold for nine agonizing years — generating hundreds of DNA tests, thousands of interviews, and an internet's worth of amateur theories that muddied the waters and targeted people who had never been charged. An arrest has since been made, and trial is set for September. But questions about what was preserved, what was lost, and whether the systems around her worked the way they should have are only beginning to surface. This is a case worth watching.
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