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- [00:01]
Carter Roy
Hi listeners, it's Carter Roy. Before we get into today's episode of Murder True Crime Stories, I want to tell you about another show I think you'll Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhatt. Every Monday, Dr. Bhatt goes where history gets mysterious. Vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena and events that science still can't fully explain. Dr. Bot treats these moments like open case files. Not myths, not superstition, just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. Hidden History drops every Monday. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen, so you never miss a mystery. This his crime house. As true crime lovers, we all know what it's like to be obsessed with a real life mystery. For most of us that means a Wikipedia rabbit hole that stretches for days, a pile of books by our bedside, or a late night documentary binge. But for a journalist or a detective, finding answers and solving a case can become a lifelong pursu. That's how investigative reporter Maury Terry felt about the murder of 19 year old Arlis Perry on October 12, 1974. That night, Arlis was brutally murdered while praying at the church on Stanford University's campus. Because of the way her body was posed, many people, including Terry, believed a satanic cult was behind Arlis's death. But for Terry, devil worship was just the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, he developed a wide ranging theory that linked Arlis's murder to the Manson family and the Son of Sam serial killer, David Berkowitz. Terry spent decades trying to convince the world that he'd stumbled on one of the biggest stories in U.S. history. And it turned out that he was right. In a lot of ways, People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle and an end, but you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come out every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Friday's episodes covering the cases that deserve a deeper look. Thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow the show and for ad free access to every episode. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This is the second of two episodes on the 1974 murder of 19 year old Arlis Perry in Stanford, California. Please note this episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and murder. Please listen with care. Last time we got to know Arlis and her husband Bruce. After getting married in 1974, the young couple moved to Stanford University, where Bruce was studying pre med. Two months later, on October 12, Arlis was found brutally murdered at the campus church. Today we'll dive headfirst into the rumors that Arlis was killed as part of a satanic ritual. The gossip kicked into high gear when an infamous serial killer known as the Son of Sam claimed to have information about Arlis's death. Even then, the answers were just out of reach. They stayed that way until 2018, when a new discovery finally cracked the case for good. All that and more coming up. You know that moment in spring when you open your closet and you think, do I really need all of this? I do. Lately I've been trying to keep fewer pieces, but ones that actually feel special and wear well every day. And that is why I keep coming back to Quints. Their linen pants and shirts are lightweight, breathable and comfortable. I literally have one on right now. The kind of pieces that make spring mornings effortless. And their flit activewear. Oh soft moisture wicking anti odor. Honestly, I want to live in it. The best part is the value. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen so you're getting premium quality at prices 50 to 60% lower than similar brands. Everything is made to last and simplifies getting dressed. Refresh your wardrobe with quint. Go to quint.com crimehouse for free shipping and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. Go to Q U I n c e.com crimehouse for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com crimehouse this episode is brought to
- [05:52]
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- [06:22]
Carter Roy
On October 13, 1974, a security guard found the body of 19 year old Arlis Perry in the Stanford Memorial Church on the university's campus. She had been stabbed with an ice pick, violated with an altar candle and posed under a cross for maximum shock value. The strongest evidence at the scene was a partial palm print lifted from the two foot long candle. Arlis's new husband, 19 year old Bruce, was suspect number one. But forensics quickly determined the print didn't belong to him. The same went for the security guard, 28 year old Stephen Crawford. Both of them passed polygraph tests and the police officially eliminated them as potential culprits. The only real clue was testimony from a witness. They reported seeing a man with sandy colored hair enter the church with Arlis about 20 minutes before she died. Detectives initially spent some time trying to find the mystery man, but they eventually decided that the murder was was a random attack. They believed a local sex criminal stumbled upon Arlis at the church that night and targeted her. By coincidence, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. For months after the crime, police combed through their records, searching for a repeat offender whose psychological profile matched the murderer. They endlessly grilled incoming prisoners for leads, hoping to find someone who knew something about Arlis's killer. None of it led anywhere, and by the time the year came to a close, the authorities were already out of ideas. But back in Arlis's home state of North Dakota, a very different theory was emerging. A few months after Arlis was killed, her parents learned there were rumors that a satanic cult was behind their daughter's murder. And the 19 year old was a devout Christian and a passionate missionary. Before she moved to Stanford, she and a friend reportedly tried to convert a group of local Satanists to Christianity. As sensational as that sounded, the rumors did have the ring of truth. Arlis's friends said she would have jumped at the chance to spread the gospel to a cult. And the fact that she was killed in church, then posed in such a disturbing way, suggested there was a religious motivation at the heart of the crime. But detectives back in Stanford weren't convinced. They were positive her murderer was sexually motivated, not demonic. Besides, they didn't have the budget to conduct a full scale investigation in a town that was 1700 miles away. They did ask the local police in North Dakota to interview the church youth group Arlis was a part of. But when no one could substantiate the rumors with hard evidence, they dismissed the satanic angle as empty gossip. By the end of 1975, 14 months after the murder, Arlis Perry's case was completely cold. Bruce continued his studies at Stanford, working toward a future he could no longer imagine without his wife. Meanwhile, Arlis's family was left adrift. Her father took the loss especially hard. Over the next few years, he called the Stanford police repeatedly, desperate to hear how the investigation was progressing. Sadly, detectives never had anything to tell him until 1979, five years after Arlis was killed, when everything changed. That October, an incarcerated serial killer named David Berkowitz sent a cryptic message to police in North Dakota. Without saying why, he mailed them a book called the Anatomy of Witchcraft. Inside. He had underlined several passages and at the bottom of one of the pages he'd scribbled a handwritten note that read, quote, Arlis Perry hunted, stalked and slain. Followed to California, Stanford University. That one tiny comment scrawled in the margins single handedly revived Arlis's case. At the time, David Berkowitz was one of the nation's most notorious serial killers and the object of several major conspiracy theories. Born in 1953, he served in the U.S. army at age 18. In 1974, the same year Arlis Perry was killed, Berkowitz was honorably discharged from the military. Less than a year later, he tried to commit his first murder. On Christmas Eve 1975, the 23 year old stalked two women on the streets of New York City. He eventually cornered his victims and stabbed them repeatedly with a hunting knife before fleeing the scene. Both women were rushed to the hospital where they spent the next week recovering from their injuries. Miraculously, they survived the attacks. But David Berkowitz was just getting started. Seven months later, in July of 1976, he hunted down two more young women. 18 year old Donna Lauria and 19 year old Jodi Valenti. As Jodi exited a car, she spotted Berkowitz heading toward her carrying a paper bag in one hand. Just based on the way he was walking, Jodi could tell something was off. She called out to him, but before she could finish her sentence, Berkowitz pulled a 44 caliber pistol from his bag, crouched down and fired three times. Jody was killed instantly. The second bullet grazed Donna's thigh and the third missed completely. Donna survived the attack, but could only provide a basic physical description of the shooter to police. For the second time, at least one of his targets made it out alive. But Berkowitz managed to escape without anyone getting a good look at him. Which meant he was free to try again. He launched his third attack after just a few months of lying low. On October 23, 1976, Berkowitz shot a 20 year old man and an 18 year old woman as they sat in a parked car in Queens, New York. The man was hit in the head. He needed major surgery to replace the shattered portion of his skull with a metal plate, but survived. Luckily his friend was unharmed. Unfortunately, neither of them saw the would be killer. Berkowitz fled into the nights once again. By this point, the press had dubbed him the.44 caliber killer. And the people of New York were terrified of becoming his next victim. And that fear only grew as the months passed. Between November 1976 and April 1977, Berkowitz shot seven more people, mostly young women and girls. Four were killed, while others were left with lifelong injuries. Local law enforcement was under a ton of pressure to catch the killer. And In April of 1977, after his latest attack, the bad publicity got even worse when Berkowitz sent a message to the captain of the nypd. In the letter, which was riddled with spelling errors, he claimed to be the Son of Sam, as well as the demon Beelzebub. He blamed his father for ordering him to kill, threatened the authorities and swore to continue murdering young women. Based on the initial message, the cops had no idea who Sam actually was. But psychologists were able to put together a profile of the shooter. They described him as a paranoid schizophrenic who believed he was possessed by a demon. These theories laid the groundwork for rumors that the Son of Sam was a Satanist and that his murders were some kind of demonic sacrifice. And the only thing scarier than a serial killer on the loose was one who worked for the devil. As paranoia gripped the city, New Yorkers looked for ways to keep themselves safe. Because all the victims had long, dark hair, women started cutting their locks short and dyeing them blond. None of it prevented further attacks. Between May and July of 1977, Berkowitz shot four more people. One victim died, another was blinded, and the final two survived with minor injuries. Then in August, a young woman named Cecilia Davis was walking her dog when she noticed a man watching her from across the street. He was holding something in his hand, and though she couldn't make out what it was, she was spooked. She immediately turned and ran down the street as Berkowitz shot at her. He missed completely, and Cecilia reported the incident to the police. She also told them that the shooter was standing next to a car that had recently gotten a parking ticket. The authorities were able to search through their records and investigate every vehicle that was ticketed that night. That was how they found David Berkowitz. On August 10, 1977, they arrested the 24 year old outside of his apartment. It only took about half an hour in the interrogation room for him to confess to the shootings. The taunting letters about his father led some detectives to believe he was working with a group of accomplices, maybe even A satanic cult. But when Berkowitz finally explained who Sam actually was, everyone was left scratching their heads.
- [18:10]
Katie Ring
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- [19:13]
Carter Roy
On October 12, 1974, 19 year old Arlis Perry was murdered at the Stanford Memorial Church in California. Though her case quickly ran cold, rumors lingered that Satanists were to blame. Three years later, in August 1977, a serial killer named David Berkowitz was captured in New York City. Nicknamed the Son of Sam because of the unhinged messages he sent to police, Berkowitz was also suspected of being connected to a satanic culture. After his arrest, Berkowitz told officers that the mysterious Sam in his letters was actually his neighbor's dog. He claimed the black lab was possessed by a demon and telepathically urged him to kill young women. After his confession, Berkowitz was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The doctors who analyzed him had mixed opinions. He was initially diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but later experts determined he was legally sane and competent to stand trial. After more than a year of treatment, In February of 1979, Berkowitz announced that his tales of demonic possession were all made up. He acknowledged that the claims were a creation of his own mind impacted by his mental illness. But in court he refused to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each of his six murders. Months later his story changed again. And in the wake of his sentencing, several different Christian priests and missionaries reached out to Berkowitz to try to convert him. One of these was a 41 year old woman named Lee Chase, a self proclaimed expert in demonology. Over the course of 1979, Berkowitz came to consider her a confidant. And on October 15th he told her that he used to be a member of a satanic cult. He claimed he had been sworn to secrecy and that he was afraid to give details for fear of being blackmailed. He also hinted that the cult was behind the unsolved murder of arlis Perry in 1974. Though Berkowitz and Arlis Perry had both been linked to the occult, that was the first time anyone had publicly connected the two cases. And just days after his admission, Berkowitz sent the police in Arlis's home state a book on witchcraft. In the margins he scribbled that infamous note implying that he knew who was behind her murder. The authorities didn't respond to his package immediately, so 10 days later, Berkowitz wrote a more in depth confession. In it he claimed to have information about a countrywide network of satanic cults that brainwashed their members. Once again, he cited the murder of Arlis Perry as evidence. He also took back his previous confession, insisting he was just a patsy in the Son of Sam murders. While he admitted to committing some of the shootings, he now said his accomplices were responsible for the others. Apparently the cult he was in had ordered him to take sole responsibility for the crimes. These letters eventually reached a New York reporter named Maury Terry. Not everyone was taking Berkowitz's claims seriously, but Terry believed he was telling the truth. So he decided to launch his own unofficial investigation. Two months later, Terry convinced the police to get more directly involved. On December 4, 1979, detectives asked 26 year old Berkowitz about his latest claims in prison. As usual, the serial killer was cagey about the specifics. But he said he knew for sure who had killed Arlis Perry and that he'd met the murderer at a cult meeting in New York. The only thing he would say was that the key to solving the crime lay at a college in Arlis's hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota. After that round of questioning, the police were more intrigued than ever. The detective who spoke to Berkowitz found him to be evasive but friendly and sincere. He was genuinely interested in helping to solve the Arlis Perry case, even though it seemed like it didn't have anything to do with him. The problem was Berkowitz refused to say anything else. The police looked into the junior college that Arlis attended before moving to Stanford and and found no signs of any cult activity. Eventually they decided Berkowitz had nothing to offer the case either he was suffering from delusions connected to his mental illness, or he was deliberately playing games, messing with them for his own amusement. A year later, in late 1980, journalist Maury Terry was one of the few people still taking Berkowitz's stories seriously. And he believed the police had misinterpreted Berkowitz's statements. Terry thought Berkowitz was referring to a tiny school called Mary College in the same area, not Bismarck College. Students there spread rumors that there was a secret cult on campus that met in the woods and sacrificed dogs in arcane rituals. And the more Terry investigated, the deeper the rabbit hole went. Soon, he got in contact with an unnamed source who was closer to Berkowitz than almost anyone. This person finally revealed the Son of Sam's motivation for solving the Arlis Perry case. According to the source, Berkowitz was part of a massive satanic cult network with divisions all over the U.S. the son of Sam belonged to the New York chapter, but the group was headquartered in Los Angeles and had once been connected to the notorious Manson family. The mystery man at the center of it all was called Manson ii. Allegedly, Arlis Perry got on the bad side of the cult's North Dakota chapter after she and a friend tried to convert them to Christianity. From there, the North Dakota Satanists essentially put out a hit on her. The kingpin Manson ii, supposedly arranged Arlis's murder at Stanford. In response, he was the key to the entire network. The same unnamed source insisted Manson II had also committed several Son of Sam shootings, then decided to pin them all on David Berkowitz. From there, it all came full circle. The real reason Berkowitz wanted to solve Arlis Perry's murder was that he blamed Manson II for making him a fall guy. Clearly, all of this had the ring of a conspiracy theory. As Terry put it, if his source was telling the truth, it would make the Son of Sam case one of the most significant criminal stories of all time. That was a big if. But Terry truly thought he was onto something huge. Based on his discussions with Berkowitz, it seemed like the Son of Sam knew details about Arlis's murder that had never been made public. For example, he knew the exact spot where Arlis was stabbed with an ice pick, a detail that Terri said had been withheld by police. He was also aware that she'd tried to convert a group of Satanists, something that only the people in Arlis's hometown had ever heard about. And it was more than just a baseless rumor. A coffee shop owner in a neighboring North Dakota town told Terry that he had to ban several members of a cult from recruiting teenagers at his business. Terry tracked down a former member who claimed it wasn't Satanic, but a fringe religious group focused on mysticism and astrology. Terry wasn't sure whether that was true, but his interviews were enough to convince him he was on the right track. Just a few questions remained. Most importantly, Terry still had no idea who Manson II really was. But beyond that, he also questioned the killer's motive. So far, Berkowitz had implied that Arlis was targeted because she was a good Christian and a passionate missionary. While that was possible, it seemed a little flimsy. Like the police before him, Terry couldn't find anyone with firsthand knowledge of the attempted conversion. Arlis supposedly confronted the cultists along with her friend, but no one knew who that friend actually was. Still, Terri believed he was closing in on Manson ii. He was about to break the biggest story the country had ever heard. Turned out he was ahead of the curve. In just a few years, secret satanic cults would become one of the biggest stories in America. But Arlis Perry was just one of their alleged victims.
- [30:04]
Katie Ring
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- [30:57]
Katie Ring
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- [31:57]
Carter Roy
What do you want? Just this.
- [32:00]
Katie Ring
Listen to Fear Thy Neighbor wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:08]
Carter Roy
Six years after Arlis Perry was killed in Stanford, California, her case had gone cold. But investigative journalist Maury Terry thought he was on the verge of solving her murder and uncovering a conspiracy that linked Arlis to everyone from the Manson family to David Berkowitz. Terry believed Arlis was murdered by a satanic cult that had secret chapters all over the States. United United States she had allegedly gotten on the bad side of the North Dakota division after attempting to convert its members to Christianity, but according to Terry, the cult was most powerful on the West Coast. Terry believed that chapter was connected to Charles Manson and run by a mysterious man he called Manson. Manson II was allegedly responsible for organizing the hit on Arlis after she moved to Stanford. He was also active in New York, where he reportedly recruited David Berkowitz into the fold a year later in 1975. According to Terry, the Son of Sam shootings were committed by multiple people. David Berkowitz was one one perpetrator, while Manson II was another. Berkowitz was simply the patsy, the person the cult used as a fall guy for everyone else. As unlikely as all of this sounded, these kind of conspiracy theories were common in the US during the 1980s and 90s. Rumors that satanic cults were abducting children, meeting in secret to perform bizarre rituals, and engaging in human sacrifice created widespread public fear. Some cases led to real prosecutions and even convictions based on dubious evidence. This phenomenon was later dubbed the Satanic Panic, and Maury Terry's theories about Arlis Perry's murder fit right in. When he told members of law enforcement about his beliefs. Some of them thought he was onto something. But as the years passed, no one was able to find enough evidence to build a solid case. Manson II was never found. And there wasn't any hard evidence connecting Arlis to a secret cabal of satanists. And even though David Berkowitz continued to claim he knew the identity of her killer, he refused to talk. Years passed without any progress. In 1987, Terry published a book about his theories called the Ultimate Evil. By that point, several first hand accounts of alleged satanic ritual abuse had already become bestsellers in the U.S. terry hoped to bring awareness to what he believed was was one of the biggest stories in history. He spent the rest of his life trying to reopen the Son of Sam case and expose the nationwide network of satanic cults. Ultimately, there wasn't much evidence to support his grandest claims. In the years since his book was published, several infamous cases of satanic abuse have been discredited. The moral panic of the era past replaced by a new generation of conspiracy theories born on the Internet. Through it all, Arlis Perry's case remained unsolved. But she was never completely forgotten. And in June of 2016, 42 years after her death, the police received their first new tip in decades. That month, a new witness contacted the authorities to report what he'd seen at Stanford back in 1974. A 65 year old man named Brian McCracken said he walked past the Memorial church just moments before Arlis was murdered. On October 12th. As he strolled by the building, he heard someone playing the flute inside. Intrigued by the sound, he opened the front door and peeked in. That's when he saw a scene that would haunt him. At the front of the altar, a thin white man wearing an afro wig was playing a large silver flute. A naked woman who looked a lot like Arlis Perry was lying next to him surrounded by candles. Brian claimed he entered the church and even walked down the aisle. The flautist glared at him but never said a word. Since the nude woman looked comfortable and unharmed, Brian turned around and left. Then Brian somehow forgot about the bizarre incident for years. It wasn't until 2011, 37 years later, that it all came back to him. He looked up Arlis's case on the Internet and identified the man he believed to be the flautist by combing through old pictures of the Stanford marching band. From there, he reached out to the cops. The authorities found his story even harder to swallow than Maury Terry's satanic conspiracy still they agreed to follow up and interview the musician. But after questioning the man, they announced that he wasn't considered a person of interest. The incident seemed to be a red herring, another strange footnote in the 42 year old investigation. But Brian McCracken's story may have actually led to real results. Around the time that he contacted police, detectives in Santa Clara county started going through boxes of old evidence. In Arlis's case. They spent weeks combing through newspaper articles and photographs, looking for anything they might have missed over the years. That's when the lead detective, Rick Alanis, noticed that someone had made a mistake when cataloging the evidence all those years back. A pair of Arlis pants that were found at the scene were mislabeled as her husband's and vice versa. That meant that previous forensic tests were all run on the wrong pair of pants. In the four decades since her murder, DNA analysis had come a long way. So in 2016, Lt. Alanis ordered a new round of testing on the pants. The results were shocking. Experts found clear traces of semen belonging to Stephen Crawford, the security guard who found Arlis's body back in 1974. Stephen was one of the police's strongest suspects. But the only hard evidence they had at the time was a partial palm print lifted from an altar candle. After he passed a polygraph, and experts determined the print didn't match his hand, Stephen was eliminated as a possibility. Of course, DNA analysis was much stronger evidence than a palm print. With a single forensic test, it seemed like the cold case squad had cracked a 42 year old mystery. Even so, building a case and securing a conviction for such an old crime is tricky. By that point, Stephen Crawford was 70. Detectives wanted to be 100% sure they were correct before they accused such an elderly man of murder and risked ruining his life. So for the next two years, they continued working behind the scenes. And by the summer of 2018, they had only informed Stephen that he was a person of interest. But privately, investigators were sure they'd found the culprit. They believe their original theory was correct. The killer was sexually motivated, not a Satanist. They speculated that he'd posed Arlis's body to deflect suspicion away from him. And now, after all these years, she would finally get justice. On the morning of June 28, detectives arrived at Steven's apartment in San Jose, California. When they pounded on the 72 year old's door and announced that they had a search warrant, he asked for a few minutes to get dressed. A few silent moments passed. Eventually, officers decided he was stalling and used the landlord's key to enter the small apartment. From the front door they could see Steven sitting on his bed holding a gun. The 72 year old died by suicide before the cops could react. In the closet, police found the jacket from Maury Terry's book the Ultimate Evil. Next to the bed there was a suicide note, signed and dated two years earlier, back in 2016. The message didn't address the murder directly, but officers believed he chose to end his own life because he knew they were closing in on him. Stephen's death marked a somewhat unsatisfying end to Arlis's case, but it did give her family some closure. By then, her husband Bruce was 61 and a successful doctor. Her mother Jean was 88 years old. She told a newspaper that she was heartbroken that Stephen wasn't captured sooner. Her husband Marvin had passed away just three months earlier. Arlis's murder had taken a severe toll on him. Over the years, Gene wished he had been around to learn that their daughter's killer was found. With all the rumors, satanic conspiracies, and sensational publicity surrounding the case, Arlis Perry was sometimes lost in her own story. The shocking circumstances of her murder ended up serving as a distraction, just like Stephen Crawford hoped. On the other hand, those same details also kept the case alive. If it wasn't for conspiracy theories about satanic cults and the bizarre story about the flautist, investigators might have never followed up on the case four decades later. Sometimes resolution comes in a way no one expects. And now, after 44 years of mystery, Arlis Perry can finally rest in peace. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on on social media, rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad free. We'll be back on Friday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team Max Cutler Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Alyssa Fox, Terrell Wells, Haniya Said, Cassidy Dillon and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.
- [46:00]
Katie Ring
I'm Katie Ring, host of America's Most Infamous Crimes. Each week I take on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history. Listen to and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes. Available now wherever you get your your podcasts.
- [46:15]
Carter Roy
Looking for your next listen? Check out Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhatt. Every Monday. Dr. Bhatt goes where history gets mysterious vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, and events that science still can't fully explain. Follow Hidden History now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.