History Dweebs - A look at True Crime, Murders, Serial Killers and the Darkside of History

George Metesky, better known as the Mad Bomber, terrorized New York City for 16 years in the 1940s and 1950s with explosives that he planted in theaters, terminals, libraries, and offices. Bombs were left in phone booths, storage lockers, and restrooms in public buildings, including Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Public Library, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the RCA Building, and in the New York City Subway.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Born on November 2, 1755, in Vienna, Austria, Marie Antoinette helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792. She became a symbol of the excesses of the monarchy.  As a 20-year consort to Louis XVI, she was beheaded by The Guillotine on October 16, 1793.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"The Lipstick Murders" were a series of brutal attacks which occurred near Chicago in the mid 1940s. Though a serial burglar named William Heirens confessed to the murders, he later recanted his confession on the grounds that it was forced by the Chicago PD. With very little physical evidence connecting Heirens to the crimes, did the Police really get their man?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jesse Pomeroy was odd looking as a child. He had a large head, hairlip and one all white eye. In 1874, he became a serial rapist and killer. At 14 years old, Jesse Pomeroy became the youngest person in America convicted of murder.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Paul Bernado and Karla Homolka were Canadian serial killers who attracted worldwide media attention in the 1990s when they were convicted of raping and murdering teenage girls, including Karla's own sister, Tammy Homolka.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Known as the Gainesville Ripper, Danny Rolling was an American serial killer who brutally murdered five college students in Gainesville, Florida in 1990. Rolling later confessed to an additional triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana and attempting to murder his own father. In total, Rolling confessed to killing eight people.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In late 1957, teenagers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate went on a killing spree in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Their senseless rampage left 11 people dead including Fugate's entire family.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Johnny Broderick served as a NYPD Police Detective from 1923 until 1947. One of the most colorful officers ever to wear a badge, Broderick was best known for using excessive force and doling out justice to such famed gangsters as Legs Diamond and "Two Gun" Crawley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the fall of 1996, young women started disappearing in the small town of Poughkeepsie, New York.  Police were sure they were dealing with a serial killer,  However, they had one problem...they could not find any dead bodies..that is until investigators starting searching the attic of local school employee Kendall Francois.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1945, after a very questionable murder conviction, a 16 year old black teenager, Willie Francis, was sentenced to die in the Louisiana's electric chair.  The first execution sent shockwaves through Willie repeatedly but failed to kill him.  The drunken executioners had failed to hook up the chair properly.  A second execution was scheduled six days later.  Willie's new attorneys fought the second execution on the grounds it constitued "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" which is prohibited under the U.S. Constitution   This is the story of their desperate attempt to save Willie's life.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Between July 1963 and October 1965, young lovers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered 5 young people in and around Manchester, England. These sensless acts of violence became known as "The Moors Murders"  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On September 25, 1966 Jerry,his wife Linda and their four year old daughter Debbie Bricca were all brutally murdered in their west side Cincinnati home. Police interviewed more than 400 people, but no one was ever charged. Now, nearly 50 years later, the case remains open.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sydney Mutilator terrorized Australia between 1961 and 1963. William MacDonald would brutally murder and castrate vargarant men.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In April 1865, Henry Rathbone was a wealthy Lawyer and accomplished Military Officer.  He was engaged to be marry to the woman of his dreams. Then events of one awful night changed his life and the life of a nation.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bullied as a child, Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins sought revenge by raping and killing more than 80 people. Gaskins became known as "The Meanest Man in America"   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.