Historical true crimes from U.S. Civil war to WWII in the Blue Ridge Mountain Region including but not limited to moonshining, murder, robbery, fraud, and rape. We reserve the right to go outside these confines but only for a really good story.
Before Bonnie and Clyde, there was Irene and Glen. On Friday, December 27, 1929, Corporal Brady Paul and Patrolman Ernest Moore of the Pennsylvania Highway Patrol left New Castle, PA, heading east on Butler Road. Paul operated the SHP motorcycle, and Moore rode in the sidecar. Walter “Glenn” Dague, Irene Schroeder, her brother, Tom Crawford, […]
Iron Irene’s Bold Heists and Daring Escapes Read More »
On December 9, 1921, John W. Oliver, a farmer, mail carrier, and Primitive Baptist preacher in Cades Cove, Tennessee, had finished supper and was getting ready for bed when he looked out the window and discovered his barn was on fire. There were five horses in there. Oliver swiftly rescued three of the horses from
Moonshiner’s December 1921 Cades Cove Crime Spree Read More »
An unknown NC moonshiner became the subject of books, manhunts, and buckshot battles. “Major” Lewis Redmond had many titles: moonshiner, bootlegger, killer, and most impressively, King of the Moonshiners. Playwright Gary Carden may have given Redmond his most colorful moniker, the Prince of Dark Corners, which is the title of his play based on the
How Lewis Redmond Became the Moonshine King of the Carolinas Read More »
A disastrous break-in and shoot-out in a small town leads to a daring escape attempt from “The Rock.” John “Paul” Scott shocked prison authorities and perhaps the entire world on Sunday, December 16, 1962, when he became as Rich Jordan writing for the San Francisco Examiner put it “the only man known for certain to
Kentucky Bank Robber Becomes First Alcatraz Inmate to Reach Shore Read More »
